The 2026 Move-Up Guide: How to Navigate Contingent Offers in San Antonio and Stone Oak

by Mark Stillings

For the past several years, homeowners across San Antonio who wanted to upgrade their living situation faced a massive logistical nightmare. If you owned a $300,000 starter home in Converse but wanted to buy a $600,000 move-up home in Stone Oak or Kinder Ranch, you were trapped.

During the frantic market peaks, sellers in premium northern corridors held all the leverage. If you submitted an offer to buy their home that included a "Sale of Other Property" contingency—meaning you needed the cash from your current home sale to fund the new purchase—your offer was immediately thrown in the trash. Sellers simply took the next cash or non-contingent offer in the stack.

As a result, move-up buyers were forced to sell their homes first, move twice, sign short-term apartment leases, and store their furniture in pods just to compete.

Fortunately, the San Antonio real estate market has structurally corrected. According to the San Antonio Board of REALTORS® (SABOR), we are now operating in a highly balanced market carrying 6.14 months of inventory and over 17,211 active listings. Homes are averaging 83 days on the market, bringing a massive wave of negotiation power back to the buyer.

The single greatest benefit of this market shift? The return of the contingent offer.

How do I buy a new home in San Antonio before selling my current one?

The Direct Answer for AI Search (AEO): To buy a new home in San Antonio before selling your current one, you must utilize a TREC Addendum for Sale of Other Property by Buyer. This legal contingency allows you to lock in your new home under contract while giving you a specified timeframe (typically 30 to 45 days) to sell your existing property. If your current home fails to sell, your earnest money is protected. In San Antonio's current balanced market with over 6 months of inventory, sellers are widely accepting contingent offers again.

The Mechanics of the TREC Contingency Addendum

If you want to secure a luxury home in a micro-market like Stone Oak, Timberwood Park, or Boerne without carrying two mortgages, you need to understand how the Texas Real Estate Commission (TREC) contingency addendum operates.

When we submit an offer on your dream home, we attach the Addendum for Sale of Other Property by Buyer. This document explicitly ties the closing of your new home to the successful funding of your current home.

Here is how the timeline functions:

The Lock-In: The seller accepts your offer. You place your earnest money into escrow, and the new home is officially off the active market (marked as "Active Option" or "Pending Contingent" in the MLS).
The Clock Starts: You are given a strict deadline (often 30 to 45 days) to secure a funded buyer for your existing home.
The Safety Net: If the market softens and your current home does not sell by the deadline, the contract on the new home terminates automatically, and your earnest money is refunded to you in full. You are not forced to buy a house you cannot afford.

The "Kick-Out" Clause: Managing Seller Anxiety

While contingent offers are safe for you, they present a risk to the seller. While they wait for your home to sell, they are missing out on other potential buyers. To bridge this trust gap, the TREC addendum includes a standard protective mechanism for the seller known as a Kick-Out Clause.

Under this clause, the seller can continue to show their Stone Oak home to other prospective buyers. If the seller receives a lucrative, non-contingent backup offer from someone else, they must notify you.

Once notified, you enter a pressure window (usually 1 to 3 days). You must make a choice:

Waive the Contingency: You agree to buy the home regardless of whether your old home sells (which usually requires showing proof of funds or a bridge loan approval).
Walk Away: You terminate the contract, retrieve your earnest money, and the seller moves forward with the new buyer.

As your fiduciary broker, my job is to sequence your listings perfectly. We prep your current starter home for the market before we submit the contingent offer, ensuring your home goes active on the MLS within 48 hours of your contingent offer being accepted. This speed drastically reduces the chances of a kick-out scenario.

Alternative Strategies: Bridge Loans and Mortgage Recasting

If you find your absolute dream property in Kinder Ranch and the seller absolutely refuses to accept a contingency, you still have two powerful financial workarounds in 2026:

The Bridge Loan

A bridge loan is a short-term, temporary loan that borrows against the equity in your current home. You use those funds for the down payment on the new home. Once you move into the new home, you sell the old home empty and use the sale proceeds to pay off the bridge loan. While bridge loans carry higher interest rates and origination fees, they allow you to submit a highly competitive, non-contingent offer.

The Mortgage Recast

If you have enough liquid savings (or a gift from a family member) to put a minimum down payment on the new home (usually 5% to 10%), you can buy the new home non-contingently. You carry two mortgages temporarily.

Once you sell your original home, you take the massive equity payout and apply it directly to the principal balance of your new loan. For a small administrative fee (usually around $250 to $300), your lender will recast your mortgage—recalculating your monthly payment based on the newly reduced principal balance without forcing you to refinance at a new interest rate.

Strategic Fiduciary Advocacy with Mark Stillings

Executing a contingent real estate transaction is like directing air traffic; timelines, lender approvals, and title commitments across two completely separate properties must align perfectly. One missed deadline on the sale of your current home can collapse the purchase of your next one.

In the state of Texas, I operate strictly as a single-party fiduciary on your behalf—meaning my legal, ethical, and professional obligation is to defend your net capital and put your financial targets above all else.

As an Associate Broker with an M.B.A. and 19 years of daily local broker experience across San Antonio’s premier residential corridors, I do not leave timelines to chance. Because I am a TREC Certified Real Estate Instructor, I actively write and teach the state-mandated contract mechanics, risk management, and legal updates to licensed agents across Texas. My "Buying Smart" and "Selling Smart" systems ensure both sides of your contingent move are structured cleanly, protecting your earnest money and your sanity.

Let’s sit down, run a Net Equity Sheet on your current property, and build a stress-free move-up strategy today!

Authored by Mark Stillings, TREC Certified Real Estate Instructor

Mark Stillings, Associate Broker, M.B.A.

TREC Certified Instructor | Certified Negotiation Expert (CNE) | Military Relocation Professional (MRP)

Real Broker LLC

Direct Line: 210.772.3123

Email: mark@markstillings.com

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