The most common problem we are handed in the Richmond market is not finding a house. It is that the family needs to buy one before the money from the current one arrives, and every route out of that has a price.
There are three realistic options, plus a fourth that people forget. Here is what each actually does, and which one a seller in Henrico or Chesterfield is likeliest to accept.
Option one: a bridge loan
Short-term borrowing secured against the house you are leaving, used to fund the down payment and closing costs on the next one, repaid when the first sale closes. What you are really buying is the right to write a clean offer with no sale contingency in it.
What it costs: origination, a rate above your first mortgage, and a term. Some facilities defer interest to payoff, some bill monthly, and that difference changes your monthly cash flow substantially. We are not going to print a representative rate, because bridge pricing varies more between lenders than almost any other product and a number here would be out of date before you read it. Get it in writing from at least two lenders; ours are on the preferred lenders page.
The risk, stated plainly: if the old house does not sell inside the term, you are carrying two mortgages, the bridge, two sets of utilities, two insurance policies and two real estate tax bills. Model that at three months and at six before you sign.
Option two: a home equity line of credit
A HELOC is a revolving line secured against your current home. You draw what you need for the purchase and repay it when you sell. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau explains the home equity family of products and the difference between a lump-sum loan and a line of credit.
The timing trap: most lenders will not open a HELOC on a property that is already listed for sale. If a HELOC is your plan, it has to be in place before you go to market, which means deciding on this route months earlier than most people do. Every spring we talk to someone who found the right house in April and discovered in May that the line they were counting on is no longer available to them.
Where it shines: you were always going to move eventually, you have real equity, and you set it up quietly last autumn. Then it is the cheapest and least dramatic of the three.
Option three: a contingent offer
You offer on the new house subject to selling the current one. No borrowing, no double carry, and a materially weaker offer. We wrote the mechanics up separately in how to buy a Richmond home with a contingent sale.
The honest position is that a contingency is not automatically fatal here, but it depends entirely on which submarket you are buying into and how far along your own sale is. A contingency backed by a house already under contract with the inspection behind it is a serious offer. A contingency backed by a house that is not yet photographed is a request for the seller to gamble.
We will price the three routes against your actual numbers
The choice between a bridge, a line and a contingency is arithmetic, not preference, and it turns on your equity, your timeline and the submarket you are selling into. Send us the address of the home you are leaving and we will come back with a valuation with comparables attached plus a realistic days-on-market read for your street, which is the number all three options depend on. That costs you nothing and it is the input every lender will ask for anyway.
Option four, which people forget: sell first and rent back
Sell the current house, close it, and lease it back from the buyer for an agreed period while you complete the purchase. It removes the double-carry risk completely and it costs you a rent payment and some flexibility.
In a market where sellers hold the stronger hand, this is frequently the cleanest answer, and the time to ask for it is during negotiation while you still have leverage, not after the inspection. The same sequencing logic applies whether you are moving between owned homes or out of a lease; we covered the lease version in timing your move from renting to owning.
Which one wins depends on the market you are buying into
Closed single-family sales, August 2026
| Locality | Median sold price | Days on market | Months of supply |
|---|---|---|---|
| Henrico County | $425,000 | 18 | 1.6 |
| Chesterfield County | $453,975 | 22 | 1.9 |
| Richmond City | $403,500 | 26 | 1.4 |
| Hanover County | $510,000 | 24 | 2.3 |
| Goochland County | $688,702 | 30 | 2.7 |
| Powhatan County | $551,975 | 19 | 3.5 |
| Richmond Metro | $450,000 | 22 | 1.8 |
| Median price per square foot | [DATA NEEDED: median price per square foot, August 2026, by area] | ||
Closed single-family sales, August 2026, from Central Virginia Regional MLS, published in the Richmond Association of REALTORS housing reports, current as of 10 September 2026. Locality-wide medians, not neighborhood figures.
Read the last two columns together. Buying into Henrico at 18 days and 1.6 months of supply, a contingency is a genuine handicap and the bridge or the line is probably worth paying for. Buying into Powhatan at 3.5 months, or Goochland at 2.7 with 30 days on market, a contingency is far more likely to be accepted and borrowing to avoid it may be spending money to solve a problem you do not have.
