The answer depends on your financial resources.

• Can you afford to carry two mortgages if your current home doesn't sell? Would the bank allow for this to happen?

Recommendation from US: As a buyer with an existing home to sell, you can protect yourself by making your offer conditional on the sale of your current home. That means if you can't sell your home within a specified period of time you can back out of the deal. However, it's worth noting that this condition will likely make your offer less attractive to the Seller and other conditions in the negotiation such as the amount offered will be in jeopardy.

If you sell first then you'll know exactly how much money the sale brought in, thus how much you can afford to pay for the next place. As an agency, we prefer our clients to not waste time and ask to view properties when they are in no financial situation to proceed. To obtain information and a meeting with us as a prospective buyer is acceptable and we welcome these as they will provide you with a lot more in-depth information and you will be able to view properties but in a more relaxed and honest way.

Recommendation from US: If your home sells first and you have not found your new home, consider a short-term rental which we will assist you in obtaining. This could be better than settling for a less-than-ideal home because you are rushed in a purchase. Again, having established a successful working relationship with us from the on-set, we will recommend and assist you all the way in your re-location.

There are a lot of factors to consider when deciding whether to buy or sell first. While there's no right or wrong answer here, the goal is to make sure you have realistic expectations and a plan that works for you and your family.