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.

This is a real deal at the current price.  Click  the photo below to view pictures, see a map and much more.  Then call Judy Orr at 708-536-8200 to set your appointment.  This is a great price for a 2 bedroom, 1 1/2 bath 2nd floor unit located west of Cicero with an in-unit laundry with full sized washer and dryer.

After I showed some Oak Lawn condos yesterday I went to the Bed Bath & Beyond at Westfield Mall (what I still call Chicago Ridge Mall).  I was surprised to see an Aldi’s Food tucked away in a corner just prior to BB&B.  In fact, as I went to park I saw many spaces with a sign stating that they were for Aldi’s clients only.  I’ve never seen anything like that in a mall parking lot before, with the exception of a couple spots for food places for clients that have called in orders.

I also noticed my favorite hamburger place, Five Guys.  I guess it’s a long time since I’ve been shopping, although I hate to shop to begin with and since I’ve moved I don’t shop much at Westfield Mall any longer.  Many people think Westfield is too small but that’s why I like it.  When I go to Orland Park Mall I have to keep it in my mind that I’m exercising when I’m walking miles inside to get from one store to another to make the shopping trek seem more worthwhile.

About 28 years ago I gave birth to my youngest child at Palos Community Hospital when I lived in my Oak Lawn home.  My obstetrician did not know Southwest Hwy. was under construction at the time and she was late for the birth.  Some doctor I had never met and still don’t know who he was delivered my son, and he wasn’t very pleasant.  I had delivered my first two children via Lamaze method without any pain killers.  This third one was terrible labor and I was begging for something to ease the pain, but without my doctor present (and no cell phones at the time), I had to suffer.  Darn you, Southwest Highway bridge!

I’m feeling guilty being the bearer of such bad news, but these are the facts.  If you have an Oak Lawn home and it isn’t selling, you probably need to revisit your price.  When you see average price drops of 18.4%, your home might be priced too high and is not keeping in line with the downward spiraling market.

This isn’t just happening in Oak Lawn - it’s happening everywhere in the southwest suburbs.  Some villages are faring a little better, but the real estate market continues depreciating.  As a home seller, if you’re not keeping up with the curve, your home will continue sitting on the market.

But the biggest problem, and one I am seeing more now than ever before in my career, is that homes are not appraising.  So even when a buyer loves your home, makes an offer and usually through negotiation that offer is accepted, the property is not appraising.  When that happens, buyer and seller are back to square one.  In most cases, buyers do not want to purchase a property that is not worth what they offered.  If they are FHA buyers, the home must appraise - there are no negotiations.  If the sellers decline appraised value and put the home back on the market, that FHA appraisal will stick for any other buyer for 6 months!  So now that seller is only marketing to conventional or cash buyers.

If you don’t have to sell your home now maybe it would be wise to hold onto it for awhile until we can see that we’ve hit bottom and are climbing out of this mess.  However, if you want to take advantage of these low prices and are moving up, then you must take your losses on your current home and realize you’ll be saving on your higher priced purchase.  If you must move because of financial difficulties you still need to price your home correctly.  It might even involve a short sale if you owe more than the house is worth.

The only good news with this market is that interest rates remain low.  This is still a great time for buyers.  I think that once home prices stabilize we will see higher interest rates.  If you’re interested in purchasing an Oak Lawn home to take advantage of low prices and low interest rates, give Judy Orr a call at 708-536-8200.

My granddaughter loved to go because she was assured of plenty of candy being thrown by parade marchers.  There were marching bands, sports vans with their mascots throwing t-shirts, motorcycle police, horses, classic cars and one of my favorites, the guys with the fez hats (Shriners?) driving the little cars.

It was also fun seeing resident’s dogs along with their families lining up 95th St.  The parade starts around 51st Ave. and goes up to 55th Ct.  We’d always sit down from our house on 54th Ct.