Shane MacPherson
REALTOR® | eXp Realty - Greater Moncton

Buying a House When You Have a House to Sell:

The Greater Moncton Game Plan

Every year I sit down with a handful of homeowners who want to move but won't call me back for six months because they're stuck on the same fear: *what if I sell my house and can't find anywhere to go?*

 It's a completely reasonable fear. Nobody wants to be the family living out of a hotel room with the dog and three kids because the market didn't cooperate on schedule. So people do the understandable thing. They wait. They don't list. They tell themselves they'll "start looking" once they're ready to sell.

 Here's the problem with that plan: waiting to list doesn't just delay your move, it can also make your eventual offer weaker, right at the moment you need it to be strongest. If you find the house you actually want and you still haven't sold yours, you're probably writing that offer with a Sale of Buyer's Property condition, known around here as an SOBP condition. And an SOBP offer, done badly, loses to almost anything else on the table.

 So this isn't going to tell you "sell first" like every other REALTOR® website in the country. That advice is too simple for a decision this size. Instead I want to give you an actual game plan, the kind I walk my own clients through, so that whichever path you take, you're not improvising it in real time with your life savings on the table.

The idea that matters most on this whole page

You do not necessarily have to put your house on MLS before you start looking at other homes. But there is a massive difference between these two situations: 

"We haven't listed yet because we're not ready." 

AND....

"We haven't listed yet, but the house is decluttered, repaired, photographed, priced, and the paperwork is done. It can hit MLS within 24 to 48 hours of an accepted offer." 

Both of those homeowners can technically make the same SOBP offer. Only one of them is making a credible one. A seller evaluating your conditional offer isn't just looking at your price, they're trying to guess the odds that your house actually sells in time. An unprepared house sitting behind you is a question mark. A prepared house that could launch tomorrow is a much shorter one. That distinction, ready to list versus actually listed, is the whole game. Everything below is built around getting you to "ready" before you fall in love with anything, organized the way it actually happens: get ready, shop, offer, launch, sell, coordinate closings.


Skip ahead:   Get Ready   -   Shop   -   Offer   -   Launch   -   Sell   -   Coordinate Closings   -   FAQ

Get Ready

Nothing below matters if this stage gets skipped. This is what should be in motion before you book a single showing.

Start with the money before you look at houses

Your first appointment should be with a mortgage broker or lender, not with me, and definitely not with a real estate app on your phone at midnight.

Here's why. A pre-approval you got two or three years ago is close to useless today. Rates have moved, your income and debt load have probably changed, and lenders reassess based on current numbers, not what you qualified for when you bought your current place. Start fresh.

A proper conversation with a lender should nail down: 

  • Your likely mortgage balance at the time you'd actually sell (not today's balance, the balance after a few more months of payments), 
  • Your estimated available equity, what selling is going to cost you (commission, legal fees, adjustments), whether your existing mortgage has a payout penalty and what it is, discharge fees if any, moving costs, the deposit and down payment you'll need on the next property, closing costs on the purchase side including New Brunswick's real property transfer tax (1% of the purchase price or the assessed value, whichever is higher), 
  • And, critically, whether you can actually qualify to carry both properties for a period of time if it comes to that.

Also ask what happens on paper if your current home sells for less than expected. Good lenders will run that scenario with you instead of assuming the best case.

Come out of that meeting with two numbers, not one: 

  • a comfortable budget you'd be happy paying for the next several years, 
  • and an absolute ceiling you'd only stretch to for the right property.

Keep them separate in your head. Shopping gets emotional fast, and having already decided your ceiling before you see a single kitchen is worth more than any negotiating tactic I could teach you later.

One caution: a written pre-approval or lender confirmation is a real asset when you're negotiating, it tells a seller you're not guessing about your financing. But it is not a guarantee. Lenders can still require conditions at the time of actual approval (a satisfactory appraisal, verification of income, no material change in your financial picture), so don't treat pre-approval as a done deal. Treat it as a strong first step.

