Posts Tagged ‘old trail’

Just a little past their two year anniversary, Piedmont Realty and Construction is expanding their offering.  This is consistent with why I think they have been successful.  Drew Holzwarth continues to innovate and stay relevant.  More on the new offering in a moment.

Tracking new home sales in the area, I see Piedmont continuing to grow their market share.  One reason is innovation. Piedmont is constantly trying to improve their offering. The latest innovation? Every Earth Friendly Piedmont home now comes standard with a Trane hybridHVAC system. This is remarkable and going to save their owners thousands of dollars over the life of the home.  Other 2011 improvements include quiet close cabinet doors, new double hung low-E windows, and tank-less water heaters.

Another reason for their continued success is finding segments of the market under served and customizing an offering that adds value to that segment of the market. I refer to this as staying relevant. Even after two years, I find myself impressed by the depth of experience that allows them to stay relevant.

This brings me to the topic of this post. Piedmont Realty and Construction is developing and introducing what will be known as their Estate Series of homes. Starting with the Keswick (tour below), Piedmont is now serving the $800k-$1.5M range by offering custom homes in Albemarle County communities like Glenmore, Ragged Mountain Farm, South Ivy Estates, and Old Trail. With two homes over $1M currently under construction in Old Trail, Piedmont is proving their capabilities once again in this new price range.

Check out The Keswick.

I’ve always believed having a solid understanding of the new construction market was vital to understanding the over all market.  One can capture important insights into marketplace demand and trends from following new developements, builders, and even meeting people working a model home. I’ve compiled some data on what occurred this past year in the Charlottesville Area and will share as Part 1 of an over all analysis of the new home market. All data is as reported to the CAAR MLS. While this data is accurate enough to tell the story, historically all new home sales are not reported to the MLS.

The Top 5 – Community Sales – Albemarle

1. Pavilions at Pantops -51
2. Old Trail-47
3. Belvedere-29
4. Montgomery Ridge-14
5. Liberty Hall-12

There are a  few things that are interesting to me when looking at the list of communities and where the sales occurred.  The Pavilions at Pantops represents the majority of attached housing sold and benefitted greatly from its location, price point, and the first time homebuyer tax credit.  However, it is important to note that detached home sales exceeded attached home sales in 2010. This was not the case in 2009. Attached sales in Albemarle dropped from 131 to 108.  In they city the year over year change was 33 in 2009 to 7 in 2010. Significant change. Detached  new home sales were up 64% in Albemarle. (Up from 75 in 2009 to 123 in 2010)

Overall, Albemarle and Greene saw increases in new home sales, while Fluvanna and Charlottesville saw a decline. Here are the top sellers in each of the following localities:

1. Charlottesville : Rock Creek Village 20
2. Fluvanna: Sycamore Square 31
3. Louisa: Spring Creek 20
4. Greene: Greenecroft 12 and Holly Hill 11

Another interesting development was the pace of new home sales in Montgomery Ridge. This is a roughly 60 home community of half acre lots with sidewalks and cul de sacs in the 29N corrider. You have to go to Crozet to find a comparable lot size and value to serve this segment of the market. These 14 sales ranged from the mid $400′s to the high $600′s.  My theory for the sales here is that the builders, led by Piedmont Realty and Construction, were able to adjust there offering to fit the market demand and look better than the resale options on the market.  The opportunity to customize the home and energy efficiency were major considerations.

Old Trail was also a top story of 2010 with 47 sales ranging from the mid $200′s with townhomes, detached homes starting just under $300k, and larger lots for homes in the $500k+ range. A wide range of home types and prices is one consideration, but I think the real story was the arrival of some more infrastructure of the master plan of the community. The golf course has been there, but the pool and towncenter pushed it over the top. People can very easily get a feel for what  this major development might feel like long term. Add the gorgeous environment, more commercial development anchored by Harris Teeter, fabulous public school reputations at all three levels, and lack of development elsewhere in the county, Crozet became attractive to even folks commuting up 29N for NGIC and DIA positions.

Another community I’ve had a relationship with since its inception is Belvedere. Belvedere had a better year than I think most would have predicted.  Still in its infancy in regards to community and master plan infrastructure, zoning that allows legal rental apartments over the garage and green building show that there is demand for this type of community. Energy efficiency is a major trend, and I think all homeowners should be evaluating their homes and considering improvements in this area. Most are amazed at the difference in comfort and cost to operate. However, all trends aside, its the central location of Belvedere that will make it successful at the end of the day.

