Here's the situation I see all the time: a seller wants to move up to a bigger home, or right-size into something smaller, but they're stuck. They don't want to sell first and end up homeless — but they also don't want to carry two mortgages. Trying to sell and buy at the same time in Iowa feels like a logistics puzzle with no clean solution.
I've walked a lot of Central Iowa clients through this. It's genuinely one of the more complex transactions to sequence — but it's also one of the most manageable when you understand the three main paths and pick the right one for your situation.
Path A: Sell first, then buy. You accept an offer, close, and then go find your next home — sometimes moving into temporary housing in between. This removes financial risk but creates logistical stress. It works best when you have somewhere to land (parents, short-term rental) while you shop and when the market isn't moving so fast that you're chasing inventory.
Path B: Buy first, then sell. You get under contract on the new home and then list your current one. This only works if you can qualify for both mortgages simultaneously, which requires enough income and reserves. Your lender is the first call here — not me. If they can't approve you for both, this path is closed regardless of your preference.
Path C: Contingent simultaneous close. You write your purchase offer with a subject-to-sale contingency — meaning your purchase is contingent on your current home closing. This is the most common path for Iowa move-up buyers, and it's what we'll spend the most time on.
In both DMAAR and CIBR purchase agreements, a subject-to-sale (sometimes called a "sale of current home") contingency allows you to purchase the new property only if your current home sells and closes by a specified date. The seller of your new home accepts that their deal depends on you successfully selling yours.
The risk for the seller: if another buyer comes along while you're still selling your home, the seller can issue a notice — usually with a 72-hour or specified window — giving you the option to remove your contingency or release the contract. This is the "bump" clause, and it's real. If you're running a subject-to-sale, you need to be actively marketing your home, not just thinking about it.
The right move is to list your current home before — or simultaneously with — writing the contingent offer on the next one. Sellers of attractive properties are more likely to accept a contingent offer from a buyer who is already active on the market than from someone who hasn't even listed yet.
Two tools that often get overlooked in these conversations: bridge loans and post-close occupancy agreements (leasebacks).
A bridge loan is short-term financing that lets you access the equity in your current home before it closes — essentially giving you down payment funds for the new purchase without waiting on your sale. They're not as widely used in Iowa as in higher-priced markets, but they exist and can be the right tool if you find the right next home before your current one closes.
A post-close occupancy agreement (leaseback) is different — here, you sell your current home, close on it, but negotiate the right to continue living there for 30-60 days as a tenant while your new purchase closes. This is common in the Central Iowa market and a clean way to bridge the gap without renting a storage unit and crashing at your in-laws.
For the average move-up seller in Ankeny, Johnston, or the surrounding communities, here's the order of operations I walk people through: Start with your lender to understand your qualification ceiling and whether you can carry two mortgages even temporarily. Get a market analysis done on your current home so you know your net proceeds and realistic timeline. Then list your home — or at minimum prepare it to list — before writing any offer on the next property. If you find the right next home first, you can write a contingent offer with your listing already active.
The worst outcome I see is sellers who hold off on listing because they haven't found the next place yet — and then find it, scramble to list, and end up in a rushed situation on both ends. Front-loading the preparation removes that pressure.
There's no single playbook that works for every simultaneous seller-buyer — the right path depends on your equity position, your timeline flexibility, and how competitive the segment you're buying into is right now. If you're starting to think through a move in Central Iowa, reach out. We can map the whole thing out before you make any commitments.
Let's talk through your specific situation — no pressure.