Sell before buying vs buying before selling

[Jean Ziegler]

As my family is expanding, we are looking to move into a bigger, but manageable new home. We are looking to buy in the same area we already live, but we also want to sell our current home when we move (not trying to rent it out). Do people recommend waiting until our current house is sold before looking/buying a new house, or buying the new house and then trying to sell the current one? We don't need the profits from the sell for the down payment on a new house, but it would also be nice if we could use some of the profits for the down payment if they were available. We live in a more rural Midwest area, so there also aren't necessarily 100s of houses available to buy on the daily. So, what do you recommend, sell before buying or buying before selling? Thank you.