Ask your lender the question most people forget to ask

Beyond "how much do I qualify for," ask this directly: can I purchase the next house without my current property being sold first?

The answer usually falls into one of five buckets, and each one changes your entire strategy:

  • You must sell your existing property to qualify for the new one. This is common when your income alone can't service both mortgages plus other debts. If this is you, an SOBP condition (or selling first) isn't optional, it's the only route that works.
  • You qualify to carry both properties temporarily. Your income and debt load support two mortgages for a stretch. This opens the door to buying without an SOBP condition, but see the risks in Strategy D below before you get excited about that option.
  • You can purchase first but need the proceeds from your existing home for the down payment. This is extremely common and it's the scenario that most often ends up needing either an SOBP condition or bridge financing once your existing sale is firm.
  • You may qualify for bridge financing once your existing property has a firm sale. Bridge financing solves a closing-date mismatch, not a "my house hasn't sold yet" problem. More on this below, because it's the single most misunderstood tool in this entire process.
  • You have enough liquid funds to close without immediately relying on your sale proceeds. Rare, but it exists, usually for move-up buyers with significant savings outside the equity in their current home.

Knowing which bucket you're in before you start touring homes changes how you write an offer, how urgently you need to prep your current property, and whether bridge financing is even a realistic backup plan.

Picture two hypothetical couples, because round numbers make this less abstract than buckets. 

Couple A owns a $450,000 house with $200,000 left on the mortgage. They want to move up to something around $600,000, and they need the proceeds from their sale to make the down payment work. Bucket three. Their offer on the next place can't really stand on its own without their old house selling first, full stop.

Couple B owns a $350,000 property, nearly mortgage-free, with strong dual income. They qualify to carry both mortgages for a few months if it comes to that. Same city, similar price range even. Completely different playbook. Couple B has options Couple A doesn't, and no lender is going to hand those options over without being asked directly.

Bridge financing: what it actually solves

Bridge financing gets treated like a magic wand by a lot of first-time move-up buyers, and it isn't one.

Here's what it is: a short-term loan, typically running up to around 90 days depending on the lender, that lets you access equity from your current home before that sale actually closes, so you can complete the purchase of your new home on schedule.

Here's what it is not: a way to buy a house before your current one has a firm sale. Every major lender I'm aware of requires a firm, unconditional agreement of purchase and sale on your existing property, plus an accepted agreement on the property you're buying, before they'll approve bridge financing. In other words, bridge financing shows up after the hard part (actually selling your house) is already done. It solves the timing gap between two closing dates, it does not solve the uncertainty of whether your house will sell at all.

Typical lender requirements: 

  • a copy of the firm sale agreement on your current home, 
  • a copy of the purchase agreement on the new home, and separate mortgage approval on the new property. The loan amount is generally based on the equity being freed up (sale price, minus your existing mortgage balance, minus estimated selling costs and any penalty), and interest rates on bridge loans run higher than a typical mortgage rate, commonly in the range of prime plus 2 to 3%, plus setup and legal fees that can run from a few hundred to a couple thousand dollars depending on the lender.

A simple example with round numbers: say your current home has a firm sale at $400,000, closing in 30 days. You owe $220,000 on your existing mortgage. You need to close on your new $500,000 purchase in 10 days, before your sale closes. A lender might bridge roughly $150,000 to $170,000 of your expected net proceeds (sale price, minus mortgage balance, minus estimated costs) for those 20 extra days, at an elevated interest rate, repaid in full the moment your existing sale actually closes.

What can go sideways: if your buyer's closing gets delayed (financing falls through late, an inspection issue reopens negotiations, their own chain collapses), you can end up carrying your old mortgage, your new mortgage, and the bridge loan simultaneously, with no guarantee of when that resolves. Get your lender's confirmation of bridge approval in writing before you assume it's available, and understand it's a short-term, higher-cost tool, not a long-term financing strategy.

