If you’re a homeowner planning to relocate, you have two choices. You could sell your old home first, then hope to quickly buy and move into a new home. Or you could buy a new home first — if you can afford to without selling your old home. 

For many homeowners, both options are inconvenient and complicated. 

Knock is a lender that aims to solve this problem with its signature service: a home trade-in service called Knock Swap. 

This innovative program offers two types of financing options:

• Approval for a new home loan before your old one sells
• An interest-free bridge loan that covers tricky costs, such as a down payment and overlapping mortgage costs

Knock Swap gives customers the flexibility to move into their new home and then try to sell their existing homes. 

Best of all, you’ll still work with a traditional real estate agent who can help you negotiate for the best deal on the open market.

Knock offers a free, online training session that helps agents become “Knock certified,” or fluent in the company’s offerings. In practice, Knock allows customers to work with the agent of their choosing and the certification is not a requirement.

Pros of using Knock

You’ll be able to make a competitive, non-contingent offer on a new home, upping the chances that you’ll snag your first choice. You can get financial help with overlapping costs, without having to pay any interest. Inconvenient aspects of home sales — including repairs and showings — will happen when your old home is vacant.

Cons of using Knock

You’ll still be responsible for double mortgage payments — you’re just deferring some of them.You’ll have to pay Knock’s 1.25% convenience fee (based on the purchase price of your new home).You won’t have the chance to shop around for the best rates on your home loan.

What is Knock Real Estate?

Knock offers a unique service to homeowners who are buying their next home. Its Home Swap program allows you to get approved for a mortgage before your old home sells — which most lenders won’t do, due to limits on borrowers’ debt-to-income ratios. 

Knock can do this because it offers homeowners a backup offer. If your home doesn’t sell on the open market, there’s still a guarantee that you can sell it directly to Knock. 

This certainty allows buyers to make a competitive, non-contingent offer on a new home. In other words, your offer is much more likely to get accepted! 

Knock also offers financial assistance to help homeowners cover the many costs of moving. If approved, you can receive an interest-free bridge loan that can cover:

• The down payment on a new home
• Mortgage payments on your old home until it sells
• Up to $25,000 toward repairs on your old home

Once you move into your new home, Knock can handle any repairs and pay the mortgage on your old property until it sells. 

At the end of the process, Knock will deduct its fees — including the balance of your bridge loan — from the proceeds of your home sale. 

What is a non-contingent offer?

In a typical home sale, buyers who already own a home often make a contingent offer on a new one. This is exactly what it sounds like — you agree to purchase a new property only if your old home sells first.

There’s just one problem: a lot of pieces have to fall perfectly into place. The seller of the property you’re interested in will have to take their home off the market (listing it as “pending” instead of “for sale”) and hope your home sells on the right timeline.  

If sellers can avoid contingent offers, they typically will — especially in a seller’s market where homes sell quickly. Your old home becomes an obstacle that makes it more challenging to compete with other buyers. 

Where is Knock available? 

Knock isn’t available everywhere — so far, you can only use Knock in 15 cities across six U.S. states.

• AZ: Phoenix 
• CO: Denver 
• FL: Fort Lauderdale, Jacksonville, Miami, Orlando, Tampa, West Palm Beach 
• GA: Atlanta 
• NC: Charlotte, Raleigh-Durham 
• TX: Austin, Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston, San Antonio