I feel like it is a great time to buy a home - there are a lot of deals out there.

We already have a home but would really like to upgrade. Looking for advice whether I should try to sell mine first, or just buy a new one and rent the old one out. My concern is that it will take some time to sell right now and it will not be at the best price.

David,

You are right that there are great deals out there but the same is true when trying to sell a home which makes it that much harder to sell.

If you are not ready to rent your home I would advise against buying and then trying to sell. First put your house on the market (like you home profile btw), see how much you can sell it for and then look to buy.

If you are ok with renting your home you can buy a new one. Just make sure you are ready to be a landlord, get a good landlord policy, your mortgage payment is lower than the rent you can get for your house and you are financially capable to pay two mortgages for a while - vacancies are inevitable in this business.

Hope this helps.

Agree that right now is a fantastic time to be in the market for a home depending on what area of the country you are looking in. If your already in a home today the idea of selling that home, taking a huge discount and then buying another at a cheaper price may negate the effects altogether.  If you are comfortable with the idea of leasing I would suggest starting to advertise your property for a rent-to-own type buyer.  Take your time in finding the right rent to own buyer.  Spend significant time on the areas of their current credit, their game plan of how they will be eventually financing, any past challenges, etc.  If you have been a landlord before you will hopefully be able to discard those that don't quite fit and identify that one person / family that will be a good steward of the home and be motivated to finance it into their names.  If you go this route make sure you have the right credit team, lease agreements, option agreements, etc.  Good luck!