You own a home in DeSoto, Cedar Hill, Duncanville, Red Oak, Waxahachie, Midlothian, or Mansfield. You want new construction in the $600K–$950K range. The only thing standing between you and that build is one fear: paying two mortgages at once. I built a plan that removes it — sequenced, on paper, before you sign anything.
Book My HOMESWAP Call 30 MINUTES · NO PRESSURE · YOU LEAVE WITH YOUR NUMBERSThey treat it as two separate transactions. A listing agent sells your house. A builder's rep sells you the new one. Nobody owns the middle — the 4 to 6 months where timing, deposits, and two possible mortgage payments all collide.
So homeowners in southern Dallas sit still. You've built real equity — often $150K or more — and it just sits there, because nobody has shown you the sequence: when to contract the build, when to list, how to close the sale and the build without ever holding both payments.
That equity is generational wealth in motion. Handled right, it funds the down payment, the closing costs, and a cash cushion — and your monthly payment on a $700K build can land lower than you think. Handled wrong, you're double-paying or living in a short-term rental with your furniture in storage.
I'm Steven Thomas, your certified AI real estate agent and new construction expert right here in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex. I'm a broker AND a licensed loan officer — I run both sides of this move, which is exactly why I can put the whole sequence on one page.
*SAMPLE SCENARIO: $525K HOME VALUE, $310K PAYOFF, ~8% SELLING COSTS. ESTIMATES BASED ON CURRENT CONDITIONS, NOT GUARANTEES. YOUR NUMBERS WILL DIFFER.
There are four ways to get from your current home into a new build. On our call, I model all four against your payoff, income, cash, and timeline — then rank them. Here's the plain-English version:
Sell your current home, then lease it back from the buyer for up to 60 days while your build finishes. Your equity arrives before your new loan closes — so the new mortgage is clean. One payment. One move. This is the path that wins most often in southwest Dallas, and it's the one built into the HOMESWAP name.
A short-term loan against your current home's equity that funds the new down payment before you sell. It works when income is strong and the numbers clear — but it's the most expensive path, and I'll show you the real dollar cost before you ever consider it.
A line of credit on your current home — opened before you list — that covers builder deposits when your cash on hand can't. Cheaper than a bridge. Only makes sense when there's an actual gap to cover; otherwise you're paying interest for nothing.
Contract on the new home contingent on your current home selling — structured so a double payment can't occur, because the purchase doesn't close until your sale does. Builders often accept this on to-be-built homes. The trade is negotiating power. Sometimes it's the right call anyway.
Most agents pitch you one of these — usually the one they know. I model all four and show you why the winner wins. That's the difference between a sales pitch and a plan.
Most agents focus on the house. I focus on the full picture — because I'm licensed on both sides of it.
"Before you sign anything with a builder, let's put your whole move on one page."
— STEVE
That's not a failure — that's the plan. A leaseback keeps you in your current home up to 60 days after closing. For longer builds, we time the listing to the builder's completion window so the gap stays inside that range. And we pre-plan the response if construction slips, so you're never improvising.
Most people can't — that's normal, not a problem. It's exactly why the sequence matters. Sell-first and contingency paths mean you never have to qualify carrying both payments. We check this math on the call, using the same debt-to-income test a lender uses.
Usually not. Consumer apps show a VantageScore; mortgage lenders pull a different FICO model that commonly reads 20–60 points lower. Step one of the plan is a real lender pull — so there are no surprises at underwriting. As a loan officer, I can run that for you.
Usually just the builder's deposits — often $10K–$25K on a to-be-built home. Your equity handles the down payment and closing costs when the sale closes. If there's a gap between your cash and the deposit schedule, that's what the HELOC path is for.
The call and the plan are free. I get paid the way any agent does — on the transactions, if and when you move forward. You keep the plan either way.
Then the plan says so, with a date. If the honest answer is "pay down the car note first" or "wait two quarters," you'll hear that from me. A plan that only works if everything goes perfectly is not a plan.
Thirty minutes. We model your sale, your build budget, and all four paths — and you leave with your numbers, whether or not we ever work together.
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