Getting your player ready...
This is a day with Easter Bunny egg hunts and plenty of things to do; but if you’re looking to buy an affordable single-family house in a tight market, Realtor Rebekah Brock suggests you better get hopping. She and her R&R team at RE/MAX Professionals have a 3-bedroom single-bath home open today in old Englewood’s Broadway Heights neighborhood, south of Swedish Hospital, with a big yard and recently remodeled kitchen – something that Brock says makes a listing jump.
“I see homes that are renovated going in three to five days,” says Brock, who will show 4560 S. Washington Street, near Stanford Avenue. “There’s about one house for every five buyers market-wide,” she adds. She sees those prices continuing upward, and expects the price appreciation to amount to 6-to-9 percent this year, at a time when sellers are still hesitant to put listings up for sale. “Sellers are going to want it now,” she adds. “If a buyer wants a home, they’ll have to pay that appreciation now.” Brock suggests some other tactics: Be willing to go out every evening and weekend; and bring your checkbook to write an earnest money deposit. Be prepared to offer above the list price, and if necessary, to remove any appraisal contingency. Be ready to offer escalation clauses up to a “cap” to beat counter-offers, but request proof of any offer you’re asked to beat. Limit your inspection requests to the major systems: structural, roof, electrical, furnace and sewer. “I’m also telling buyers that they need to work with a team,” says Brock. “If your agent has something else to do when a home comes on the market, you’re stuck.” On this 1,032 square-foot home, built in 1944 but nicely updated, the price is $225,000. Working from the figure, Brock and her group will accept offers submitted from today until April 4. You’ll see maple cabinets and recent counters in the eat-in kitchen; hardwood and tile floors; a flagstone patio in the large backyard; and a detached 1-car garage. The location, Brock adds, has good proximity both to downtown and to 470/County Line Road employment corridor; better still to Light Rail at Oxford. The home, open 1-3 p.m. today, is a mile south of Swedish Hospital; from Broadway take Hampden Avenue east five blocks to S. Clarkson; head south to Stanford, then west to S. Washington and south. WHERE: 3-bed, single bath home in Broadway Heights, old Englewood, remodeled; Easter candy. 4560 S. Washington St., Englewood; from S. Broadway take Hampden east 5 blks to Clarkson; south 1 mi. to Stanford, west to S. Washington, left. PRICE: $225,000 WHEN: Today, 1-to-3 p.m.