Get your current house sale-ready before you fall in love with another one

This is the section I want you to actually act on, because it's the one most people skip.

Before you start seriously touring other homes, here's what should already be in motion: 

  • A conversation with your REALTOR® about a realistic expected sale price based on actual comparable sales (not what your neighbour told you their house is "worth"), 
  • An honest look at repairs and deferred maintenance, decluttering, a deep clean, paint where it'll actually move the needle, exterior presentation and basic landscaping, a plan for where your extra stuff goes while it's on the market, staging if your home needs it, and the paperwork: your Property Disclosure Statement, utility cost history, well or septic information if applicable, any permits tied to past renovations, your mortgage discharge information, and a clear list of what's included and excluded in a sale.
  • Then, separately, line up the marketing side before you need it: professional photography, video if it suits the property, a floor plan and accurate measurements, a written property description, and the social and MLS assets ready to go.

Here's why this matters more than almost anything else on this page. If your offer gets accepted on a Tuesday night, the difference between a house that's genuinely ready and one that isn't is the difference between launching to market Wednesday or Thursday, versus spending the next two weeks scrambling to get photos, repairs, and paperwork done while your SOBP clock is already running. Every day you spend prepping after the fact is a day you don't have to negotiate with, sell your house, and satisfy your condition.

I've watched this go wrong, and it's always the same story. Call her Couple C: they find their dream property in a multiple-offer situation. They haven't touched their own house. No repairs, no decluttering, no photos, nothing. They write an SOBP offer anyway because they've fallen for the place. Against unconditional offers from other buyers, theirs doesn't stand a chance. And honestly, it shouldn't. Why would a seller bet their next six months on a house that isn't even close to ready?

Should you list first or buy first?

I'm not going to dodge this. There's no single right answer, only trade-offs, and which one you can stomach depends on your risk tolerance, your financing, and your market.

Strategy A:

List and sell first. You'll know your exact equity, you can write an unconditional offer on the next place, and you're negotiating from real strength. The trade-off is you might sell before you've found the right replacement, which can mean temporary housing, storage, and pressure to buy something you're not thrilled about just to stop paying for two addresses.

Strategy B:

Find the house first and offer conditional on selling yours (SOBP). You get emotional security, you're not committing to sell until you've actually got somewhere to go. The trade-off is a weaker offer. Sellers may refuse SOBP conditions outright in a competitive market, you're exposed to escape clauses if another buyer shows up, and you're now under time pressure to price and sell your home quickly rather than optimally.

Strategy C:

Prepare your house completely, but don't activate the listing until you find something. This is the middle ground I push hardest for. You keep the emotional safety of Strategy B while removing most of the practical weakness of an SOBP offer, because your home can launch within days, not weeks, the moment you need it to.

Strategy D:

Buy without an SOBP condition because your financing allows you to carry both properties temporarily. This can work, and it produces the strongest possible offer, but it is not for everyone. Carrying two mortgages, two tax bills, two insurance policies, and two sets of utilities, even for a short window, is a real financial and stress burden. Just because a lender says you qualify doesn't mean you actually want to live that way for three or six months. Be honest with yourself here, not just with your bank.

Deposits and cash flow

Here's something a lot of equity-rich, cash-poor sellers overlook: you can be sitting on $150,000 of equity in your current home and still not have $10,000 of accessible cash sitting in a chequing account the week you need a deposit.

Your equity is trapped in your current home until it actually closes. Your purchase deposit and down payment need to come from somewhere before that happens, whether that's savings, a line of credit, bridge financing once you're eligible, or a combination. Add in moving costs, temporary carrying costs if there's any overlap, and a reasonable emergency reserve, and the cash-flow picture looks very different from the equity picture.

