By Haydn Halsted — Halsted Hometeam, REAL Broker, LLC · (509) 570-2482

Picture two Spokane homeowners, each selling a $500,000 house this fall to move into something smaller. One lists first, closes in about two months, and rents back for a few weeks while she shops. The other finds the right smaller home first and has to win it with an offer contingent on selling. Same equity. Very different stress levels.

Neither one is wrong. The right order depends on where your money is, how much flexibility you have, and what the market is doing right now. Here’s how I walk through it with sellers, with the Spokane numbers behind each option.

Should You Sell or Buy First When Downsizing in Washington?

Start with one question: do you need the money from your current home to buy the next one? If the answer is yes, selling first, or making your purchase contingent on your sale, is usually where this lands. If you can buy without that equity, you have more room to buy first and sell on your own timeline.

Downsizing usually makes this easier than moving up. The next home costs less than the one you’re selling, so many downsizers can cover it with part of their equity, or all of it. That opens up options a move-up buyer doesn’t have.

What Happens If You Sell Your Home First?

Selling first means you know your number before you shop. You’re not guessing what your house will bring, and you can make clean, non-contingent offers on the next one. Sellers like that certainty.

The tradeoff is where you live in between. Some sellers negotiate a rent-back, where they stay in the home for a short period after closing. It has limits, though. A buyer using a typical primary-residence loan generally needs to move in within 60 days, so rent-backs usually stay short. Others line up a short-term rental or stay with family while they buy.

What Happens If You Buy Your Next Home First?

Buying first means you move once. You find the right smaller home, close on it, move in, and then sell the house you left, usually empty and easier to show.

The question is how you pay for the new place before the old one sells. Some downsizers use savings or investments. Others use a home equity line on their current home or a bridge loan. Those are lender products with their own costs and qualifying rules, so talk with a licensed loan officer before you plan around one. And for a stretch, you may carry two homes at once.

Selling First vs Buying First in Spokane: Which Is Less Risky Right Now?

Right now, the market points toward selling first for most people. In September 2026, homes that sold in Spokane County spent a median of 26 days on market, and the median from list date to closing was 63 days. That’s real time to carry two homes if you buy first.

Not every listing sells, either. 42% of the Spokane County listings that left the market in September expired or were withdrawn instead of selling. If you buy first and your current home turns out to be one of those, the carrying costs keep running.

On the buying side, the downsizing half of the move is in decent shape. With 3.6 months of supply and sellers contributing to buyer closing costs in at least three out of four of my deals this fall, buyers have room to negotiate. That makes it easier to sell first and still find the next place without overpaying.

Can You Make an Offer Contingent on Selling Your Spokane Home?

Yes. A sale contingency lets you back out if your current home doesn’t sell by a set date. It protects you, but sellers see it as risk, because their sale now depends on yours.

How well it works depends on the home you’re offering on. In September 2026, about a quarter of Spokane County sales (25.2%) closed above list price. On a home drawing several offers, a contingent offer is hard to get accepted. On a home that has been sitting past the 26-day median, a seller may be glad to have it. Having your current home listed, or better yet under contract, makes a contingent offer much stronger.

How Do You Line Up Both Closings at Once?

Plenty of downsizers sell and buy close together, sometimes closing on both the same day or a day apart. The money from the sale funds the purchase, and you move straight from one home to the other.

It takes coordination. Both contracts need matching timelines, both escrow companies have to talk to each other, and any delay on one side moves the other. With a median of 30 days in escrow, there’s room to set it up, but not much room for surprises. This is where having one agent run both sides helps. I handle both the sale and the purchase on a lot of these moves, so the two timelines are planned together instead of in separate inboxes.

Before you decide on the order, know your number. You can request a Spokane home valuation and see what your equity actually looks like before you commit to a plan.

How Much Will You Walk Away With After Selling in Washington?

Your proceeds are the sale price minus everything that comes off at closing: your mortgage payoff, real estate commissions, title and escrow fees, any credit you give the buyer, and Washington’s real estate excise tax. Commissions are negotiable and not set by law.

The excise tax is the one sellers forget. Through the end of 2026, the state portion is 1.1% on the first $525,000 of the sale price and 1.28% on the portion from there up to $1,525,000. A local rate, commonly 0.25% to 0.5%, is added on top. On a $500,000 sale, the state portion alone is $5,500. The thresholds are scheduled to adjust on January 1, 2027.

Taxes on the gain itself are a separate question. Federal law lets many homeowners exclude a large share of the gain on a primary residence, and Washington’s capital gains tax doesn’t apply to real estate sales. How that works for you depends on your situation, so check with a CPA before you count on a number.

Does Downsizing Mean Taking On Today’s Mortgage Rate?

Not necessarily. The 30-year rate averaged 7.40% on October 8, according to Freddie Mac, and that stops a lot of people from moving. But a downsizer buying a less expensive home with equity from the sale may need a much smaller loan, or none at all. Cash purchases made up 20.6% of Spokane County sales in September 2026.

If you do finance, a bigger down payment gives you more options. This fall, some of my buyers putting more than 10% down have asked sellers for more than 3% in concessions to buy their interest rate down permanently. Whether that pencils for you is a question for your loan officer.

What You Should Know About Downsizing in Spokane Before You Sell

Downsizing in Spokane: Common Questions

More for Spokane Sellers

Whether to sell or buy first when downsizing in Washington comes down to where your equity sits and how much risk you can carry. This guide compares selling first and buying first in today’s Spokane market, explains contingent offers, rent-backs, and same-day closings, and breaks down what sellers pay at closing, including Washington’s real estate excise tax. It also covers how cash from equity can sidestep today’s mortgage rates and what downsizers should know about home sizes and prices across the City of Spokane and the West Plains.