Future House Hunting

So while our plans to move have been put on hold, that hasn't stopped me from looking at Real Estate Porn and seeing what type of homes are available in our presumed new location.

While Nightingale's parents and sister are in Mississippi, we are targeting Tennessee because of the taxes and better schools.  We were told a place called Collierville is the answer to our needs.  I know nothing about it except that it is essentially the Memphis version of Naperville.

Here are links to two homes that are well out of our budget.  We do not want to be mortgage poor and barely scraping by to make the rent.  If these houses drop significantly in price that will be a sign that the market is going down which might not bare well for selling our Chicago home, even though Real Estate is very regional, it is likely if a bust is coming, it would hit Chicago first than Collierville.

1289 Marsh Creek Ln  ($579,900)

I like the carport (porte-cochère) garage area.  Essentially there is a garage for our cars and a workshop area for me.  I also like the bathroom with the walkthrough shower (picture 13). 

The enclosed back porch looks interesting but not the kickass outdoor space I'd like or expect at this price point.  no good picture of the yard.

I do not like the entryway (pic 2) because of the wasted space above the front door.  The kitchen is nice but closed off to most of the house.

1330 Martway ($589,000)

It has a big driveway which is nice.  The space at the top of the entryway looks accessible which can come in handy when we get a cat.  The Kitchen is phenomenal and open to the rest of the house.  The bathrooms look large and nice.  Ther is a huge walk-in closet for NG.  The outdoor space is more open and could probably be built up.

As I said these houses are way out of our budget.  We want our next home to be affordable and paid off quickly so that we can retire as early as possible.  The version of these homes in our budget will likely have one fewer bedroom and perhaps even one fewer bathroom.  But I'm taking note of what I like in a house so that we can find something that approximates it in our price range with the hope that we can build on at a later point.

We aren't gonna add a bedroom but we might be able to update a kitchen or bathroom or build an awesome outdoor space.

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Happy first few days of 2020

I hope 2019 wasn't too terrible for you.  It couldn't end fast enough for me.  For some reason, years that end in 9 always turn out craptastic for me.

Since Nightingale's parents moved to Olive Branch, MS, holidays have defaulted to going there because Younger_Sister is also nearby.  As the kids get older each road trip is a little easier but ultimately it is still me just watching my kids in a different zip code.

We typically drive to Mt Vernon, Ill and spend the night at a Drury Inn, which apparently is halfway to a lot of destinations.  One time I struck up a conversation with this guy who was going to Virginia Beach from Colorado!  He told me he drives 13 hours, comes to this hotel, and then gets up at 3 in the morning to drive the next 13 hours!

The Drury is nice in that it includes a buffet dinner and breakfast.  Nothing fancy, or even remotely healthy, but it saves us the trouble of getting back in the car to search for food after having the kids strapped into their car seats for 4+ hours.  And it has a nice indoor/outdoor pool that is good for running down my kids' battery so they sleep.  So we burn an extra 2 days for travel but it is better than being in the car for 10+ hours.

It wasn't too bad this trip.  The in-laws managed to keep their political viewpoints under wraps until almost the last day (usually they break by midweek).  My FIL doesn't like his quiet routine disrupted and all the grandkids running around getting into things did get him to go full OLD_MAN_GET_OFF_MY_LAWN mode before not too long, but otherwise, it was one of the better trips in recent years.

That said, ever time  I think moving down there won't be so bad, BIL Jethro does a good job of talking me out of it by simply opening his mouth and spewing Fox News talking points.  I remind myself that he is just voicing out loud what a lot of people down there are thinking inside.

We are being pressured to move down there.  Nightingales' dad is 76 and he is having health issues.  the sister that lives down there already isn't capable of taking care of him, especially now that she has an almost 2-year-old.

We do have to move.  Our house has some warts that just aren't worth the money to remediate especially since our school system is okay, but not great.  I don't want to make it sound like our house is terrible nor do I want to dive into all the issues.  Let's just start with Air Conditioning.  We only have window units and it is cost-prohibitive to install space pack, Mitsubishi wall units or even standard central air.

The issue is if we move to a good school system, we get less house.  Or we can move to the suburbs where we don't know anyone and Nightingale's commute would suck even more.  She would likely have to quit her job and if she's gonna do that, then why not move South and enjoy a lower cost of living.

The other issue is my mom.  The smart, adult thing would be to sell her home and use the money to purchase a decent home that could comfortably house her, me, Nightingale and the kids.  But she won't do that.  Instead, we'll move to Mississipi and then she'll decide to join us or die and I'll have to come back and deal with all of the probates.  Alternatively, she could sell her home, and we could pay this one off and she could live here and we'd become snowbirds.

But no.  She'll wait until we move down there and then either come visit and never leave, while still footing the utilities for her home, or she'll die and I'll have to come back here and try to settle things up over weekends while incurring hotel and airfare costs.

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Letting the Cat out of the Bag

I haven't mentioned it here yet but we finally bought a house!  I've kept it on the down low because I have one or two readers who read what I say here and then comment on it elsewhere (yes DZ, I'm talking about you!). 

 
At the very least, that is considered rude blog manners, it also could cause some grief as I'm writing about our House Hunting Adventures on Chicago Now and I'm posting in "delay mode".  Most of the posts between now and when I out myself will be based on things that occurred last summer and fall.

I also want to keep as much detail a secret because those same blog-hoppers can figure out from a
few small bits of information my real identity.  It's not a state secret who I am and it can probably be figured out quite easily.  However, I don't see any reason to help those who might be too lazy to do rudimentary work.

However, I also want to write about the projects I'm working on at the house during run time. As I'm finding from my CN posts, writing about something that happened a few months ago is quite a bit more challenging than when it is fresh in your mind.  So whenever this post publishes, keep in mind that I probably drafted it months before as we bought the house last year.

It's hard to run when you have your foot in your mouth

I worked from home (WFH) on Wednesday so that I could get my midweek long run in and also go to the concert in the park. It was 8 miles and I had intended to run earlier in the morning or at least no later than noon, since that would be the lunch hour and I'm least likely to get bugged by work related events. Unfortunately a call took longer than expected so it wasn't until 1pm when I got out the door. Even at my peak form it would have taken me an hour to run 8 miles and when you factor in traffic, water fountain stops and whatever else, we're talking the better part of 90 minutes all said and done.

