Tag: selling a home

Lincoln Park mansion sells for city’s highest price since mid-2018

Posted on December 30, 2020 by in Chicago Luxury Real Estate, Crains

The Howe Street property went for $11.9 million, the most anyone has paid for a home here since another mansion two blocks away went for the same price 29 months ago.

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A Lincoln Park mansion sold this morning for $11.9 million, the highest sale price recorded for a Chicago home since August 2018.

The sale of the 12,000-square-foot mansion on a double lot on Howe Street, which was not openly listed for sale, is the highest-priced purchase of a single residential property in the Chicago area in 2020. But a situation in Winnetka, where the Chicago Tribune has reported that three different multimillion-dollar mansions may have been bought by a single entity, prevents the Howe Street mansion from taking this year’s crown at the moment.

The sellers on Howe Street, William and Sandra Sterling, could not be reached for comment. The agent who represented them, Tim Salm of Jameson Sotheby’s International Realty, declined to comment, as did the buyer’s agent, Phil Skowron of @properties. The buyers are not yet identified in public records.

The Sterlings’ asking price for the six-bedroom house was $14.5 million. They sold for 18 percent less than that.

William Sterling is the managing partner of Sandia Point, a quantitative research and trading firm with offices in Chicago and New York.

In 2013, the Sterlings paid $3.95 million for the land the house is built on. There is no public record of what they spent to build the house.

No photos of the interior of the home are available, and neither are details such as a bedroom count.

Built by BGD&C, a firm that has built several of the multi-lot mansions in the section of Lincoln Park south of Armitage, the house, according to marketing information from Salm, has “grand living and dining rooms which open onto south terrace. Beautiful stone and wide plank hardwood flooring throughout. Jaw-dropping sculptural staircase topped by skylight and one-of-a-kind chandelier.”

The $11.9 million sale price is the highest in the city since buyers paid the same amount in August 2018 for a mansion two blocks west on Burling Street. That one was also built by BGD&C.

In 2019, the highest anyone was recorded paying for a Chicago-area home was $11.3 million.

Until this sale on Howe, the highest sale price for a Chicago-area home in 2020 was $9.5 million, which a buyer paid in October for a lakefront mansion in Winnetka. The purchaser, according to the Cook County Recorder of Deeds, was a land trust that obscures the buyer’s name. The Chicago Tribune has reported that the buyer is also behind the purchases of two other mansions, one that went for $8.2 million in July, and another that went for $6.2 million in November. The total, $23.9 million, would be for the land alone, minus some swapped out to the local park district, and a single house would be built on the site, according to the Tribune.

Crain’s could not independently confirm that all three properties have one purchaser, as public records do not yet show a buyer in two of the transactions.

5 Real Estate Pricing Myths Sellers Need to Know

Posted on January 6, 2020 by in Market Insights

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When it comes to selling homes, the price is very often the “hot topic” whether you are the seller or buyer. The process involved in determining the appropriate listing price isn’t always what one might think, though.

In fact, it ultimately comes down to a position within the existing competition. Let’s take a moment to delve into some common misconceptions about pricing…

Overpricing isn’t a big deal since you can always lower the list price

No homeowner wants to leave money on the table. But starting with an unrealistic or overly-ambitious asking price isn’t the way to achieve the highest possible sales price for your home.

In fact, overpriced homes tend to linger on the market, making them harder to sell. And yes, you can always lower the list price but you should keep in mind that the largest pool of buyers sees your home within days of it hitting the market – and if you keep reducing the price, they may assume there’s something wrong with the property. Buyers also factor in market time when determining their offer price and what they perceive to be fair market value.

To generate maximum exposure and interest, it’s essential to price your home accurately during that critical “New Listing” period.

Your home is worth the amount you paid (or more)

Every market is different and trends vary block by block. The market shifts constantly which can lead to upward and downward price trends.  However, just because a high-level report shows an increase in pricing, it doesn’t necessarily mean that trickles down to every property.

While all homeowners wish to make a profit, it’s important to be mindful of pricing trends in your hyper-local market. In sum, what you paid for the home and the period of time you owned it do not necessarily impact the list price. As mentioned above, it actually comes down to how you are positioned (price-wise) amongst the current competition.

Your neighbor just sold their home for $X, so you can sell yours for $X too

Like we said, trends vary block by block – but even homes on the same block vary in price. Every home is unique, and beyond location, you’ll need to consider other property attributes such as features, condition, and other criteria that affect the price. Maybe one home has a finished basement and the other doesn’t, or one has 4 bedrooms and the other has 3 – these are all factors that go into pricing a home.

A lack of inventory means you can be aggressive with pricing

Supply and demand vary by location, product type, and price. If homes in your sub-market are flying off the shelf, you might be able to be more aggressive in your pricing strategy, but if you live in an area that doesn’t see a lot of activity, a more conservative pricing strategy will serve you better.

Renovation costs should be added to the price

While renovations can add value to your home and help your home sell faster, you shouldn’t automatically assume that you will recoup all the costs for home improvement projects (i.e. kitchen and bath remodels or a new deck). Consult a local real estate agent to learn which pre-sale renovations will maximize the value of your property.

At the end of the day, setting the right listing price right out of the gate is crucial when it comes to generating interest and top dollar for your home. So, if you’re a seller, how can you be sure to do that?

Here at @properties, we leverage our exclusive digital Comparative Market Analysis (CMA) tool, which helps determine the current value of your home based on factors like market activity and comparable properties. Here’s why a CMA helps sell your home.

For more information on pricing or to receive your own CMA, click here.

@properties’ Pre-Sale Home Renovation Partnerships Give Sellers an Edge

Posted on December 13, 2019 by in Renovations

@properties recently formed two new partnerships to address one of the biggest challenges for home sellers in today’s real estate market: more and more buyers expect “Pinterest-perfect,” move-in ready homes, but a lot of properties – even those that are just 8 or 10 years old – need updating to bring them up to today’s standards.

Renovating a home before listing it for sale requires not only the complicated logistics of design and construction, but also a significant financial outlay. Curbio, a national pre-sale renovation service, and Renovation Sells, which performs similar services exclusively in the Chicago area, take the hassle out of the entire process.

Working exclusively with real estate agents, both companies focus on renovation projects that deliver maximum value in the marketplace. They manage design and construction from start to finish, and best of all, they collect payment at closing – using the equity in your home as collateral – so that sellers don’t have to come out of pocket before their home is sold.

Curbio leverages national buying power and technology to streamline the process and lower costs. Each job is run by a local, in-house project manager. Similarly, Renovation Sells uses a local team of designers, project managers and subcontractors to quickly design, budget and complete renovations. Most of Renovation Sells’ projects are completed within 14 days.

Once renovations are done, your @properties agent will determine a listing price and come up with a comprehensive marketing plan featuring photos and video of the remodeled home.

The ultimate goal is for the increased value to more than offset the cost of renovations, and for the home to sell more quickly than it would have in its former state. And both Curbio and Renovation Sells can offer dozens of Chicago-area case studies that prove those very outcomes.

Properties with deferred maintenance or outdated finishes are seeing fewer and lower offers as well as longer market times. In the end, sellers may be leaving a lot of money on the table by rushing a home to market without making necessary improvements. Services like Curbio and Renovation Sells help ensure a home makes the best first impression on buyers, and ultimately help achieve faster market times and higher sales prices.

Contact your local @properties agent to get a full rundown on the process of renovating with Curbio or Renovation Sells.