Often, yes. There are four common ways to move from one home to the next: sell first, buy with an offer that depends on your sale, use the equity in your current home to buy first, or line up both closings together. Which ones are open to you depends on your equity, your income and the market that month.
The simplest and safest for your finances. You know exactly what you walked away with. The trade-off is where you live in between. A rent-back from your buyer or a short rental can bridge the gap.
Your offer says you will buy once your home sells. Sellers accept these more readily when your home is already listed and priced well, and less readily when they have other offers.
Some owners can tap the equity in their current home, or qualify to carry both homes for a short time, and buy before selling. There are a few ways to do this and each has costs. Whether you qualify is a lending question, and it is the first thing I check.
Your sale and your purchase close the same day or a few days apart, so the money from one funds the other. It takes tight coordination between both transactions.
Every one of these depends on what you will clear from your sale. The sell-then-buy calculator shows your estimated proceeds, the down payment that becomes, and the size of the new loan.
This is where being both your agent and your lender matters most. I price your home, estimate your proceeds, and tell you which of the four routes your finances allow, without waiting on a call between two offices.
Tell me what you are looking for and I will line up homes, run the payment on each one and answer the questions a listing can’t.