Down Payment · 7 min read
A Practical Guide to Down Payment Assistance
How grants, second liens, and state programs actually work, and when they're worth using.
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Lancaster County, Pennsylvania · Buy Before You Sell
Buying before you sell in Lancaster County
The house you have been waiting for came on the market and yours is not listed yet. This page walks through the five routes out of that problem and how each one changes your offer, your cost, and your risk.
Corie Adams · Producing Branch Manager · NMLS #1875205
Who this is for
Whether this fits the plan you have.
Written for Lancaster County homeowners moving between primary residences. If you are financing a rental or a renovation project, the investor pages are the better starting point.
You are moving within the county
From the city to a township, from a township to a borough, from a farmhouse to something with less lawn. The move is short and the money is still tied up in the house you are leaving. If you are new to the area or moving across it, the moving to Lancaster County guide covers the practical side.
Your offer keeps losing to buyers with nothing to sell
A home sale contingency is a real disadvantage on some houses here and a non-issue on others. Your agent knows which. What we can tell you is whether removing it is something your numbers can actually support.
Your down payment is equity, not cash
Plenty on paper, all of it in the house. Making part of that equity usable before settlement is one question. Whether you can afford the new payment is a separate one, and both get answered before an offer goes out.
You are downsizing and will not move twice
Selling first and renting for a few months is the cheapest answer and often the least tolerable one. The home financing after 55 hub covers how retirement income and equity are reviewed, and asset based qualification covers the case where your assets say more than your tax returns do.
You are building and the dates keep moving
A delivery date that slides twice is ordinary. Bridging the gap between your current Lancaster County home and a new construction settlement is a planning exercise that starts long before the certificate of occupancy. Local new construction communities are worth walking before you commit to a timeline.
How it works
The path, step by step.
Five routes, roughly from simplest to most involved. Most Lancaster County homeowners end up on one of the first three.
1. Qualify carrying both payments
If your income supports the current mortgage and the new one together, you may not need bridge financing at all. It is the first thing worth checking because it is the simplest and usually the least expensive path.
2. Write the offer with a home sale contingency
The safest structure and the weakest offer. Whether it is competitive depends on the house, the price band, and the month. Your agent makes that call; we make sure the financing behind it holds up either way.
3. Use a bridge loan against your current home
Short-term financing secured against the home you already own, sized by the equity in it, used toward the next purchase and repaid when your sale closes. It buys timing and offer strength, and it costs more than long-term financing. The mechanics, costs, and qualifying factors are laid out in detail on the bridge loans page.
4. Look at the other equity strategies
Depending on your situation, a second lien behind the new mortgage or a refinance of the home you are keeping can solve the same problem with a different shape. Availability varies and none of it is a given, so we look at what your file supports rather than what sounds appealing.
5. Sell first, then buy
Settle on your home, negotiate a rent back, and close on the next one from a position with no financing gymnastics. It depends entirely on a buyer who will agree to it, and in Lancaster County that is a negotiation, not a default.
Start with a real number, not an estimate.
A pre-approval reviews your income, assets, and credit so you know the price range you can actually work with before you tour a home or sign a builder contract.
Requirements at a glance
What underwriting looks at.
Bridge financing is not available to everyone, and guidelines vary by lender and change over time. These are the factors that generally decide it.
- Equity in your current home
- The loan is typically secured against it, so the equity there sets the ceiling
- Income and credit
- Reviewed like any mortgage, including the payment overlap you would carry
- Exit strategy
- A credible plan to repay through the sale or a refinance before the term ends
- Condition and marketability
- How realistically your current home sells affects how the file is viewed
- Term
- Short-term by design, usually structured in months rather than years
- Pricing
- Rates and fees typically run higher than long-term mortgage financing
Guidelines vary by lender and change over time. Nothing here is a commitment to lend, an approval of credit, or a quote of rates or terms.
Costs and assumptions
What it costs, and what we assumed.
The cost of buying before you sell is the loan, the overlap, and what an unsold house costs while you wait for it.
Higher rate and fees on short-term money
Bridge pricing reflects the short term. That premium buys timing, which is worth different amounts to different households.
Closing costs on both ends
You may pay costs on the bridge loan and again on the exit, whether the exit is the sale or a refinance.
Carrying two homes at once
Taxes, insurance, utilities, and upkeep on the old house continue until it settles. In Pennsylvania, county and school district tax timing can land in the middle of that window, so it is worth knowing your due dates before you plan around them.
The cost of a slow sale
Run the version where your home takes twice as long to sell as you expect. If that version still works, the plan is sound. If it does not, a different structure probably fits better.
Common misconceptions
What people get told, and what is actually true.
Often heard
Everyone in Lancaster County has to waive the sale contingency now.
In practice
That is a house-by-house question, not a county-wide one. Some sellers still take a contingent offer without blinking. Ask your agent about the specific listing rather than about the market in general.
Often heard
A bridge loan is the only way to buy before I sell.
In practice
It is one of five routes on this page. Plenty of homeowners qualify carrying both payments, or solve it with a rent back, and never need bridge financing. Start with the scenario tool and see where your numbers land.
Often heard
Having equity means I automatically qualify.
In practice
Equity sets the ceiling. Income, credit, the payment overlap, and a credible exit still have to work. Some homeowners have the equity and are still not a fit for this structure.
Often heard
Bridge financing is for investors and flippers.
In practice
Homeowners moving between primary residences are the more common case here. Rentals and renovation projects are a different conversation on the investor financing and fix and flip pages.
Before the first call
Five answers that decide which route fits
Have these roughly in hand and the conversation gets much shorter.
- What is your current home realistically worth, and what is still owed on it?
- Could your income support both payments for a few months if it came to that?
- How much cash is available outside the equity in the house?
- What are homes like yours doing in your township right now, according to your agent?
- How much disruption is acceptable: one move, two moves, or a rental in between?
Want the arithmetic on your own house first? Run the buy before you sell scenario tool. It shows your equity position and which routes are worth reviewing, with no contact information required.
More for Lancaster County: the general buy before you sell page, living in Lancaster city, life in Lancaster, and two closings, eleven days apart.
Questions
Asked at the kitchen table.
From the Learning Center
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