Selling & Buying Simultaneously
Real estate transactions are stressful events all by themselves without adding the pressure of turning immediately around and doing it twice in a row. If you're looking to upgrade or downgrade your own home, it doesn't have to be as stressful as you think. Both selling your home and buying your new home can be accommodated easily --- it just takes the right plan from your real estate agent!
On the sell side, things are pretty much business as usual: call your agent, understand any outdated items to be updated before going on the market, receive some offers, select an offer to move forward, and complete the sale. The postmortem here is that when you sell your home you NO LONGER HAVE A PLACE TO LIVE!
Yikes, scary. Well don't worry, this is where your Realtor makes his move. When selling your home, there should be a "rent-back" or "post occupancy agreement" in place for a certain period of time. Most Buyers take roughly 60 days to locate a new home, so a 60-day agreement should be reached with your current Buyers before moving forward with their offer. Now you have 60 days to locate, offer, and complete your new home's purchase!
The nice thing about a Post Occupancy Agreement is that you don't have to add a contingency of sale to your offers, also. You've already sold your home, you've got the money in your bank account, and you're ready to move financially.
There are other ways of buying and selling all at once. You could purchase before buying (then you have two months to sell your home before paying two mortgages). You could sell and move in to a hotel and put your stuff in storage (not a great option in my opinion). You could move back in to your parents house and forget buying a new place! (...yea right)
Any way you choose to do it, make sure you talk to your real estate agent first. They will know what works best, how to get it accomplished, and take your best interests to heart.