About Bristow's Braemar

Bristow, Viriginia's community of Braemar is home to a large number of Carriage Homes...smaller single family homes with detached garages. They are a great alternative to townhouses for many buyers, and this Braemar Property Value Report tells us exactly what to expect when buying or selling one of these Braemar homes. These Braemar homes also come in four floor plans: Maplewood, Norwood, Oakdale and Parkdale.

Average sale prices for these Braemar carriage homes has increased since last reported in early May. The average sale price is $288,380, up over 6.5% from the last Braemar Property Value Report (March-April 2009). These Braemar carriage homes are also leading the pack in total number of homes sold. A Braemar carraige home is always popular with buyers.

If you are selling a Braemar carriage home, based on this most recent data, you can expect to have your home under contract in approximately one month's time, if not less. You can also expect to give a buyer closing assistance. The average closing cost assistance this report is $3,740, or about 1.3% of the average sales price.

The next Braemar Property Value Report will be out in September. Until then, you can check back into average sale prices dating back to 2005 on my website: www.nvarealestate.net. Click the link on the left for Braemar Property Value Report Online and scroll down until you see the heading Carriage Series. The page will look like this:

If you are thinking of buying, or selling a Braemar carriage home, give me a call. No one knows Braemar better!

Chris Ann Cleland, Realtor, Licensed in VA, Long & Foster

703-402-0037, chrisann@LNF.com

The Bristow, VA community of Braemar has seen an uptick in resale activity for larger homes (those in the Arista series). During the months of May & June 2009, four of these Braemar homes sold, three of which were Canterbury models. Canterbury models make up most of the larger homes in Braemar.

The average sales price for these large Braemar homes was $430,000 last report (March-April 2009), but has dropped slightly this report to $420,475. That's only a 2% drop, from the previous reports 6% gain. That still gives those large Braemar homes a net gain of 4% since the beginning of 2009.

These Braemar homes are selling much quicker. The average marketing time dropped over 62 days this report to 12 days!! That means if you put your large Braemar home on the market, priced to sell, you will likely have it under contract in less than two weeks!

If you are a Braemar seller, be prepared to give closing cost assistance to buyers. The average assistance we see this report is $8,295, or about 2% of the average sales price.

The next Braemar Property Value Report will be out in early September. Until then, if you would like to view average sale prices for Breamear homes dating back to 2005, you can visit my website: www.nvarealestate.net. Click the link for Braemar Property Value Report Online and the Arista Series numbers will be the first you see. It will look like this:

If you are thinking of selling your Braemar home, please give me a call. No one knows Braemar better!

Chris Ann Cleland, Realtor, Licensed in VA, Long & Foster

703-402-0037, chrisann@LNF.com

In a previous blog I wrote about moving with children and some ways to help make it easier on the family as a whole but specifically the children.

Let's face it when we are moving, whether across town or across the country we become all focused on the myriad details, stressing over the buying trip, the packing, the actual move. Children and pets kinda get misplaced in the shuffle.

Our last move was from Chicago to the DC area. We had a 12 hour drive ahead of us, traveling with two dogs and two boys. Yippee. I know many of you are envious of me and wished that you had been in my shoes!

Some of the ways we made is easier was by leaving right after school on a Wednesday-our closing was scheduled for Friday-and since the Chicago schools got out three weeks earlier than Bristow, VA we were enrolling my kindergartener in school for the final weeks to become acquainted with riding a bus, the school and to make friends We left right after school. It was tough on my son but it offered him time to reflect by himself; it is very important that the kids be allowed to grieve (even while we emphasize looking forward to the next "big adventure").

We had small gifts for the boys to open each hour of the trip. The first six hours the boys got presents reminding them of the neat places that we used to frequent. Some of the gifts were books on places such as Cantigny Park-an amazing place to visit in the western suburbs of Chicago that is dedicated to the Big Red One, the famous First Infantry Division. Cantigny has about 20 tanks that kids can climb all over, beautifully landscaped grounds to play on, an incredible museum and a mansion! We also gave them water globes from the Shedd Aquarium, coloring books from the area and the like.

We did break for a good night's sleep-except we picked the worst flea bag in the country to stay at...YUCK- I couldn't wait to get out of there the next morning. I don't think we even spent 6 hours in the room. We hit the road pretty early. So here's a tip... research possible overnight stops in advance!

