Chicago Metro Area Real Estate » Oak Park

Should you view homes above your price range, if they’re on market 30 days or less?

Fran Bailey, Baird and Warner Realtor — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 20:40:16 +0000

NOTE TO SELLERS! Homes that sell in 30 days or less get a significantly higher % of list price!

This week I received a great question. Michael M. asked, “Is it wise to see a home that only recently came on the market (let’s say less than 30 days) and is $25-50K out of your price range? Or should you wait until there is a price reduction that brings it closer to your comfort range?”

A few non-scientific real estate statistics will help me answer this question. The statistics shown in the table are based on condo and townhouse listed sales for all of 2009 in the 4 locations (2 city and 2 suburban). On average homes than sold in 30 days or less sold for 96.7% of list price.

So if your maximum price is $250K, you’re probably wasting your time looking at homes priced $275K to $300K since $250K as a percent of those list prices will well below 96.7%. The chances that sellers would accept an offer of $250K are very low. However, after the home has been on market 30 days, you chances of getting an offer of $250K accepted are much better since the average percent of sale price to list price drops to 92.7%!

If your maximum price is $500K, it isn’t outside of the realm of possibility that a seller with a home priced at $525K might accept an offer of $500K since it would be 95.2% of list price. That’s less than my un-scientific average of 96.7%, but not impossible.

Of course, these are rules-of-thumb. For each home, it depends on how well it is priced, how motivated the seller is, how well your buyer agent can help you negotiate a lower price, and other factors.

Besides list price, the other consideration is your amount of self-control. Finding the right home is often based on a bonding experience that buyers have when they see a home. It often happens within just a few minutes. Some people will fall in love with a home and blow through their maximum price. (Love often knows no bounds!) Others have more self-control and are willing to risk losing a home to another buyer while they wait for the price to fall in their range.

Great question, Michael! Let me know, if I didn’t fully answer it!Similar Posts:

Why Oak Park open houses can be a challenge to find!

Fran Bailey, Baird and Warner Realtor — Sun, 09 Aug 2009 21:02:06 +0000

Today my partner, Mary Kaye, and I hosted an open house for a vintage condo in Oak Park we recently listed (320 N Maple 2N). We had a nice turnout of 7 groups which we were pleased with considering that Oak Park only allows a sign in the yard of a property to advertise an open house. Additional signs off the property directing people to the open house are prohibited. This ties in with Oak Park’s long standing rule against for sale signs.

We typically put out another 4 to 6 signs in high traffic areas to direct prospective buyers to our open houses. The overwhelming majority of people who have attend our open houses learned about them because they were driving/walking in the area and saw one of our directional signs.

So if you’re thinking of visiting some Oak Park open houses, look them up on BairdWarner.com’s open house search which shows all listed open houses regardless of broker. You’ll have a tough time finding them buy just driving around.Similar Posts:

Oak Park, Batavia and Buffalo Grove noted by Money Magazine

Fran Bailey, Baird and Warner Realtor — Sun, 26 Jul 2009 15:30:08 +0000

Chicago suburb Oak Park made Money Magazine’s top 25 list of American’s best places for the rich and single. Chicago suburbs Batavia and Buffalo Grove made Money Magazine’s top 100 list of America’s best small towns.

Oak Park just west of Chicago ranked 7th on Money’s list of the best places for the rich and single. Residents are described as an “artsy, well-educated crowd”. See Money’s feature on Oak Park.

Far west suburb Batavia ranked 56th on the list of America’s best small towns was noted for its old-town feel, commuter train access to Chicago, and “nearly 200 manufacturing, research, and warehousing firms as well as the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, a world-renowned center for physics research.” See Money’s feature on Batavia.

Northwest suburb Buffalo Grove ranked 65th on the list of America’s best small towns was noted for its 400 acres of parks, annual fine art festival and “Buffalo Grove Days”. See Money’s feature on Buffalo Grove.
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Oak Park Condo Dog Limits

Fran Bailey, Baird and Warner Realtor — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 23:13:21 +0000

Recently, I worked with buyers who have 2 dogs. They seriously considered a new condo development in Oak Park and mentioned the dogs to the staff at the sales office who didn’t mention an issue with the dogs. Later while at an open house for a townhouse in neighboring Forest Park, they mentioned the dogs and that they had considered the new condos in Oak Park to the hosting agent. The hosting agent informed them much to their surprise that they couldn’t have more than one dog in a condo in Oak Park!

That isn’t exactly true. According to the city of Oak Park, up to 3 dogs are allowed in Oak Park townhouses and up to 2 dogs are allowed in units in 2 and 3 flats. These can be condos. However, in all other condos (including the new condos my buyers considered!) the one dog rule applies. Read “Facts About Keeping Animals in Oak Park” for the details.
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Chicago Area Whole Foods Map

Fran Bailey, Baird and Warner Realtor — Wed, 26 Dec 2007 14:26:05 +0000

My partner’s brother’s family is visiting this week and they’re big fans of Whole Foods. For those of you not familiar with Whole Foods, it’s a grocery store chain which sells high quality natural and organic products. For you Whole Foods Fans out there relocating to the Chicago area, I thought I’d create a map of the Whole Foods here.

