New child arriving, transfer, divorce, or simply the desire to be bigger: changing your main residence is never easy, especially when it comes to buying. And when you are already an owner, the question of timing arises. Should you sell your current property before buying a new one, at the risk of having to rent in between? Or buy first, betting on a quick resale of the old one? In France, it takes on average between 90 and 100 days to sell or buy real estate – enough to be scary when you’re in an emergency.
In a real estate market which is stabilizing (+1.6% over one year on average in France according to Meilleurs Agents) after two years of correction, what is the best choice? Margaux, senior credit expert at Pretto, a real estate loan broker, does not resolve the question: “Every file is different, sometimes, we don’t have the luxury of being able to choose. » Everything will depend on your contribution, the evolution of the market since your initial purchase, and your borrowing capacity. Here are the three main options available to you, their advantages, their risks, and the profiles to which they correspond.
The bridging loan, to buy without delay
First option, the best known: the bridging loan. The principle is simple: your bank advances you part of the value of your current property (generally 70%), betting on the upcoming sale of your current property. Our expert explains: “The bank will prepare a contribution so that you can buy first, invest in the premises, and then you have twelve months, renewable once, to sell the old property. » Or a maximum of 24 months to complete the resale. During this period, you only repay the interest on the bridging loan; the capital is paid at the time of sale.
In 2026, the average rate for a bridging loan will be around 3.70%or 0.20 to 0.80 points above a traditional 20-year mortgage loan (3.26% in April 2026 according to CAFPI). The bank generally retains 70% of the estimated value of your property to calculate the advance amount. “Three real estate agencies will estimate the property, we will take the lowest, and the bank will see if 70% of the value will be enough to repay the loan. » It is this 70% ceiling which determines whether a bridging loan is feasible or not. And this is where the context of the last five years creates a problem for certain households…
The trap that awaits those who bought in 2021 or 2022
The bridging loan is not accessible to everyone. Our expert warns of a particularly frequent case at the moment at Pretto: “I have customers who want to buy something else after purchasing in 2021, a good rate but with high prices. » Indeed, at the time, many borrowers took advantage of exceptionally low rates (around 1%) to acquire a property at a time when prices were at their peak, especially in Paris. Goods which have therefore lost value, even today.
But the owners who didn’t make much contribution at the time and who have only repaid a small part of the capital will find themselves facing a problem. Prices have fallen in several large cities: Paris has corrected by 10 to 12% since the peak, and Nantes, for example, still shows a drop of 3.9% over one year according to Meilleurs Agents. Result: the current value of their property, after deduction of the remaining capital due, no longer covers 70% of the price of the new housing targeted. “In this case, we cannot make a bridging loan”decides the Pretto expert. “We must therefore first sell, recover the maximum, and go back to a rental while waiting to be able to buy again. » But there is a silver lining, since avoiding a bridge loan allows for greater borrowing capacity.
Concurrent sales: do everything on the same day
There is a third, less known way, which avoids both the bridging loan and the double move. We call it the concurrent saleor “cascade” selling. Our expert has already seen it several times: “It’s about starting to buy as if you had already sold. The sale and purchase are made on the same day ». For it to work, the customer “must include in his sales agreement a clause on financing for the purchase of his new house. Everything happens in the same notary office: the client’s contribution arrives on the day the buyer’s loan is released “.
“It’s doable and appreciable”confirms Margaux, but with one imperative condition: “We need a reliable file, with no questions asked about financing. The buyer of the old house must be reliable. » Because if the financing falters at the last moment, the whole plan collapses. In the event of a last-minute hold-up, it is possible to switch to an emergency bridging loan, but this is the scenario everyone seeks to avoid.