When we got to hour 7 we began to concentrate on our new home. The gifts now switched over to all the great places we could go to in northern Virginia and the DC area. Postcards of the monuments in DC gave us plenty of opportunity to talk about how cool it was going to be to move so close to the Capital. The Air and Space Museum offered some neat airplane gummies that were a great treat for after breakfast. Or was it their breakfast? I can't remember! Another gift was a DVD (yes, we have a minivan with a DVD... which my 4 year old refers to as "Mommy's bus") that talked about tourist attractions in the DC area.

We made it to our hotel near our new home early Thursday and had lots of time to swim in the indoor pool and do some more exploring of our new hometown. We got the boys to bed early that night, trying to maintain their normal schedules and routines as much as possible. Here's another tip... kids flourish with set routines. Do what you can to maintain them. They provide a sense of normalcy and comfort.

So while you're dealing with all the details of the move, try to remember the little things that will make it an easier transition for the kids. And most importantly remember the kids. Don't do a Home Alone!!

It is time for another Braemar Townhouse Report. A chance to look at sales activity in the months of March and April and find the average value of a Bramear townhouse. Townhouse sales in this Braemar Tonwhouse Report, as always, are divided into two categories: No Garage and Garage.

The was very little in the way of sales activity in Braemar townhouses in March and April. To begin, there was only one resale in the No Garage category. However, that one sale made an increase in the average sales price. It jumped from $191,000 last report (January-February 2009) to $215,000 this report. That's over a 12% increase! Meanwhile, this particular sale had no seller subsidy (closing cost assistance from seller to buyer). Most importantly, this home had a contract in only three days of marketing time!

Garage Townhouses saw a little more action this report with two resales. Average sales price is now $220,000 up from $211,950 last report (January-February 2009). That's over a 4% increase in value in two months. And seller subsidy has gone down from $7,436 last report, to $2,964 this report. The average number of days it is taking to sell one of these townhouses has increased to 43 days. This is likely due to the large number of short sales in our neighborhood.

Overall, both of these categories of townhomes are doing substantially better than Prince William County townhouses as a whole. Townhouse values in the County at large have dropped 35% from April 2008-April 2009. The drops for No Garage Townhouses and Garage Townhouses in Braemar, year to year, are 10% and 15% respectively.

There should be many more resales in the next Braemar Townhouse Report. At the time of this report, there are 13 townhouses under contract. Of those 13, 5 are bank owned (foreclosures), 7 are short sales and 1 is a traditional sale.

You can see historical averages dating back to 2006 on my website: www.nvarealestate.net. Click the link for Braemar Townhouse Report Online. Averages will be divided by garage, just as they are here. The displays will look like this:

If you would like to receive a hard copy of the Braemar Townhouse Report, please call or email to sign up.

Thinking of selling your Braemar Townhouse? Give me a call for a free, customized market analysis of your home's value. No one knows Braemar better!

Chris Ann Cleland, Long & Foster, 703-402-0037, chrisann@lnf.com

I am a licensed Realtor in Virginia, GRI and Short Sale Specialist.

In an interesting move, foreclosures have been blocked from occurring in the whole state of South Carolina for loans from certain companies. The State Supreme Court has ruled that until the 75 billion dollar federal housing bill has been enacted homeowners should not be evicted and foreclosed upon. Instead, creditors should wait until the homeowner has the chance for a federally sponsored modification.

Now this is good in a way as it provides a specific timetable and rationale, but with homes across the country in foreclosure far exceeding the 75 billion dollar bailout, what happens when the homes are actually foreclosed upon? I will tell you, we will have a glut of foreclosures in the marketplace and the overall market will take a hit.

The actions of the South Carolina Supreme Court will be analyzed for years to come as an activist court measure that may prolong the housing slump in that state.

The Supreme Court of South Carolina halted foreclosures involving loans owned or guaranteed by Freddie Mac, Fannie Mae or other lenders intending to participate in the federal loan-modification program.

Roughly 6,300 properties in the state are in foreclosure proceedings, said Rick Sharga, senior vice president of RealtyTrac Inc., which tracks foreclosure data. The court's order will likely halt at least half of these, he said.

In March, the White House announced a $75 billion plan that offered incentives for lenders to modify some mortgages.

Fannie Mae, which requested the temporary restraining order, said the ruling gives it "additional time to identify borrowers who may benefit from the administration's modification plan and keep more struggling South Carolina homeowners in their homes with a sustainable mortgage." via WSJ.com.