A simple example: a couple with $200,000 of equity in their current home, none of it liquid, needs a $25,000 deposit on their new purchase within days of an accepted offer, plus roughly $5,000 in moving costs, plus a buffer for anything unexpected. If they haven't planned for that specific cash need in advance, the equity on paper doesn't help them next Tuesday.

Shop

Once your financing and your current home are both in order, here's what actually changes the way you shop.

Market conditions change the strategy

The right strategy shifts with the market. In a strong seller's market, SOBP offers are harder to get accepted because sellers have options. In a buyer's market, sellers may be more willing to consider one because buyers are scarcer. In a balanced market, and Greater Moncton has been sitting close to balanced through 2026, it comes down more to how competitive your specific price bracket and neighbourhood are than to the region as a whole. Some sub-markets around here run hot while others sit firmly in buyer's-market territory in the very same month, so "the Moncton market" isn't one answer, it's several. For current numbers, check my monthly market update rather than relying on anything printed here, since this page is meant to stay useful long after this month's stats are stale.

New construction as the purchase

If the home you're moving into is new construction, the timeline math changes. A completed home has a real closing date you can plan against. A home nearing completion or still under construction usually comes with an estimated date that can shift, sometimes by weeks. If you're coordinating a sale against a builder's estimated completion date rather than a firm closing date, build in extra cushion, and make sure your financing approval accounts for the possibility of delay.

Offer

This is where the Sale of Buyer's Property condition actually lives, and where most offers win or lose.

Understanding the SOBP condition

In plain terms, a Sale of Buyer's Property condition lets you commit to buying a new home while giving yourself an out if your current home doesn't sell in time. The exact legal wording is drafted by your REALTOR®, brokerage, and lawyer and can change, so I won't manufacture "standard" contract language here. But the business terms that actually matter are consistent across most New Brunswick transactions using the standard association form, and they're worth understanding cold before you sign anything.

The condition typically spells out: the address of the property that has to sell, whether it's already listed, the deadline by which it needs to sell, and what counts as a completed sale (an accepted offer, or a firm, unconditional sale, which is a meaningfully different and much stronger standard).

It also typically preserves the seller's right to keep marketing and showing their own property while your condition is outstanding. If the seller gets another acceptable offer, they (or their agent) have to notify you, and you're then given a set window, commonly measured in hours rather than days, to either remove your SOBP condition or walk away. That's usually called a bump clause or escape clause. If you don't respond in time, the agreement becomes void.

Some versions of this condition also specify whether you're required to match or beat the terms of that competing offer to keep your deal alive; others leave you free to simply remove the condition on your own terms if you're able to.

And here's the part almost nobody mentions: most versions also include an outside deadline, independent of any competing offer, by which you have to waive the condition entirely or the deal dies automatically. So even in a slow market with no competing buyers in sight, an SOBP condition has a built-in expiry date. It is not open-ended.

One more mechanical detail worth knowing: your other conditions, financing, inspection, water testing, are frequently timed to start counting after your SOBP condition is dealt with, not from the day your offer was accepted. That back-loads a lot of due diligence into a short window right when you're also trying to sell a house. It's one more reason preparation ahead of time matters so much.

How to make an SOBP offer more attractive

An SOBP offer isn't automatically a weak offer. It's a probability question in the seller's mind: how likely is it that this buyer's house actually sells, and how fast? Everything you can do to raise that probability in the seller's eyes makes your offer stronger.

That means: 

  • a completed mortgage pre-approval in hand, 
  • your home already listed if possible (or provably ready to list within days), 
  • professional photos already done, 
  • a realistic list price backed by actual comparables, 
  • a reasonable and appropriately-sized deposit,
  •  condition periods that are tight but fair rather than dragged out, 
  • flexible closing dates, and as few unnecessary extra conditions stacked on top of the SOBP as you can manage.

The single biggest mistake I see here is overpricing your existing home just to "try a number" while it's tied to a purchase you actually want. There's a real difference between "my house should sell" and "we've reviewed the comparables, landed on a realistic range, and the listing is ready to launch." 

