There was a beautiful Orland Park, Illinois home for sale that had originally been listed at $379,900 in May of 2007.  I did not show it at that price and am not sure if the owners still resided in the home when it was first listed.  MLS photos showed it fully furnished.  It went through many price reductions and I believe when I first showed it, it was listed at $319,900 and was vacant.

This was a very grand looking home from the exterior and when you entered the home you were welcomed with gorgeous Brazilian cherry hardwood floors and an updated kitchen.  The house was a very spacious quad level that had a lot to offer. (Note:  the photo is clip-art I paid for and is not the actual listing, but reflects the nice brick home this once was).

My buyers did not jump on it and I showed them other homes, but they came back to this one.  I told them how short sales worked and they seemed to understand as they had read up on the process.  At the time, I thought the home was worth at least $300,000, if not more.  I believe the price was reduced again to $314,900 by the time we wrote an offer of $285,000, which I thought might be too low.

The listing agent told us we had the high offer so far so we waited.  He promised weekly updates that did not happen.  Although my buyers seemed to understand the process they still called me so I would call the agent and hear the same old thing.

After more than 2 months of this I again contacted the listing agent who said, "I was just going to call you!"  Yeah, right.  The mortgage holder set their selling price at $315,000 and if my buyers wanted the house they'd have to come up to that price.  They were not interested.

So the house sat.  Obviously, no one else thought the house was worth $315,000.  In fact, I showed it to another couple months later and was shocked to see how the once beautiful home had deteriorated.  As we pulled up the once lush, green lawn was brown, overgrown and riddled with weeds.

As we stepped inside the floor was dirty with leaves and other dirt (the listing office was not in the area).  But the worst thing was the smell that hit us as we walked in.  It was mildew, and it wasn't there when I showed it to my first buyer clients.

The buyers I was showing it to didn't even want to see it anymore but I told them I wanted to check the source of the mildew and since we were there they accompanied me.  We went into the sub-basement that was once used as a huge master bedroom by the prior owners.  The black mold was visible on the drywall and the smell was so bad we had to leave immediately.

My first buyers still haven't purchased anything and I just got a phone call from them.  They told me they drove past the house because they still liked it (but were hoping the bank would come down in price) and saw a sign on the door stating that it was now condemned. 

I checked the MLS and saw that the listing was canceled by the listing agent.  After 7 months at $214,900-$215,000, it was finally reduced to $299,000.  No one bought, although some tried.

If the mortgage holder had accepted my buyer's offer maybe the problem that caused the mold would have been caught or maybe something happened simply because no one lived there and something leaked that went undetected.

Personally, I feel it's probably a good thing my buyers did not get the home because something caused that amount of mold and maybe it just wasn't noticeable when we viewed it.  I have no idea if it was existing at that time.  I don't know if an inspector would have found it.

My buyers called me to see if I knew anything and when I told them about the mold they were shocked.  But I still think they had an interest.  I told them to forget about this house and continue looking for something else.

It is off the market and condemned.  The timing factor makes it seem like it has probably been foreclosed by now.  The longer it sits, the worse it will become.  I'm not sure how the village of Orland Park will handle a condemned house in foreclosure.

Orland Park is a popular Chicago suburb that was listed as one of the best cities to live in by Money Magazine.  This home is situated among other homes worth in the $300,000's.  The average price for single family Orland Park real estate in 2007 was $410,033.  I'm sure the neighbors aren't too happy having this condemned home that is now an eyesore outside, too, on their block.

Note:  Both photos are paid for clip-art and do not depict the property mentioned.