Many homeowners have tales to tell about the bumpy roads they traveled on the way to their real estate closings.
Me, for instance: The first time I bought a house, as we approached the small savings-and-loan where the closing was to be held, we were greeted at the door by a phalanx of stone-faced policemen.
Seems that the bank had been the object of an armed robbery only minutes before, and the scene inside the bank was surreally chaotic. When the closing finally got moving, we sat across the table from a couple of ashen bank bureaucrats whose hands trembled throughout the whole process.
But that’s pretty weak compared to the recent experience of Denise and Jim Kopplin. The couple were relocating from out-of-state, and had arranged to buy a house at Concord Homes’ Greenfield at the Wheatlands subdivision in Aurora. In a circumstance common to many households, they had a tight schedule: closing at 10:30 a.m., followed almost immediately by the appearance of the movers.
But no one had mentioned this to Jacob, the Kopplins’ baby-in-waiting, who had decided to make his entrance into the world slightly ahead of schedule–that is, early on the morning of the closing and move-in.
This was not foreseen in the contract.
Nonetheless, after a long series of phone calls, husband Jim, Concord staffers and the mortgage lender reorchestrated all the events, culminating in a move that should gladden the hearts of real estate agents everywhere:
They moved the closing to the hospital.
Just hours after Jacob’s birth, Denise found herself being handed that familiar, endless series of papers to sign. “It was making everybody else nervous but me. I could do nothing,” explains Denise. “So that’s what I did.”
Attention, shoppers
They sell practically everything at shopping malls. Why not houses?
For the time being, in addition to the familiar offerings of overpriced running shoes and designer cookies, you and thousands of other like-minded shoppers can buy a house at Charlestowne Mall in St. Charles.
Ah, America.
This is the current experiment of Realen Homes, which has leased a 1,500-square-foot space at the west suburban mall in order to attract interest to its Stuart’s Crossing subdivision, at Illinois Highway 64 and Kirk Road, which happens to be just across the street from the shopping venue.
Realen decided to open the “store” when the setup of the company’s traditional sales trailer at the subdivision became delayed, according to Andy Kiener, Realen’s director of sales and marketing. The retail space is outfitted much the same way as the trailer would have been, with full-blown sales displays and samples of carpeting, cabinets, etc., for the buyers to peruse.
Although the company plans to be in the mall only through July, it may mark the beginning of a new approach, Kiener said. “If the idea seems to work well, we might consider something more permanent,” he said. “People are coming to the mall for all kinds of reasons. It gives us an opportunity to capture people from all over the region.”
Going once . . .
Real estate auctions are everyday events, but one house with a slightly higher profile is about to get the gavel, so to speak, meriting some extra attention.
On June 25, Ferris Homes plans to auction a house that was in last year’s Parade of Homes at Gregg’s Landing in Vernon Hills.
The New Haven is a 3,500-square-foot space that the company has been using as a model since thousands of people walked through it at last year’s event. The house was previously listed for sale at $750,000; the suggested opening bid is $400,000. For details, call the auctioneer, Sheldon Good & Co., 312-346-1500.
