Braeamar Reflection Quarterly: January-March 2022 (1st Quarter)

Welcome to another edition of the Braemar Reflection Quarterly. This report details sales of the semi-attached/semi-detached homes on Tarvie Circle. While they look like detached single family homes from the curb, in the back they are attached to one neighbor in a duplex-like fashion, only at the garage. These homes make up only forty-four of the over two-thousand, eight hundred properties in Braemar, so sometimes it feels like quarterly reports are even too frequent. If we go too many quarters without a sale this year, I may make this a semi-annual report.

We get to start off the year examining the sale of one Reflection Series home that sold in January. Details are listed below.

There are many thing about this sale that show the presence of the seller’s market. Selling above list price is one of them. Two others are giving no seller subsidy (closing cost help to buyer) and going under contract in only two days.

When combined with the Reflection home sales from the second, third and fourth quarter of 2021, we have a total of only three sales. However, taking the six and twelve month data points from that pool of data our market markers are updated.

Being the only sale in the last six month, our most recent Reflection home sale makes up both the six month average and median values. Compared to the twelve month average and twelve month median sold price, we still see upward growth in home values. Not surprising since our market continues to have very high demand and limited inventory.

Seller subsidy is zero down the line in all but the twelve month average. That is because one sale out of three in the last year gave $8,000 in closing cost help. One out of three sales giving closing cost help is not great, but still keeps the median values at zero. Your odds of having to give closing cost help if you sell your Reflection home have been slim, but with rising interest rates, don’t be surprised to see seller subsidy increase this year.

Days on market shows that Reflection homes are selling even faster. Again, this is due to high demand and very little inventory.

If you placed your Reflection home on the market, priced to current conditions, you could expect to be under contract within a week. And whether or not you gave any seller subsidy may depend on large part who you hire to represent you. Relying solely on seller market conditions and hiring low rate agents who do very little to drive up buyer enthusiasm will cost you more than you save in commission every time. Even in a seller’s market, you can leave money on the table. Creating buyer enthusiasm through proper listing preparation and professional marketing keep you at the top of what any market will bear.

The next Braemar Reflection Quarterly will be out in July. Until then, if you would like to investigate the 2022 sale of your Braemar home, get in touch for a no obligation analysis. We can discuss current demand and how rising interest rates may or may not be a factor for you in your next purchase. 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

Braemar Reflection Quarterly: October-December 2021 (4th Quarter)

Braemar Reflection Quarterly: October-December 2021 (4th Quarter)

The first Monday of 2022 means it is time for the Monday-Friday employees among us to get back to work, though for many it will be virtual thanks to Mother Nature’s gift of snow. It won’t surprise many of you to know that, as a Top Braemar Real Estate Agent, I worked putting together quarterly market reports all weekend. Real estate is a self-motivated career. As independent contractors, we each have the ability to do as much, or as little as we want to keep our businesses going. I choose to go above and beyond the typical norm in our area and inform my fellow Braemarians of property values regularly.

Today I bring you the fourth quarter report for Reflection Series homes in our neighborhood. Reflection Homes in Braemar are located off of Tarvie Circle. They are the semi-attached/semi-detached homes that are attached to one neighborhoring property at the rear load garage.

Because Reflection homes make up a very small number of homes in the overall Braemar community, home sales are not as common as they are in other types of homes. This report has been done quarterly in hopes that is the appropriate interval to notice changes. I will be paying attention in 2022 and may adjust this report to be the only semi-annual if need be. For now, we’ll end the year the way we went through it, with a quarterly report.

There were no Reflection homes that sold in the last three months of 2021. That means the six and twelve month data points relied on in this installment were made up of only the other remaining sales from 2021. Both were in the last six months, making six and twelve month values the same.

This market report then is relying on my experience in preparing the other market reports and my extensive knowledge in working with two dozen buyers and sellers in 2021.

Market prices have been going up, but the growth rate is not as steep as it had been earlier in 2021.

Seller subsidy (closing cost help buyers negotiate from sellers) has seen a bit of a comeback. It’s still not the norm to see the majority of sellers giving any seller subsidy, but it is not absent from the market at large either.

Marketing times are not changing greatly, but I have noticed some sales taking way longer than they should. Poor marketing is usually the culprit. Even in a seller’s market, having a properly prepared home and professional marketing is the only way to get buyers enthusiastic about your home.

If you placed your Braemar Reflection home on the market, priced to current conditions, you could expect it to be under contract in less than two weeks. You could also expect to get away with no seller subsidy if your home has created that all important buyer enthusiasm. You could also expect your buyer to have a home inspection contingency. These made a come back in the second half of 2021.

The next Braemar Reflection market report will be out next spring. Until then, if you would like to read my real estate market predictions for 2022, you can do that by clicking here. If you have been thinking that 2022 is the year that you want to make a move, there is no time like the present to have that initial conversation. Get in touch and let’s chat. 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