Sell first, or build first?

A couple I worked with fell in love with a new build. The builder's deadline set the schedule, which meant their current home had to sell in 45 days. It did. But for six weeks the thing we were managing was the calendar, not the market.

You know your number and you're a clean buyer, so the builder has less leverage over you. The tradeoff is that you may be out of your house before the new one is finished, and you need somewhere to go.

You keep your house and move once. The tradeoff is carrying two payments if the sale takes longer than you planned, and making pricing decisions under pressure, which is how people leave money behind.

Some builders accept a sale contingency. Many don't, and the ones that do often price it in. Ask before you are committed to a homesite, not after. What a builder will accept is a negotiation, and it is easier to have before you sign.

A short-term rental, family, or a leaseback from your buyer. Each has a cost, and that cost belongs in your all-in number rather than in a mental note.

When the builder's real deadline is, not the one the sales office quotes. What your house is worth today. What it needs before it hits the market. And how fast comparable homes on your street are actually moving.