There are 15 Whole Foods in the Chicago area and another 4 stores in development. The map below shows the stores by red dots and the 4 stores under development with purple dots.

As you can see, Chicago has 6 stores all in the northern part of the city with one more under development. The Whole Foods are in the areas of the Gold Coast, Jefferson Park, Lakeview (2), Lincoln Park, and South Loop. The Near North Side has 1 in development.

There are 5 Whole Foods in the northern suburbs of Deerfield, Evanston (2), Northbrook, and Palatine. Two are in development in Schaumburg and Lake Zurich.

The western suburbs have 4 Whole Foods in Hinsdale, River Forest (across the street from downtown Oak Park), Wheaton, and Willowbrook. Naperville has one under development.

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Oak Park House Prices Direction Varies by Zip Code

Fran Bailey, Baird and Warner Realtor — Sat, 06 Oct 2007 14:46:17 +0000

I showed 20 houses in Oak Park during the past 2 days to some out-of-state buyers. They asked about what’s happening in the Oak Park housing market and the answer is, “It depends on whether the houses are north or south of Madison Street which divides the 60302 and 60304 zip codes.”

Median house prices for the 3rd quarter of this year (July – September) in 60304 (south part of Oak Park) fell 4.2% from the same period a year ago^*. However, in the rest of Oak Park they rose 3.9%!

The north part of Oak Park is primarily the 60302 zip code, but also includes 60301 for Oak Park’s downtown. The median sale price for houses in these zip codes in the past quarter rose to $560,000 while it fell to $421,750 in 60304.

^*Based on Multiple Listing System of Northern Illinois (MLSNI) Data
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Commute Time vs. Lot Size

Fran Bailey, Baird and Warner Realtor — Sat, 07 Apr 2007 18:50:13 +0000

Thursday I showed newer homes priced between $800K and $1 million in Evanston, Oak Park, Arlington Heights, and Glen Ellyn. My clients may be relocating from Santa Fe and wanted to see large, newer homes preferably with a large lot that can be fenced for their 3 dogs. They also want to keep their commute time to the Loop under an hour.

There are plenty of large, newer homes in the Chicago suburbs, but when you add in the requirements of a large lot less than an hour from the Loop, the choices dwindle quickly.

By looking in Evanston and Oak Park, my clients got an idea of what their choices would be, if they chose a location with a shorter commute. Shown left are 2 of the new homes I showed in Evanston. Arlington Heights and Glen Ellyn had more new homes on larger lots, but the commutes will closer to an hour.

Fortunately, all 4 suburbs have plenty of choices where lots can be fenced for the dogs.Similar Posts:

Coffee, Books & More Coffee in Oak Park

Fran Bailey, Baird and Warner Realtor — Tue, 30 Jan 2007 17:07:38 +0000

On Saturday I showed houses in Oak Park to my buyers relocating to Chicago from Ithaca, NY and showed them what I consider some of the cool places in Oak Park. We looked at a house by the Buzz Cafe in Oak Park’s Art District and then stopped in for coffee. After looking at houses, I took them to Barbara’s Bookstore downtown. We then stopped in at the Starbucks just down the street from the Barbara’s Bookstore to discuss the houses we’d looked at. They had dinner in Oak Park at the Khyber Pass, an Indian restaurant and told me the next day that they were quite impressed!Similar Posts:

A “Penny’s” for Your Thoughts!

Fran Bailey, Baird and Warner Realtor — Sun, 19 Nov 2006 19:23:38 +0000

The last two days I’ve been showing homes to a couple of buyers in Oak Park, Jefferson Park and Schaumburg. Those might seem like very different areas (they are), but all of them are close to expressways which is important to my buyers.

Yesterday we had lunch at Penny’s Noodle Shop in Oak Park. The Vietnamese Spring Rolls and Pad Se Eu were excellent! I highly recommend it!Similar Posts:

Oak Park Home of Mr. Twinkie!

Fran Bailey, Baird and Warner Realtor — Fri, 14 Apr 2006 13:30:52 +0000

Today’s Chicago Tribune has a great story on what a couple discovered when they bought an ordinary-looking Oak Park bungalow last year. “Delicious discovery: Mr. Twinkie slept here” details how the owners, Nelson Taruc and Cara Hanson, discovered that the inventor of Twinkies, James Dewar, was a former owner and resident of the house. At the end of the article are “Twinkie tidbits” including the statistic that Chicago consumes more Twinkies per capita than any other U.S. city.
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