Interesting article in Sunday’s Chicago Tribune business section: Foreclosures fuel sales to first time homebuyers, may lead to real estate recovery. The dime store version is that foreclosures and distressed real estate in Chicago have created so much interest among buyers that bidding wars are not uncommon, and many Chicago properties are selling over list. At the very end of the article, however, is another interesting scenario. After being rebuffed in several attempts to buy a foreclosed townhome in the Chicago's Northwest suburbs, a buyer wound up purchasing a similar unit through a traditional sale…at a lower price. It’s a revealing commentary. Buyers have become so obsessed with finding the best deals on distressed real estate in Chicago that they’re missing out on the best deals on all real estate. A similar mindset is taking hold among commercial real estate brokers in Chicago. Every day we take calls from brokers who want to know if the seller of this or that listing is in distress. If the answer is no, the conversation often ends right there. Today, people brag about getting a great deal on a foreclosure the way they used to brag about getting in on the ground floor of a new condo development in River North. It’s the new cocktail party chatter. And that leaves us to wonder, are distressed sales and property foreclosures in Chicago the second coming of the herd mentality that created this mess?
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