Buy a home before selling your current one in Kensington

Deciding to buy before you sell in Kensington hinges on equity more than on timing. Census estimates for 2020-2024 count 1,353 owner-occupied homes in ZIP 20895 with no mortgage, roughly a quarter of the total. To an underwriter, a paid-off house reads as collateral rather than a second monthly obligation. Owners who still owe on a loan aren’t shut out. Their approval simply needs more income on paper, because the lender sizes both payments at once.

Three tools usually close the gap. A home equity line, opened while you still occupy the current house, carries modest costs and can supply a down payment. Bridge financing handles larger gaps but prices in more risk. Making the purchase contingent on your sale removes the double payment, though Kensington sellers with other interest often decline that clause. Your lender lays all three out on one page with monthly figures, and we compare them with you before any showings.

Tax credits need a look while two houses overlap. On levy year 2025 bills, 4,919 principal residences in 20895 carried the county property tax credit, worth $692 apiece. The homestead cap matters more. It holds annual growth in taxable value to 10% on a main home, and Maryland expects the owner to live there six months or more each year. A house left vacant across most of a year can lose it.

With financing chosen, a single calendar links both settlements: the purchase, the move, prep of the empty house, the listing and the sale. Here’s the order we’d do it in, adjusted to your dates. Buy a home before selling your current one explains the approach in general terms. Projected sale proceeds come from our seller net sheet in Kensington, and staging the vacant rooms runs through pre-listing preparation in Kensington. Larger estate moves get their own treatment in Buy before you sell in Potomac. For a fresh value on the current house, our Kensington real estate agent usually replies within two business days.