Tuesday, August 11, 2009

Land Continued

So, I have to make one correction. I was told by Jeff Sommers that, in fact, this would not be the first prefab house in Chicago. He told me that prefab elements of certain homes have, indeed, been done before in Chicago, so to specify, this would be the first prefab modular home in Chicago. There, I feel better now.

So, to continue, we mentioned that we fell in love with a site in East Village. While I don't want to disclose the price, Abraham confirmed that, per square foot, it was very reasonably priced per square foot compared to other comparable properties in the neighborhood. That didn't mean that we didn't want to get a bargain! So, we decided to put in an offer. Our initial offer was at least 10% below asking price. Well, this didn't fly with the seller. Apparently the seller had found a buyer previously that they weren't please with, to say the least, and for over six months, continued to file for extensions for the closing, and he (she) had had enough. Here was our dilemma: we had the cash to close quickly on the property, and we could afford their asking price, but did we want to take a chance to buy property without knowing if we could get permits? Well, apparently the answer was yes (eventually). We loved this site, and we were willing to take the chance. So, as it goes, we are closing on the land tomorrow. Is this the smartest tactic? Well, probably not. But we're so optimistic that we will accomplish what we set out to do, that we're willing to take the chance.

As to the timing of the rest of this, we are waiting for Jeff to come up with an estimate of how much we will be expecting to pay for the house. Oh yes, we have grand ideas....we want a floating staircase and upgrades to appliances and kitchen cabinets and bathroom vanities. Can we do all this? Not sure yet. In fact, Jeff thought we were going to require major modifications to the model he's designed. But, in fact, we are happy with the layout. The only issue we have had with the existing layout is we feel that the living room is rather narrow. Not much to be done about that, but except for a few small modifications, I think we're happy with the model as designed. Jeff and his staff have done a bang up job at designing this home, and we're just thrilled to be a part of its "coming out." Hopefully this will be the first of many U-C3's in the city.

1 comment:

  1. congratulations! I'm so glad someone (you!) is willing to be a prefab pioneer. thanks, on behalf of the less-bravehearted, for doing this! (and i think this might count as one of the criteria required for sainthood)

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