Selling Principal House Now - But NOT Closing for 6 Months?

[Daniel Dietz]

Hello all, 

We are in the process of getting our principal residence ready to sell. The problem is we do not want to move out for roughly 5-6 months. 

Our main reason is that we are just starting to build out our new place, and that is how long it will take to be ready. 

In our area, town of about 10K, things are selling like hot cakes and for good money. Neighbor just sold their place that they purchased less than 2 years ago for 180K for 280 in a couple of weeks. 

We would like to 'lock in' a good selling price for us, and feel it could also 'lock in' a good price for the potential buyer instead of taking the chance that things will go up even more if they were to wait until late spring or summer. 

Have others been in this situation, and if so, how did you deal with it? What did you see at pros/cons for each party? How did you handle ernest money etc....?

Thanks, Dan Dietz