List Price: $969,000
Sale Price: $880,000
The Property: Originally offered by its builder at $2.1 million, this 12-room Glenview house sold at foreclosure on July 6th for $880,000—or 41.9 percent of what the builder had once hoped to get for it.

The house has an ornate stone façade with wrought iron balcony rails; its other three sides are wrapped in brick. Inside, says Debbie Perelman, the Coldwell Banker agent who sold the house for Ravenswood Bank, the high-end finishes include extravagant light fixtures, ample crown moldings, a wine cellar, and a sauna. There are five bedrooms, three fireplaces, and a large deck out back that overlooks a small water detention pond. 

In 2000, the builder of this house bought about two acres in northern Glenview. The purchase was registered to a trust, so his name does not appear in public records, and Perelman declined to identify him. She says that he planned to build five houses on the land, beginning with this house and one next door, the sales of which he would use to fund construction of the other three homes. He began construction on the first two in 2005, but he did not manage to sell either of them.

Ravenswood Bank took over all five lots in February 2009 and cut the prices on the houses to $969,000 for this one and $999,000 for its neighbor to the west. “The bank was much more realistic than the builder was,” Perelman says, “and it was able to be less emotional about the value [of the property].” Perelman would not identify the buyers of this house, and they are not yet identified in public records. The other home, listed by Martha May of Koenig & Strey GMAC, has a sale contract pending.

Price Point: While it’s common for a foreclosing bank to sell a property like this “as is,” Ravenswood Bank took a less-common route and finished certain details that the builder had not, including the sauna and a kitchen island. But then the bank took a further step: “The bank took care to walk around with the buyer [once the sale was approved in early May] and came up with a list of items that needed to be fixed,” says Perelman. “It made sure it was all [fixed] before the closing. Hats off to Ravenswood Bank.”

Listing Agent: Debbie Perelman of Coldwell Banker, 847-322-8369