Sellers, and their REALTORS®, can tell the difference immediately, and it shows up in whether they'll even consider your offer.

The seller's perspective

Flip it around for a second, because understanding the seller's side explains why preparation matters so much.

If someone offers to buy your home conditional on selling theirs, you're going to want to know: 

  • is their home even listed yet? 
  • Where is it, and what type of property is it?
  •  What's it priced at, and does that price hold up against the comparables? 
  • How long are they asking for? 
  • How strong is their financing otherwise? 
  • Are there other conditions stacked on top? 
  • What happens to my property in the meantime if I get another offer? 
  • And am I effectively taking my house off the open market to bet on someone else's sale?

A seller weighing an SOBP offer is really asking one question underneath all of those: how much of my own flexibility am I giving up, and for how good a chance of this actually closing? 

The more of those answers you can hand them clearly and honestly, the easier that decision becomes for them, and the better your odds.

Appraisals and financing

Your lender will very likely require an appraisal before finalizing your mortgage. Purchase price and appraised value are not the same thing, and if the appraisal comes in below your agreed price, you may need to cover the gap with additional cash, renegotiate, or in some cases walk away depending on your financing condition's wording.

This is exactly why financing conditions shouldn't be waived out of fear of losing a property. It's tempting when you're worried a seller will move on, but removing a financing condition before you actually have firm approval, especially while you're also juggling a sale, is one of the more expensive mistakes a buyer can make in this kind of transaction. Your financial picture can also shift the moment your existing sale closes or your purchase completes, so don't assume today's approval automatically survives every change between now and closing.

What if your house doesn't sell?

Be candid with yourself about this before you make the offer, not after. Depending on your specific contract, your options if your home hasn't sold as your deadline approaches might include adjusting price, changing your marketing approach, negotiating an extension to your SOBP condition if the seller is willing, or walking away from the purchase if your condition permits it. In some cases, arranging alternate financing to proceed without the sale is possible, but only if you're genuinely in a financial position to do that safely and you've had proper advice, not because you're afraid of losing the house.

Know your Plan B before you sign the offer, not while you're staring down the deadline.

What if another buyer shows up?

This is the scenario the bump or escape clause exists for. Say you have an accepted offer at $500,000, conditional on selling your home. Three days later, the seller receives another offer they're prepared to accept. Depending on your contract, you'd typically be notified in writing and given a set window, often measured in hours, to either remove your condition or let the agreement lapse.

This is exactly the moment people make expensive, emotional decisions: waiving a financing or sale condition out of fear of losing a house they've already mentally moved into. The condition was put there for a reason. If you remove it and your home doesn't actually sell, or your financing doesn't come through, you could be legally obligated to complete a purchase you can't actually afford. Talk to your REALTOR® and your lender before you touch that condition, not after you've already sent the notice.

Launch

The clock starts the moment your offer is accepted. Here's what should happen next if the prep work already happened.


What happens after the SOBP offer is accepted

This is illustrative only, actual timelines depend entirely on your specific contract, but here's roughly how it tends to unfold when the prep work above has already been done.

Day zero, the purchase agreement is accepted. Day one, if your home isn't listed yet, it launches to MLS with the media and paperwork already prepared. The next several days bring showings and marketing. Once an offer comes in on your home, negotiation happens the same as any sale. If it goes conditional, you work through the buyer's own conditions on your property. Once that sale goes firm, your SOBP condition on the new purchase can potentially be satisfied, subject to whatever your specific contract actually requires. From there, financing, inspections, legal work, insurance, and closing prep continue on both files at once.

Notice how much of that timeline compresses if your home was already prepped versus if you're starting photography and paperwork from zero after the purchase is already accepted.

