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The Fan Market Is En Fuego!

Some Fast Facts on the Historic Fan District Real Estate Market

· Real Estate,Historic Fan

Well hello. It has been so long since I wrote a blog post, I am embarrassed to even mention it. So many things have changed! I have joined the Richmond, Virginia office of Nest Realty, a Charlottesville-based brokerage. We have been toiling away, a little below the radar, since January 2017. We wanted to be in our permanent space at the former Bus Barn, 221 S. Robinson Street to be exact, before we started screaming "Look at me! Look at me!" But the move-in date for our space has been delayed. And delayed. And DELAYED. So no more flying below the radar. We're here, we have awesome tools, our website is unique to Richmond, by focusing on neighborhoods, and we love staying in touch with our clients. More about Nest Realty Richmond in a future post.

But here's the information that got me blogging again. I have started a Fan farming campaign, which is real estate-speak for direct mailing into a particular geographic area, in an attempt to build my business in that sub-market. In the course of putting together the next direct mail piece, I was doing some research on recent Fan sales. Here is what struck me about some recent sales transactions.

There were two recent sales that all closed above $300/SF. And not just sort of above $300/SF. Like, $330/SF.

Now, there has never to my recollection been an internal Fan sale in the $300+/SF range. I have been selling real estate for over 11 years, and during all of that time I was actually living in the Fan. We have seen $300+/SF for houses on Monument Avenue. But never, ever, EVER in the "regular" Fan house world.

307 N. Rowland sold on July 20, 2017 for $703,000, $108,000 OVER the list price of $595,000. The house had 3BR/2.5BA and had been nicely renovated, although with a smaller kitchen. There was a two car garage. The final closed price for this 2,120SF house is $331.60/SF.

1804 Grove sold on July 31, 2017 for $722,500, slightly less than the list price of $725,000. The house had 3BR/2.5BA and was a brand new whole-house renovation. There was NO off-street parking, although there was certainly room to move the fence in and create parking for two cars. The final closed price for this 2,192SF house is $329.61.

It is worth pointing out that both of these were cash transactions.

So, what does this mean? These two sales will become comparables for other Fan sales. Meaning that $330/SF is now part of the "regular" price range for Fan homes, albeit on the high end of the range. What had been $200/SF-$250/SF has quickly - oh so amazingly quickly! - become $230/SF-$330/SF.

FOR SELLERS: If you are thinking about selling, I'm not sure there will be a better time to sell. It is possible we could continue to see rapid price appreciation. But there is uncertainty in the world and the possibility of interest rate increases. Right now a Fan home in good condition, staged, and priced appropriately, should be selling with multiple offers in a matter of days.

FOR BUYERS: If you have been sitting on the side lines waiting for things to slow down, I think you are waiting in vain. The laws of economics are irrefutable. With the Historic Fan District, we have a fixed supply, and a seemingly never-ending and increasing demand. Unless Baby Boomers stop wanting walkability and Millennials decide they would rather live in the suburbs, the Fan - and other hot City neighborhoods, like the Museum District, Byrd Park, and Bellevue -is where it's at.

So it might be time to get off the fence. Both buyers and sellers. Price appreciation and interest rate increases just erode your buying power.

If you would like to talk about buying or selling your Fan home, or any property in the Greater Richmond area, Mike & Melissa can help you! We have team members with expertise in various geographic areas of the Greater Richmond Metropolitan area. And if your home, or your dream home, is in an area we do not know, we will make sure to get you to a top agent that specializes in that area.

Thanks for taking the time to read my post! Your thoughts, comments, and suggestions are always welcome!

- Melissa

(804) 986-3993

Email: melissa@mikemelissa.com

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