Here’s What to Do If You’ve Found Your Dream Home But Haven’t Sold Yet

Why Timing Is So Hard to Get Right When Buying a Home

In a perfect world, you’d sell your home, have the money ready, and buy your next place without any overlap. In reality, the timelines rarely line up. You might find the right property before you’re ready to list, or an opportunity may come up faster than you anticipated. That’s not a reason to let the home go.

Using a Second Mortgage as a Bridge to your Dream Home

One strategy that can work well in this situation is setting up a second mortgage on your current home. The idea is straightforward: the equity in your existing home is used to cover the down payment on the new purchase, giving you the ability to make an offer without waiting for your sale to close first.

Here’s the key: in an ideal scenario, that second mortgage never actually funds. It’s there as a safety net while you get your home listed and an offer accepted. Once you have a firm sale in place, the file gets reworked using those proceeds, and the second mortgage becomes unnecessary.

How to Make the Timing Work for your Dream Home

If you’re going this route, a few things matter:

• Negotiate as long a closing date as possible on the new purchase. Two to three months can give you meaningful runway to get your home listed and sold.
• The goal is to get your home ready to list quickly, so decluttering, staging, and pricing it properly will matter.
• Work with a mortgage broker early so the second mortgage is in place and ready if you need it.

The goal is to buy yourself enough time that everything resolves before the second mortgage ever has to fund.

Whether you are preparing to buy your first home or your fifth, if you’re looking to get pre-approved for a mortgage in Edmonton, fill out my online application. I’m here to help you every step of the way.