The other half of the equation is how fast your house sells, not how fast the one you want does. If you are selling a well-priced house in the City of Richmond at 1.4 months of supply, your contingency is a lot less frightening to a seller than the same contingency on a house that has been sitting.
What to ask every lender, in writing
- Origination and any facility fee, in dollars.
- The rate, and whether interest is deferred to payoff or billed monthly.
- The term, and precisely what happens if the sale runs past it.
- Whether the facility is secured against the departing property, the new one, or both.
- Total cost if I carry this for three months, and for six.
- Whether you will open this if my current home is already listed.
Lenders offering these products in Virginia are supervised by the State Corporation Commission’s Bureau of Financial Institutions, and the CFPB’s buying a house guide is a reasonable neutral primer before you take any of it on. If the seller you are buying from has an attractive existing loan, there is a fifth route worth a look: assumable mortgages in Richmond.
Whichever route you pick, remember the escrow and prepaid items land twice during the overlap. How Richmond escrow accounts work covers what that looks like on paper, and you can watch what is actually coming to market on our property search.
General information, not financial or legal advice. We are not lenders, accountants or attorneys. Rates, fees, deductibility and underwriting rules change, and your situation turns on your own numbers. Take this to a licensed lender and a CPA before you commit.
Questions we get about buying before selling
What is a bridge loan, in plain terms?
Short-term borrowing secured against your existing home, used to fund the down payment and closing on the next one, and repaid when the first house sells. It buys you the ability to make a clean, non-contingent offer. You pay for that with fees, a higher rate and the risk of carrying two properties if the sale slips.
How is a HELOC different from a bridge loan?
A home equity line of credit is a revolving line secured by your home that you draw on as needed, and it is a normal consumer product rather than a short-term transaction facility. The practical difference for a mover is timing: most lenders will not open a HELOC on a property that is already listed, so it has to be in place before you go to market.
Which option do Richmond sellers actually prefer?
A non-contingent offer, every time, which is what the first two options buy you. A contingent offer is not fatal in a slower price band or a longer-days-on-market submarket, but in a metro running under two months of supply it is a real disadvantage against a comparable clean offer.
Can I make a contingent offer and still win?
Yes, particularly if your own house is genuinely sale-ready, priced properly and in a fast submarket, and if you can show the listing agent evidence of that. A contingency backed by a home that is already under contract with the inspection behind it is a completely different proposition from a contingency backed by a house that is not yet on the market.
What does a bridge loan cost?
Costs vary by lender and by how the facility is structured, so any single number printed on a blog is misleading. Ask each lender for a written comparison covering origination, the rate, whether interest is deferred or paid monthly, the term, what happens if the sale takes longer than the term, and the total cost if you carry it for three months and for six.
Is there a tax angle?
Interest deductibility on home equity borrowing depends on how the proceeds are used and on current federal rules, which is a question for a CPA rather than an agent. Separately, whether you owe capital gains on the sale of the departing home is a distinct question with its own exclusions.
What happens if my old house does not sell?
That is the entire risk and it deserves a plain answer before you sign anything. You carry two mortgages plus the bridge facility, two sets of utilities, two insurance policies and two tax bills. Model that for three months and for six months and decide whether you can absorb it. If you cannot, use a contingency.
Can I use a HELOC and then sell the house it is secured on?
Yes, but the line is paid off and closed at the sale of that property, out of the proceeds. Plan the sequencing with your settlement agent so there is no gap between drawing the funds for the purchase and closing on the sale.
What about buying with cash from a family gift instead?
Common, and simpler, but the documentation rules are strict and lenders ask for a paper trail. Get the gift letter and the transfer records in order before the funds are needed, not during underwriting.
Is a rent-back from the buyer of my old home a real option?
Often the cleanest solution in this market. You sell first, close, and lease the house back from the new owner for a defined period while you buy. It removes the double-carry risk entirely and it costs you a rent payment. Raise it during negotiation, because it is easiest to agree while you still have leverage.
Get the one number all three options depend on
Every route out of this problem prices off the same input: what your current home is worth and how fast it will actually sell. We will send you a free valuation with the comparables attached and a straight days-on-market read for your street, so you can price the bridge, the line and the contingency against real figures. Talk to one of our agents when you are ready to sequence it.
