There are five realistic ways to buy in Brandon before you sell: a bridge loan, a HELOC on your current house, hard money, a sale contingency offer, or buying with cash and doing delayed financing afterward. Which one fits depends on how much equity you have, how strong your income is, and whether you can carry two payments for a few months. The expensive mistake is picking the tool first and checking the math second.
This comes up constantly in Brandon, Valrico and Riverview because inventory moves and people do not want to lose the house they actually want while they wait for a buyer on the one they are in.
Option 1: a bridge loan
A bridge loan is short-term financing secured by your current home, your new home, or both. You use it for the down payment on the new house, then pay it off when the old house sells.
What to know: terms are usually 6 to 12 months, interest-only, with rates well above a conventional mortgage. There are origination costs, and some bridge products require that your existing home already be listed. The underwriting looks at your combined debt, so strong income matters.
Bridge loans are clean when they work. They are expensive if your old house sits.
Option 2: a HELOC on your current house
If you have equity and good credit, a home equity line of credit is usually the cheapest version of this strategy. You draw what you need for the down payment, buy the new house, then pay the line down from your sale proceeds.
The catch is timing. You have to open the HELOC before you list. Lenders generally will not originate a home equity line on a property that is actively listed for sale, and many will not fund one if the house goes on the market during underwriting. So this is a decision you make two months early, not two weeks early.
My take: if you have the equity and you are even considering buying first, open the line now while your house is not listed. An unused HELOC costs you almost nothing. Not having one when you need it costs you the house.
Option 3: hard money
Hard money is asset-based lending from a private lender. They care about the property and your equity far more than your tax returns. It closes fast, sometimes in a week or two.
It is also the most expensive option here: higher rates, points up front, and short terms. I treat hard money as a tool for investors and for genuinely unusual situations, not as a default for a homeowner trading up. If it is the only option that works, the real question is whether the deal is good enough to justify it.
Option 4: a sale contingency offer
You make an offer on the new house that is contingent on your current house selling. No bridge, no HELOC, no double payment.
This costs you nothing in interest and a lot in competitiveness. A seller comparing your contingent offer against a clean one will usually take the clean one, even at a slightly lower price, because yours carries a risk theirs does not.
How to make a contingent offer actually land:
- Be under contract already, not just listed. A contingency on a house that is already under contract with an inspection period behind it is a completely different animal than a contingency on a house that has not had a showing.
- Shorten the window. A 30-day contingency reads very differently than a 90-day one.
- Add a kick-out clause on your terms. Letting the seller continue marketing with a 72-hour right to bump you is often what gets a contingent offer accepted at all.
- Price it like a contingent offer. You are asking the seller to take risk. Strong price and clean terms elsewhere buy you that.
Option 5: buy with cash, then do delayed financing
If you have the liquid funds, you buy the new house for cash, win on terms, and then put a mortgage on it afterward to get your cash back out. This is called delayed financing.
The thing nobody tells you up front: delayed financing is priced and underwritten as a cash-out refinance, not as a purchase. That means a higher rate than a purchase loan, tighter loan-to-value limits, and cash-out pricing adjustments. Plan on that from the start instead of discovering it at the rate lock.
Done with eyes open, it is a strong play. You buy like a cash buyer, which in a multiple-offer situation on a Brandon listing is worth real negotiating power, and you accept a somewhat worse rate as the price of that.
What these cost side by side
| Option | Relative cost | Offer strength | Main catch |
|---|---|---|---|
| HELOC | Lowest | Strong, non-contingent | Must be opened before you list |
| Bridge loan | Moderate to high | Strong, non-contingent | Expensive if the old house sits |
| Delayed financing | Moderate, priced as cash-out | Strongest | Needs liquid cash; worse rate later |
| Hard money | Highest | Strong, closes fast | Points and short terms |
| Sale contingency | No interest cost | Weakest | Often loses to a clean offer |
The Florida closing taxes people forget
Every time you put a new mortgage on Florida property, two state taxes show up on the closing statement. Buyers from out of state are routinely surprised by these, and they are not small.
- Documentary stamp tax on the note: $0.35 per $100 of the amount financed, under Fla. Stat. 201.08.
- Nonrecurring intangible tax on the mortgage: 2 mills, which is $0.002 per dollar, or $2 per $1,000 of the secured amount, under Fla. Stat. 199.133.
- Documentary stamp tax on the deed: $0.70 per $100 of the sale price statewide outside Miami-Dade, under Fla. Stat. 201.02.
Those first two apply to the new mortgage. Here is the part that matters for this strategy: if you bridge now and refinance later, or buy cash and do delayed financing, you pay the note and intangible taxes on each new mortgage you record. Two financings means paying twice.
