The short answer: Not always. Usable equity can cover a deposit, but whether a lender will approve a second loan comes down to servicing, which a broker works through with you. One client sold early to move faster, and that property now sits around $144,000 above their sale price. Waiting costs time; selling early has its own costs.
A client who wanted to buy again inside a year
I’m a buyers agent, and this is a property I bought with a client.
From month one they asked when it would “boom”. At our 1 month and 6 month check-ins they said they wanted to pull equity out and go again, the way it gets blasted online. Both times I told them to be patient.
They got some equity out inside the first year. Around the 12 month mark I heard the property had sold, and the listing confirmed it. When I rang for our 12 month check-in, they told me straight. Another adviser had told them to sell and move on.
I wished them all the best and said the door was open if things changed.
Equity was not what was holding them back
Nothing I’d seen had changed my view of the purchase. And equity wasn’t what stood between them and a second property. Servicing was.
That is a lender’s call, worked through with a broker. A property going up in value doesn’t fix it.
What selling early cost
Waiting feels like falling behind, especially with what gets posted online. Selling costs something too. You pay to sell, you pay again to buy, and the clock starts over.
That property now sits around $144,000 above what they sold it for. I couldn’t have told them that at the time, and I won’t pretend I could.