Now flip Couple C from earlier around and meet Couple D. Same market, same kind of purchase, but months earlier they quietly did the work: staging done, photos done, floor plan done, paperwork done, nothing activated because they hadn't found the right place yet. The moment their offer gets accepted, their listing goes live within 48 hours, professionally shot, priced right, ready to compete for real buyers immediately. Same starting line as Couple C. Completely different race, because they understood that "ready" and "listed" are two different things.

The inspection issue

Inspections on your new purchase interact with your overall timeline in an obvious way: they typically need to happen within your condition period, and if your other conditions are timed to start after your SOBP condition is dealt with, your inspection window may end up more compressed than you'd like.

On the flip side, some sellers of the home you're buying, and some sellers in general, consider a pre-listing inspection on their own property before it goes to market. This can smooth negotiations and reduce surprises, but it also means disclosing whatever it finds. There's no automatic right answer here, it depends on the property's age, condition, and how competitive the local segment is.

Sell

Your existing home now has a job to do on a deadline. Price and manage it accordingly.

Pricing your existing home when another purchase depends on it

Once you've conditionally bought your next home, your current property stops being "let's list it and see what happens." Time now has a dollar value attached to it. Pricing strategy needs to prioritize a real probability of selling within your window over squeezing out every last theoretical dollar the market might eventually pay.

That means paying close attention to actual comparable sales, what's actively competing against you, how fast homes in your price bracket are actually moving, and honest showing feedback in the first week or two. Have a predetermined plan for adjusting price if activity is weak, decided in advance, not improvised under pressure three weeks in. Starting substantially too high wastes the first, and most important, days on market, which are exactly the days you don't have to spare.

Coordinate closings

The back half of the transaction: two closings, one plan.

Coordinating two closing dates

The cleanest scenario on paper is a same-day closing: your sale funds in the morning, your purchase closes in the afternoon, movers go straight from one house to the other. In practice, same-day closings are also the most stressful, because there's very little room for anything to go wrong. A lender funding late, a lawyer's office backed up, a delayed wire transfer, any of it can cascade into a genuinely bad day for everyone involved.

The alternative scenarios are: selling first and buying a few days or weeks later (cleanest financially, requires temporary housing or a very cooperative buyer on your purchase), buying first and selling shortly after (often relies on bridge financing), or a deliberate small gap between the two closings, which can actually reduce stress by giving you a buffer day or two to deal with movers, key handoff, and any last-minute hiccups, at the cost of possibly needing a night or two of temporary accommodation or storage.

There's no universally "right" gap. It's a trade-off between the neatness of same-day closing and the breathing room of a small buffer, and it's worth discussing honestly with your lawyer and REALTOR® rather than defaulting to same-day because it sounds tidier.

Negotiating closing dates strategically

Closing dates can solve problems that price can't. If you need more runway, ask the seller of the home you're buying for a longer closing instead of just competing harder on price. On the sale side, once you have a buyer for your current home, you can sometimes negotiate their closing date to line up with your purchase.

Be careful with informal arrangements like "we'll just stay a few extra days after closing" without anything in writing. Those handshake deals create real legal and insurance exposure for both sides. If you need extra time in a home after it closes, or need to hand over keys early, that needs to be a proper written agreement, not a verbal understanding, and your lawyer should be the one drafting it.

When two mortgages overlap

If you do end up carrying both properties for a stretch, the carrying costs are real and ongoing: two mortgage payments, two property tax bills, two insurance policies, utilities on both, general maintenance, and condo fees if either property has them.

Qualifying to carry both is a lender's math problem. Wanting to actually live that way for a few months is a different question entirely, and it's worth answering honestly before you commit to a strategy that assumes you will.

Insurance considerations

Standard home insurance policies commonly restrict or exclude coverage once a property sits vacant beyond roughly 30 to 60 days, and insurers draw a real distinction between "unoccupied" (still furnished, temporarily empty, owner intends to return) and "vacant" (unfurnished, no intent to return, often the case once a home is actively being sold or sits empty between closings).

