Where to start?
This blog is going chronicle a long term dream of mine to buy and renovate a classic Chicago brownstone. One week ago today I actually closed on one of these aging beauties, after a long (7 months!) and painful experience of buying a property in "short sale" status.
Note to anyone thinking about diving into a short sale: This is not easy. You will find yourself on the brink of walking away many times. But for those with the patience and with LOTS of available timeline, you will ultimately be rewarded for your perseverance.
I had been looking for a two or three flat in Chicago for what seems like forever. Right neighborhood, right condition, good architecture, and of course the right price. Thankfully there is a great website to help with this, http://www.chicagoland2to4flats.info. Bill Bein, the proprieter, has this site set up in a manner that really gets to the specifics easily, lets you define the geographic areas of chicago down to specific zones you are interested in, and sends you email when something hits the market in one of your desired areas.
Having lost a few places before even getting to offer, I finally came to the realization (with the help of Bill) that I would need to see the listing come on the market, get over there and be prepared to offer immediately if I was truly interested - and that is what happend with the Campbell property.
I was actually in the car when an email notice popped up on my phone. Reading the email, I realized that this one had strong potential right away. I was on my way to Greek Fest and this would only be a short diversion---
I stopped in front, took one look at the great stone work and called Bill from the car. I was inside the next day and wrote the offer the next morning.
Even though the property was listed as "Short Sale Approved, no waiting!".. it took many months for the Bank to look at the offer, approve the offer, whatever - - 7 months later I finally closed. There are alot of messy details contained in that timespan, but I'll let those go. Its mine now.
I'm going to rent it for awhile, giving some time for bank accounts and home values to improve. My intent for the future is to gut the entire building, and drop a nice, new, historically correct building inside all that 1890's stone work. Right now I'm just figuring out what to do with cleaning up the ex-owners unit and getting it ready for rental.
Note to anyone thinking about diving into a short sale: This is not easy. You will find yourself on the brink of walking away many times. But for those with the patience and with LOTS of available timeline, you will ultimately be rewarded for your perseverance.
I had been looking for a two or three flat in Chicago for what seems like forever. Right neighborhood, right condition, good architecture, and of course the right price. Thankfully there is a great website to help with this, http://www.chicagoland2to4flats.info. Bill Bein, the proprieter, has this site set up in a manner that really gets to the specifics easily, lets you define the geographic areas of chicago down to specific zones you are interested in, and sends you email when something hits the market in one of your desired areas.
Having lost a few places before even getting to offer, I finally came to the realization (with the help of Bill) that I would need to see the listing come on the market, get over there and be prepared to offer immediately if I was truly interested - and that is what happend with the Campbell property.
I was actually in the car when an email notice popped up on my phone. Reading the email, I realized that this one had strong potential right away. I was on my way to Greek Fest and this would only be a short diversion---
I stopped in front, took one look at the great stone work and called Bill from the car. I was inside the next day and wrote the offer the next morning.
Even though the property was listed as "Short Sale Approved, no waiting!".. it took many months for the Bank to look at the offer, approve the offer, whatever - - 7 months later I finally closed. There are alot of messy details contained in that timespan, but I'll let those go. Its mine now.
I'm going to rent it for awhile, giving some time for bank accounts and home values to improve. My intent for the future is to gut the entire building, and drop a nice, new, historically correct building inside all that 1890's stone work. Right now I'm just figuring out what to do with cleaning up the ex-owners unit and getting it ready for rental.
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