Write your client's next offer before their current home sells.
Buy Before You Sell gives your buyers a guaranteed backup offer on their departing home — so they can make a non-contingent offer, win the house they want, and still sell for full market value. You stay at the center of both transactions.
Trade-In Mortgage Program
A tool that wins listings and closes offers — without competing with you
Our program partner works behind the scenes with your loan officer at Southeast Mortgage. You stay the agent of record on both the purchase and the sale.
A guaranteed backup offer
Your client gets a binding offer on their current home before they ever list it — a real safety net, not a promise.
Easier qualification
The departing home's mortgage payment can be eliminated from debt-to-income, so more of your buyers actually qualify.
Built on partners you trust
Delivered through your existing relationship with Southeast Mortgage — no new lender, no new process to learn.
Complements your business
Our program partner never lists, markets, or represents the home. You keep both sides of the transaction and the full commission.
Turn a tight market into your advantage
- ✓Strengthen your buyer's offer with no home sale contingency.
- ✓Secure the next home before the current one even hits the market.
- ✓Reduce risk with a guaranteed backup offer in writing.
- ✓More deals, less hassle — you manage both transactions.
- ✓Maximize sale value by staging and listing an empty home.
- ✓Save your client money with a more cost-effective buy-before-you-sell.
Five steps, fully supported at every stage
Your buyer never has to navigate this alone — and neither do you.
Consumer inquiry
Loan Officer completes a 5-minute questionnaire on your lender's microsite. A program specialist calls within 1–2 business days to discuss the departing home.
Property evaluation
Our partner schedules a virtual walk-through, orders title, and makes a binding backup offer within 1–6 business days, depending on the program.
Financing arranged
Your loan officer originates the new home loan (and a second lien on the departing home, if needed) per their existing process. The client signs the Guaranteed Backup Agreement about a week before closing.
Close, move, market
Your client closes on the new home, moves in, and you start marketing the previous home — now empty and easier to show.
Sell original home
Once the departing home sells on the open market, all liens are paid in full and our partner collects its fee from the proceeds.
Match the program to what your client actually needs
Both remove the home-sale and financing contingencies from your buyer's offer — they differ in how much equity gets unlocked, and how fast.
Trade-In Mortgage Program
For homeowners who want to use the equity in their current home to make a bigger down payment on the next one, via Southeast Mortgage's bridge loan partnership with Figure.
- ✓ Security of a higher backup offer
- ✓ Ability to tap into home equity
Contingency Buster Program
For homeowners who already have their down payment set aside and just need the home-sale and financing contingencies gone — fast, and at the lowest possible cost.
- ✓ Faster turnaround time
- ✓ Lower backup offer means lower fees
See a client's estimated offer and fees in real time
Drop in a departing home's value and mortgage balance to preview what each program could look like. Fees are paid out of the departing home's closing proceeds — never out of pocket.
Trade-In Mortgage offers are typically estimated at 70% of home value. Actual Guaranteed Backup Offers vary based on multiple factors — this is a planning estimate, not a quote.
If the departing home hasn't sold on the open market within 180 days, our partner buys it for the Guaranteed Backup Agreement price — full stop.
This backup agreement is a real guarantee, not a marketing term
If our partner ends up buying the home and later resells it for more than it paid, it returns the net profit — after commissions, interest, taxes, title, and other expenses — back to your client.
Eligibility guidelines at a glance
This list isn't exhaustive and is subject to change — confirm current guidelines with your Southeast Mortgage loan officer.
Eligible
- ✓Conventional purchase on the next home
- ✓Owner-occupied primary residences
- ✓Single family residences
- ✓Up to $1.5 million Guaranteed Backup Offer
- ✓Duplexes, modular homes, condos (with restrictions)
- ✓Properties on 5 acres or less
Ineligible
- ✕Investment, rental, or second homes
- ✕Multi-tenant properties
- ✕Manufactured or mobile homes
- ✕Short sales or foreclosures
- ✕On market for over 100 days, or in active renovation
- ✕Properties in high-risk flood zones
What loan officers and homeowners are saying
It's a fantastic program for getting buyers into the market, offering them a safety net, and giving your realtor partners a competitive edge. It also opens doors to attract new business. The support team is knowledgeable, professional, and helpful.
Finding a short-term rental with 7 kids was horrible on our first two moves. Our loan officer introduced us to this program so we wouldn't have to. It worked great — everybody stayed in contact, and something that's usually stressful was too easy.
Give your next buyer a non-contingent offer.
Reach out to your Southeast Mortgage loan officer to get the process started, or walk through a deal together first.