Unfortunately, buyers didn’t agree. Since I try to get feedback from every agent that shows one of my listings, we heard some of the same feedback over and over. Buyers didn’t like the floor plan nor did they appreciate the tandem bedroom.

The sellers worked with me by changing the odd little den into a bedroom so we could promote the home as a true 3 bedroom Oak Lawn home. But we still kept hearing negative feedback about the floor plan. I honestly didn’t think it would be such an issue and the sellers sure didn’t.

They did some further work on the home and started reducing price. Prices were taking double digit drops in the area and it was hard keeping up. I was ready for them to move on and hire another agent when the listing expired.

But they knew all of the work I was doing trying to sell this home. They loved the single property website created just for this home and the upgraded Realtor.com listing. They appreciated the feedback I passed on and the market updates I sent them. If you searched the address on Google their house was all over the Internet. I showed the home many times myself because my marketing brought many buyer inquiries.

We finally received our first offer but it was very low and the buyer wouldn’t come up in price. And then a different buyer came along that loved the home. We went through some lengthy negotiations and we came to an agreed upon contract.

I don’t give up on my clients and I keep up communication even when things seem dismal. This communication helped the sellers see the market as it truly was and let them know how buyers felt. It wasn’t easy delivering bad news and sometimes feeling like a broken record.

Some agents give up on a listing that turns out to be a difficult sale. I was bound and determined to help these sellers get to the closing table. Of course, these sellers worked with me and took most of my advice. It is a team effort to get a home sold. And we did it!

If you’d like to work with a husband and wife team who know Oak Lawn (we both grew up here and spent many years living in the village), or if you’re a buyer interested in viewing Oak Lawn homes, give Judy or Jimmy a call at 708-536-8200.

In 2011, the average market time for Oak Lawn homes was 153 days.  We sold the home at 6430 W. 94th St. in only 16 days.  When we came through on the original listing appointment we made suggestions to the seller to do some things to make their home show at its best.  When we went to actually list the house we were pleasantly surprised to find that the seller did everything we asked and more.  It made a huge difference in how the home showed, and most of it was de-cluttering and some simple furniture rearranging.

If you’re thinking of selling your Oak Lawn home be sure to give us a call at 708-536-8200.  We know the market and we know how to price your home to get it sold - not sitting forever on the market “up for sale.”  We know how to help you stage your home with the least amount of cost to you.  We have a vast Internet presence and we’d love to be able to create a single property website just for your home.

Because I was the buyer’s representative, I worked hard to get my first-time buyer the best deal possible.  I negotiated the price to save my buyer $25,900!  This was not a short sale or foreclosure - it was a regular sale.

Needless to say, I have a happy buyer that got a great Oak Lawn home at a fantastic price.  This home appraised higher than the contract price.

If you’re looking to buy a home in Oak Lawn or any other southwest suburb, give us a call at 708-536-8200.  If you’re a seller who would like to have your listing featured on 2 different top real estate sites in the area, give us a call.  We provide more marketing than any other agent we know of and our listings are selling.

Buyers - we know the Oak Lawn area and the surrounding suburbs, so give us a call if you’re interested in an Oak Lawn condo, single family home or townhouse.  We’ll work hard to get you a great deal.

Sellers - we get buyers for Oak Lawn properties.  We have a vast Internet marketing presence that brings buyers to us.  We show most of our listings ourselves although many times other agents sell them because of the MLS.  In fact, we need fresh new listings because our’s are all sold!  One of our most recent listings sold in two weeks.  Average days on market for Oak Lawn homes for the past 12 months is 166 days!

If you’re looking to buy and or sell an Oak Lawn home, condo or townhome just give Judy Orr a call at 708-536-8200.

There were 9.4% more homes sold in 2011 vs. 2010, which is positive news.  The buyers are coming out and taking advantage of continued low interest rates and unfortunately for sellers, continued low prices.

