If you’re wondering whether to sell before buying, here’s the honest answer: it depends, but not in the wishy-washy way that phrase usually means. Contingent offers are getting accepted across this market. They’re also costing the buyers who make them, because when you ask a seller for terms, you almost always give something back on price.
The strongest position is buying without a sale contingency at all. And there are more ways to get there than most people realize.
I’ve spent 23 years in real estate. I live in Steiner Ranch and I work all over the Austin area, from River Place to Bee Cave, out to Dripping Springs and Georgetown, and over in Lago Vista. Here’s how I actually walk my neighbors through this decision.
What a Contingent Offer Really Costs You
A sale contingency tells the seller: I’ll buy your home, but only if mine sells first. You’re asking them to take their home off the market while carrying your risk.
Sellers say yes to that more often right now than they did a few years ago. But they don’t say yes for free. When you need terms, you concede price. Maybe you offer over ask to compensate. Maybe you lose the repair negotiation you’d otherwise win. Maybe you’re simply not the offer they pick when a clean one shows up next to yours.
And that’s the real cost. It’s not that contingent offers get rejected. It’s that a seller will take a non-contingent offer over a contingent one ten ways from Sunday. Your contingency doesn’t have to lose to a better price. It just has to lose to a cleaner file.
Yes, Contingent Offers Are Getting Accepted Right Now
Here’s the part of the market that’s changed. Sellers across this market are accepting contingent offers more often than we’ve seen in years. I currently have two listings where the sellers have accepted contingent offers, at very different price points, in areas over an hour apart from one another. [VERIFY: reconfirm both listings’ status on publish day]
Some of that is inventory. Buyers have more homes to choose from than they’ve had in a long while, and homes are sitting on the market longer, too. There’s no single “days on market” number that describes all of them fairly, which is why I won’t give you one.
But more choice for buyers means more flexibility from sellers. If your situation truly requires a contingent purchase, this is a better market for it than we’ve had in a while. Just walk in knowing what it costs, and knowing you’ll want your own home’s sale strategy airtight before you ask anyone to bet on it. Most sellers (with good agents) are going to require that your home is already listed, or going live within a day or so of going under contract.
The Strategies That Let You Skip the Contingency
This is the conversation most people never have, because they assume it’s contingent offer or nothing. It isn’t. Two moves do most of the work.
Sell first, then lease back. You sell your home, and as part of the deal, you rent it back from your buyer for a set period while you shop. Leasebacks are absolutely still getting done in this market. Now you’re a non-contingent buyer with cash in hand and a roof over your head, which is close to the strongest position that exists. The trade-off: leasebacks have time limits, they add a negotiation to your sale, and not every buyer can offer one. It’s a strategy you plan for, not one you improvise.
Talk to a lender before you decide anything. Depending on your equity and income, there may be financing that lets you buy the next home before the current one sells: a bridge option, a HELOC opened while you still own, or qualifying to carry both temporarily. I’m not going to tell you which one fits, because that’s the lender’s math to run on your file. What I’ll tell you is that most people never ask, and the answer changes the whole plan.
Either way, the order of operations is the same. We build the strategy for the sale of your current home first, and we find out from the lender what your options are. Then you decide, with the real numbers in front of you.
What I’d Tell a Friend in the Stands at Friday Night Lights
When a neighbor asks me this, and it comes up everywhere, in the stands at a Vandegrift football game, in the school pickup line, sitting in the 620 backup, here’s what I say. Don’t start with “should we sell first?” Start with “what would it take for us to buy without a contingency?” Because that’s the version of you that wins the house.
If the answer is a leaseback, great, we plan your sale around it. If the answer is a lender option, great, one phone call tells us. And if the honest answer is that a contingent offer is your only path, that’s fine too. It’s working in this market. We’ll just price and time your sale so your contingency is the strongest one a seller sees, and we’ll go in with eyes open about what the terms cost.
The mistake isn’t making a contingent offer. The mistake is defaulting into one because nobody showed you the other doors.
Frequently Asked Questions
Should I sell my house before buying a new one? If you can arrange a leaseback or qualify for financing that bridges the gap, selling first usually puts you in the strongest position, because you buy without a sale contingency. If neither fits your situation, contingent offers are being accepted in many communities and price points across Austin right now.
Do sellers accept contingent offers right now? Yes, more than in recent years. But sellers still strongly prefer non-contingent offers, and buyers who need a contingency typically give ground on price or terms or both to win.
What is a leaseback and do they still happen? A leaseback lets you sell your home and rent it back from the buyer for a set period while you find your next one. They are still being negotiated in this market and are one of the cleanest ways to become a non-contingent buyer.
Can I buy a new home before selling my current one? Sometimes, depending on your equity and income. Options like bridge financing or a HELOC on your current home can make it work. A lender has to run your specific numbers, and it’s worth asking before you assume you can’t.
What’s the first step if I want to move but haven’t sold my home yet? Start with the sale side: get a real strategy for your current home and a lender conversation about your options. Those two answers tell you whether you’re selling first, buying first, or writing a contingent offer, before you fall in love with a listing in Lakeway or anywhere else.
One more thing, because it matters. None of this works without a real plan. Pricing, positioning, a clear picture of who your buyer actually is, and how it all sequences. That’s the whole point of building the strategy before you list.
