Ed Ryan's territory is DuPage County. When the salesman happenedto drive past the site of Carol Stream's Concord Pointe subdivision ayear ago, he returned later with his fiancee, Kim Bevans.
Apparently that's a common response for first-time buyers inthe area. The Orange Report market survey places the 325-unit condodevelopment among the top-selling new subdivisions in northernDuPage, along with the Bartlett subdivisions Fairfax Crossings, AmberGrove and Westridge. At least 140 units have been sold.
Ryan and Bevans had been looking for a couple of months. Therewere no models yet, but they looked at the plans and the price wasright. Ryan said they looked at some other places, but went back andbought their condominium pretty quickly. "Location and price areprobably the two big reasons we bought," he said.
They bought the Eaton plan, the most expensive of the five plansavailable. They paid a base price of $125,000 and put in about$10,000 worth of upgrades. (The current base price is $134,000.)
The Eaton is a 2-story model available with 3 bedrooms or 2bedrooms and a loft. Ryan and Bevans chose the loft model. "Weliked the loft and the big master bedroom with volume ceilings," Ryansaid. "Everything is very open. We picked an end unit because wewanted privacy and because of the windows. It has beautifulwindows."
Ryan is from Oak Lawn and Bevans from the Wrigleyville area ofChicago. "This is kind of in the middle," he said. The couple isgetting married in September and Ryan moved into the condo June 28,the closing date.
Upgrades they put in include parquet flooring, a wood banisterinstead of a half-wall, tiled floors in the bathrooms, better qualityappliances and a better grade carpeting and padding. Sockets werealso installed for ceiling fans, but Ryan said so far he hasinstalled only one.
Scott and Joelle Pohl live across the street. They were readyto give a down payment at another development next door but the"builders were not ready to work with us," Scott Pohl said. ThePohls also bought their unit before the models were up.
"We met with the service representative and really liked theBrookfield. It had the most living space in it and is a single levelon the second floor," Scott said.
The Brookfield is a 2-bedroom, 2-bath unit with a living roomand dining room with volume ceilings. There is a balcony off thekitchen and a master bedroom suite with volume ceilings and a walk-incloset. The master bath has his and hers vanities. Scott Pohl likesthe dramatic entrance.
"We bought it at $116,400," he said, "and have made moneyalready." That's if they sell the house at its current $126,000 baseprice.
"Because we are waiting until September to move in, they gave us$3,500 in upgrades free," said Scott. The Pohls will celebrate theirfirst anniversary in September.
The Pohls upgraded the carpeting and padding, cabinets,flooring, all the doors and added ceiling fans. "We just keptupgrading and deducted the $3,500 from it. We put it on themortgage," Scott said.
The couple met with an interior decorator from Concord Homes."She was very helpful. That was the last step," Scott said. "We didthat about the end of February. Now we have settled down to waiting.The whole process of approval and signing documents went verysmoothly," he said.
"When we got married we knew we wanted modern furniture. Webought stuff for the house. All the decorating is geared for thehouse," said Scott. "The time frame was really good for us. We havehad a year to buy and spread out purchases."
Scott and Christine Fitzgerald are also looking forward tomoving into their Brookfield unit in September. "We had been lookingfor a good five months before we actually bought," said ChristineFitzgerald. "We went up to Kenosha where my grandmother lives, butit was too far out.
"The more places we saw, the more we realized what we couldafford. Then we began to get pickier. My husband is a painter andhad been working on projects," said Christine.
The couple looked at Wildwood Glen across the street and saw thesign for Concord Pointe. "It had so many things we knew we wanted,we signed a contract that day," Christine said.
The Fitzgeralds liked the price of the Brookfield and got induring pre-construction pricing. They were able to see the unit inthe drywall stage. "Even then we knew it was what we wanted,"Christine said.
The major concern of the Fitzgeralds was a down payment."They've been working with us. We have added to the down payment aswe go along," said Christine, who works for Draper and Kramer.
"I have heard a lot of horror stories in my business but thishas been a really positive experience. The builder has been reallyprofessional. They keep in touch."
The Fitzgeralds' base price was $119,000. They added a thirdbedroom or den and a fireplace. With upgrades, the final price wasabout $135,000 for about 1,400 square feet.
Besides the Eaton and the Brookfield, other models are: The Astor, a one-level unit with 2 bedrooms or 1 bedroom withlibrary; 1 bath; living room with volume ceiling; dining room andpatio off the kitchen, and master bedroom with walk-in closet. Thecurrent base price is $108,000. The Camden, with 2 bedrooms and 2 1/2 baths; living room withvolume ceiling; kitchen with breakfast bar, pantry and separatebreakfast room; patio off dining room; master bedroom suite withvolume ceiling, walk-in closet, master bath. Optional third bedroom.The current base price is $126,000. The Dover: 3 bedrooms, 2 1/2 baths; living room and dining room;patio off living room; kitchen with breakfast bar and separatebreakfast area; master bedroom suite with volume ceilings and walk-incloset, and 1-car garage.
The most popular models are the Brookfield and the Eaton."There are a lot of first-time buyers, young professional couples andwe also get older people who are downsizing," sales associate CheriSpalo said. Concord Pointe, North Avenue west of Bloomingdale Road, CarolStream; Concord Homes, (708) 510-9660.
Joanne Kanter is a Chicago area free-lance writer. Hot buttons Price starting from $108,000 Near city via Interstate 355 Volume ceilings Dramatic entry Central air-conditioning Thermopane patio doors with screens Underground utilities Party walls designed for sound control
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