If you're going to own two properties even briefly, or one of them will sit empty at any point, call your insurer and tell them. This is general guidance, not a substitute for advice from your own broker, but the pattern across insurers is consistent enough that it's worth flagging: silence about vacancy is how claims get denied.

Legal coordination

Your real estate lawyer is the one physically coordinating sale proceeds, mortgage payouts, new mortgage funding, title work, adjustments, any bridge financing documentation, and the actual transfer of funds on closing day. If you're doing a sale and a purchase at the same time, your lawyer needs to know that early, not the week of closing. Coordinating two files that touch each other is meaningfully more complex than two unrelated transactions, and a lawyer who finds out late has far less room to fix a scheduling problem.

How people get themselves into trouble

A few patterns I see over and over, what I'd call the ways people get themselves into trouble: 

  • House shopping before talking to a lender at all. 
  • Assuming bridge financing will bail them out of a house that hasn't sold yet (it won't, it requires a firm sale first). 
  • Falling for a home before their own property is anywhere close to ready. 
  • Waiting until an offer is accepted to call a photographer. 
  • Overpricing the existing home because they "need" a certain number to make the math work. 
  • Treating an SOBP offer as functionally equal to an unconditional one. 
  • Removing conditions out of fear rather than financial reality. 
  • Assuming pre-approval is a guarantee. 
  • Mentally spending equity before it's actually closed and in hand. 
  • Coordinating two closings with no backup plan if either one slips. 
  • Not telling their lawyer or lender the full picture until late in the process. 
  • Not planning for movers or storage until the last minute. 
  • And believing the highest possible sale price is automatically the best outcome, even when it costs them weeks they didn't have.

Every one of these is avoidable with about two weeks of preparation done at the right time, which is before you start shopping, not after.

Your step-by-step game plan

Phase 1 Get Ready, before you shop:  Meet with a lender or mortgage broker and get a current pre-approval. Confirm your likely mortgage balance and payout penalty at sale. Calculate your estimated equity and net proceeds. Discuss whether bridge financing would be realistic for your situation. Meet with your REALTOR® for a comparative market analysis and a realistic expected price. Walk the property for repairs and deferred maintenance. Complete key repairs. Declutter and stage. Complete professional photography, video, and floor plans. Prepare your MLS listing content and disclosure paperwork. Decide your probable list price and launch strategy, even if you're not activating yet.

Phase 2, Shop:  Identify realistic target properties and neighbourhoods. Understand what you're actually competing against in that price bracket. Decide your absolute maximum, separate from your comfortable budget. Determine honestly whether you need an SOBP condition or can go in without one.

Phase 3, Offer:  Structure the strongest reasonable offer given your situation. Set a realistic SOBP timeline based on how fast your home will actually sell, not how fast you wish it would. Understand exactly how the escape or bump clause in your contract works. Confirm your Plan B in writing, in your own head, before you sign.

Phase 4, Launch:  The moment your offer is accepted, launch your prepared listing. Monitor showings and feedback closely in the first week or two. Adjust price or approach quickly if activity is weak, using the plan you set in advance. Negotiate any incoming offers with your purchase timeline front of mind.

Phase 5, Sell and Coordinate Closings: Loop in your lender and lawyer the moment your sale goes firm. Arrange bridge financing if it's needed and confirmed in writing. Coordinate both closing dates deliberately, not by default. Book movers and any storage needed. Complete both transactions.

A simple decision tree

Start here: do you need to sell your current home to qualify for the next one?

If yes, your path is an SOBP condition or selling first. Ask yourself which risk you'd rather carry: a weaker offer on the next home, or a gap between selling and finding the right replacement. That answer points you to Strategy A or Strategy B above.

If no, but you'll need the sale proceeds for your down payment, an SOBP condition is likely still your path, but you may also qualify for bridge financing once your sale is firm, which gives you more flexibility on closing dates.

