A Kailua-Kona seller buying another home at the same time should choose the sequence only after the lender, attorney, and settlement team verify the old home's sale status, the new loan's underwriting treatment, the cash needed at both closings, and every contract deadline. Keep the sale and purchase as two linked transactions, not one guaranteed chain. Fannie Mae's pending-sale and bridge-loan requirements are underwriting rules for loans delivered to Fannie Mae. They do not guarantee approval, set another lender's policy, or replace a lender's review. If title to the current home will not transfer before the new-home transaction, Fannie Mae generally uses both current and proposed PITIA to qualify the borrower. A fully executed sales contract and cleared financing contingencies may change that treatment under the cited guide; the lender must verify the documents. A bridge or swing loan adds an obligation that must be underwritten. Do not describe bridge financing as automatic, low-risk, or suitable without lender confirmation and the ability-to-carry analysis. The buyer's Closing Disclosure is due three business days before the scheduled mortgage closing. Use that window to compare the Closing Disclosure with the latest Loan Estimate and confirm Cash to Close; this federal timing does not synchronize two separate closings by itself. Hawaii generally requires a qualifying residential seller disclosure statement to be signed within the statutory window, delivered to the buyer, acknowledged, and available for examination. Chapter 508D includes exceptions and additional timing and rescission provisions; do not reduce it to a universal form rule or legal advice. Hawaii's 2025 P-64A instructions generally place conveyance-tax responsibility on the person transferring the property interest and require Form P-64A and payment for a taxable transfer no later than 90 days after the transaction. Exemptions, rates, consideration, and filing responsibility can vary; verify the current treatment with the settlement and tax professionals. This evidence does not choose a transaction sequence or supply a property-specific closing schedule. Do not invent transaction facts, client experience, loan approval, contract terms, or a universal sell-first or buy-first recommendation.
Choose the sequence from verified financing capacity
The core decision is not a slogan such as “sell first” or “buy first.” It is whether the proposed sequence works with the lender’s documented qualification rules, the household’s ability to carry the obligations, and both contracts’ deadlines. Build the plan from verified inputs: the current home’s title-transfer timing, the status of its sales contract, the new loan file, cash required at each closing, and the consequence if either transaction changes.
The Fannie Mae guidance for other real estate owned supports a narrow underwriting point. When title to the current principal residence will not transfer before the new-home transaction, both the current and proposed PITIA generally enter qualification. The cited pending-sale exception depends on a fully executed sales contract and confirmation that financing contingencies have been cleared. The lender must verify the documents.
Treat every assumption as conditional until the responsible professional confirms it. The Kailua-Kona comparable-evidence offer framework addresses a separate purchase-price decision; it does not establish financing capacity or a closing schedule.
Questions to resolve before signing the second contract
- How will the lender treat the current and proposed housing obligations under the actual file?
- What documents must be complete before the pending sale changes that treatment?
- What cash must be available for each transaction, and when will each amount be final?
- Which deadlines can move under the contracts, and who has authority to approve a change?
- What happens if the current home’s title transfer occurs later than expected?
Document the pending sale before relying on its proceeds
“Under contract” is not the complete pending-sale evidence described by the cited Fannie Mae guide. The relevant file includes a fully executed sales contract and confirmation that financing contingencies have been cleared before the different PITIA treatment is available under that policy. An accepted offer alone does not prove the exception applies.
Create a pending-sale packet for the lender and closing team. It can organize the executed contract, contingency status, anticipated transfer order, and the transaction professional’s latest estimate of proceeds. Keep estimates clearly labeled. This evidence pack does not support a net-proceeds amount, guarantee availability by a date, or justify waiving a contractual protection.
The sale and purchase remain two linked but separate transactions. A change in one does not automatically rewrite the other. The sequencing decision should be updated whenever the lender, attorney, or settlement team verifies that a material input has changed.
Treat bridge financing as additional underwritten debt
The Fannie Mae bridge and swing loan guide describes requirements for bridge funds in a loan delivered to Fannie Mae, including collateral treatment and documentation of the borrower’s ability to carry relevant payments and obligations. It does not establish availability, price, rate, or suitability.
Before incorporating a bridge option, obtain the actual proposed terms and ask the lender to show how the obligation changes qualification and cash flow. Separate three questions: whether a product is available, whether the lender will underwrite the full obligation, and whether the household can carry the payments if the sale’s timing changes. Evidence for one is not evidence for the others.
