Can I buy my next San Diego condo before I sell the one I am in?
Yes, with a contingent offer. It only goes smoothly if the place you're selling is new on the market or priced to stand out. My client bought a downtown San Diego condo for $535,000 before her City Heights one-bedroom sold, closing in July 2026. A four-month lease on the new place kept the deal alive. I'm Jared Harman, her agent.
Published . Last updated . Figures are from my own records unless a source is linked.
How did it start?
We listed her one-bedroom in City Heights. The same day it went live, she wanted to go look at places to move into.
On that first outing we found the downtown condo she fell for. We wrote an offer, and the seller accepted it at $535,000, contingent on her place going into contract within 21 days.
Why was 21 days a stretch?
Her price. The most recent sale in her building was $315,000, and we were asking $355,000. At that number we were looking for a pretty narrow buyer.
Getting that done in 21 days was optimistic. We went for it anyway, because the downtown condo was the one she wanted.
What did we do when the clock ran short?
She pitched the idea, actually. Pay rent on the new place to hold it, and use that to buy more time on the contingency.
I took it to the seller's agent. He thought it wasn't a bad idea, and he took it to his seller, who agreed.
I think the market helped. Condos are hard to sell right now. Through August 2026, the median condo price fell in 17 of 27 San Diego zip codes (San Diego MLS via GSDAR).
We landed on four months, at a heavily discounted rent.
How did moving out help sell the old place?
Once she moved into the new condo, her old one sat empty. I could show it a lot more freely, and we put more video behind it.
Three weeks after she moved in, her old condo went into escrow.
What went wrong with the buyers' credits?
The buyers offered $355,000, our list price and the number I'd projected from the start. They asked for $15,000 in credits. I had advertised a $10,000 credit they could put toward closing costs or a rate buydown, and they asked for 15.
That was a red flag right away. $15,000 is more than 3% of $355,000.
Lenders cap what a seller can pay toward a buyer's costs. On a conventional loan with less than 10% down, Fannie Mae's Selling Guide caps it at 3% of the price. It also can't be more than the buyer's actual closing costs. A bigger down payment raises the cap.
I asked their agent about it more than once. I asked their lender more than once. Neither one caught what I was getting at.
Then, the week of closing, the lender came back and said they couldn't give that much in credits. We tried restructuring it. Could my seller pay the buyers' escrow fees, that kind of thing. Nothing got through underwriting.
How much did that save my seller?
On paper, she had agreed to put $15,000 toward the buyers' closing costs. She ended up paying 3%, which came to $10,650.
That is $4,350 she kept, because I knew the lending rule and the other side missed it.
How did it appraise?
Honestly, it's a small miracle it did. The last comp in the building was $315,000. I walked the appraiser through why $355,000 held up, and it came in.
What should you line up before writing a contingent offer?
Before we write one, the place you are selling has to be either very new on the market or positioned well enough to stand out and sell fast.
I'm glad we got this one done. She would not have gotten that condo otherwise. I also wish it had gone differently, because there were a lot of unconventional moves in it, and it is not a path I would plan on.
If you are thinking about doing both, start with what your place would actually net. That is a Net Number, back to you in 24 hours.
What did she say about it?
"My process was anything but traditional and Jared was willing to take on my (almost improbable) ideas." Erin C., Google review, July 2026.
Who is Jared Harman?
Jared Harman is a real estate agent and REALTOR® in San Diego, California, licensed under DRE 02193879 with MatchPoint at eXp Realty of California, Inc. He is based in North Park and represents buyers and sellers across the San Diego metro, roughly half each. He personally toured more than 800 homes in 2025.