Summer is moving season

Summer is traditionally the time when parents like to move to a new home, if possible. Traditional wisdom indicates that it is best to move a child in between school years so they can start in a new classroom with everyone else in the fall.

It can be traumatizing to pull a child away from their teacher and classmates in the middle of the school year so many parents make sure they move during the summer. Some even try to move fairly early in the summer so their children can have time to get to know others in the neighborhood before classes start.

"We try to keep a healthy amount of immediate delivery homes available, especially at this time of year when people want to get settled before the start of school," said Anna Harmon, director of marketing and public relations for Shodeen Homes, based in Geneva.

Shodeen has homes that are available immediately or within 30 to 60 days at Elburn Station and Blackberry Creek in Elburn, at Reston Ponds and Heron Creek in Sycamore, at Heritage Hill Estates in Maple Park and at Mill Creek and Seventh Street Terrace townhouses in Geneva.

At Blackberry Creek, for instance, it has a five-bedroom, 3½-bath home with a full basement and a three-car garage available for $384,500, as well as a three-bedroom, two-bath ranch with a three-car garage for $344,987.

"We have also purchased some lots in Heritage Hill Estates in Maple Park to test the market there. By late July or early August we will have a four-bedroom, 2½-bath home available for $279,000. It is currently under roof and construction is proceeding," Harmon said.

Shodeen also has one townhouse at Seventh Street Terrace available. The three-bedroom, 2½-bath unit lists for $399,386.

In Mill Creek, Shodeen's signature community, it has nine or 10 single-family homes that will be complete by the end of the summer, ranging in price from $389,796 to $719,670. There are also two, three-bedroom, 2½-bath townhouses available in the mid to high $360,000s.

"While 60 to 70 percent of our buyers at Mill Creek are families," Harmon said, "we are also getting some empty-nesters who want to live close to their grandchildren. So they are moving here and becoming a part of this community. That is why we are looking at building more high-end ranch homes for those people who want to downsize and have no stairs, but still want a well-appointed home."

West Point Gardens, a 180-acre Elgin community being developed by West Point Builders of Hinsdale, currently has three homes available for immediate or summer occupancy.

"We typically keep one or two finished homes in inventory and usually more than that in the summer so that we can react to potential buyers who want to be into their new home before school starts in the fall," said Pat Curran, president.

"But we get immediate-occupancy buyers all year-round because someone sells their house quicker than they expected and suddenly need to find a home, or because their lease is up and they realize they can actually afford to stop renting and buy a home," he said.

Buyers in a hurry can choose from three homes at West Point Gardens. There is a Middlebury design, which features three bedrooms, 2½ baths, an island kitchen, a deluxe master bath and a front porch. It lists for $301,845.

There is a Princeton floor plan, which is located next to a park and features front porches on both the first and second levels. It has a private garden, hardwood floors on the first floor and an elevator, priced at $349,990.

Finally, there is a Clark model that will be available in 60 days. It features two bedrooms, 2½ baths, a loft and a full finished basement. It lists for $200,375.

David Weekley Homes, a national builder that entered the Chicago market last fall, has been buying single lots in established communities with great school districts, tearing down the existing homes and replacing them with customized homes in the $600,000 to $1.2 million price range, said Richard Bridges, division sales manager for DWH's Chicago division.

It has homes immediately available in Naperville, Elmhurst, Deerfield, Glen Ellyn, Northbrook and Wilmette. DWH also has some duplexes and townhouses available at one of its first communities in the area - Timber Grove in Naperville, Bridges said.

"We plan to keep our shelves pretty full of inventory homes because transferees, in particular, are familiar with the David Weekley name from other markets around the country and they trust us. In fact, we just had a physician coming from Maryland buy from us because he will be doing his residency in Chicago and is moving his family here," he said.

"We have another transferee who came to us through a broker who is comparing the homes we have built in Glen Ellyn, Elmhurst and Wheaton to decide which one fits them best," Bridges said.

The Timber Grove duplexes in Naperville have been popular with young parents who have decided to leave Chicago and get their children into the Naperville schools, as well as with buyers who sold their homes quickly and now need to move quickly, he added.

Another national builder, K. Hovnanian Homes, tends to have many immediate occupancy homes available by the end of each summer, simply because of its construction schedule, and that works out well for families wanting to buy a house and move for the start of school, said Ray Blankenship, area vice president.

In fact, during the month of June, K. Hovnanian is offering free closing costs on quick move-in homes in Plainfield, Island Lake, Mundelein, South Elgin and Manhattan.

Homes that are immediately available or will be finished by the end of the summer across the Chicago area range in price from $299,000 to $925,000.

"The majority of the homes we build are located in the suburbs and are single-family homes with four bedrooms, which means they are geared for families. But we do offer ranch plans at each community in order to grab any interested empty-nesters," he said.

Blankenship estimates the company sells one-third of its immediate-delivery homes to transferees moving into the area and the other two-thirds to local people who sold their previous home, some of whom sold more quickly than they expected and now need to relocate in a hurry.