Compare the documented bridge scenario with other documented sequences without describing any option as automatically safer or better. The appropriate choice depends on facts not supplied in this source pack.
Build one cash and deadline file for both closings
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s Closing Disclosure explainer says the borrower receives the Closing Disclosure three business days before the scheduled mortgage closing and should compare Cash to Close with the latest Loan Estimate. That review window is important, but it does not align two closing appointments or guarantee that sale proceeds will fund the purchase on time.
Use one coordination file with separate rows for the sale and purchase. Track the latest document, responsible professional, verification status, next deadline, and any dependency on the other transaction. Do not replace a verified figure with an estimate or treat a federal disclosure deadline as a synchronization mechanism.
Kailua-Kona buy-sell coordination decision matrix
| Decision point | Evidence to obtain | What the source supports | Required limitation | Owner of the next check |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Current home pending sale | Executed sales contract, financing-contingency status, and expected title-transfer sequence | Fannie Mae describes when both current and proposed PITIA generally count and a documented pending-sale exception | Fannie Mae policy is not universal lender policy or an approval | Lender |
| Bridge or swing loan | Proposed note, collateral, payment, and ability-to-carry documents | Fannie Mae treats bridge funds as another underwritten obligation subject to stated requirements | Availability, cost, and suitability are not established | Lender |
| New mortgage closing | Latest Loan Estimate, Closing Disclosure, and confirmed Cash to Close | CFPB supports the three-business-day disclosure timing and comparison step | Federal timing does not synchronize two closings | Lender and settlement team |
| Hawaii seller disclosure | Applicable Chapter 508D statement, acknowledgment, and any updates | HRS 508D-4 supplies general signing, delivery, acknowledgment, and examination requirements | Exceptions, additional timing, rescission provisions, and legal consequences require review | Attorney |
| Hawaii conveyance filing | Current P-64A, supporting details, and applicable payment | The 2025 instructions describe responsibility and the 90-day filing and payment deadline for a taxable transfer | Exemptions, rates, consideration, and responsibility can vary | Settlement and tax professionals |
The matrix organizes questions; it does not answer them for a particular seller. Each owner must confirm the applicable document, amount, deadline, or exception in the actual transaction.
Complete Hawaii disclosure and conveyance steps
Hawaii Revised Statutes section 508D-4 generally addresses when a qualifying residential seller disclosure statement is signed, delivered, acknowledged, and made available for examination. Chapter 508D also contains exceptions and other timing and rescission provisions. The attorney should determine what applies and should not reduce the statute to a universal form rule.
The Hawaii Department of Taxation’s 2025 Form P-64A instructions generally place conveyance-tax responsibility on the person transferring the property interest and require the form and payment for a taxable transfer no later than 90 days after the transaction. Exemptions, rates, consideration, and filing responsibility can vary, so the settlement and tax professionals must confirm the current treatment.
Add both Hawaii workstreams to the sale side of the coordination file early. They do not replace the purchase-side mortgage documents, and neither source establishes a property-specific closing date, legal conclusion, or tax amount.
Know what this evidence cannot decide
The evidence can define the questions and document boundaries. It cannot choose the transaction sequence, approve a loan, guarantee closing dates, calculate Cash to Close, determine whether a Chapter 508D exception applies, calculate conveyance tax, or supply facts about a property or client.
The defensible process is conditional: verify lender treatment of both housing obligations, document the pending sale, underwrite any bridge obligation, compare the Closing Disclosure with the latest Loan Estimate, complete the applicable Hawaii disclosure and conveyance steps, and revise the plan whenever a verified input changes.
For adjacent seller planning, the Kona pricing strategy guide discusses a different question. It does not alter the underwriting, disclosure, conveyance, or scheduling limits here.
Frequently asked questions
Will both housing payments count when I buy before I sell?
Under the cited Fannie Mae guide, both current and proposed PITIA generally count when title to the current residence will not transfer before the new-home transaction, subject to the documented pending-sale exception.
Does an accepted offer remove the old housing payment from underwriting?
Not by itself. The cited guide calls for an executed sales contract and confirmation that financing contingencies have been cleared, with lender verification.
Is a bridge loan automatic?
No. Fannie Mae's guide requires specific collateral treatment and documentation that the borrower can carry the relevant payments and obligations.
What Hawaii seller paperwork belongs on the timeline?
For a covered residential sale, plan for the Chapter 508D disclosure statement and the current P-64A conveyance-tax filing and payment process, subject to exceptions and transaction-specific professional review.