Example, with stated assumptions. On a $400,000 mortgage, documentary stamps on the note run $1,400 and the intangible tax runs $800, for $2,200 in state taxes on that one loan. Do it twice, once on a bridge and once on the permanent loan, and you are at roughly $4,400 instead of $2,200. Rates and amounts here are statutory; the dollar figures are arithmetic on a round loan amount, not a quote.
What carrying two payments actually looks like
Example, with stated assumptions. Assume your current Brandon home has a $1,900 monthly payment including taxes and insurance, and you take a $90,000 bridge at 10.5 percent interest-only, which is about $788 a month. Assume the old house takes four months to sell and close.
| Cost over 4 months | Amount |
|---|---|
| Old house payment, 4 months | $7,600 |
| Bridge interest, 4 months | $3,152 |
| Bridge origination, 1.5 points | $1,350 |
| Utilities and lawn on the vacant house | $900 |
| Total carry | $13,002 |
Stretch that to a full 12 months and the same structure runs roughly $36,000. That is the number to hold in your head. Not "can I qualify," but "what does this cost me if the old house takes a year?" If a 12-month carry would hurt, you need either a contingency or a much faster plan for the house you are leaving.
One more thing: a vacant house shows worse and insures worse. Most homeowners policies restrict coverage after a property has been vacant for 30 or 60 days. Tell your agent the house will be empty and get the right endorsement.
From my desk
A couple of years back I worked with a family moving from a smaller house into a larger one a few miles away. They had plenty of equity and good income, and they were convinced a bridge loan was the move.
We did two things first. We opened a HELOC on the current house while it was still off market, which took about three weeks. Then, rather than listing immediately, we got the house fully make-ready and photographed, so it was ready to launch the day we went under contract on the new one.
They used the line for the down payment, closed on the new house non-contingent, and listed the old one four days later. It went under contract inside two weeks, and they paid the line off at closing. Total interest cost was under $1,100. The bridge loan they had been quoted would have cost several thousand in points alone.
The lesson is boring and it is the whole thing: the cheapest version of buying before you sell requires you to set it up before you need it. By the time the house you want hits the market, your options have already narrowed to the expensive ones.
Ask me for current lender recommendations when you are ready to price these out. I do not originate loans, and I am not going to pretend to quote you a rate.
Related reading
- Should I sell or rent my house in Tampa Bay?
- Brandon homes for sale
- Brandon listing agent
- Home buying contingencies explained
- Mortgage calculator
Frequently asked questions about buying before selling
How can I buy a house in Brandon before I sell my current one?
The five workable routes are a HELOC on your current home, a bridge loan, hard money, a sale contingency offer, or buying cash and using delayed financing afterward. A HELOC is usually cheapest but must be opened before you list your house. Bridge loans are clean but cost more. Contingent offers cost no interest but are the weakest in a competitive situation.
Can I get a HELOC if my house is already listed for sale?
Usually not. Most lenders will not originate a home equity line on a property that is actively listed, and many will decline to fund if it goes on the market during underwriting. Open the line before you list.
Is delayed financing the same as a purchase loan?
No. Delayed financing lets you pull cash back out after buying a home with cash, but lenders price and underwrite it as a cash-out refinance. Expect a higher rate than a purchase loan and tighter loan-to-value limits.
What Florida taxes apply to a new mortgage?
Two. Documentary stamp tax on the note at $0.35 per $100 financed, and nonrecurring intangible tax on the mortgage at $2 per $1,000 secured. On a $400,000 loan that is $1,400 plus $800. If you finance twice, once on a bridge and once on the permanent loan, you pay both taxes twice.
How much should I budget to carry two homes?
Price out a full 12 months even if you expect four. On a $1,900 existing payment plus a $90,000 interest-only bridge at 10.5 percent, four months runs about $13,000 including points and utilities, and twelve months runs roughly $36,000. If a 12-month carry would hurt, use a contingency instead.
Sources
- Florida Department of Revenue, Documentary Stamp Tax (note and deed rates)
- Florida Department of Revenue, Intangible Tax
- Fla. Stat. 201.02, 201.08 and 199.133
Last updated October 2026. By Barrett Henry, Broker Associate, REMAX Collective, leader of The NOW Team. 23+ years of real estate experience, REMAX Hall of Fame 2024, e-PRO, MRP, SRS. Loan terms and pricing come from your lender, not from me.
Want to buy first without overpaying for the privilege?
Call or text me at (813) 733-7907. We will sequence it so the cheap options are still available when you need them. You reach me directly.
Barrett Henry, Broker Associate, REMAX Collective. Brandon, Valrico, Riverview and Tampa Bay.
