The gap between selling and buying is not something that happens to you — it's a structure you choose before you list. We work through four sequencing options with you: sell first with a use-and-occupancy period, buy first using bridge financing or a HELOC (evaluated with lender partners, not promised by us), a sale-contingent offer, or an extended rent-back. Each has a different cost and a different risk profile. A typical negotiated use-and-occupancy period runs one to three weeks; bridge financing carries a real cost beyond a conventional mortgage — exact terms depend on the lender partner and are confirmed case by case — which is a cost to weigh against losing a contingent offer in a competitive market. The result: no gap you didn't choose.

Once proceeds are known, the question becomes where they go. We build offer strategy from comp-derived pricing bands — what similar homes have actually closed at recently — rather than anchoring on a list price the market may have already moved past. We also build in a reserve before modeling your maximum purchase power, so the equity that got you here isn't fully committed on day one. That guardrail matters most in a multiple-offer situation, where the pressure to stretch is highest and the cost of over-allocating shows up later, not at the closing table.