Photo Credit: annerossleyrealestate.com

Builders are moving quickly into the Lakewood Balmoral section of Edgewater, lured by affordable prices for older homes in need of repairs and updates. Of the eight houses that have recently been bought by builders there, one is already on the market and four more should be available this spring. Prices of these homes range from $1.3 million to $1.85 million.

According to a Crain’s Business article, these builders are being pushed north because the good home deals are few and far between south of Foster Ave. Here they are finding reasonable prices in a neighborhood that is close to public transportation, lakefront beaches, restaurants and shopping.

Unlike neighborhoods such as Lakeview, which were plagued by tear-downs and new construction, Lakewood Balmoral rehabbed homes are keeping their original charm while getting a fresh make-over. There have only been two newly constructed homes in the neighborhood this century (one was due to a collapse during its rehab).

However, the trend of builder-bought rehabbed homes in the area is exceeding the $1.5 million mark. This is causing worry for some locals such as third-generation area resident and Baird & Warner agent Pamela Ball.

Ball told Crain’s “These builders are a little exuberant. At $1.2 million, $1.3 million, it works, but they’re trying to push our limit up to $1.5 million or more. Some of them are going to get burned.”

The Lakewood Balmoral area was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on Feb. 12, 1999. The neighborhood covers 63 acres with its east border being Magnolia Avenue to the east, Wayne Avenue to the west, Foster Avenue to the south, and Bryn Mawr Avenue to the north.