And that is where the news becomes dismal, average prices fell once again by double digits -16.3%.  Oak Lawn is being hit hard with price depreciation.  Consider this - my record of Oak Lawn real estate sales statistics showed the average sale price in 2005 of $261,581.  In 2011, there was almost a $100,000 decrease!

That makes it easy to see why we’re seeing so many short sales and foreclosures.  People that bought during the time of inflated prices cannot refinance to these wonderfully low interest rates and are stuck with their original rates and mortgage balance, which is most likely higher than what they could sell for now unless they had put a big down payment on the house.

The list price was $184,000 and the sold price was $175,000.  I really go to bat for my buyer clients to get them the best deal possible.  I am hoping my new buyer has many happy years in this new home.

I love working with first-time buyers.  I will answer all of your questions and will make you feel confident with such a huge financial decision.  But you don’t have to be a first-time buyer to have questions in the real estate purchasing market today.  Financing has changed a lot over the years and our contracts have gone from 4 pages to 13!  There might be new seller disclosures since you bought your last property.  I will guide first-timers or experienced buyers through to closing.  Give me a call at 708-536-8200 if you’re interested in an Oak Lawn home or real estate in the southwest suburbs.  You can also use the Contact Form.

Let’s start with the positive side - there was a 41.2% increase in Oak Lawn homes sold comparing both time frames.  That’s good news - more listings are selling.  But I don’t think that is as important to the average seller when they continue to see double digit decreases in average selling prices.  I suppose if the sales activity were lower, prices might go that much farther down as a result of simple supply and demand.

I’ll say it over and over, this is why sellers need to price their homes correctly.  If you overprice buyers will pass it over and go to the next home that is priced correctly and make their offer on that one.  Many sellers don’t keep up with the market - let’s say you listed your home at $200,000 because at that time it was the market value.  But you haven’t kept up with the declining market.  Maybe you have taken some reductions, but nowhere near the decreases we’re seeing, making you a step or two behind today’s current market.  And that is most likely why your house isn’t selling.

I had written a post in 2006 regarding desperate measures taken by investor/owners of the new Arbor Court condos in Oak Lawn.  The investing at pre-construction prices actually started with the 51st Avenue Station Condos.  As an Oak Lawn resident at the time my jaw dropped when I heard the prices, which at the high point were in the $300,000’s.  That was higher than the average price of single family Oak Lawn homes.

I heard through the grapevine that newbie investors were buying up one or more units in the hopes of quickly selling them and making an easy profit.  I don’t know if any of them fulfilled that dream.  And now, whether investor purchases or units bought to live in, there are some extremely low prices for 51st Avenue Station condos.  I showed one of the patio units, which were priced at premiums when first built as they offered a large exterior patio vs. the normal balconies of the other units, for a price of $119,900.  Other styles are as low as $84,900 right now (a short sale), although there is no guarantee the bank will accept that amount.  Another unit is not a short sale or foreclosure and is listed at $90,000.  The third lowest priced unit is $94,900 and is another short sale that was originally purchased for $185,000.  And the final 51st Avenue Station condo priced under $100,000 is listed at $99,900 and appears to be a foreclosure although is not specifically listed as such.

These are great prices for these 6 year young condos that are across the street from the Metra train station.  There are different floor plans and the current 6 units up for sale have 1 or 2 bedrooms and they all have indoor garage parking (open and shared).

It is sad to realize that the current owners, if original buyers, are all underwater, but the units are nice and hopefully they can be happy in their units and not lose too much if they need to sell before prices appreciate.

• In the past 30 days there were 61 new single family home listings in Oak Lawn - that’s a lot of new listings for the end of September, beginning of October.
• 20 homes expired - some of these were re-listed and are part of the “new” properties.
• 13 homes went through price changes, something we’re seeing a lot of in this market.
• 29 homes closed, another pretty good number.  Not all homes under contract will make it to the closing table, so 29 closed transactions in a 30 day time period is positive.
• 52 homes went under contract, but not all of these will make it to closing.