I learned an expensive lesson when I was younger. I was transferred to another state and had to list my house for sale. The realtor and I accepted an offer on my house and a couple of weeks before the deal closed I put money down on a house where I had relocated and also had paid the appraisal fee. Three days before the money was to be deposited from my house sale, the lender discovered the buyers had lied on their credit application. The deal fell through and I lost half of the money I had put down on the house I was going to purchase. Since then I have waited for $$$ to actually be in my bank account, rented a place to live and then looked for a new home.