There are many ways to slice and dice the data. If you are interested in more analysis of the new home market, feel free to contact me. I really enjoy getting to work in the new home market and my relationships with the local builders, developers and trades.  If you are considering a new home purchase, my expertise is helping buyers understand the new home landscape, evaluate their choices, and find the best builder “fit” to get the home they want.

Looking ahead, I’ll share some information on which builders were the most active in our market in 2010 and after that, I’ll outline what’s on the horizon for 2011.

After all of the construction is finished, the process culminates with a walk through with the builder to see the home in its finished form, identify any items that need to be completed, and learn about the home and how it operates.  Its hard to describe the feeling one gets when you get to see how all of the decision making and selections come together for the final result. A home. A home that has never been lived in by anyone else and fits your tastes and the way you live. I’m lucky to get to watch people experience this as often as I do. Piedmont Realty and Construction and the homeowner created something very special. Enjoy.

It’s so beautiful out today, I took a walk down West End Drive, Old Trail in Crozet, Virginia. Take a look.  If you’d like to see a walk through of 8161 West End Drive (The Riverton), you can do so here.

I’m often asked how long the new home construction process will take, and when I tell people 120 days from contract, many are surprised.  Seeing the progress made on this home in just 1o weeks,  you can start to understand there’s a process and level of supervision that yields a shorter process without sacrificing quality. (Not too mention its basically a custom home as well.) In this video you’ll see light fixtures, granite, appliances, hardwood flooring, exterior steps, and a few other items. This home is significantly complete.  Check back for a closer look at the kitchen with Amy Hart from Reico.

Just a quick update for Week 7.  Sheetrock process begins and exterior stonework continues. Note the detail work on the porches and the stone work. These are areas where Piedmont separates themselves from their competition.

The video below shows progress made during Week 5 of construction. You’ll see the HVAC equipment and ductwork installation, plumbing and electrical rough in, as well as a discussion on post framing inspections. Concrete was poured for the porches and a post framing walk through resulted in a field change to add a double window.

The video below captures what occurred in the third week of construction. The slab was poured, the framing package was delivered, and the carpenters framed for three days. Lots of progress. Check it out.

The video below captures the progress made in Week 2 of construction. I was joined by Scott Carlson of Piedmont Realty of Construction to talk particulars regarding drainage, radon mitigation, waterproofing, and county inspections.

Sometimes working with builders and developers affords me the opportunity of being a little bit ahead of the curve. Working with builders and developers, we are often trying to “find” the market. That is, what needs to be created to represent value in the marketplace as compared to all options new or otherwise. I often share that I think understanding the new construction market is vital to understanding the overall market. Working with Drew Holzwarth of Piedmont Realty and Construction, I think he has “found” a few of segments of the market in which the Piedmont offering has been well received by the marketplace.

In fall of 2009, Piedmont developed The Riverton for Old Trail’s West End Square. Single family homes (detached) under $300,000. This was the first time detached homes were availabe in this price point. Some of these lots are smaller and do not offer garage opportunity, but serve the buyer not willing to consider attached choices. What happened next is interesting to me. We immediately discovered demand for a little bit bigger home with garage and/or basement in the $350-$400k+ range. Piedmont’s semi-custom process allowed the flexibility to immediately adapt to the marketplace. As it turns out, Phase V of Old Trail offered 6 lots with room for garages and/or basements. When all of these lots were sold in short order I was disappointed, as this was such a perfect for this “new” real estate market.

And then came Village Commons, Old Trail’s newest phase. Adjacent to the town center, this phase offers more lots with room to add garage and even room to widen the footprint of the home. Streets are not in and there are no model homes yet, but the opportunity is there for those with vision. Last week we made the first sale of Village Commons. This buyer started with the Riverton, widened the home by 2 feet, and added a third floor for 4th bedroom and third full bath. They also added a two car garage with a finished room above for a perfect studio or home office.

What I’ve seen over the last year confirms many of my suspicions about the market. There are buyers looking for quality in the form of design, finish, and energy efficiency not present in the resale market. Why is that? Because at the top of the market it got to easy. Not everything built in those years is relevant now. One of the best ways to get exactly what you want is working with a semi custom home builder. I will explain more about this concept in coming posts.