Getting an 8 mile run in city streets requires a very carefully planned route. I usually run east to Sacramento and then head north until I can connect with Ronan Park. An out and back on this route gives me 6 miles. By running California Avenue, and then north through the windy Ravenswood Manor streets I can usually add an extra half mile each way. So I would have had to simply find another mile at the end, perhaps run up another north-south street to Irving Park and back.

Alas, I just wasn't feeling it. Though I'm getting stronger, I'm not in peak form and with the cloud cover gone and the sun, it wasn't an effortless run. Plus I was stressing in my mind about not having enough time to do all the choirs I’m able to attend to while WFH and still make it downtown to meet Nightingale for setting up. So I opted to cut the run short. I was going to come back up Sacramento Avenue to catch the light at Lawrence but wanted to hit one last water fountain. This is where i goofed and went around the wrong side of the Water Reclamation plant, not only missing the water fountain but extending the route that i was trying to shorten.

The point is that because I started my run late, ran it at a diminishing pace and took a different street home than planned, I ran into none other than Yoga Instruction Julie.  Julie use to teach a yoga class at St Ben's and I (and later Nightingale) would attempt a session or two. 

I had seen on FB that she had recently had a baby and it appeared her and her husband moved from their condos to a SFH. I just sort of assumed they bought one in the Green Zone. While we were catching up, she mentioned that she lived nearby. She actually told me the cross streets and had I not been in the middle of a runner's high induced lack of concentration, i would not have put my foot in my mouth. I told her we were house hunting too and she asked if in this hood. We were on Ravenswood Manor side of Montrose and I blurted out "no we cannot afford here." I assumed Yoga Julie and her husband had simply sold their GZ condo and managed to find a home here. Then I realized she was walking toward West Horner Park, just a half mile or so from my place.

If ever a Week Needed a Do-Over

Lots of things going on. Very stressful things. First, we had a glitch with our financing. Apparently my mortgage broker not only has blonde hair but works overtime to perpetuate the stereotypes to the fullest. When I was getting my pre-approval, I asked her to run the numbers under two circumstances:

• The first if we rented out my condo, covering most of the carrying costs of that expense.
• The second if I didn’t rent my condo at all. In other words, as if I were just going to continue paying two mortgages.

I expected two vastly different maximum ranges something like X if you keep your condo, X + a boatload more if you rent it and are able to cover mortgage, tax and HOA. What I got instead was a very large Y. Blondie cited my excellent credit and good salary. Turns out Blondie didn’t run two scenarios; she just ran it as if I didn’t have a condo to worry about at all.

Fortunately I had the foresight to figure something wasn’t right and I brought in my paperwork and had her crunch more specific numbers again in more detail. Suddenly she realized that I had a condo and obviously the price I was approved for dropped significantly. The lesson learned is you have to make sure that your mortgage broker is an anal detail oriented type who knows what they are doing and doesn’t flake out.

Second Stressor of the week: So Nightingale and I decided to test our commutes to the one house we like. The first attempt failed miserably though it wasn't a good test. She has a habit of driving her car until the gas light comes on, which it did during this test, while she was driving through the less desirable parts of town to get to the potential new home. Women take notice: Cars are designed to run out of gas when it would be the most inconvenient. In fact, if you are driving through a neighborhood where a young lady would likely get raped, just assume a full tank of gas will magically evaporate.

How hard is it to park closer to the sign?

As fortune would have it, when I got to the house there was a car that advertised home inspector on it. It turns out, someone had engaged an inspector to look at the home. So this could all be for naught if someone else decides they suddenly want this overbuilt and overpriced for the neighborhood home.

After my second attempt to drive there yesterday taking a different route I'm of the mindset that if we get the house, we'll deal with the sucky commute but if we don't get it, we continue to target our preferred neighborhoods and accept losing out on this home as a gift from the Realtor Gods.

The two motivating factors for moving out of this place is we are tight on space and we have no dedicated parking. Street parking is inconsistent at times especially with people parking like jerks.

Finally some good news: Work is slowly starting to get busier which is a good thing. Our fiscal year is Aug 1 - July 31 and the last few months have been painfully inactive for me. There hasn't been budget to do things or free bodies or other resources available if there were so I’ve had to keep my head down and hope no one noticed me. I've never been good at waiting until the 5 o'clock whistle blows to go home when I have nothing to do.

At the Low-Rent Consulting Company, there were lots of times I’d be in the office with nothing to do sitting there waiting for 5pm. Once I made the mistake of shutting down my laptop at 4:50 and my Menace decided to punish me by making me help another engineer who was frustrated he couldn’t figure something out – and wanted no help from anyone.

Once in a While, We all need Sombody to Talk to

It's been an interesting week.  On Sunday we found not one but two houses we like that are not where we would like them to be (more on that later).  We also finally went to Mariano's and restocked our fridge.  Mariano's has been our new go-to grocery store even over A&G because of the combination of abundant organic food and very competitive prices.

because Fuck Whole Foods!

For the first time that I can recall, CARA canceled the Saturday LR because of the heat.  Of course.  I had just sent this message to my pace group:

I haven’t heard any talk of canceling this week’s run but keep in mind that any week, it’s always on the table if the weather looks to be unsafe. The site coordinators will decide that morning, based on weather reports, whether to delay or cancel the run if conditions are unsafe, and that decision is generally made at the last minute at our starting location. Because the decision is made at the last possible minute – in order to improve the chances of completing that LR -- there is no mechanism in place to cancel the run before everyone wakes up and arrives at the site. I know that kinda sucks and we’d all rather sleep in but at least it gives us the best chance of getting our run in early. It’s all about you and putting you in the best position to successfully complete your LR each week.

and it seemed like literally two minutes after that email went out, we got the email from our Site Leader that the run was canceled. 



