Braemar Townhouse Report: July-August 2021

Braemar Townhouse Report: July-August 2021

Last, but never least, in my September series of property value reports is this edition of the Braemar Townhouse Report. In this report we look at the sale of traditional three level townhouses with a backyard. If you have a two car garage townhouse with no back yard, you need to look at the Braemar Piggyback Quarterly. If you have a two level attached home, you need to look at the Braemar Patio Quarterly. This is a report that also does not include Braemar Condos. For those you can look to the Braemar Condo Quarterly.

During the months of July and August there were thirteen Braemar townhouses that sold. Their sold prices ranged from $370,000 to $460,000. Details of those sales are listed below:

If you think I made a type-o by having 12198 Drum Salute the list twice, I did not. That home sold once in July to an investor and then again by the investor for $40,000 more. What’s the big difference? Let me tell you the improvements were some the first home owners would have been advised to do if I had meet with them. The first sellers had specific paint colors that went with their own decor. They also had a couple rooms in need of new carpet. They also were in need of a new roof. Often times, insurance companies cover that. Their home, despite professional photos, looked cluttered in the most important rooms: kitchen and owner’s bathroom.

The investor painted the whole townhouse a neutral gray. They added new lighting fixtures and faucets to the bathrooms, tiled the floor and added a frame around the vanity mirrors. They added updated lighting fixtures in the kitchen, dining and rec rooms. They added a back splash to the kitchen and painted they owner’s bathroom vanity. They updated the carpeting and added a new roof. They also put in a new garage door opener. All told, that probably cost them $10,000 to $15,000. And even if the seller didn’t have those funds on hand, there are remodeling companies that will cover the costs and take reimbursement from closing costs. The $25,000 net from the investment would have been worth the trouble if they had known what their home would have been worth with some modest listing preparation. That’s why I always reiterate listing prepartion and professional marketing. One without the other doesn’t get top dollar.

Taking these thirteen sales and combining them with all the Braemar townhouse sales from the previous twelve months, our six and twelve month data points are updated as seen below:

Looking at the sold price column, we see that both the six month average and six month median prices are higher than their respective twelve month values. This means Braemar townhouses are continuing to increase in value. The summer did show a softening of buyer demand, but nothing to be concerned with. The six month growth rate last Braemar Townhouse Report was 5% average and 6% median. The only difference this report is that the six month average growth rate a tad lower at 4%.

Seller subsidy is where we get to see how much closing cost help Braemar buyers were able to get from their townhouse sellers. Both the six and twelve month median values are at zero. That means more than half of Braemar townhouse sellers in both time frames gave no seller subsidy. And even looking at the most recent sales, we see only one seller out of thirteen that gave anything. Turns out, out of seventy-one sellers in the past year, only eleven gave closing cost help. That’s why we even have average seller subsidy values and why they are so low.

Days on market is unchanged in the avearage and median values. Braemar townhouses are still getting gobbled up quickly in our seller’s market.

If you placed your Braemar townhouse on the market, priced to current conditions, you could expect to be under contract in a week or less. You could also expect to give nothing in seller subsidy.

The next Braemar Townhouse Report will be out in November. Until then, if the time is drawing near to sell your townhouse, get in touch with me and find out how to avoid leaving money on the table. We saw the case study of leaving money on the table in this report already. Don’t be that seller. Hire a local, professional agent that offers top notch listing preparation advice and marketing. One without the other is not enough. Since 2005, No One Knows Braemar Better!

Chris Ann Cleland 
Associate Broker, Licensed in VA
Long & Foster Real Estate
703-402-0037, ChrisAnn@LNF.com
www.SellingBraemar.com
www.UncompromisingValues.com
www.ChrisAnnCleland.com