Selling your home on the Virginia Peninsula with Adam Triplett

Selling a house on the Virginia Peninsula comes down to pricing it against the right comparable sales, preparing it for the buyers shopping that price point, and getting the contract through inspection, appraisal and settlement. Seller representation is the core of Adam Triplett's practice: in his closed-sales record, 2006 through July 2026, 396 of 628 sales were on the listing side, including 23 of his 37 sales in the 12 months to July 14, 2026. He is Vice President and Senior Partner at Garrett Realty Partners in Newport News.

What does a listing agent do when you sell?

A listing agent represents the seller from the first pricing conversation through settlement. On the Peninsula the work usually runs in this order:

1. Price from local comparable sales. Recent closed sales of similar homes nearby, from the REIN MLS, adjusted for what moves value here: water frontage and pier condition, flood zone and insurance cost, school assignment, HOA or club dues, and the age of the roof and systems. The list price has to hold up when the buyer's appraiser runs the same comparables.
2. Prepare the home. Repairs, paint, landscaping and cleaning, plus the paperwork buyers ask for: disclosure forms, HOA documents, permits, and records for any pier, bulkhead or septic system.
3. Market and show it. Photography, the MLS listing and showings scheduled around your household.
4. Negotiate. Price is one term. Financing, contingencies, earnest money, settlement date and requests for seller-paid closing costs all change what an offer is worth.
5. Inspection and appraisal. Repair requests and appraisal shortfalls are negotiated within deadlines written into the contract.
6. Settlement. A settlement agent, usually an attorney or title company, handles the closing.

Before you sign: Virginia requires a listing agreement to be in writing, state the compensation, and have a definite termination date. Without one, it ends 90 days after it was made (Va. Code § 54.1-2137).

How do you sell on PCS orders?

Military sellers often list against a report date. Adam works in three steps:

1. Assess the timeline. Report date, terminal leave, house-hunting trip. Work backward from the date that matters and set a list date that protects your equity.
2. Coordinate the work. Punch list, paint, landscaping and inspection items are scheduled with contractors so nothing waits on you being in town.
3. Sell and close remotely. Marketing, showings, negotiation and closing continue after you leave for the next duty station, with documents moving electronically.

See military relocation and selling on PCS orders without being in town.

What does a seller have to disclose in Virginia?

Virginia is largely buyer-beware on condition, but sellers still owe paperwork. Under the Virginia Residential Property Disclosure Act, the seller gives the buyer the Real Estate Board's Residential Property Disclosure Statement before ratification. The statement says the owner makes no representations about condition and tells the buyer to do their own due diligence on topics including flood hazard areas, Chesapeake Bay resource protection areas, the sex offender registry, septic systems, and nearby airports and military installations (§ 55.1-703). If it arrives after ratification, the buyer generally may terminate within three days of in-person or electronic delivery, or five days after the postmark if mailed (§ 55.1-709).

A seller who knows of any of the following must also disclose it on the Board's forms, posted on the DPOR disclosure forms page:

Hampton is home to Langley Air Force Base, so expect the military air installation form on a Hampton sale.

Do you have to disclose a flood zone?

As of October 2026, no. The statement makes no representation about special flood hazard areas and points buyers to FEMA maps and the Virginia Flood Risk Information System. The flood-specific requirement is the repetitive-loss disclosure, in effect since January 1, 2022. A 2025 bill to require flood-zone disclosure, HB 2348, was tabled in subcommittee (WHRO, January 2025). Buyers can still look up any address on the FEMA Flood Map Service Center, so have the flood zone, any elevation certificate and your insurance history ready. See Poquoson flood zones and flood insurance.

What changes when you sell a waterfront home?

Every Peninsula locality on this site is in "Tidewater Virginia" under the Chesapeake Bay Preservation Act, including York, James City and Gloucester counties and Hampton, Newport News, Poquoson and Williamsburg (§ 62.1-44.15:68). Those localities enforce Resource Protection Areas: tidal wetlands, certain connected nontidal wetlands, tidal shores, and a buffer at least 100 feet wide landward of them (9VAC25-830-80). Building and clearing inside an RPA are limited, and the disclosure statement tells buyers to check the locality's maps, so waterfront buyers ask early. Have permits and dates for the pier, bulkhead or riprap and a survey ready. See waterfront homes and what York River waterfront buyers ask first.

What do you need to sell in an HOA or condo community?

Property owners' associations are formed under the Virginia Property Owners' Association Act and condo associations under the Virginia Condominium Act. Since July 1, 2023, resale certificates for both fall under the Resale Disclosure Act:

• Ordering. The seller or seller's agent requests the certificate in writing; the association has 14 days to deliver it (§ 55.1-2309).
• Contents. Assessments and fees owed, special assessments, budget and reserves, insurance, rules and use restrictions, and violation notices (§ 55.1-2310).
• Cancellation. The buyer may cancel within three days of ratification or of receiving the certificate, whichever is later, or any time before settlement if it never arrives (§ 55.1-2312).

Ordering it at listing keeps that window from landing late in the contract. For Williamsburg-area club fees, see Kingsmill, Ford's Colony and Governor's Land fees.

How long does it take to sell a house on the Peninsula?

It depends on price point, condition, season and competing listings. For context, the median Virginia home sold in July 2026 spent 15 days on the market statewide, unchanged from a year earlier, per the Virginia REALTORS® July 2026 Home Sales Report. Local markets vary, and that measures time on market, not time to settlement.

Which sellers does Adam Triplett specialize in?

• Waterfront owners, with guides to Poquoson, the York River, the James River and Back River.
• High-end homes. 42 sales at $500,000 or more, including listings on River in Newport News ($975,000, 2025) and Bunting Point in Yorktown ($905,000, 2021). See luxury homes.
• Military sellers on PCS orders, using the three steps above.
• Downsizing and estate sales, working with the owner and family. See downsizing.

Where has Adam Triplett sold homes?

All sales in Adam's record, both sides, by mailing city:

The full record is on the homes sold page, and his background and VPAR record are on the about page.