Buying a bigger home | A growing family's next chapter
A bedroom for the baby. A backyard to play in. A home you can grow into together.
The home that was right a few years ago may feel different today. If you are ready for more space but wondering how to buy your next home while you still own this one, let's make a plan that puts your family first.
Let's Plan Your Next HomeComplimentary 30-minute discovery call.
A real client story, with possibilities ahead
Andrew and Katy have been married for a few years. After their wedding, Katy moved into the home Andrew had bought when he was single. It was a place to begin their life together. Now they are expecting a baby, and they are ready for a home with more room to raise their family.
Let’s work out how much cash you would need before the sale and what carrying both homes could mean for your payment. That helps us decide which buying-and-selling options deserve a closer look.
Amy DeBusk | Branch Manager & Mortgage Advisor
Amy DeBusk Home Loans, powered by loanDepot
They are pre-approved and preparing their current home for sale. Their plan is to buy first, get settled, and then sell. They would like to make a smaller down payment on the new home, then use part of their sale proceeds to pay down the new mortgage and request a recast.
That gives us a meaningful planning conversation: how much cash to use now, what payments they can comfortably carry during the transition, and how they want their finances to look after the sale. They also have other paths to consider, including a buy-before-you-sell option, a bridge loan, or keeping Andrew's first home as a rental.
More space is about more than square footage. It might mean a nursery near your bedroom, a backyard for a dog and a swing set, room for visiting grandparents, or a kitchen where everyone can gather.
Before we choose financing, we talk about your priorities, your timeline, and your spending plan. A new baby's arrival may change childcare costs, leave arrangements, or savings goals. Your next home should leave room for that life, too.
We also look at your current home's likely sale proceeds after the mortgage payoff and selling costs, rather than treating its estimated equity as cash already available.
You can also sell before buying or consider a sale-contingent offer. Buying first is one set of options, not a requirement. Use the Dream Home Planner to compare what you want from the move.
This is the path Andrew and Katy are planning toward. If you qualify to buy while keeping your current mortgage, you may be able to use available savings for a smaller down payment and purchase before the sale. Once the old home sells, you can put a lump sum toward the new loan and request a recast if that loan is eligible.
The benefit is time to move and settle in before selling. We need to plan for the initial payment, any mortgage insurance, both homes' carrying costs, and a cushion if the sale takes longer than expected. The future lower payment cannot replace qualifying for the purchase as it stands today.
See how a recast works →A structured buy-before-you-sell option may help with the timing or equity obstacles of purchasing your next home. Depending on the option, it may involve an equity advance, a purchase arrangement, or another way of coordinating the old home's sale with the new purchase.
We compare the specific fees, property requirements, sale deadlines, and how your existing mortgage is treated for qualification. This is a separate option to evaluate, not something every buyer needs in order to buy first.
Explore Buy Before You Sell →A bridge loan is short-term financing that can make equity available before your existing home sells, often to help fund the next purchase. It adds borrowing costs and a repayment deadline, so we plan how it will be repaid and what happens if the sale takes longer.
Learn About Bridge Loans →Andrew and Katy could also decide to keep their home as a rental. That would change the plan: instead of receiving sale proceeds for a recast, they would own and manage two properties.
We would review realistic rent, repairs, vacancies, insurance, property management, and reserves. Whether rental income can help them qualify depends on the loan's documentation and calculation rules. We cannot simply count all anticipated rent as available income.
Keeping a home can be a step toward a longer-term investment goal, but it should fit your family's time, cash flow, and comfort with being landlords.
Explore Your First Rental Property →Making your sale proceeds work for your new home
If keeping your current home sounds appealing, begin with first-time landlord planning before choosing financing. It covers expenses, reserves, and the responsibilities alongside the potential rent.
A recast recalculates your monthly principal-and-interest payment after a substantial principal payment. Your interest rate and remaining loan term stay the same. It is not a refinance.
For Andrew and Katy, the intended sequence is: buy, move in, sell their previous home, put part of the net proceeds toward the new mortgage, then ask the servicer to recalculate the payment.
A lump-sum principal payment by itself generally does not lower the required monthly payment. Recasting is the additional step. Eligibility, minimum principal payments, fees, and timing vary by loan and servicer, so we confirm those details before relying on this strategy.
Taxes and insurance remain separate costs. Mortgage insurance removal also has its own requirements and is not automatic with a recast.
Explore Recasting in More Detail →We review qualification, available cash, your current mortgage, and the payment you want your growing family to live with.
I'll help you compare the cash needed, payments before and after a sale, and a backup plan if the timing changes. My team can coordinate the mortgage timeline with your real estate professional, or help you connect with one if your homebuying team is not yet in place.
We map the costs of owning both homes, moving, preparing for the baby, and keeping savings available.
We compare the expected payment after an eligible recast with the costs and responsibilities of keeping a rental.
If buying first does not fit comfortably, selling first or coordinating the two closings may be another way forward. The goal is a home and a transition that work for your family.
Conventional home loans and other loan options can play different roles in that plan. Moving to a different area is its own conversation: visit our separate relocation page.
You do not have to choose between all these paths on your own. Like Andrew and Katy, you can start with what you want your next home to make possible, then work through the numbers and timing with me.
Meet with me by Zoom, by phone, or at my Roseville office by appointment.
