Larry and Ruth: Two closings, one day.
Larry and Ruth had not bought or sold a home in more than twenty years. Working with The Finigan Group in Charlotte, NC, they listed their Mint Hill house, drew five offers across nine days on the market, and closed on the sale and the purchase of their next home on the same day, moving directly from one house to the other.
They had lived on that cul-de-sac since 2006. Two stories, four bedrooms, most of an acre backing up to woods, a screened porch that got used every warm evening for two decades. It was the right house for a long time.
What changed was the stairs, and where their daughter lived. Larry and Ruth wanted one level, or close to it, with the primary bedroom on the main floor. They wanted less square footage to keep up with. Most of all they wanted to be near their daughter and son-in-law, who had been telling them for a while that there was room in the neighborhood.
The problem was the order of operations. The money for the next house was sitting inside this one. They needed the sale to fund the purchase, and they were clear from the first conversation that they would not be moving into a rental, a relative’s guest room, or a storage unit in between. One move. One day, if it could be done.
5 OFFERS | 9 DAYS ON MARKET | 99% OF LIST | TWO CLOSINGS, ONE DAY
How do you buy and sell at the same time in Charlotte?
You run both sides on one clock, and you build in room for the day something slips.
That means the listing and the home search start together rather than in sequence. Brody began showing Larry and Ruth houses while we were still preparing theirs, so that when an offer came in they already knew what they were buying into and what it would cost. It means writing the sale contract with a closing date the purchase can actually reach. And it means being honest that a contract is not a closing, which matters more in a tandem deal than in any other kind, because a single termination moves two families instead of one.
The search taught us something early. One community they toured had rules that would have taken the yard work out of Larry’s hands, and he passed.
“He wanted a smaller house, not a smaller life.”
What we did
We priced it where the seller believed it, then let the market rule. Our opinion of value came in at $500,000. Larry disagreed. He had been watching what sold around him and told us plainly he would not take less than that, and that he wanted negotiating room above it. We listed at $515,000. He was right, and the market said so within seventy-two hours.
We ran a coming soon window before going live. The house sat in coming soon status for ten days while we finished photography and Larry and Ruth got the house ready. That preparation is theirs, not ours. We told them what buyers would notice and they did the work, which is why the photos look like the house rather than like a house.
We went live on a Monday and let the weekend do its job. The listing went active the morning of June 8. Ten showings came through in the first four days, including two the same afternoon it went public.
We put every offer in front of them side by side. Three offers arrived by Wednesday. Rather than take the highest number and move on, we walked Larry and Ruth through what each one actually meant for their timeline, since a strong price on a contract that closes too late is worth less than a slightly lower one that lands on the day their purchase needs it.
How the market responded
They accepted a cash offer on Thursday, three days after the sign went in the yard. It came in above asking, which is not something we take credit for. That is what a well-prepared house in a cul-de-sac in Mint Hill was worth to the right buyer in June, and Larry’s read on price is what made room for it.
Then it fell through. The buyer terminated during due diligence and released the contract without giving Larry and Ruth the chance to address what came up. That is the part of this story worth sitting with, because it is the part sellers dread, and it happened here to people who had done everything right.
We put the house back on the market on June 23. Seven more showings came through in six days. Two separate buyers, who knew nothing about each other, came back with the same number: $510,000. When the market tells you the same thing twice from two directions, you can trust it.
The second contract held. It closed on August 5 at $510,000, ninety-nine percent of list, nine days on market across both rounds.
The purchase closed that same day. There was a punch list on the house they were buying, and our contractor walked it with them before closing so nothing carried over into their first week. They handed over the keys to one house and picked up the keys to the other, and that night they slept in the new place. No rental, no gap, no storing the furniture.
They bought that Mint Hill house in 2006 for $261,500. Twenty years of raising a family in it, and it carried them into the next chapter.
We did love our experience with Josh and Brody!! It was very overwhelming for us since it’s been 20 years since we have bought and sold any property but they both had a way of talking us through every step and making us feel like everything was going to be okay. It was a challenging process but without Josh and Brody it would have been traumatic.
Larry and Ruth W., Mint Hill
What this means if you are trying to buy and sell at the same time
Start both sides before you think you need to. The single biggest cause of temporary housing is a seller who lists first and starts looking second, then finds the right house three weeks after they should have.
Expect a contract to fall through and plan as though one will. It usually does not, but a plan that only works if nothing goes wrong is not a plan.
Price it where you can defend it, and then listen to what the showings tell you in the first week. The market answers faster than most people expect, and it is rarely subtle about it.
And say the non-negotiable out loud at the first meeting. Larry and Ruth told us they would not move twice. Everything after that was built around that sentence.
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Yes, and it is more common than most people expect. It works when both transactions are scheduled against one another from the start, with a sale closing date the purchase can realistically meet. The risk is a contract falling through on either side, so the schedule needs slack built into it rather than a perfect sequence that only works if nothing moves.
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During the due diligence period a buyer in North Carolina can terminate for any reason and receive their earnest money back, though the due diligence fee generally stays with the seller. The home goes back on the market. Buyers who see it return often assume something is wrong, which is why how quickly and how transparently a listing comes back matters.
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Not necessarily. Moving directly from one home to the next requires both closings to land on or near the same day, which takes coordination but is achievable. The alternative options are a rent-back agreement with your buyer, a bridge loan, or temporary housing. Which one fits depends on whether your purchase depends on proceeds from the sale.
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It depends on price, condition, and timing more than location. This home was under contract in three days and spent nine total days on the market across two contracts. That is faster than typical. A realistic expectation for a well-prepared, correctly priced home in the Mint Hill area is a matter of weeks rather than days.
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In most cases you should start looking before you list, but not commit before you have a contract. Knowing what you are buying shapes what you can accept on the sale. Making an offer before your own home is under contract puts you in a weak negotiating position and carries real risk if the sale slips.
What we changed, and what the market said
