Timing of sale of current house with purchase of investment prop

[Alexander Ball]

I own a home, and I want to sell that home and move into a multifamily 2-4 unit home and be an owner occupant.  House hacking.  It makes sense for me, I have a specific area I'm looking for across two different cities.  How do I time the sale of my house with finding a property I want.  I don't have anything that looks like a deal so far that I can find through realtor.com, hubzu, etc -- but perhaps my agent I am bringing on-board will be able to help with that.

I can't really put my house on the market without having a property in mind, because the longer my property sits on the market without me being able to accept offers, the worse it is going to look to potential buyers.  Why hasn't this house closed over 130 days of being available?

Can anyone out there help me navigate the timing on this system?  I know you can write into the sale of the house a move out date, where you essentially become a renter to the new owners.  Will it make sense as I get closer to finding a sale for the house?  How long can I expect to stay in the home waiting to move out?  Am I just putting the cart before the horse?

Thanks for taking the time to read.

--Alex