Lilly, in addition to the excellent answer below, there is also the question of being able to qualify for a loan. The bank will want you to be able to afford both payments, therefore, you will have to qualify for the amount of loans needed for both houses. Of course if you do not owe on the first house or if only cash is involve, owning two homes may not be a problem.

HI Lilly,
It sounds like you have considered the possibility of owning 2 homes for a span of time. The downfall of waiting is that if you find something you like and are pre-approved to buy without selling the current home is that if you do find the dreamhome, have an accepted offer, depending on your market time, could close on new home before old home gets sold.

I tell my buyers/sellers that there is an element of risk that we as agents just can't remove- it comes down to what they are comfortable with. I've had some clients that are fine with selling their home first, because they have a backup place to stay in case they have to move out before closing on their new house.

Talk to your agent, and review market time in your area.

Take care,
Krisan in KC