So the point is that SHB and I met for a run on Sunday because we knew everyone from CARA would overwhelm the Montrose Site.  I really like running with SHB. I'm not so sure about listening to her stories, especially since she 1) repeats the same ones over and over without realizing that I probably know the rough outline better than she does and 2) provides an extraneous level of detail that often seems like dramatic foreshadowing but in reality is unnecessary detail, and 3) when I tell a story, I barely get two minutes of her precious time and attention before she changes it back to her.

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On Monday Nightingale and I met after work for our half mile swim at the Portage Park Pool during adult lap swim.  Then we came home and grilled the steaks we bought.  Or maybe the steaks were Tuesday, I don't really remember. This time of year we grill as often as possible.

On Thursday we joined friends for a picnic/concert in Millennium Park and also a group therapy session for Tracy and Hanna. Tracy has reached what I call Stage Two of her post-addiction to Fitz. Stage One was realizing he wasn't going to change, EVER, and she needed to break away. He's like her opium so she couldn't just cut him out cold turkey.  However, now that she has had six months in the city with half as many nights not spent with him as spent with him, the Fitz-opium has left her blood stream and she's seeing how he really took advantage of her all these years.  Stage Two is Anger and it's not pretty.
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So we found two houses that we absolutely love.  Both houses have most if not all of our Must-Have items and many of our Nice-to-Have items.  Neither place has the high walkability of Portage or even Jefferson Park that we are seeking. House1 is bigger and better but in a more unknown neighborhood.  House2 only pales to House1 because we saw House1 first. 

House2 has a better commute for us. It is also the safer choice school and eco-socially.  To be sure, House1 is not in the ghetto or anything.  House2 just has had better luck in maintaining a higher middle class.

According to the story, House1 was built by a builder -- we've seen a few of these and you can tell when someone went the extra mile as this builder clear did -- who designed and built this house with the expectation that it was going to be his Forever Home.  This house in the suburbs or Green Zone is worth $700K easy.  The fact that I'm not linking to it or outing the neighborhood should tell you that we are actually considering it.

The thing that sucks most for me about this is I don't have anyone to really sound this out with.  Most of my friends either aren't in a situation to buy yet or are like SHB and wouldn't know these areas of town because they aren't "in the city".  If Fitz weren't in his own little woe is me world, his only advice on house buying would be his broken record line that there are plenty of fixer upper foreclosures out there for much less.

Happy 4th of July

With Independence Day falling on a Wednesday, half the country took Monday and Tuesday off and the other half will have Thursday and Friday off.  Some lucky souls probably saved enough days to take the entire week off. 

I usually like these weeks because it means nothing gets done an easy week in Corporate America.  However, I have my year end review on Thursday and I never look forward to reviews.  I learned a long time ago I'm not the type that wows anyone with work performance.  Just like I could never get straight As in high school and college, I could never go an entire performance period without pissing someone off, or missing a deadline or having something go wrong that while not technically my fault, still my responsibility.

It doesn't help that I've been extremely slow the last few months.  Our fiscal year comes to a close at the end of this month so my projects have been put on hold until the 2013 budget is approved.  I'm also not a good Look Busy Person and I'm terrible at sitting at my desk until the 5 o'clock Whistle Blows person.  The temptation to leave early, especially to avoid traffic, is enormous.


In my last post I said that I wasn't going to do my typical review of houses we saw on Sunday. However, one place does come to mind that I should write about. 3647 N Kedvale St, 5 bd/2.5 ba $499,900.

This house has a beautiful garden and magnificent outdoor living space. There are decks and a suana and even a basketball court. all on an double lot. My question is, did they do this at the expense of the inside space? From the listing, it says that it has been the same owner for over 30 years, ergo they should own the place outright.

For one, you can tell this is a family of smokers who smoke inside the house.   Second, it hasn't been updated since the 80s when they likely put in the back addition to the house.  Third, did I mention it reeked of smoke?

I'm not trying to judge.  I'm sure they had a lot of big plans.  They also appear to have a large family which isn't cheap.  They probably did what they could and got the outside space as wonderful as possible.  Now they are riding on the home values of Old Irving Park.  It is hard to find another home in a four block radius for under half a million in as decent of condition.  Someone looking in the $550-600K price range will snap this up and consider it a steal.

Open House Sunday: Oak Park edition

There weren’t many new listings or Open Houses in the city that we were interested in, so this week we decided to check out some OH in OP. Oak Park is one of those suburbs that most of the people I make fun of for thinking Chicago ends at Lincoln Park have at least heard of. My friend JoshV just bought a home in OP and his theory is that OP is has a younger turnover because generally people buy in OP while they raise their children and then sell their homes as soon as the last kid is finished with high school so they can escape the high taxes.

Besides high taxes, OP has a no parking on residential streets rule in place. Therefore, any home we might buy not only has to have a garage, but an extra parking pad or drive way would be awesome for when Nightingale’s dad comes to visit with his F-150.


House No 1: Albany Park
4447 N Christiana
5 bd/3 ba $389000

Actually, we did have one city house to check out, a few blocks from our current place. It is a very nice rehab that has a lot going for it. The first floor has an awesome open floor plan from the Kitchen to the Great Room (dining room, living room and front room.) There’s also a little alcove with a desk which would be perfect for Nightingale. There’s also a bedroom on this level which would be a nice office or den.

What is the difference between an office and a den anyway?

This was definitely designed for entertaining. I think the only reason we aren’t snapping this up is we have made the decision to move out of our particular section of Irving/Albany Park.

Note:  House has been on the market for 24 days and had an initial price adjustment from $420K to $389K in the first week. This makes me think it was more of a listing correction than an organic price drop.


House No 2: Oak Park
805 N Cuyler, Oak Park
4 bd/ 2.1 ba $299900

Based on the listing sheet, the current owners updated things like roof, water heater and windows, which is good. The bad news is the kitchen and bathrooms need updating pronto. Also, the basement failed to pass the Can Icarus Stand in it Without Having to Slouch test.

About the only thing we liked was Its nice big yard, with a 2 car garage and extra-large parking pad for 3 cars.

It originally listed for $309K and has been on the market for 118 days.

