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Home Buyer Report – Best Buys in St. Louis South City

by Karen Goodman on June 5, 2009

South City Best Buys:

Earlier this week I announced my new Best Buys post series. The new Best Buys reports will allow home buyers to narrow down the list of available homes to find the very best homes in a given price range/community. Best Buy homes are evaluated on condition, updates, rooms sizes, floor plan, extra features, yard, location and pricing. However, since each buyer has different needs, winning homes may not be the best possible option for every buyer. Buyers that are interested in assistance with finding the best homes that meet their personal criteria can contact me to discuss my buyer representation services.

This week’s report is for South City, a popular community with affordably priced small to moderate sized homes. The Best Buy winners were selected from homes priced between $140,000 – $160,000 and are located in the area bounded by Hwy 44 (north), Kingshighway (east), and the city limits (south/west).

My goal is to identify the top 3 homes in an area/price range for each Best Buy report. This week, one of my winners (5434 Itaska listed at $154,900) went under contract before I could get this report written. It was only on the market for 20 days when the contract was accepted. My other two winners are likely to join this one in the SOLD category soon.

Best Buy Winners:

5129 Eichelberger St, St. Louis, MO 63109:

$147,500

This 2 bedroom/1 bath brick home is perfect for a first time buyer. The home is move-in ready with plenty of updates. This house had the best kitchen that I saw while previewing homes for this report. The large eat-in kitchen has updated white cabinets, dishwasher, gas stove and pantry…items you don’t always find in a South City home!

The living room and dining room offer architectural “charm” that so many South City buyers say that they want.

Large bedrooms (14 x 11 and 11 x 11) and an updated bathroom finish off the interior space. Due to the age of the house (63 yrs old), this house was built with a poured concrete foundation instead of the stone foundation you find in so many South City homes. The result is a basement that is less likely to get damp, and I saw no signs of water in the basement when I toured the home a few days after a major rain. Additional updates include newer electric, framed walls in the basement to create a separate workshop (just add drywall), wood floors, newer windows, decorative fireplace, flat front yard, wooden backyard fence and a backyard shed.

One of my favorite features of this house is the backyard. It has a nice deck plus a large paver patio. It would be a great place to entertain or enjoy dinner outside.

The only negative I noticed was that it doesn’t have a garage and adding one would eliminate most of the backyard. Some buyers may also find that Eichelberger is a little busier than they prefer, but the street is not a major thoroughfare throughout South City.

2657 South 59th St, St. Louis, MO 63139:

$154,850

This house also has 2 bedrooms and 1 bath. Having been in hundreds of South City homes, this house immediately caught my eye because the floor plan is different than most that you find in the area. Instead of the typical layout with the dining room immediately behind the living room, this house has the living room and dining room side by side at the front of the house.

The house also has architectural “charm” with an atrium door in the living room that opens to the front yard plus custom wood floors (not the typical pattern with parallel rows of wood).

One of my favorite features of this house is the upstairs finished attic space. The attic has been converted to living space with exposed brick, angled ceilings and nooks that are perfect for a reading chair or a desk. This space also doubles as the second bedroom (there is only one bedroom on the first floor). Though there isn’t a bathroom on the second floor, the 1st floor bedroom is large enough to be used as a master bedroom (11 x 11).

Kitchens are really important to buyers. The galley style kitchen is a bit small, but is completely updated with maple cabinets and stainless appliances. It includes a smooth top electric stove, dishwasher and a hideaway kitchen table that folds into the wall when not in use.

Other features that I like in this house are the sunroom addition with a ceiling fan, updated bathroom, basement with newer electric and high ceilings, large fenced yard, 1 car garage, brick exterior with maintanence free enclosed aluminum soffits and fascia, and a newer architectural roof.

The only negatives on this house were that the steps to the upstairs were quite narrow and steep. Bulky furniture would never make it up the stairs. Some buyers may not like having the steep stairs for the second bedroom, along with having no bathroom on the same floor as that bedroom.

The Fine Print:

I am not the listing agent for any of the Best Buy winners. My current listings that meet the pricing/location criteria are excluded from the selection process. Only homes listed through the MLS were considered for my Best Buy report, and there may be other homes not listed as winners that some buyers would consider equal to or superior to the winners.

My evaluation of the homes was based on the information provided through the MLS and previews of the finalists. I am not a building inspector and I recommend that any offer to purchase includes a building inspection contingency that allows the buyer to thoroughly investigate the condition of the home. I also did a very limited pricing comparison to rule out homes that are substantially overpriced. A more comprehensive evaluation of pricing is important prior to making an offer. Selection as a Best Buy winner is not an endorsement that the listing price is a good deal.

Before advertising the homes on my website, I obtained permission from the listing agents. The brokerages representing the winners are: 5129 Eichelberger – St. Louis Realty (314-481-4371), 2657 S 59th – Nolting Real Estate and Development (636-391-9997).

If you are interested in seeing the full listings details including additional pictures, contact me and I will send you the complete listing by email with no obligation to use my buyer representation services. If you are not already working with a buyer’s agent and would like to discuss the Best Buy winners or any other homes, I would be happy to talk with you about the services I offer my clients.