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Living “where the action is” Downtown can be intoxicating. So, how do you give up all that energy without getting a hangover? Joe Workman and Jordan Cannon share the secret to their seamless transition from city life to the suburbs.
It’s time to pick your Milwaukee favorites for the year!
If only time would stand still. When their daughter was ready for school, the family felt the suburbs calling. “We both have family in Oak Creek and thought of Drexel Town Square right away,” Joe says. “It feels like a mini downtown to us, with a library, apartments and restaurants. It would be great if we could walk there from our new home.” The couple also wanted a move-in ready home with four to five bedrooms, a nice kitchen and a backyard.
Flexibility in a Tight Market
Sharpening your focus to a specific neighborhood or suburb can be helpful, but it comes at a cost. “You start narrowing your search and it may take a while to find a home, especially in a tight market,” says the couple’s broker, Jeremy Rynders, co-founder of Lifetime Realty. On top of that, their condo sold in a flash. The couple started touring homes, but nothing fit the bill. Up against a wall, Joe says they decided to rent an apartment where they wanted to land, in Oak Creek. “We wanted to wait for the right home and weren’t willing to settle for less.”
Rynders loved that decision. “Buyers can find their needle in a haystack if they are flexible, prepared and stay on top of the market. We set Joe and Jordan up on a filtered search. Anytime there was a new listing in the neighborhood they wanted, they were sent an alert.”
Joe and Jordan looked at several homes in Oak Creek.
Which do you think they chose?
Acting Fast
One Thursday last November started like any other until it wasn’t. “I noticed a promising new listing,” Jordan says. “When I read the description, I knew we had to act fast.” The home was at the end of a private cul-de-sac on a family-friendly block near a park and within walking distance of their new favorite restaurants and shops. There was a playroom in the basement and enough room for two home offices. That Sunday, at 4 p.m., they toured the house, “and it checked all of the boxes,” Jordan says. “The sellers were ready to accept one of three existing offers at 6.”
Rynders wasted no time. “I suggested they make an offer they were comfortable with. We even included a home inspection to be sure they weren’t jumping into anything that didn’t feel right. At 9, I got an email. ‘Congratulations,’ it said, ‘your offer is accepted.’”
In Jordan’s words, “The first 24 hours were like holy moly! We went to bed surprised and woke up the next morning in shock. But it could not have turned out any better.”
Answer: Oak Creek colonial two-story