If no, and you have enough liquid funds or qualify to carry both properties, ask yourself honestly whether you actually want to carry two properties, not just whether the bank says you can. If yes, Strategy D may fit. If the idea makes you uneasy, Strategy C, prepared but not yet listed, is probably the better emotional and financial fit.

Whichever branch you land on, the answer to "should I get my house ready before I shop" is always yes.

Questions to ask your mortgage professional

  • Can I qualify to buy before my current property sells? 
  • What happens if I end up owning both homes temporarily, even briefly? 
  • Do I qualify for bridge financing, and what specifically has to be true before it's approved? 
  • How much cash will I actually need in hand before my sale closes? 
  • What deposit can I safely commit to right now? 
  • What happens if my purchase closes before my sale does? 
  • What happens if my current home sells for less than we've estimated? 
  • Does my current mortgage have a payout penalty, and what would it be today? 
  • Can my existing mortgage be ported to the new property, and what are the limits on timing? 
  • What happens to my rate if I port versus break the mortgage? 
  • How long is my pre-approval valid for? 
  • What could cause you to change or withdraw my approval between now and closing?

Questions to ask your REALTOR®

  • What would my house realistically sell for today, based on actual comparables? 
  • How quickly are similar homes in my area and price range actually selling right now? What should I do before listing to get the best result? 
  • Can we prepare the entire listing now, even if we don't activate it yet? 
  • How quickly could we launch to market if my purchase offer gets accepted? 
  • What would make my SOBP offer more attractive to a seller? 
  • How do escape and bump clauses typically get handled in this market? 
  • What happens if another offer comes in on the home I want to buy? 
  • What list price gives us the best real chance of selling within the timeframe I need? 
  • And what's our Plan B if showings are weak in the first couple of weeks?

FAQ's

Can I buy another house before selling mine?

In many cases, yes, either by qualifying to carry both properties temporarily, by using an SOBP condition, or through bridge financing once your existing sale is firm.

Will sellers accept an offer conditional on me selling my house?

Sometimes. It depends on market conditions, how desirable their property is, and how strong and well-prepared your offer looks otherwise. A well-prepared SOBP offer is far more likely to be accepted than an unprepared one.

How long do you normally get to sell your home under an SOBP condition?

There's no fixed standard length; it's negotiated based on your situation and how ready your home is to sell. Ask your REALTOR® for a realistic window based on current market speed in your specific price bracket.

Do I need an accepted offer on my home before getting bridge financing?

You need more than that. Most lenders require a firm, unconditional sale agreement plus an accepted purchase agreement on the new home before they'll approve it.

Can both houses close on the same day?

Yes, and it's the cleanest scenario on paper, but it's also the least forgiving if anything runs late. A small buffer between closings is sometimes the more comfortable choice.

What deposit can I safely commit to before my sale closes?

Whatever you can genuinely access without touching money you'll need for moving costs or an emergency reserve, your equity is trapped in your current home until it actually closes, so don't count it as available cash yet.

A practical closing thought

The safest way to handle two transactions at once isn't to somehow predict exactly which house you'll buy or exactly when yours will sell. Nobody can do that reliably. The safest way is to prepare enough in advance that when the right property actually shows up, you already know your financing, your home's realistic value, your selling strategy, your timelines, and your backup plan. Preparation is the only part of this entire process you actually control.

If you've been thinking about moving but haven't started looking because you're not sure where you'd go if your house sold first, or you're worried a conditional offer won't be taken seriously, that's exactly the conversation worth having before there's a sign on your lawn. No pressure. Let's build the plan first.

Call or text 506-852-6477. No pressure, just straight answers.

Strong Roots - Smart Moves

Shane MacPherson, REALTOR®, eXp Realty

The trademarks REALTOR®, REALTORS®, and the REALTOR® logo are controlled by The Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) and identify real estate professionals who are member’s of CREA. The trademarks MLS®, Multiple Listing Service® and the associated logos are owned by CREA and identify the quality of services provided by real estate professionals who are members of CREA. Used under license.