A home sale transaction can present one of the most stressful situations a person will encounter in their entire life. So what about those forced into situations where they are selling and buying at the same time?

Agent Teresa Hamilton of Lafayette, LA (teresahamilton.com/Blog) points out that if the timing of either transaction is thrown off by issues out of their control, sellers may find themselves either owning two homes at the same time or with no home at all and desperately searching for a short term rental.

Hamilton says closing on the sale of both homes simultaneously allows the seller to avoid a multiple move scenario. They also avoid having to secure a temporary residence and other hassles related to selling their old home before closing on a new one, and the expense of carrying two mortgages, two sets of utilities, and the care of a vacant house or management of a rental.

Anthony Lamacchia (mlrealtyne.com) out of Waltham, Mass., offers the following tips for homeowners in this situation:

• Negotiate a longer period until the closing date when you obtain a buyer for your home. Instead of the typical 45-day closing try to negotiate 60 or even 90 days so you have time to find the home you want.
• Disclose in your listing that closing the deal is “subject to seller finding suitable housing” to alert buyers that you have to find a home to move to.
• Or if you don’t disclose the above contingency publicly in your listing on MLS, you can still try to negotiate it into your offer and purchase and sales agreement.
• Sell your home to a buyer and request that they allow you to rent it back from them for a month or two until you find a home.
• Consider temporarily living with family or even try a short term rental.

Lamacchia believes this last alternative is actually the least stressful way to buy because the seller has the money in hand which makes it easier to buy. There is also less stress in doing one thing at a time.