Buy first or sell first?
Every move from one home to another comes down to timing. Buy first and you carry two homes and borrow until the sale closes. Sell first and you rent, store and move twice. Enter both homes and the calculator compares what each path adds, and how long the current home can sit on the market before buying first stops making sense.
Break-even: if the current home sells within about 3.6 months of buying, buying first costs less. Every extra month on the market adds $14,688.
| Carrying the current home, 4 months | $46,000 |
| Bridge interest | $12,750 |
| Bridge fees | $4,500 |
| Price cut from selling under pressure | $0 |
| Rent, 3 months | $45,000 |
| Storage, 3 months | $2,400 |
| Second move and one-time costs | $10,000 |
| Rental fees | $0 |
Only the costs that differ are counted. Selling costs, buying costs and the new home’s own monthly costs are the same either way. Estimate them with the seller and buyer closing-cost calculators, or the regional ones on each relocation page.
Not in the numbers: buying first means one move and a home sold empty or staged; selling first fixes your budget before you commit, but adds a rental and a second move, and can rush the purchase. Some co-op boards and lenders look for the sale proceeds before approving a purchase.