Opportunity is Still Knocking!

The low prices on good properties in real estate are still here for the time being but prices are rising. In my 36 years in the real estate business, I have never seen such opportunities for bargains. The Illinois Association of Realtors reports the following forecast:

The Housing Market

• Forecasts indicate sales increasing in Illinois in the 1-8% range and in Chicago in the 7-20% range on an annual basis
• Month-to-month sales growth will be positive through May
• Median prices in Illinois and Chicago will drop in April but rebound slightly in May.
• Median prices by May 2010 (2009 values in parentheses) are expected to be $146,177 ($156,000) in Illinois and $166,742 ($200,000) in Chicago

As a reminder, I have been having success lately at locating good-looking suburban single-family homes and condos at steep discounts for Investors. I have researched properties in all forms of distress (Judicial Sales, Pre-Foreclosure, Short Sales, buying up loans, etc.). The best deals out there at this time are the foreclosed or bank-owned properties, commonly called REO’s.

Because the real estate market has been consistently had more and more activity over the past 10 months, I often find the offers I present to be in competitive bid situations. I have also seen more contractors fixing up and “flipping” houses. There are only a few properties in prime areas that are candidates for this system, but the best strategy at this time is to buy, hold with cash flow, and sell later. My recent research showed homes sold this way in the past year in the suburbs have averaged $96,000 in price difference between the 2 closings ($155,000 purchase to $251,000 selling), 128 days between closings, and only 38 Days on Market to sell.

The plan is to do the required repairs and decorating, lease it out with a Positive Cash Flow for 24 to 36 months, and then re-sell the property at a significant profit. CSI can also manage the property for you.

If this is of interest to you or someone you know and you would like to discuss these opportunities further, please call me and we can go over some scenarios. Thank you.

George Carlson, President,
Conversion Specialists, Inc.
Call: 847-963-6956
george@csicondos.com