House Hunting via the Open House route

So another Sunday spent enjoying the great weather and realtor spins on the market. Because we are house hunting, a regular feature on Mysteries of Life will be our experiences viewing Open Houses (OH) or Listings viewed with an agent. I may change up some details to mask the date of the visit and/or protect the identity of the agent.

Also, because agents use all kind of tricks to make a house appear new on the market even though it's been re-listed and de-listed to death, I'm going to include address, price and links to the properties. The links may disappear or the price might change so this is just a snapshot of what they were when we looked at them.

 

House No 1: Irving Park

4253 N St Louis Ave,
4 bd/3.1 ba $409,000.

While we're not likely to stay in our current area, every now and again I like to look at what is on sale in our neighborhood. The first agent was a lovely lady who took me for a tour of the house. At most of the Open Houses I’ve attended the format falls into one of two buckets. Either the agent lets you wander through the place unsupervised and will answer any questions when you are finished or they follow you around without being on top of you. This was a rare guided tour where she took the time to point out some features and try and explain what the builders were thinking.

Alas the house has some External and Functional Obsolescence working against it. For one thing, it was across the street from a school. This can be a minor problem if you have people visiting you during the day and they have to park a street away because you cannot park in front of a school during school hours. It can be more of a problem if your street is the side that is optimal for parents to drop their germy, projectile-barfing poopsacks off at school.

The house did not have a basement but it did have three floors of living space. The master suite on the top had a bathroom door that would prevent having a king or perhaps even a queen sized bed in the room. This can be resolved, as the agent pointed out, by re-working the door hinge so that the door swings open into the bathroom …odd that they did it this way in the first place.

The agent probably doesn’t realize that I do my homework. For instance, I know that the builders bought the house for $80K and while they deserve to make a profit on their work, they probably didn’t put $300K into this house. Yeah they might have put higher end finishes and more expensive cabinetry and the spa showers and lighting looked impressive.

Drywall costs the same whether you buy it for a house in Irving Park or Lincoln Park and with a contractors discount plus a good efficient crew; your costs should be relatively the same from house to house. The two big variables are how cheap you can acquire the initial property and how much you want to spend on items like bathroom vanities, lighting fixtures, cabinets and appliances. Also, I’m guessing most builders have more than one rehab going at a time so they might be able to get a slight bulk discount on items so that coincidentally that new construction in LP looks a lot like the rehab in Irving park.

Rehabbers tried to do the same thing to another house up the street. They also initially priced it at $409K and have been chasing the market ever since. This is a $325K house.

 

House No 2:  OIP

3902 N Central Park Ave,
3 Bd/3.1 ba  $600,000.

This is a home I would like to live in and have my grandchildren visit. In fact, when I first started looking at Real Estate Porn researching the market, this was the type of home in the exact neighborhood I wanted.  Unfortunately, it is $200K over our price range.

Shouldn't always listen to Realtors

But does it have Central Air?

During the early years of my house hunting research, there have been a few houses that I liked enough to consider buying but were way out of my price range.

Even with an FHA loan maximum of $417K (and 3.5% down) these homes were still out of reach.  The interest rates were somewhere between 5.5 and 6% which, factoring in salary and other variables, put my comfort level at around $375K.

There's this house on Tripp which once listed at $499000 and then dropped to $439K after 509 Days on the Market (DOM), it finally sold for $375K. 

And this one on Berteau listed for $474,900 when I happened up it in late fall of 2008.  It ended up selling for $410K in October of 2009.

And this one on Kilpatrick was originally listed for $519,900 and ended selling also in October of 2009.

And the realtor that showed me the home, hoping to become my buyer agent, said that the seller would never, never, NEVER come down to my price range, yet in each case, they pretty much did or came very close. 

Of course it isn't that cut and dry. It was the beginning of the bust and while it was bad, no one really knew or admitted just how bad it was going to get. Interest rates were good but not nearly as low as they are today. Interest rates are now below 4% which means I would be hating that I couldn't refi my 5.5 - 6% loan.

I didn't realize how hard it would be to sell my 2/1 condo or get financing if I didn't. I suppose I'm lucky that I didn't get those houses because the time wasn't right, tough circumstances have occurred and my needs have shifted.

In 2008-2009 I wanted to live within walking distance of the Irving Park or Jefferson Park Blue Line Station. I really wanted to live in Old Irving Park because I really thought I could somehow get a Queen Anne Style Victorian for bargain basement price.

Now that requirement has been supplanted by access to the expressway. My job turned from Heaven to Hell and I had to leave in for brighter pastures in Suburbia and an increase in pay that would have taken 2-3 more years at the law firm to achieve. Fiancé 1.0 bailed and was replaced with SigOther 2.0 who happily became Wife Final Edition.

Now that I've done more research and investigating, I know that fixer-uppers need to be closer to Move-in-Ready than simply Move-in-Condition. All in all, the realtor probably did me a solid by not helping me chase that pipe dream.

Some Architecture styles just won't work

Of all the architecture styles of homes, the two types of houses I really won't consider are bungalows and ranch houses.  Although I'd probably warm up to a bungalow if I knew I wasn't stuck in it forever.  Several weeks ago, we did look at a bungalow in Portage Park that had this pool table and bar.

How could you not want that as a man cave?  Sure the wood paneling would have to eventually go.  This bungalow is actually in decent shape with an updated kitchen but overpriced for the neighborhood, which is probably why it is lingering on the market.  According to Redfin, this bungalow has been on and off the market for over a year.  The agent called me a few times to tell me of other open houses he was hosting and of course offered to set me up with emails with new listings as they come on the market. 

On Sunday we looked at a house that demonstrated just how far apart Nightingale and I might be on our Forever House criteria.  The house was is in (or adjacent to) Schorsch Village.  Unfortunately, it was a ranch which I cannot imagine warming up to under any circumstances. Not only do they not do it for me in terms of curb appeal, but I also feel like a Hobbit living primarily below ground.

Nightingale said the house winked at her. Upon closer inspection, it was more that the house would solve a lot of our current "problems". It's large enough that her family could come visit and stay with us for an extended period of time without everyone being on top of each other. The downstairs actually has an extra kitchen so it could be an in-law arrangement for my toxic mom who will eventually have to come live with us once she loses her crapshack. It also has a rare attached garage and an amazing yard.

