Pants Rowland Posted January 12, 2010 Share Posted January 12, 2010 QUOTE (BFirebird @ Jan 11, 2010 -> 11:27 PM) My wife and I looked forever for our 1st home. We started looking in early 2008 (we got married in august '08) and set our budget close to yours and we looked everywhere. We looked everywhere from the city at condos to homes in Darien, Downers Grove, Riverside, Brookfield, Hinsdale and Elmhurst, just to name a few. I am sure the prices have come down since '08 but thing we found is that even in the 'burbs your money doesn't go far. Lots of the homes in these areas are older and need work. We were mostly looking for places to renovate, but something was wrong with everything we found and we are probably really picky. (Leaking water in the basement, no storage space, etc.) We had to look at over 100 places. After I was ready to give up, we started to look at townhomes. I know that you said you wanted a house, but hear me out. Once we switched to townhomes we could start seeing nicer places that were not falling apart and we could renovate and make it our own. We ended up finding a really nice townhouse in Oak Brook that we completed gutted and made our own. We were lucky and had the resources and the desire to do so, but if you look hard enough you will find the place for you. We didn't end up buying until 2 weeks before the wedding and actually the 1st couple of months lived with my wife's parents because we didn't finish renovating...sad I know. The nice thing about taking a long time to find the right house (and being picky in the process) is it really forces you to educate yourself in neighborhoods, taxes, schools, and home quality. Those first few weekends of open houses are miserable, but before long you start eliminating specific towns, then areas of the town, and you realize what needs are really important to you for the money you are spending. At that point the process flies and you eventually find a decent place to start your life. Then, you buy it and realize how off base you were on your actual needs and get really nitpicky while saving money for that next, long term home (or complete rehab to make your own). ;-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BFirebird Posted January 12, 2010 Share Posted January 12, 2010 QUOTE (Pants Rowland @ Jan 12, 2010 -> 11:45 AM) The nice thing about taking a long time to find the right house (and being picky in the process) is it really forces you to educate yourself in neighborhoods, taxes, schools, and home quality. Those first few weekends of open houses are miserable, but before long you start eliminating specific towns, then areas of the town, and you realize what needs are really important to you for the money you are spending. At that point the process flies and you eventually find a decent place to start your life. Then, you buy it and realize how off base you were on your actual needs and get really nitpicky while saving money for that next, long term home (or complete rehab to make your own). ;-) I couldn't have said it any better myself. Nicely said. Even with the deadline of the wedding we tried to stick with the plan of finding exactly what we wanted. We started to get frustrated and almost settled but a friend of mine told us never to settle, keep looking until you find the one you want. I would definitely pass that along to anyone who is looking. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jenksismyhero Posted January 12, 2010 Author Share Posted January 12, 2010 What's a realistic time table? We have until 4/30 to sign the contract, and 6/30 to close to get the $8k credit. I figure 3-4 months is pretty reasonable so long as we are active about it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NorthSideSox72 Posted January 12, 2010 Share Posted January 12, 2010 QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Jan 12, 2010 -> 01:14 PM) What's a realistic time table? We have until 4/30 to sign the contract, and 6/30 to close to get the $8k credit. I figure 3-4 months is pretty reasonable so long as we are active about it. Since you are just buying, not selling, that timeframe should be easy to meet. Just do your research - and you'll need some hours to do that - and see a lot of houses. Pick the one you like. That shouldn't take until April if you start now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
southsider2k5 Posted January 12, 2010 Share Posted January 12, 2010 QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Jan 12, 2010 -> 01:28 PM) Since you are just buying, not selling, that timeframe should be easy to meet. Just do your research - and you'll need some hours to do that - and see a lot of houses. Pick the one you like. That shouldn't take until April if you start now. The hard part will be finding a place that isn't contingent upon the seller doing something, thus taking up a lot of time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NorthSideSox72 Posted January 12, 2010 Share Posted January 12, 2010 QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jan 12, 2010 -> 01:34 PM) The hard part will be finding a place that isn't contingent upon the seller doing something, thus taking up a lot of time. In this market (which I am currently a seller/buyer in), contingency offers are much more rare, and almost always on the buyer side (so they can sell their own previous place). The seller isn't often going to make contingencies. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smalls2598 Posted January 12, 2010 Share Posted January 12, 2010 QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jan 12, 2010 -> 01:34 PM) The hard part will be finding a place that isn't contingent upon the seller doing something, thus taking up a lot of time. I agree with Mike, and I unfortunately fell victim to this. I was working on a short sale and basically had issues from day 1. There are many obstacles along the way before sale is complete. Two months into the process, I get word that the seller's bank is accepting my short sale offer....and then a day later, the sellers decide to file for bankruptcy, killing my deal. All the time and energy I had put into this house, and then it just goes away like that. Over the next few weeks, I checked out more places, and just fell in love with this one house in Westchester. Saw it on a Thursday, put in an offer that Saturday, and had a signed contract by Sunday. The buying process between the two houses were like night and day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NorthSideSox72 Posted January 12, 2010 Share Posted January 12, 2010 QUOTE (smalls2598 @ Jan 12, 2010 -> 03:13 PM) I agree with Mike, and I unfortunately fell victim to this. I was working on a short sale and basically had issues from day 1. There are many obstacles along the way before sale is complete. Two months into the process, I get word that the seller's bank is accepting my short sale offer....and then a day later, the sellers decide to file for bankruptcy, killing my deal. All the time and energy I had put into this house, and then it just goes away like that. Over the next few weeks, I checked out more places, and just fell in love with this one house in Westchester. Saw it on a Thursday, put in an offer that Saturday, and had a signed contract by Sunday. The buying process between the two houses were like night and day. That's a good point, the short sales and bank-owned properties will be dicey. And there are more of those now. I'd still imagine that for properties NOT in that position, sellers won't be adding contigencies often. More likely to be the buyers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smalls2598 Posted January 12, 2010 Share Posted January 12, 2010 QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Jan 12, 2010 -> 03:30 PM) That's a good point, the short sales and bank-owned properties will be dicey. And there are more of those now. I'd still imagine that for properties NOT in that position, sellers won't be adding contigencies often. More likely to be the buyers. Touche. After going though this short sale ordeal, I HIGHLY recommend avoiding it if you can. It can be great if you want to get more for your money and don't need the place right away, but it is very nerve-racking. Of course, not all go as bad as my experience. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BFirebird Posted January 13, 2010 Share Posted January 13, 2010 QUOTE (smalls2598 @ Jan 12, 2010 -> 03:36 PM) Touche. After going though this short sale ordeal, I HIGHLY recommend avoiding it if you can. It can be great if you want to get more for your money and don't need the place right away, but it is very nerve-racking. Of course, not all go as bad as my experience. I had a bad experience as well with a short sale. Before we got our current place we were in courts for 2 months with a short sale. We got out of it and got our current townhouse, 2 doors down. Safe to say that place is still up for sale over a year later. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dadwassoxfan Posted January 13, 2010 Share Posted January 13, 2010 The Metra is perfect for your work locations. If this was 10 years ago I would of said Berwyn. Great location to city and Sox park, but times have changed. Bad leadership in goverment destroyed the town. To bad a ton of great Sox fans are from there and live there. That being said I don't think you can go wrong with Riverside or I think Brookfield might be a good fit. And look into the south end of Lagrange around 51st and 7 & 8th. Maybe something could be had there. I'm not sure but maybe Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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