How to buy and sell a property at once – TheNigerialawyer

Abiodun Doherty

[email protected]^[1]

There are many reasons why people sell their properties. One of
the less common reason is to fund another property purchase. The
current property might be in a location that the owner no longer
desires. A property owner could have purchased a property several
years prior as a residential property because the area was quiet
and serene.

Many years after, the area might have developed into a
commercial area, noisy and rough. There are also instances when the
property owner previously built a large property when the children
were young. As the cost of maintenance increases and the children
become adults the couple may decide to downsize and move into a
smaller property.

The fact is that a person might decide for several reasons to
sell one property and use all or part of the proceeds to buy
another property. There have been situations where a widow or
widower living in a large house has decided to sell and move into
an apartment in order to have the opportunity of interacting with
others.

Maintaining a property might become impractical or unpragmatic.
It might make more economic or practical sense to sell a property
and then move into another one which could be bigger or smaller
than the previous property. Whatever the reason for this decision,
it is always better to approach the issue pragmatically and
systematically.

One of the first steps is to decide what you want and then walk
backwards to get it. If your current property is sold, what type of
property would you like to purchase and why? It is important to
know what you want and the cost of getting it. You should have a
fair idea of the area that you would like to move to and research
the average sale price of properties in that location.

If the properties in the area that you are targeting are more
expensive than the area that you plan to sell you might need to
reconsider your strategy. If the property price is significantly
cheaper you might still have some money to keep or save or invest
after purchasing your targeted location.

The above consideration is what will lead you to decide on the
cost of sale of your property and how quickly you want the property
sold. The less time you have to negotiate and conclude the sale the
more disadvantage it gives you. Therefore this type of decision
should not be left to when you will be under pressure to make it.
You should also avoid putting yourself under pressure to sell by
agreeing with a seller and guaranteeing payment when you are yet to
have a buyer for your property.

It is also wise to avoid a situation whereby you would have sold
your property, but you are forced to move into a rented property or
given a short time frame in which to give the new owner vacant
possession while you have no property to purchase. The illusion of
having a large amount of money in your account could result in
several unnecessary purchases which will deplete your resources and
could hinder or delay your opportunity to buy a more strategically
located property.

One of the critical issues that you should address is your
finances. You need to prepare for some likely scenarios that could
occur in situations like this. What will you do if you see a
property that you would like to buy but your property is not yet
sold and is not attracting enough interests?

If you have some savings that you could use to make a deposit
that would be a step in the right direction. If this is not the
case, you may need to start looking for a bridging loan that you
could use as leverage to purchase the property. The seller of the
property is not oblige to wait until when you have sold your
property except you negotiate that during the process and he or she
is willing to accept an amount as deposit.

It is important to involve your Estate Agent and Solicitor early
in the process. In order for these professionals to be able to
assist you, they must know what you want and how much you are
prepared to spend. Your property search and marketing of your own
property for sale need to go on simultaneously. Depending on the
state of the market, they might be able to bring the two
negotiations to a close at almost the same time and where it is
unrealistic to expect a prompt sale they will advise you
appropriately. However, if well managed, you can sell your property
and buy another one at the same time.

Subscribe ToNairalaw News!