It did need some updates to drag it kicking and screaming out of the 80s.  The carpet needed to be replaced and the cabinets would have to be painted or color shifted.  It also is a bit more West than even I was considering.  Other than being close to Prague Cafe and the Brickyard Mall, the walkability factor just isn't there. 

Unicorn Criteria

It's amazing how my unicorn criteria list has changed over the years for a home.  When I purchased my condo in 2003, all I wanted was a fireplace, a separate dinning room and parking.  I yielded on the parking and have grown to regret it.

View from my deck, faces West


I did luck out and get a west facing deck that has some very nice sunsets during the warmer parts of the year.

This is my old list circa August 2010:

Prerequisites: I want a house, not a condo or a townhome, but a bone fide house. I’m partial to Victorians, but warming up to 4-squares. Also, the more recent things like the roof, the windows and the mechanics have been updated the better.

• Proximity to the Blue Line: I don't like to drive and would prefer to be able to walk to a Blue Line station, preferable within less than a mile. Bonus if there is a Metra Station nearby.
• Basement: It needs to be tall enough for a 6' 2" fellow to stand upright in it. As long as it provides good storage and can also double as a workshop and workout room, I'm happy. Bonus if it is finished or partially finished and turned into a ManCave or entertainment room.
• Attic: Bonus if it's finished but if not, one that has potential to be expanded is ideal. I saw a place that had the water pipes run up to the attic already so that creating a dream master bedroom with bathroom, whirlpool and separate shower was a possibility later down the line. My understandings running the pipes up is a big part of the cost so having this already done is a must.
• Fireplace or at least a spot to put in a fumeless one.
• Garage: 2 car or more. Carport might be okay but would prefer a place to safely park my car, a future wife's car and our bicycles.
• Kitchen: updated. I do not want to renovate a kitchen or any other room really.

Now that I've spent more time researching costs and doing my own DIY repairs and working on my mom's crapshack moneypit in Humboldt Park, I have a better understanding of what work I can handle and what work I would need to farm out to professionals.

Given where we are in life and my age, Nightingale and I have come to realize that we don't want to live in a home that always has some section under construction. Therefore, a fixer-upper is probably out of the question.

Today we're looking for a place that is Move-in-Ready (versus Move-in-Condition) and doesn't need any mandatory renovations.  Perhaps if I suddenly win the lottery or decide I have too much money in the bank and decide I want to drop a wall to increase the size of the a room or something.
 
A carport instead of a garage is unacceptable, though in addition to a garage wouldn't hurt our feelings.  And the basement and attic have to be closer to finished than unfinished.  Honestly, some days I think adding a fireplace would be the limit and even then I'd probably pay someone else to do the entire job instead of jsut connect the gas.

Proximity to the expressways is important and so it walkability.  We want to be able to walk to good restaurants, stores and parks.  In 2010 I wrote that "to get the majority of a wish list it might be necessary sacrifice one or two items." In 2012 and beyond, not so much.

Sunset at night (spring)

Shifting Paradigms

When I attempted to sell my 2/1 condo in spring of 2010, there came a point when my agent hinted that a significant price drop might get the job done. While we had some showings, the Home Buyer Tax Credit was going to expire soon.  When we initially discussed putting my place on the market, I explained that I knew I wasn't going to make any money off my place.

My goal was simply not to bring any money to the table to cover transaction costs or mortgage shortfall. Bonus if I actually walked away with a little something to add to the down payment fund.  I believed I communicated that and my realtor was fine with that goal.  The paradigm was Price It Right and It Will Sell.

My realtor couldn't tell me exactly how low we could price it so that I wouldn't have to bring money to the table over transaction costs and or sales price. In fact he could only give me a rough estimate and was reluctant to do any work to refine that estimate. Apparently a top seller who has been in the business for years couldn't crunch some numbers to give his client the information necessary to make the best decision possible.

He did argue that even if I had to bring a small amount of money to the table out of my down payment savings, it would be a good thing to be free of the condo and could quickly start saving again.  That would have also meant moving into Nightingale's cramped 1 bedroom condo in the south loop.

If he had said something like "if you lower your price to X and we get an offer around that amount, you'd end up bringing approximately $2K to the table," I might have actually considered it. But again he couldn't be bothered because I was being unreasonable not lowering my price enough to get the sale done.  Of course tweaking his commision was probably not an option either.

I never had to formally make that decision because no official offers came my way. The Paradigm switched overnight to Do Not Put Your Home on the Market If you Cannot Afford to Sell It.   My Realtor basically abandoned me when I couldn't lower my price any further. 

Nightingale moved in here and we rented her condo at a slight loss. Looking back, it was the right decision because we have more space here.

If I tried the same thing today, based on the comps, I'd probably have to bring more to the table. How much more? Again, impossible to say. Best guess is in 2010 I might have had to bring no less than a couple grand but no more than 10K to the table.  Today I'd probably be lucky to get away with only bringing 10K to the table.

Different Stages of the Seller in Today's Housing Market

Those who are new to the Real Estate market — not involved on a day to day basis, following the market or stalking the Crib Chatter website — go through a learning curve when they decide to sell their home. They think I paid X and it’s 2,3, 5 years later, it must be worth Y. Or I changed out the light fixtures, it must be worth more.

Every owner thinks that their house is special and worth more than the one next door, across the street or down the block. This healthy belief gets even sillier when it’s clear the houses were built by the same builder and have the same general floor plan, number of bedrooms/bathrooms and the only real difference is the exterior paint.

What's really surprising is that even today owners thinks their place is worth X because the houses across the street sold for X +/- a few dollars last month, but fail to account for the fact that the other house had updated bathrooms and kitchens. During the Boom you could get away with this because "prices could only go up" and "buy now or be priced out forever" mentality.

If you bought in the last 5 years and didn’t do anything to the property (I’m NOT talking about renovators here)- why do you think you will get more than what you paid?

