Sell First or Buy First in Florida? The Data That Should Decide It

The quick answer

In this market, sell first unless you can comfortably carry both homes for six months. The recorded data says why: the median successful community sale takes 46–72 days depending on county, 201,552 Florida listings failed to sell in the last 12 months, and the median failed listing burned 92 days before being pulled. Buying first bets your finances on being above-median in a below-median market. Selling first costs you convenience — a double move, or a lease-back — and buys you certainty plus the strongest negotiating position a buyer can have right now: no contingency, proceeds in hand, in a market where prices fell in 13 of the 14 largest counties.

If you do buy first: the three bridges, honestly

Contingent offer — free, but weakest: in a buyer’s market sellers accept contingencies more readily than 2021, yet your offer still loses ties. HELOC or bridge loan — you qualify carrying both payments; interest runs until your old home closes, and the 92-day failure median is the tail risk to price in. Buy-before-you-sell equity programs — they advance your equity for a fee (typically points-equivalent); read what happens in their contract if your old home doesn’t sell at their estimate — that clause is the whole product. None of these is wrong; each prices certainty differently. The math is your carrying cost × realistic months, against the fee — run it with real numbers, including the full cost-to-sell stack.