How do you sell your Highland Village home and buy another in Dallas-Fort Worth?

• It is two transactions that depend on each other. What you keep from the sale is often the down payment on the purchase.
• Your real number comes first. Market value, minus your payoff, minus selling costs.
• The lender comes before the sign. They tell you what you can buy and whether you need to sell first.
• You have several options. Sell first and stay a few days after closing, buy first, offer contingent on selling your home, or close both the same day.
• When you move, your homestead moves. You can only have one; the new one is filed with the appraisal district of your new home's county.

Highland Village is a home-rule city in Denton County on Lake Lewisville. That means your current home's taxable value is set by the Denton County appraisal district, and when you sell, your taxes for the year are prorated through closing day.

As a Texas seller, in most home sales you provide the Seller's Disclosure Notice, where you share what you know about the home's condition. Filling it out carefully from the start prevents problems later. See more about the city on the Highland Village page.

1. Get your real number. A market value from recent comparable sales in Highland Village, your written payoff and your selling costs. That tells you what you have for the next home.
2. Talk to the lender. With your documents, they tell you what you can buy, whether the loan depends on selling first, and what options you have to use your equity.
3. Pick your option. Sell first (and negotiate staying a few days after closing), buy first, offer contingent on the sale of your home, or coordinate both closings. Each has its own risk and cost.
4. Prepare your home and shop at the same time. You already know what to look for and what you can spend.
5. Put both dates on one page. Your sale's closing date, your purchase's closing date, the option period on each contract and moving day.
6. Close. The title company pays off your mortgage from the sale, and what is left goes to your account or straight into your purchase.
7. Move your homestead. Once you live in the new home, file the exemption with that county's appraisal district.

Here's what happens next: to see which option fits you, answer 5 questions and see which option fits you.

• Sell first. You know exactly what you have to buy with. The risk is a few days without a home, which you can solve by negotiating to stay after closing. Read about staying in your house after you sell.
• Buy first. You move once and calmly, but the lender has to approve you carrying both homes or with a loan that uses your equity.
• Offer contingent on selling your home. Texas has an addendum for it. Some sellers accept it and some do not; read whether a seller can turn down your offer if you have not sold.
• Close both the same day. It can be done, with dates tied down tightly and the title company coordinating the money.

No option is best for everyone. The one that fits depends on your number, your loan and how much cushion you want. What matters is choosing it on purpose, before the first contract is signed, instead of discovering it under pressure.

Many families leaving Highland Village look at new construction. That adds a third clock: the builder's. A home under construction has an estimated completion date that can move, while your sale has a closing date that will not wait.

Here's what that means for you: with a new build, it usually works better to lock in your sale once the builder's date is firmer, or to negotiate from the start to stay a few days after you sell. Read the builder contract for what happens if the build runs late, and do not sign your sale with a date that depends on construction that is not finished yet.

You will be living in your home while it is shown and while you shop for the next one. A simple plan helps: what gets packed before photos, how to leave quickly for a showing, and which days are off limits. A tidy home shows better and sells with less stress for everyone in the family.

It also helps to start packing what you will not need in the next few months. Whatever you box up now is one less thing to move in a hurry when both closings land in the same week, and it makes every room look bigger in the meantime.

• Putting up the sign before talking to the lender. You sell, then discover your next loan requires something you did not have ready.
• Signing two contracts whose dates do not line up. That is how people end up moving twice and paying for storage.
• Assuming you have to sell first, no matter what. That used to be true when there were few other choices. Today there are several options, and a lender confirms which apply to you.
• Using the appraisal district value. That number is for taxes, not for selling.
• Forgetting the new homestead. File it with the appraisal district in your new home's county.

Picture a family in Highland Village whose kids are grown, who want a single-story home with more land somewhere else in Dallas-Fort Worth. First they got their real number: market value, payoff and selling costs. With that, they met with a lender, who explained they could buy first using part of their equity.

They chose to buy first and list their home once they had a closing date on the new one. Both dates went on one page, and they moved once. This is an example, not a real client; every family and every loan is different.

On the moves Veronica Yeary guides in Dallas-Fort Worth, the sale and the purchase are planned together from day one, because one without the other is half a plan.

• Your market value from recent comparable sales in Highland Village.
• Your payoff, in writing.
• What the lender says about buying before or after you sell.
• Your selling costs: read every cost of selling a house in Texas.
• Your plan with dates: read the plan on paper for selling and buying with dates.
• The next home: taxes, MUD or PID, insurance and flood risk before you offer.

Can I buy a new home before selling my Highland Village home?

Often, yes. It depends on your income, your debts and what the lender confirms, sometimes with a loan that uses your equity. Talk to the lender before the sign goes up.

What is the best way to sell and buy at the same time?

There is no single best way. You can sell first and stay a few days, buy first, offer contingent on selling your home, or close both the same day. The right one depends on your real number and your loan.

What happens to my property taxes when I sell in Highland Village?

They are prorated. Texas taxes for a year are paid after the year ends, so at closing you pay your share through closing day. The value is set by the Denton County appraisal district.

What happens to my homestead exemption when I move?

You can only have one homestead. Once you live in the new home, you file for the exemption with that county's appraisal district using Form 50-114.

How do I avoid moving twice?

Put both closing dates on one page from the start, along with each contract's option period and moving day. If the dates do not line up, negotiate staying a few days after you sell or coordinate same-day closings.

Before the sign goes up in Highland Village, see which option fits you for selling and buying. It is five questions, and then we talk it through with your situation.

Answer 5 questions and see which option fits you: veronicayeary.com/sell-and-buy

Call or text 469-441-8890 · veronica@veronicayeary.com