How should I price my house if I'm also buying the next one in Dallas-Fort Worth?

• Your buyer doesn't pay what you need for your next home. They pay what similar sales support.
• An inflated price stalls both moves. If your home sits, your purchase sits too.
• A giveaway price drains the money for your next step. Selling fast doesn't have to mean selling cheap.
• The number that matters is what you walk away with: a realistic price, minus your payoff, minus your selling costs.
• Price, order and dates get decided together, before the sign goes up, with your lender in the conversation.

It's the most natural thing in the world. You know what you want to put down on the next home, you know your payoff, and you work backward: "I need to sell for this much." The problem is that buyers never see your math. They see your home next to the others for sale, and their lender sends a licensed appraiser to value it for the loan.

If your price sits above what similar sales support, two things happen. Fewer buyers come, because they compare and move on to the other house. And if someone does offer, the appraisal can come in low and you're renegotiating. Meanwhile, the home you wanted to buy goes to someone else.

Here's what that means for you: the price you need is a question for the plan, not for the listing. If a realistic price doesn't leave enough for the home you want, what changes is the purchase plan, the order or the timing, not the list price.

The opposite trap shows up once you've found the home you love. It's tempting to drop your price so yours sells immediately. Sometimes coming in a bit more competitive makes sense, but cutting too deep just to move fast can take exactly the money you need for the down payment or the costs of buying.

A well-placed price, inside the range your comparative market analysis supports, already draws the buyers of the first few weeks, when your home gets the most attention. More on that in selling fast to buy is not selling cheap.

1. Lender first. With your documents, the lender tells you what you can buy, whether you need to sell first and what they expect to see. If you're self-employed, they look at how your income reads on paper. Don't change how you earn or file without talking to me first.
2. A comparative market analysis of your home. Similar sales, today's competition, listings that didn't sell, and adjustments for condition and upgrades. How it's built: what a comparative market analysis is.
3. Your real number. Realistic price, minus your payoff, minus selling costs, including the commission, which we agree on in writing before we start. Run it in the walk-away calculator.
4. Search before the sign. See what's out there in the cities you want, using your real number. Then you know whether what you want exists before you commit your home.
5. The order. Sell first, buy contingent on selling, or line up both closings. Each option changes how your offer reads and how much risk you carry.
6. The final price and launch plan. Inside the analysis range, with the home ready, good photos and dates that match your purchase.

Not sure which order fits you? Answer 5 questions here and see your options.

When you're selling and buying, what you're negotiating isn't only a number. It's also dates. A buyer who gives you the closing date you need, or lets you stay a few days after closing under a written agreement, is handing you something of real value. Sometimes a slightly lower offer with the right dates leaves you better off than a higher one that forces you to move twice.

The purchase side works the same way. TREC has an addendum for when you need to sell and close your current home in order to buy. It protects you, but the seller weighs it. And your option period, the window when you can terminate for any reason because you paid an option fee, needs enough days for your inspections. It's two negotiating tables at once, which I cover in two negotiating tables.

• Working the math backward. Starting from the home you want and deriving your list price from it. Start from what your home is actually worth.
• Listing before talking to a lender. It used to be common to sell first and figure it out later. Today it pays to know first whether you can buy without selling, or what the lender needs.
• Forgetting selling costs. The price isn't what you keep. What you keep is what's left after your payoff and your costs.
• Ignoring dates when comparing offers. The highest offer isn't always the best one if it leaves you without a home for a week.
• Panic-cutting in week two. If the price is well placed, give the strategy time. If showings don't come, review it with data, not fear.

Picture a couple in Frisco who want a home with more land in another Collin County city. They worked the math backward and wanted to list above what similar sales support, to reach the home they had seen.

First they talk with a lender and learn they can buy before selling, with some conditions. Then the analysis of their home shows a clear range. Using the realistic price and the calculator, they see what they'll walk away with. It isn't enough for that particular home, but it fits several similar ones elsewhere in the county.

So they decide: a price inside the range, a focused search with their real number, and a closing date that lets them move once. Their home sells in the first weeks because the price makes sense, and the purchase closes with the dates lined up.

That's an illustration, not a real client. But that's what it looks like when price, order and dates get decided together.

• Your lender letter, and whether you can buy without selling first.
• Your current loan payoff, requested from your lender with a date.
• A comparative market analysis of your home, with similar sales and today's competition.
• Your real number: what you walk away with when you sell in DFW.
• The search for your next home, using that number, before the sign goes up.
• Dates on both sides, on paper.

If I'm buying another home, should I price mine higher?

No. Your buyer doesn't pay what you need for your next home; they pay what the market supports. Pricing above what similar sales justify usually makes the home sit, and that delays your purchase too.

Should I price low so it sells fast and I can buy the home I want?

Not as a rule. A well-placed price, inside what similar sales support, already draws buyers in the first weeks. Cutting too deep just to move fast can cost you money you need for the next step.

What if my home sells before I find the next one?

You have options: negotiate the closing date, stay in your home for a while after it sells under a written agreement, or have your search ready before the sign goes up. The key is deciding before you sign, not after.

Can I make an offer before my current home sells?

Yes. TREC has an addendum for when a buyer needs to sell and close their current home in order to buy. It protects your money, though some sellers are less eager to accept it. Your lender tells you whether you can buy without selling first.

How do I know how much I'll have for the next home?

Start with a realistic sale price, subtract your loan payoff, then subtract your selling costs. That number, together with what your lender tells you, sets the size of your next step.

Your list price and your next purchase get decided together. If you want to see which way of selling and buying fits you, start here. Answer 5 questions and see which option fits you: veronicayeary.com/sell-and-buy.

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

Veronica Yeary, Realtor®, CRS · ABR · SRS · CIPS, All City Real Estate DFW.