 It's really a quite simple formula:

Z = Price_Sale - Amount_You_Owe_Bank - Transaction_Costs

You want Z to be a positive number and to be as large as possible. You cannot do much about Amount_you_owe_Bank other than pay it down as quickly as possible. Transaction_Costs are pretty set too.  And you don't really know Price_Sale until you put your place out there and then its too late.  For many people Amount_You_Owe_Bank is higher than Price_Sale and they cannot afford to bring that much money to the table. 

The reality is that a lot of people are out there chasing the market. Believe it or not, a lot of people don’t know this or even truly realize how bad the current market is. Yeah they see headlines but unless you are buying or selling a place, you treat it the same way a person who doesn’t like sports treats a headline about the Cubs or the Bears.

So when someone tries to sell today, they go through a few stages.

• Stage 1: My house/condo is worth so much more than everyone else’s on the block/in the building and I should get back every $1 I put into it;
• Stage 2: Okay I may not make any money, but perhaps I can have something for a Down Payment on the next house;
• Stage 3: Geez, at least let me sell for enough to break even;
• Stage 4: Yikes, I have to bring how much to the table?

I knew the market was bad when I placed my condo on the market almost two years ago but thought skipping Stage 1 and going directly to Stage 2 would give me an edge. Unfortunately, I was already chasing the market but didn't even know it. The paradigm at the time was price it at or just below the comps and you would be fine. Unfortunately, that paradigm soon switched to if you cannot afford to sell your place (at whatever price necessary) then don't bother a realtor with putting your place on the market in the first place.

From Muscle car to Utility Vehicle

So Long Kellie

 So I wrote about our dilemma with the car situation a month ago.  My 1997 Mustang was falling apart system by system and was basically unsafe to drive.  While Nightingale had the option of using public transportation, it came with limitations.  When she worked late she still had to take a taxicab home, which is costly.  She also could not fit in a workout before or after work because it isn't easy to get to the gym on her way to or from work.

We had evaluated the pros and cons and were just waiting for something to tip the scale.  I even wrote a few Internet pundits I follow about my situation.  Here is what Tara Nicolle-Nelson of Trulia.com and Trent of TheSimpleDollar.com had to say.

It finally came to a head shortly after that post when a snowstorm hit Chicago on Friday while she was at work. Since we knew snow was coming, I had the Trail Blazer and she took the El to work.  While it was nothing like the Stormaggedon of 2011, it did slow down the city such that traffic was crawling along.  That meant she would either have to spend a fortune on a cab or suffer two hours on the CTA to get home.  Nightingale basically said we had to get a second working vehicle immediately.

The follow week, her dad was in town helping her sister get ready for the move back to Michigan.  In between packing, he helped me research used cars.  I wanted the flexibility of something that could haul a lot of stuff since I have gotten use to Nightingale's Trail Blazer.  We also needed better fuel economy with my 25 mile daily commute to work (one way).  Several friends have Honda Elements and they give them good reviews. My research shows that they get at least as good of gas mileage as my mustang, though perhaps slightly better depending on year. Plus I kinda like the idea of throwing our bikes in the back and going to the forest preserves for a ride. Currently, it's a hassle to put the bikes in the Blazer or use the bike rack for the Mustang.

So mid week her dad (the FIL heretofore) was getting stir crazy and wanted to head home.  Translation: being in a house with two noisy and very young children wasn't his cup of tea.  At the beginning of the trip he said he would stay as long as he was needed.  After a few days he was already mentally packed to go.  Nightingale begged him to stay throughout the weekend to help us find the right Element.



Needs a name

I was fine with finding the cheapest one available.  Nightingale on the other hand felt that we should get one with the fewest miles possible.  No easy task since Element owners typically tack on the mileage -- I guess they feel they need to get their moneys worth and do the toss-the-bikes-in-the-back thing as often as possible.  Needless to say, Nightingale won out on this point too.  She felt that the less mileage and newer the vehicle, the longer it will last and the longer it will be before we need to put money in it for repairs.  For those keeping track at home, Nightingale 2, Icarus 0.
FIL managed to find two Elements that would fit the bill.  He had found one earlier in the week but it was gone by the time we decided to go look at it.  That did make me feel vindicated that my choice of an Element was a good one.  Unfortunately, the two he found were at dealerships that were difficult to get to and not conducive to going back and forth for comparison purposes.  We also had a house viewing scheduled for the middle of the day that we couldn't reschedule.  It made for a long day.

We went to the first car dealership and drove around the lot.  Instead of the red Element we were expecting, there was only a grey one.  While not a bad looking car, I just didn't have a good feeling and never stopped the car. Instead I had NG punched in the address in the GPS for the second car and headed out. 

On the way we made a pit stop at a tollbooth oasis in order to use the restroom, get some coffee and call the place to make sure the car was still there.  My FIL made the call and instead of just asking if the car was still there and getting off the phone, it sounded like he was becoming BFFs with the sales person.

We get there and drive around the parking lot.  The Element is there and it's the correct one. So we go inside and find Harvey.  Harvey, originally from the UK, is a young Indian guy who reminds me of some of the consultants I worked with at the No-Name Software Company.  Definitely not your typical used car salesman and in fact a rather sharp guy.  He takes us for a test drive and gives us a tour of the Honda Facility. 

We like what we see and decide to buy the car.  Then the negotiating began.  With the two previous cars I've purchased, I never felt like I got the best deal I could. So I really wanted to hold out for the best deal I could get.  I was ready to go to the mat over price, trade-in-value and even financing. 

Alas, thanks to the internet, there isn't as much haggling as there was the last two times I did this (2001 and 19 ninety-something.)  We already knew what the car retails for and what we could expect for our trade in (not very much).  What drove me crazy was that when Harvey came back with the value of the trade-in my FIL said "that's what you expected."  I was like, way to show our cards.

The long and short of it is this is the car I wanted and Nightingale was not going to get back into the Mustang-with-no-brakes so we negotiated a good interest rate for the financing and were ready to call it a night.  However the lady in the financing office was determined to sell us one of the add-on packages.  We didn't want or need it, but she was able to lower our interest rate to 2% so our payment stayed the same.  We figure she had an end of the month quota to met.

