Do you buy or sell first?

This is a difficult question to answer as there is no one "right" choice that applies for everyone, rather it depends on what works best for you given the current market conditions.

Why we chose to buy first

With the Toronto real estate market experiencing an extreme shortage of inventory, we decided that we would buy a condo first and then sell our existing place.

Due to the low inventory levels, I knew that it wouldn't take that long for us to sell our condo but I was very apprehensive about finding a place that met our criteria.

There was a genuine concern that if we sold the condo and only gave ourselves 90 days to find somewhere new to live, we would be unable to do so, ultimately leaving us homeless.

On top of this, the rate of appreciation is so high right now that there is a real risk of being priced out of the market if we had to take 6-12 months to find a new place.

Our strategy

We decided that while we were out looking at condos to buy, I would begin all of the necessary work needed to get our unit ready for going on the market.

This included painting the walls, repairing the toilet, bringing in any staging furniture or decor & generally decluttering.

By having all of these tasks completed, it would allow us to list the condo as soon as we get an accepted offer on a new place to buy.

To provide ourselves some flexibility & breathing room on the offer for the new condo, we inserted a "Flex" Closing Clause.

This allows us to insert a 90 day closing with the initial offer to provide enough time to sell my condo.

We then have the option to move up the closing should I find a buyer who can close in a quicker time period (i.e. 45 days), making it advantageous for all parties.

Now that we had our strategy established, what were the search criteria for our new condo?

That's what we're going to cover next week in Episode #3 so be sure to stay tuned for that one!

Have any questions about choosing whether to buy or sell first?

Let me know in the comments section below!

Rylie C.