Buying and Selling at the Same Time? Know Your Numbers First
Updated: Oct 27
In almost every first meeting with a move-up seller, someone asks me the same thing. Can we buy the next house before we sell this one?
The answer depends on four things: what you'll walk away with, what you can qualify for while you still own this home, what the in-between costs, and what has to happen before your house can go on the market.
Here's how I walk my clients through each one, including the Oregon details most people don't hear about until they're already in escrow.
If you're early in the process, start with my free Sell Your Home Without the Overwhelm Checklist. It puts the first steps in order so nothing sneaks up on you.
1. What will we actually walk away with?
Start with your likely sale price and subtract every cost, line by line. These are the ones I see Portland-area sellers forget or guess low on.
Commissions. Listing and buyer's agent compensation are negotiated separately now, so list them as two lines.
Title and escrow. In Oregon, the seller usually pays for the buyer's owner's title insurance policy, and escrow fees are commonly split. Your escrow officer will confirm the customs on your file.
Transfer tax. Washington County charges $1 per $1,000 of the sale price, so $650 on a $650,000 sale. It's the only county in Oregon with one, and your contract sets who pays it.
Property tax proration. Oregon's tax year runs July 1 to June 30. If you paid the full year in November, escrow credits you for the months after closing. If you didn't, your share comes out of your proceeds.
Your loan payoff. Ask your lender for a payoff statement. It includes interest through the day the loan is paid off, so it's higher than the balance on your last statement.
Repairs and credits. After the inspection, most buyers ask for something. I build a cushion into the numbers before we list.
What's left is your walk-away cash. That one number drives almost every other decision.
2. Can we buy before we sell?
There are four common ways to do it here. Each one trades cost for certainty.
A contingent offer. Your offer on the new home depends on your current home selling. It costs nothing extra, but it's a weaker offer, and in busy spring months many sellers won't accept one.
A bridge loan or HELOC. You borrow against your current home's equity for the down payment. Timing matters: many lenders won't open a home equity line on a house that's already listed, so talk to your lender before the sign goes up.
Buying with savings, then selling. It makes for a strong offer, but you have to qualify while carrying both payments. Ask your lender to run both mortgages together before you start touring.
Selling first with a rent-back. You sell, close and stay in the house for a short time afterward under a written occupancy agreement. Your cash is in hand when you shop, and you only move once. It has to be negotiated with your buyer, so I ask for it up front.
Same move, three different paths
Here's an example household selling a $650,000 home and buying a $725,000 one. Same sale, same new home. Only the transition changes.
Path | Transition cost | Cash left after the move | Main risk |
Sell first, rent in between | $1,733 | $282,792 | Moving twice; prices could rise |
Buy first with a bridge loan | $10,886 | $273,639 | Qualifying with two payments |
Contingent offer | $7,250 | $277,275 | A weaker offer |
Example numbers for illustration only. Your results depend on your own inputs.
3. What has to happen before we list?
This is the part most sellers don't hear about until the week before photos.
A Home Energy Score, if you're in the City of Portland. Portland requires one before you publicly list, and the score and report link have to appear in your listing. An authorized assessor does it in about an hour, and a score can be reused for up to eight years if nothing has changed. Look up your address on PortlandMaps. If it says unincorporated, it doesn't apply.
Your seller's property disclosure statement. Oregon requires you to give it to every buyer who makes a written offer, and that buyer then has five business days to back out. I have sellers fill it out before we list, so it's complete and ready.
Smoke and carbon monoxide alarms. Oregon requires working smoke alarms before a home is sold. If the home has a carbon monoxide source, like a gas furnace or fireplace, it needs CO alarms too. Homes built in 2011 or later need them either way.
Rules change, so confirm the current requirements with the City of Portland, the Oregon State Fire Marshal and your escrow officer.
4. Will we owe tax on the sale?
Usually less than people fear. If you've owned the home and lived in it for two of the last five years, federal law lets you exclude up to $250,000 of gain, or $500,000 if you're married and file jointly. Oregon generally follows that rule.
If the home was ever a rental, or your gain is above those limits, talk to your CPA before you list.
Why I built a toolkit for this
Before real estate, I worked as a financial advisor. The same questions came up with almost every client who had a home to sell and another to buy. Most of the stress wasn't about the houses. It was about not knowing the numbers.
Online calculators answer one piece at a time and forget your numbers when you close the tab. I wanted one place where changing your sale price or interest rate updates everything at once.
So I built the workbook I'd want if I were making the move myself.
The Keep or Sell? Home Decision Toolkit
You enter your numbers once, on one page. Six connected calculators do the rest and give you plain-English answers, not just figures.
Your Snapshot: every answer on one page, ready to bring to your lender, CPA and agent
Net Proceeds: every selling cost, line by line, down to the cash you keep
New Payment: principal, interest, taxes, insurance, HOA and PMI, plus how it fits your income
Buy Before Sell: whether your savings and equity can fund the purchase, and what carrying both homes costs
Compare Paths: sell first, bridge loan or contingent offer, side by side
Tax Check: a quick look at your gain and the home sale exclusion
It's built for Oregon, with Washington County transfer tax, local closing customs and today's commission rules already in the defaults. It works in Excel or Google Sheets, comes with a video walkthrough, and takes about 15 minutes.
This is for you if you own a home, you're thinking about moving in the next year, and you'd rather walk into a lender meeting already knowing your numbers. It's not a fit if you're buying your first home with nothing to sell.
More help for sellers
Want a second set of eyes on your numbers? Send me a message. I'm happy to walk through them with you, no pressure.
-Cindy
The Toolkit provides educational estimates only. It is not financial, tax, legal or lending advice, a loan approval or an appraisal. Confirm your numbers with your lender, CPA, escrow officer and agent before making decisions.
Cindy Main, Oregon real estate broker · Eleete Real Estate · [license #201262552]
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