It pays to have options

I use to be the unreliable one:  I had asked Mr Lumpy and SHB#1 if they were up for a few miles on Sunday.  Both said they were with different agendas in mind.  In the meantime, Distance Drea had posted on her FB that she missed her run Saturday because of wedding planning things so she really needed to run Sunday.  I invited her to join us even though she doesn't believe in the group run thing.  She'll run with us, but she prefers to have her headphones on rather than engage in runner chit-chat. 

SHB#1 replied to my email but didn't reply all.  She's just like that with email sometimes.  Back in the day, she use to reply to emails without including the history hours or even days after you sent the intital email, so you'd get a random email with a generic subject line with a line of text that reads "can't do it, I have to work late." 
As it would happen, SHB#1 and Distance Drea would miss out on the run for various reasons.  Luckily Mr Lumpy did show up.  Not that I couldn't run on my own.  iIt just helps to have others so that you are obligated to show up.  Sunday's run was pretty good considering I hadn't really run in at least a week. My calf was tweaky but I'm associating that with an injury that is on the mend instead of a problem that will set me back.

Here Thar be Dragons

Outside the Green Zone thar are lots of Dragons!

When I worked at the No-Name Software company, one of my coworkers really truly believed that the city limits were only downtown and that anywhere else had to be the suburbs. He honestly believed once you left the Loop, you were no longer in "The City".

Many of my friends who grew up in the suburbs and other transplants who have relocated to Chicago also believe that the city is really comprised of only a few select neighborhoods near downtown and the lakefront  -- River North, Streeterville, the Gold Coast, Lincoln Park, Lakeview, Bucktown, Wicker Park, Lincoln Square, Ravenswood and North Center - to name a few.

They believe that if you went West of Western Avenue, a dragon will swallow you up whole and spit out your bones.

At Crib Chatter, a blog I spend way too much time at, they have a name for this area: The Green Zone (GZ).

Green Zone: A sliver of relatively safe and gentrified areas within the City of Chicago proper (read Urban) where housing stock is most desirable based on specific key criteria such as proximity to the Lakefront, access to rapid transit, and other amenities without the inconveniences of gangs or lower income denizens.

There is some debate whether school system impact whether a neighborhood is considered part of the Green Zone. 

http://cribchatter.com/?p=13440

TftInChi (January 19, 2012, 11:27 am)
Comment:

My definition of the green zone changed significantly when I started factoring schools into the equation. There are plenty of neighborhoods that I would consider living in from a safety, cultural, nightlife perspective that have mediocre to awful schools. For someone looking for a long term city home for their family and that isn't in the actual 1%, those places really aren't in the picture. It really narrows your search considerably.

That said, I'd still consider GZ mostly on the basis of safety and access to "stuff". There are plenty of people in their twenties that probably don't need to be thinking about schools yet.Yet. *****************************
Author:Dave M (January 19, 2012, 1:08 pm)

Comment:

The school argument isn't as relevant because you can always pay to send your kid to private schools if necessary - for me it's all about the quality of life in that section of the city, combined with low crime, high income, and amenities. I excluded the Loop and River North from the discussion at this point as there are so many other things in those areas that make the areas not primarily residential (office, hotel, restaurants, etc). Another thing to look at is how easy it is to get a cab (how long it takes to get one)

********


Still some people just have no clue... where the GZ is:

Author: jenny (January 19, 2012, 10:54 am)
Comment:
I always imagined the Green Zone to be an area where prices have remained somewhat stable, with little gang activity. Streets are generally clean and store front signage is in English. Very little riff raff on the
streets and no rusted out cars just sitting around.

*******************

Technically that would be Norwood Park, or Edison Park, or even Belmont Heights.  Those areas didn't see the growth other areas did during the boom and have maintained their value during the bust.

Perhaps one of the lone voices of reason says it best:

**************

Russ (January 19, 2012, 2:35 pm)

Comment:

Greenzone is just a humorous way to say that the neighborhod has been signigicantly genetrified and offers the amenities that most yuppies are looking for in an urban neighborhood. Yes, the term is a dig that those hoods outside of the greenzone aren't safe. We all know that it is a generalization and there are plenty of urban neighborhoods that are safe but aren't really considered alternative neighborhoods for the typical resident who wants to live in the greenzone. Many of the non-greenzone hoods may be more blue collar than white collar. May be less densely populated. May not have the same amenities. Different strokes for different folks.
The choice to live in the Greenzone has nothing to do with race and everything to do with class and having access to certain amenities that members of a particular socio economic class value. The reality is that every major city has their own Greenzones. I don't care what anyone says, no one is rushing to move to Englewood.

Car repairs and the Housing Blues

My wife and I plan to look for and hopefully purchase a house this year.  Although we are looking now, current inventory is lacking and we feel the week following SuperBowl Sunday, which traditionally kicks off the Spring Real Estate Season, will yield more desirable inventory.  With the market being what it is, we are determined to find a house that we can easily live in for at least a decade if not forever.

In the meantime, we currently have two automobiles that eventually need to be replaced.  We plan to replace them with newer used cars.  The question is do we replace them now or later?

Nightingale's 2002 Trail Blazer is having problems with the transmission and is basically a gas guzzler.  It will eventually have to be replaced but is in better driving condition than my car.  I've been driving it because Nightingale has been able to take public transportation to work for the most part, paying for cab rides home on the late shift.

My 1997 Mustang needs $1200 worth of repairs to make it safe to drive.  This includes brakes (~$400) and new tires (~$400).  To be honest, if my Mustang were a real horse, not only would it be time to take it out back and shoot it, but the Mustang would probably help load the rifle. 

It would be a game of Russian Roulette to continue navigating Chicago Winters (read: snow) with my current set of tires.  You see all those tire shops that are offering great deals on tires.  The catch is that the size and style they use to draw you in, won't work on most sports cars.  I priced replacement tires at a couple of places and the difference between fairly decent tires and cheaper ones isn't worth the difference.  Plus the whole I'm married now and gotta stay alive for my wife's benefit thing. 

 The question is, do we repair the Mustang or use the $1200 toward purchasing a new used vehicle.  As I see it, if we invest the $1200 into the car, we reduce our emergency fund and/or down payment fund.  However, if we take on even a small auto loan, the interest rate we get for our house might be slightly higher than we could get otherwise and over the life of the home loan, even a quarter percent higher equates to ~20K extra interest paid.

