If you know you’re moving to Richmond, Virginia, one of the first questions you may have is how early you should actually start planning. Do you need to contact a Realtor six months before the move? Should you wait until you’re preapproved? Is three months enough time? What happens if your employer gives you six weeks to get here?

There isn’t one perfect timeline because relocation doesn’t happen the same way for everyone. Someone who already knows Richmond and has a flexible move date is in a very different position from someone moving from another state who needs to sell a house, start a new job, learn the Richmond area, and buy a home within a fairly narrow window.

In general, though, starting the conversation about three to six months before your expected move can give you valuable breathing room, especially if you’re unfamiliar with the Richmond area. That doesn’t mean you need to start touring houses six months ahead of time. It means you can start understanding the area, getting your finances organized, thinking through the home you’re leaving, and figuring out which parts of Richmond, Midlothian, Chesterfield, Henrico, or the surrounding region may actually make sense for you.

When our team at New Canaan Properties works with someone who is relocating, we would much rather have an early conversation and tell you, “You have plenty of time,” than meet you for the first time when you need a house and a closing date immediately.

Six Months Out: Start Learning the Area

If your move is still six months away, you probably don’t need to spend every night studying active listings. Most of those homes may be sold long before you’re ready to buy anyway.

This is the time to learn the geography.

When people say they’re moving to “Richmond,” they may be talking about the City of Richmond or the much larger Richmond region, which includes surrounding localities such as Chesterfield and Henrico counties. Richmond Region Tourism itself describes the region as Richmond plus surrounding cities, a town, and multiple counties.

That matters because your home search may eventually include places such as Midlothian, Glen Allen, Short Pump, or other communities you didn’t know existed when you first learned you were moving.

At this stage, we want to understand where you’ll be working, how often you’ll commute, what you’re comfortable spending, the kind of home you want, and what you want everyday life to look like. We can start identifying areas worth researching without putting pressure on you to make a decision.

Four to Six Months Out: Get Clear About the Financial Side

This is also a good time to start talking with a qualified lender if you’ll be financing your purchase. You don’t necessarily need to lock anything in this early, but you should begin understanding your buying position.

If you already own a home, this conversation becomes even more important. Do you need to sell before buying in Virginia? Will you use proceeds from your current home for the next purchase? Could you temporarily carry both homes if necessary? Does your employer provide relocation assistance?

These questions can affect the entire strategy.

We don’t want you to find the perfect Richmond-area home and only then discover that your current home needs to close first or that the timeline doesn’t work with your financing.

Three to Four Months Out: Start Narrowing Where You Want to Live

By this point, we’d like the map to start getting smaller.

Maybe you began by researching the entire Richmond region, but now you’re realizing that Midlothian makes sense because of your work location and the type of home you want. Perhaps you’re comparing Midlothian with Glen Allen or Short Pump. Maybe you’ve decided you want to be in the City of Richmond instead.

You still don’t have to choose a neighborhood yet. We simply want to move from “anywhere around Richmond” toward a smaller group of areas that deserve serious consideration.

This is where our conversations become more specific. We can compare established neighborhoods with newer communities, talk about access to the roads you’ll use regularly, and help you understand what different areas feel like.

Two to Three Months Out: Your Home Search Starts Becoming More Real

As your move gets closer, current inventory becomes more relevant.

Now we can begin watching the market more seriously and seeing what your budget is actually buying in the areas you’re considering. You may discover that one location gives you more of the house you want while another gives you the location you prefer. Those are useful tradeoffs to understand before you’re under pressure to make an offer.

If you’re planning a house-hunting trip, this is also when we want to begin thinking carefully about that visit. Rather than spending three days driving all over Central Virginia, we’d rather have already narrowed your search so we can spend meaningful time in the areas that fit you.

What If You Only Have 30 to 60 Days?

Then we work with the time we have.

Relocations don’t always come with six months of notice. Employers change timelines, military orders happen, opportunities come up unexpectedly, and sometimes life simply moves quickly.

If you call us and say, “We need to be in Richmond in six weeks,” our first reaction isn’t going to be telling you that you should have called sooner. We’re going to figure out what has to happen now.

We’ll need to move through the early conversations more efficiently. We’ll want your financing addressed quickly, your work location identified, your budget clear, and your priorities separated into true must-haves and things you’d simply like to have.

