How Do You Buy and Sell a Home at the Same Time in Arlington?

Our clients owned a four-bedroom, three-bath split foyer in Dover Crystal, built in 1969, and wanted new construction with walkability and Metro access without leaving Arlington. They found it in Lyon Park: five bedrooms, five and a half baths, 4,446 square feet across four levels. We secured that house first with no home-sale contingency, then listed theirs four days later. It drew three offers and sold for $1,700,000, $115,000 over asking, on May 26, 2026. They closed on the new house for $2,430,000 three days after that.

They were past clients. We'd helped them buy the Dover Crystal house a few years earlier, which meant I already knew the property before any of this started.

Why were they moving?

Two reasons, and both had to be satisfied or the move wasn't worth making.

Their family was growing and they wanted more space in a newer house, without the quirks and upkeep that come with a home built in 1969. And one of them wanted a walkable life: coffee, dinner, and workout classes on foot instead of in the car every time.

They loved Arlington and had no interest in leaving it. So the search had four conditions at once: new construction, more space, real walkability, and Metro access. That combination close in to Arlington is not easy to find, which is what made the search narrow and the eventual house worth moving quickly for.

What made this harder than a normal move?

They already had a house they liked well enough, and they wanted the equity from it available for the purchase.

That produces the standard trap. Sell first and you risk being pressured into whatever happens to be available. Buy first with a home-sale contingency and your offer gets weaker, especially on a desirable property where the seller has alternatives.

They could technically have bought without selling by pulling money from elsewhere, but they preferred not to. And they were clear that they'd only move if we found something genuinely worth moving for.

What did we do instead?

We reversed the usual order and bought the time inside the contract rather than asking for a contingency.

We secured the new-construction house first, then spent more than a week negotiating the contract itself: a longer closing period and appropriate financing protections, so there was real room to sell without the offer carrying a home-sale contingency that would have weakened it.

That only worked because of something we'd done months earlier.

Long before they were under contract on anything, I'd walked their house and given them the list. That's what made the rest possible.

When should you start preparing the house you're selling?

Months before you start looking. Not when you find something.

I walked through their Dover Crystal house well in advance and gave them a checklist of everything that needed doing to get it ready. They worked through it while they were still living their lives, with no pressure and no deadline. By the time the Lyon Park house appeared, their own home was already market-ready.

The dates show what that bought them. We ratified the purchase on April 23, 2026. Their house went under contract on May 4. A seller who starts preparing after they find a house is six weeks from listing. We were four days.

Preparation is also what let them be patient. They didn't have to take a house that almost worked, because they weren't racing anything.

Why Lyon Park?

It was the only place that satisfied all four conditions at once.

We looked across several Arlington neighborhoods including Cherrydale and Westover. Both are good and neither delivered the whole combination. Lyon Park gave them a brand-new house while keeping them close to the Metro corridor with the walkable everyday life they were after.

New construction that close in to Arlington with meaningful walkability is uncommon. That scarcity is exactly why the house was worth structuring a complicated transaction around.

How do you negotiate on new construction?

You look at how long it's been sitting.

This house had been on the market 111 days when we started negotiating. That's the number that created the room. We spent more than a week on the contract and brought the price from $2,499,900 to $2,430,000, which is $69,900 below asking, alongside the closing timeline and financing terms we needed.

A new-construction house that listed three weeks ago in a busy season is a completely different conversation. The tactic isn't the negotiation, it's knowing which houses will absorb one.

Does a new house still need an inspection?

It does, and this one is the reason I say so.

New construction gets treated as automatically finished because it's never been lived in. We brought in a strong inspector anyway. The report came back with more than 50 items.

We worked through them and got the appropriate issues addressed before our clients moved in. Every one of those would have become their problem, on their dime, three months later.

What happened?

We listed the Dover Crystal house immediately after securing Lyon Park and it drew three offers.

Having competing offers meant we could negotiate them against each other, and the house sold for $1,700,000 against a $1,585,000 list price. That's $115,000 over asking. It closed May 26, 2026.

The Lyon Park purchase closed on May 29, three days later, at $2,430,000. The equity from the sale went straight into the new house, exactly as designed.

Between the two sides, the sale coming in $115,000 over and the purchase landing $69,900 under, the sequencing was worth $184,900. They never had to move twice, never had to take an interim rental, and never had to settle for a house that only mostly worked.

We also connected them again with a Citizens Bank relationship program, which reduced their rate based on the banking relationship they'd already built with us on a prior transaction. Programs like that get pulled, so treat it as something we found for this deal rather than something on a shelf today.

What I'd tell someone facing the same move

If you own a house and your next move means buying and selling at once, start early. Months early.

Call your agent long before you're looking. Walk the house together. Make the repair list and work through it while there's no clock running. Get a real sense of what it's worth. Understand your financing options. Decide now what you'd do if the right house listed tomorrow.

These clients didn't have to move, which is what let us be patient. But when the house appeared, we had to be fast, and we could be, because the work was already done.

That gap between being ready and not being ready is usually the difference between getting the house and watching somebody else get it.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you buy and sell a home at the same time without a home-sale contingency?

You prepare the house you are selling long before you find the one you are buying, then negotiate time into the purchase contract instead of attaching a contingency. On this transaction we secured the new-construction house first and spent more than a week negotiating a longer closing period and financing protections. Because the clients' existing home had already been walked, listed out, and repaired months earlier, we launched it four days after ratifying the purchase. The sale closed on May 26, 2026 and the purchase closed on May 29, three days apart.

Why is a home-sale contingency a problem when buying new construction?

It makes the offer materially less attractive to a builder or seller who has other options. A contingent offer asks them to take their property off the market while a different transaction they cannot control plays out. The alternative is to make a clean offer and buy time inside the contract instead: a longer closing period and appropriate financing protections give the buyer room to sell without asking the seller to absorb the risk of a house that has not been listed yet.

When should you start preparing your home for sale if you plan to move up?

Months before you start looking, not after you find something. On this transaction the walkthrough, the repair checklist, and the preparation work all happened well ahead of any house appearing. That preparation is what created optionality: the clients could wait for a property genuinely worth moving for, and then move faster than a buyer who still needed weeks to get their own house ready. When the right house appeared, we were four days from listing rather than six weeks.

Can you negotiate the price of a new-construction home?

Yes, and how much depends on how long the house has been sitting. The Lyon Park home had been on the market 111 days when we negotiated, which is why there was room. We spent more than a week on the contract and brought the price from $2,499,900 to $2,430,000, $69,900 below asking. A new-construction house that just listed in a busy season is a different conversation entirely.

Do you still need a home inspection on a brand-new house?

Yes. New construction is not automatically finished correctly, and treating it as though it is costs buyers money after they move in. We brought in a strong inspector on this Lyon Park house and the report came back with more than 50 items. We worked through them and had the appropriate issues addressed before the clients moved in rather than after.

About the author

Blake Davenport is the founder of The Davenport Group at TTR Sotheby's International Realty, the #1 real estate team in Arlington, VA by sales volume for three consecutive years per BrightMLS. He and his wife Leah started the team in 2016. A large share of his work is with Arlington owners moving up within the county, where the sale and the purchase have to be sequenced as one plan rather than two transactions.

Planning a move like this?

If you own in Arlington and your next move means selling and buying at the same time, the right time to start is well before you're looking. We'll walk your house and build the plan.

Schedule a call with The Davenport Group