Newbie question here folks. My wife and I currently own our first (20% down on a condo in San Francisco in 2009; fixed 30-year loan). Obviously at some point (maybe 2-4 years from now) we would like to trade up. But how is that typically done? Or, more importantly, what's the smartest way to do that? It seems really difficult to do the juggling act. For example:
-- Seems smart to do a staging for Home A so that it looks great, and you can get the best price for it. But obviously you can't be living in Home A while it's being staged for prospective buyers. But moving to Home B entails your having already made the purchase and closed the loan for Home B. Which means that you're now carrying two mortgages. Which is financially risky if Home A takes a long time to sell.
So what's the best way to trade up (for relatively young people who have a sizeable mortgage on Home A)? Specifically: what should the desired order of events be? Thanks!