The funny thing is I have a few friends who are determined to help me find cheap tires and brakes.
Most guys have an opinion on cars and many have even rebuilt their automobile from scratch.  So when the testosterone is flowing most guys are like "Oh I can find you a guy who has used tires that will get you through the next six months" or "we could buy the brake pads from Auto Zone and do the work in my garage."

The thing is, that offer to help with the brake pads never see the light of day.  The weather becomes lousy or something comes up that prevents a weekend from being Man Cave bonding.  And cheap tires aren't gonna do the trick because my wife and I occasionally switch vehicles.

Because we were blessed with a mild winter, I have been able to drive my Mustang to work, allowing Nightingale to drive to work as well since we secured the parking spot. This temporarily allows us to defer this decision.  Our luck isn't gonna hold out forever though.

I actually ended up putting in $400 in repairs to the clutch cable and a few other things the other day. My mechanic says the engine is in good shape and that I should keep the car and fix the brakes. I wonder if he has a daughter that I'm putting through college or something.

Let me know if you have any questions...

As a byproduct of following the real estate market since 2008, I know a lot of realtors.  Some I know through friends and other social outlets.  Some i met at open houses and they latch on to me. Often, I get an email from one like this one:

Dear Mr. and Mrs. Icarus:

 I saw your note in Crib Chatter that you're thinking of finding something in the near-northwest suburbs. Like one of these?

Let me know if you have any questions, comments or updates to your requirements.

Sincerely,

ChiTownGal

She sent me a link to her ConnectMLS report which had about 40 listings of various types of houses.  All realtors these days have this package, some software developer made off well packaging and selling this to brokerage firms once the industry finally conceded that typical buyer/sellers are using the internet more than agents to buy houses.

For the purposes of full disclosure, ChiTownGal is the realtor who found me my current abode.  Unlike many realtors who disppear once the commision check clears, ChiTownGal has stayed in touch over the years.

Okay, you asked.  So in letter form, I sent the following back.


Comments:

1) I get these Powered by ConnectMLS reports from every realtor I've ever met since the dawn of time. [At any given time I'm also "stalked" by any realtor I've met at an open house, party or even on the running path, but that's another discussion.] I'm also signed up on ZipRealty, Redfin and use a few other sites to do my searching. Since the MLS became available to ordinary buyers it is rare that a realtor trumps me on a home that is out there.

2) Some of my criteria just isn't codeable and no agent is going to weed through listing descriptions to find me the perfect house -- that's my job.

3) No Agent is gonna review my notes on 40 plus properties. I've made comments like "wow, love this house let's go see it" and "I'll buy it today" and yet no response.

4) take MLS #07912198 this is a fugly looking house. There is no way i would buy it. I wouldn't even live there for free or if you paid me (okay, slight exaggeration). But if I check not interested, it will still come up in the next email when they delist and relist or drop the price $1. There needs to be a Never Show Me This House Again option.

Question:

Perhaps this downtime in the Real Estate Market is a good time for all the realtors to come together and fix some of the things broken in the system.

regards,

Icarus

Your Exact Situation May Vary, or be forgotten entirely

Because I have been exploring the Real Estate market for the last three years, I've made friends with many a realtor.  And by made friends I mean they have my email address and fall just short of stalking me.  Many will send me an are you ready to take the plunge and purchase a home email.  I'll write back and explain how I'm technically underwater on my mortgage but if they know someone else willing to take the plunge and buy my place, it could be a win-win.

No response and you can hear the silence on the internet.  Then two months later, another email will come from the same realtor asking if I'm ready to take the plunge, this time preambled with "I don't know your exact situation...".

How do these people not fall down more?  And how do they live with themselves? 

I got an email from one particular Realtor(tm) who asked a few questions. 

1) You are:

-Actively searching for a home now

-Planning to buy a home within 6 months

-Planning to buy a home later than 6 months from now

2) What price range?

3) What area(s) do you want to live in?

4) Are you interested in a specific neighborhood?

5) What kind of home do you want to buy?

6) What style of home do you want to buy (e.g., contemporary, colonial, tudor)?

7) How many bedrooms?

8) How many bathrooms?

9) Specific features (e.g., waterfront, large lot, garage size, built-in vacuum, distance to school):

10) Additional comments:

11) Do you have any questions? Is there anything else I can do to help?

All fair questions. And I sent a reply.  For number 2 I said my price range was $200-$350K.  I also answered the questions in painstaking detail.  [It takes a lot of effort to cut and paste doncha know.]

Let's just say the response was unbelievable.

Hi Icarus,
I have a house that I will list in the next two weeks on the 3900 block of StreetName. This is a brick bungalow completely gutted and rehabbed. It is not completed yet, it is slated for top of the line finishes and will be priced in the low 500's. I am thinking that if you choose lesser finishes, it could be priced lower.

I could get u floor plans. Let me know your thoughts. Is your condo on the market?

Fooley Shapiro
Broker
Imprudent Ripoff
Sent from my iPhone

Now, I realize expecting this realtor to actually read my answers to their questions would be asking a lot.  But I would think something like price range might be important enough to focus on.

here was my response:

Hi Fooley,
Yeah a floorplan would be a good start. What do you mean when you say "top of the line" finishes and how much of a price reduction could lesser finishes bring?


No, it is not on the market.


Icarus

I figured that would start a dialogue and the realtor(tm) would go back and re-read my answers. Apparently not.  They know how to work that iPhone though:

Hi Icarus, I think you could probably shave $ 30,000. Off the price by choosing lesser finishes. We are planning on listing at 535,000. So we could get it to $500,000. Then you could probably buy 30,000 lower. I don't see it going for less than $470000.


There are others too.


Where is your condo? We should put it on the market.


Regards,

Fooley Shapiro


Broker
Imprudent Ripoff
Sent from my iPhone

I decided it was time to end that conversation and haven't written back.  And I haven't heard from Fooley yet.  But I will bet you my down payment money that in a month or so, I'll get another email that starts ""I don't know your exact situation...".