I've never sold, moved, and bought a home in the same process before. How does one get a loan contingent on the sale of their existing home to purchase a new home when moving? I'd really like to have the funds from the sale available to make the purchase so there is minimal transition time.

I assume there are loans available similar to bridge loans, or there are options like contingency sales?

You are rolling several situations around in your post. First you can qualify buying the new home before you sell the old you just have to qualify. Now buying with a contingency contract, ie you will only buy if the old home sells first is possible but you will find that very difficult since the sellers probably would not accept that. But cannot hurt to ask.

As for bridge loans I guess they are out there but I know of none. I would check to see if you can borrow temporarily from your 401K and pay it back when you sell the old home.

I have done a number of bridge loans, but typically still have some amount of equity going into the new purchase. Is the equity in your current home the only source equity going into the new purchase? After the sale of your current home there would be a reduction in the bridge loan to get down to 80%. Feel free to PM if you have any questions.

Ball park figures here: I will sell for maybe 160, owe 70 on it, plus transaction expenses, so say, net 80k from the sale.

I want to pay down a substantial portion on new home.

I can get a six fig short term 401k loan at 4.25%

I'm looking at properties between 200 and 300k.

I know I have to sell, but don't know how long that may take necessarily, and I don't relish 2-4 months of two mortgage payments, though I can do that.

I figure contingency won't really be good for me as Austin is a big time sellers market right now and I would have to overbid to even get considered.

BQ I would borrow the 20% down from the 401K and pay back when you sell old home. That is the simple way to do it.

You could also do a 80/15/5 with 5% down and pay the15% loan off when the house sells. That drives up your costs though. Quarter point more on the first loan, admin costs for the second, around 500, and higher rate, 5% then your 401. Also seconds have anywhere from 6-12 month prepayment penalty where you owe that many months interest regardless of how long you have it. I did this for your brother when he purchased his current home.

Still have to qualify for both houses.

also keep in mind you "skip a payment" on the new loan. So if you buy 7-15 you skip August payment and first payment is Sept. It gives you a little wiggle room to work with

How about keeping the first home and making it a rental?

If there are not sufficient funds to put towards the new purchase I agree with using the 20% from the 401k. I would try to have as much of the balance on the bridge loan as it gives you the most flexibility with the refinance. Also, the payments for the bridge loan are typically going to be interest only so it makes it a little easier to swing both for a short period of time.

We make bridge loans out of our funds for qualified borrowers quite often. No pre-payment penalty at all.

Love a change to talk about your situation. My email is my screen name here and here is our bridge loan website: Bridge loan

I'm working through a bridge loan with Jay@AgRewards right now. Maybe he'll give me a break in fees for endorsing him.
Jay is fantastic! Do it do it!