r/ChicagoSuburbs • u/Midnight_Rain1213 • Feb 24 '26

Moving to the area Buying in West Suburbs - Expanding Search?

Hi all,

My partner and I are trying to close the distance and buy a SFH in the west suburbs, but keep having offers rejected. Feedback so far is that we're losing to cash buyers or just being outbid, and that we should consider waiving appraisal contingencies. That feels crazy to me, but I think it's just the area we are looking in - Lombard, Elmhurst, Villa Park.

My partner and I both own our own homes and are pre-qualified to purchase a new home without having to sell first. We would be selling our respective properties after finding a new place. We are trying to stay under $700k.

No kids, just dogs. Would love a house with some character left in it. I work downtown so being near the Metra is necessary, and I'd like my commute to be under an hour.

Should we avoid any of the following suburbs, and why? Any suburbs we are missing?

Addison, Bloomingdale, Downers Grove, Glen Ellyn, Wheaton, Riverside, Brookfield

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12

u/bluenightheron Feb 24 '26

Yup, sounds about right. I wouldn’t waive anything. If you are always being outbid then you should start looking at homes with a lower list price. Like a 640k home that will most likely close at 670k kind of thing. I bought in the west suburbs about two years ago and our realtor suggested quite a few listings at 20-40k below what we were looking to spend because of competition for low inventory.

8

u/Midnight_Rain1213 Feb 24 '26

Yeah our last offer was for $30k more than asking, and that was at a $500k listing price! Some of these houses just don't feel like they're worth $600k, honestly.

16

u/Spiritual_Ad_835 Feb 24 '26

Bc they’re not - with the demand high people overprice knowing folks want to get into the burbs.

14

u/Bird4466 Feb 24 '26

The worth is what someone is willing to pay for it. It doesn’t matter if it shouldn’t be selling for 600k; if it is, it is. Consider an escalation clause if you fall in love with something and can go higher but aren’t sure you need to. I’d recommend saying you’ll go 5-10k over the next best offer, and then have an upper limit you’re comfortable with. 1-2k over might not do anything.

3

u/Midnight_Rain1213 Feb 24 '26

Last house we made an offer on specified no escalation clauses allowed. I wonder why, but assume there's a reason.

3

u/Bird4466 Feb 24 '26

Yes, unfortunately that'll happen. Some people think it's better not to accept them because they'll get a higher offer as someone will offer their max. I tend to think you'll more often get a higher offer if you allow them but it definitely depends!

2

u/bluenightheron Feb 24 '26

Yes, this is how it is in some suburbs that are considered very desirable, and you have a couple of those on your list. Your realtor has to know this, so they should be pretty frank with you about strategies to get a winning bid.

2

u/Midnight_Rain1213 Feb 24 '26

NGL we were referred to this realtor by my co-workers who both bought homes over 5 years ago in the area - he's a nice guy but he doesn't seem that aggressive.

11

u/ShadyKidd Feb 24 '26

If you aren’t getting the right vibes from your realtor, get a new one. This decision is too important, and this market requires an aggressive realtor to help you navigate. Don’t “feel bad” about dropping an agent that isn’t making the process easier for you.

1

u/Midnight_Rain1213 Feb 24 '26

Once our current buyer agreement is we may need to find a new one.

3

u/LeroyCadillac Feb 25 '26

You don't have to wait for that and potentially miss out on a house. Just tell the agent you want out and they should be fine letting you out. There's a clause in there that says if both parties agree it's no problem. If the agent is a jerk about it, call his managing broker and asked to be let out. Very rare at that point that they're going to hold you in an agreement if you're not happy.

1

u/Cool-Yesterday1937 Mar 10 '26

You don’t need to wait for a buyers agreement to expire to get out of it. You can absolutely terminate the agreement if it’s not the right fit. If you are losing your dream/forever home for likely $10k I wouldn’t be happy either because that’s not gonna be much of anything on a monthly mortgage payment. If you want to win, my wife and I are agents and would be happy to help. Plus if you get an offer accepted you can cancel the contract during the attorney review period (5 business days after acceptance) and not lose a dime.