Actual Sale Prices in La Grange, La Grange Park (sales, real estate)

[Joel67]

Hi Everyone,

I am looking for information on actual sales prices paid vs asking prices at the time of sale, particularly for homes priced between 500 and 600k, but I think valid inferences can be drawn from homes at all price points.

Related question: would offering 550 on a 600k home be out of the question? The house has been on the market 90 days and reduced from 625 already.

Thanks!
Joel

[chet everett]

Not enough info.

Honestly there are about a thousand variables for such a decision. My first step would be to seek a buyers agent that you are comfortable with and is VERY active in the area near the home you are interest in. LaGrange has MANY excellent real estate agents and they will be able to help you determine if there are comps that support either the listing price or the offer your are contemplating.

Further, if you know the details of why comparable home sold at the price they did this is FAR more useful than merely looking at "sell / ask" ratio.

OK, I do know the area PRETTY well and my gut says if the ask was $625 and they have take a piddly 4% reduction they are NOT gonna be thrilled with your whopping 12% reduction (in their mind, from their original offer) but unless they NEED to get something MUCH closer to $600K they ought not spit at your offer, ESPECIALLY if your terms are solid: a pre-approval letter that makes you sound like the safest lending risk in history, NO contingent sale, flexibility in closing.

That last part MAY be the key -- me thinks that if they listed 90 days ago they sorta wanna "get out" about the time school is done. If you can close quick, that might help immensely -- THOUGH you never know if they would PREFER to live in the old house until their new home is ALL SET so I encourage clients to let sellers know they can either "close as quickly as possible, while being open to the possibility of extended terms of possession / occupancy" which is a polite of saying "I can work with your needs."

[mh7]

I recently bought a house in the area. I initially offered 80% of the original listing price & ended up paying 86%.

[Joel67]

Thanks for both replies. Chet, I've read a lot of your posts in the archives and you seem to be an asset to this forum.

MH7, that seems like an exceedingly good deal for you. Can I ask the approximate price range you purchased in, as well if there were any contingencies, distress on behalf of the seller, etc.? Feel free to PM if you like . . .

[Lookout Kid]

Hmmm... 86% of asking seems like a great deal to me. I kind of doubt that is typical in such a nice, desirable area. There MUST be data available on this, however.

[chet everett]

Originally Posted by Lookout Kid

Hmmm... 86% of asking seems like a great deal to me. I kind of doubt that is typical in such a nice, desirable area. There MUST be data available on this, however.

MLS baby. MLS! Seriously there is a HUGE amount of info locked into the system. I would guess most real estate agents really do know how to get the info, but the majority do a poor job explaining to their clients, both buyers and sellers, how this info is valuable.

In a risisng market a thorough handle on the data allows one to price and offer in such a way that you capture the best value in the shortest time, similarly in a falling market one can build in buffer to absorb likely changes.

If the details reveal that homes of similar age, size and condition are selling for more that 86% of list than that is indeed a good deal (and I suspect that is the case for most of the LaGrange market...) but the flip side is that when a home is listed at an unrealistic price and the ultimate sale happens below 80% of list (or conversely too near to 100%...) that data also reflects on what others will offer after your sale...

More openness with the data, in my view, would result in a more efficient system, but the risks to the "franchise' structure of brokers & agents (who kinda sorta MLS) is too great.

[cohdane]

Redfin.com has everything you need.

All properties sold in the last 6 months between 500-600k (you can go back further if you want):

Redfin - Unsupported Browser.

Current market trends, including rough list to sold info:

La Grange Real Estate, IL | Redfin

Edit: Link that says "unsupported browser" may still work, if not, look for "more options" under Redfin's search button.

I love Redfin. (In case you couldn't tell.)

[ihynes]

Originally Posted by cohdane

Redfin.com has everything you need.

Edit: Link that says "unsupported browser" may still work, if not, look for "more options" under Redfin's search button.

I love Redfin. (In case you couldn't tell.)

Thanks, I was wondering how to get actual selling prices, too, for a refinance, and didn't know what to tell the bank about actual value of my home in the current market.

[Joel67]

Wow, Redfin is really neat. I did not see a place where it will show you the listing price, only the sales price. Does it have that functionality?

[cohdane]

In the "trends" section you can get a broad-based comparison of list to sell ratios that have been accurate in the zip I'm looking at.

Otherwise, a great sneaky trick is to Google the address and then instead of clicking on the main link, click on the light blue word "cached" to see old web pages with the listing. The further back in Google you go, the older the listings. Often, you can see the entire price history going back a full year or more (but sometimes not).

Good luck.