You may also need to be open to temporary housing or renting if the right purchase doesn’t line up with your deadline. A relocation deadline shouldn’t automatically become a reason to buy the wrong house.

When Should You Actually Start Touring Homes?

The answer depends on when you can realistically purchase.

Looking at houses can be helpful for understanding an unfamiliar market, but touring seriously before you’re financially and logistically prepared to act can create frustration. You may fall in love with homes that will be gone before your timeline works.

Early in the process, we can learn through listings, maps, conversations, neighborhood research, and virtual meetings. As your buying window approaches, we shift from education into a more active home search.

That transition is different for every client.

Plan Your Richmond Visit Before You Arrive

If you’re flying or driving into Richmond for a house-hunting trip, we want to do as much work as possible before you get here.

The Richmond region is connected by major roads including I-95 and I-64, and Richmond International Airport serves the region for air travel. Still, a relocation visit can disappear quickly if you spend the entire time driving between communities you haven’t researched.

We’d rather identify a few realistic areas, select homes that genuinely fit, and leave time for you to experience those communities.

Have lunch. Get coffee. Drive your commute. See where you would buy groceries. Spend a little time doing something other than looking at real estate.

You’re deciding where you’re going to live, not just which house you’re going to buy.

If You Have a Home to Sell, Start That Conversation Early

This is probably the biggest reason not to wait until the last minute.

Selling one home while buying another can create two timelines that have to work together. You may need the proceeds from your current home. Your purchase may depend on that sale. Your moving date may depend on both transactions closing within a reasonable period.

Even if we aren’t representing the home you’re selling because it’s in another state, we need to understand what’s happening with that transaction because it can affect your Virginia purchase.

The earlier everyone understands the moving pieces, the easier it is to plan around them.

When Should You Contact Our Team?

You can contact us as soon as you know Richmond or Central Virginia is seriously on your radar.

You do not need to have your financing completely finished. You don’t need to know your neighborhood. You don’t need to have your current home listed, and you definitely don’t need to send us ten houses first.

I’m Khaliyah Heaven Barakhyahu, Real Estate Team Leader with New Canaan Properties, and our team helps buyers and sellers throughout Midlothian, Richmond, Chesterfield County, and Central Virginia, including people relocating from other cities and states.

An early conversation can simply be, “We think we’re moving to Richmond in about six months. What should we be doing?”

That’s enough to start.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is six months too early to contact a Richmond Realtor?

No. Six months can be a useful time to begin learning the area and discussing your relocation strategy, particularly if you’re moving from another state.

Is three months enough time to plan a Richmond move?

It can be. Your financing, current housing situation, home-search requirements, and whether you need to sell another property will influence how much can realistically happen within that timeframe.

Can I relocate to Richmond with only a month or two of notice?

Yes, people do relocate on short timelines. The process may require quicker decisions, strong preparation, and possibly temporary housing if buying immediately doesn’t make sense.

Should I get preapproved before contacting your team?

You can contact us before preapproval. If you’re planning to finance a purchase, we’ll want you to speak with a qualified lender before you begin seriously making offers.

When should I start looking at Richmond homes online?

You can look anytime, but early browsing should be treated as market education rather than assuming those specific homes will still be available when you’re ready.

Final Thought

If you’re wondering how far in advance you should start planning a move to Richmond, my answer is simple: start learning earlier than you think you need to, but don’t feel like you have to start buying earlier than you’re ready.

Those are two different things.

The months before your move give you time to understand Richmond, compare surrounding communities, organize your financing, coordinate another home sale if necessary, and figure out what you actually want. Then, when it’s time to seriously search for a house, you’re making decisions with context instead of trying to learn an entire region under pressure.

Related Articles

Relocating to Richmond, VA: What Should You Know Before You Move?
Moving to the Richmond, VA Area: Where Should You Start?

Next Step

If you know you’re moving to the Central Virginia area but haven’t figured out where you want to live yet, that’s a perfectly good time to contact us. Our team can start by learning what’s bringing you here, when you need to move, where you’ll be working, your budget, and what you want your everyday life to look like. From there, we can help you make sense of the area and build a relocation home-search plan around you.

Khaliyah Heaven Barakhyahu
Real Estate Team Leader | New Canaan Properties

Our team helps buyers and sellers throughout Midlothian, Richmond, Chesterfield County, and Central Virginia, including buyers relocating to the Richmond area from another city or state.

New Canaan Properties
804.312.3405