Robert Jarvis Signature Properties: Evergreen Park Home Sales

National Association of Realtors reports that “short sale” properties sold at a small percentage less than traditional resale’s, while “foreclosed” homes sold at much greater discounts.

Below is some data for Evergreen Park, IL to study if you’re looking to buy or sell a home in Evergreen Park, IL. In this first chart, homes sold in Evergreen Park during the past six months are broken down into three categories (by size) and then the categories are broken down again into BOTTOM 1/3, MIDDLE 1/3, and TOP 1/3.

What does this chart mean?

The bottom 1/3 to have FEW positives (several negatives: small structure, need lots of work, small lot, poor location, etc.).

The middle 1/3 to have SOME positives (larger lot, larger size, some updating, taste specific décor and remodeling, etc.).

The top 1/3 to have LOTS of positives (truly ‘move-in ready’, updated furnishings and fixtures, will appeal to most number of buyers)

Fun Fact about homes for sale in Evergreen Park, IL as of July 2011:
41 Contingent Properties, 163 Active Properties, and 72 Sold Properties = 12 months supply of inventory in Evergreen Park!

Many homeowners looking to sell their home play the “my house is better than this one” or “that house is smaller than mine” game. This is called a CMA [Competitive Market Analysis] approach or “looking at comparable properties in your neighborhood".

This process is vulnerable to inaccuracies and usually doesn’t take into account all the data available.

There are two ways my team of Real Estate Professionals research home values all throughout the Chicagoland area. We use both the “index model” [same as Standard & Poor's Case Shiller Report] and the “square footage” data in combination with the CMA approach. In this report, we will discuss only the “square footage” data analysis.

Here we took ALL the homes sold in Evergreen Park for the past six months and created a spreadsheet that can be downloaded FREE here: http://www.slideshare.net/rtjarvisjr/evergreen-park-6-month-sales-data-as-of-july-2011

Note: We prefer to use median values because outliers to the data will be negated whereas in the average calculation, the outliers will skew the true data.

The median [or middle] home sold for $125K or $99.68 per square foot. This number includes the distressed properties [short sales and foreclosures] as well the traditional resale properties.

If we remove the short sale and foreclosed properties, the chart would like this:

See how the properties sold in Evergreen Park, reflect a square footage cost of $118.79 per square foot and a median sold price of $157K. Does this mean that you can expect $120/square foot for your home? NO. It just sets the boundaries. Your home must be perfect and in the TOP 1/3 to capture that value.

Now, let’s look at financially distressed properties [short sales and foreclosures in Evergreen Park] closed over the past six months:

Interestingly enough, Short Sales sold at a median price of $73K and Foreclosed Properties sold at a median price of $87K [opposite of what the National Association of Realtors reports], but I have theories for this in another interesting post.

These figures equate to $60 to $75 per square foot. That is just over ½ the presumed cost to buy a home in Evergreen Park.

Given the fact that 36 homes sold were distressed over the past six months, and 37 homes sold traditionally in Evergreen Park, chances are that buyers ARE considering distressed homes in Evergreen Park when buying a home in Evergreen Park.

Fact: Breakdown of home sales in Evergreen Park Financing codes: 14 Conventional Financing, 28 FHA Financing (+1 VA Financing) and 28 Cash Buyers.

Twice the number of conventional buyers are buying home with either all cash, or low cash. Or 19% of the buyers have are relying on conventional financing. The remaining 80% are buying with low/no money down [40% - the house must pass FHA or VA financing regulations] or cash [40% - investors are buying these homes for pennies to the dollar].

If 60% of the homes sold in Evergreen Park are financed, and the remaining 40% are cash, which group of buyers should you be marketing your home for sale?

During negotiations on the buyers’ side, would you use this data to get a deal from the listing agent on the property? Do you think the sellers have access to this data? Or are they driving by and looking at photos of sold properties expecting to get the wrong value from the sale of their house? 80 expired and 97 canceled listing concludes that part of the story. Contact me, an Evergreen Park Real Estate Professional for your buying or selling needs.

History of Evergreen Park
Over 100 years ago, Evergreen Park declared its independence. With a population of approximately 500 people, 40 residents [of 51 residents who showed up] voted for incorporation and the four squared miles of area became the Village of Evergreen Park on December 20, 1893. Source: http://www.evergreenpark-ill.com/

The village is surrounded by the City of Chicago on the NORTH, the SOUTH and the EAST of its border. To the WEST of Evergreen Park is the Village of Oak Lawn. The Village of Evergreen Park is approximately 17 miles from Chicago Loop neighborhood.

“The Village acquired its name from the park located at 97th Street and Homan Avenue (#4), originally intended to be the center of town. This part of the village was laid out to resemble Paris, with its wagon wheel appearance, but development in other directions has since caused it to be a residential section. The center of Evergreen Park is now 95th Street and Kedzie Avenue.”
Parks in Evergreen Park include: Norris Field (1), Mini Park (2), Southeast Park (3), Evergreen Park (4), Evergreen Aqua Park (5), Northwest Park (6).

Evergreen Park is also known as the "Village of Churches" given by the many established religious congregations serving the community, and to some locals, they describe their neighborhood by their church.

Churches in Evergreen Park include: Ebenezer Lutheran Church (A), Bethel Bible Church (B), United By Faith Lutheran Church (C), Immanuel United Church of Christ (D), Most Holy Redeemer Church (E), Evergreen Park Christian Church (F), Evergreen Park Presbyterian Church (G), Maranatha Chapel (H), Saint Bernadette Church (I).