159 E Church St

Coal City, IL 60416

$247,000D

5 bd · 2.0 ba · 2,080 sqft · Built 1900 · SingleFamily · Active · 109 DOM

Cashflow @ list (25.0% down · 7.5%)

• Estimated rent: $1,917/mo
• Mortgage (P&I): −$1,295
• Tax + insurance: −$305
• HOA: −$0
• Vac / Maint / Mgmt: −$403
• Net cashflow: $-86/mo
• Annual: $-1,028/yr
• Cap rate: 5.88%
• Cash-on-cash: -1.49%
• DSCR: 0.93
• 1% rule: 0.78%
• Cash to close: $69,160

Investor read

• This is a 5-bed/2.0-bath single-family listed at $247k.
• At list price, monthly cash flow is $-86 ($-1k/yr) — negative.
• To cash-flow at today's rent, offer at most $232k (6.1% below list).
• To meet the 1% rule (rent ≥ 1% of price), the offer needs to be $192k (22.4% below list).
• It's been on market 109 days — a 9% lower offer ($225k) is reasonable based on typical stale-listing flexibility.
• Recommended offer: $192k (22.4% below list) — sets the bar for 1% rule.
• Local home prices are declining (-3.0%/yr); year-one equity from $2k of loan paydown is wiped out by about $7k of value loss. Plan a longer hold.
• Location reads 76/100 on livability (#190 in IL, #3,602 nationally) — a middle-class / working-renter tenant base. Strengths: crime A+, housing A+, health & safety A+; Watch: amenities F, commute F.
• Coal City CUSD 1 (town): math 46% / reading 50% proficiency, ranked #65 of 620 in IL (top 10%) — families likely to look elsewhere, expect single-tenant / working-renter base with shorter leases.
• Zoned schools: Coal City Early Childhood Center (413 students, 0% FRL); Coal City Middle School (math 50% / reading 55%, grade C+, #40 of 665 statewide, top 6%, 494 students, 0% FRL); Coal City High School (math 32% / reading 32%, grade F, #157 of 693 statewide, top 25%, 631 students, 0% FRL) — zoned schools average 0% FRL vs 23% district-wide (23 pts lower); this property's tenant base skews higher-income than the district average.
• Watch-outs: built in 1900 — expect roof / HVAC / electrical / plumbing capex.
• Market conditions: 41 active listings in the ZIP; 84 units permitted in Grundy County in 2024 (0 in 5+ unit buildings).
• Grundy County population projected to shrink 9% by 2050 — rents likely to lag national; underwrite the cash flow, not the appreciation.
• 7 sale attempts since 19y ago with the ask held roughly flat each time — persistent listings suggest the price (not the market) is what's stuck; bring a comps-based counter.
• Current owner paid $205k; 20% above their basis — modest negotiation headroom, anchor on the comps not their cost.
• Cap rate 5.9% vs local median 4.3% in Coal City — top-decile yield for the area; either an underpriced asset or a hidden risk that comps aren't pricing in. Stress-test before assuming the spread holds.

Questions for listing agent

• What do current leases actually rent for vs. the listed asking? Can we see a recent rent roll and the last 12 months of T-12 income?
• It's been on market 109 days. Have you received any prior offers? Is the seller open to a 22% concession, seller financing, or rate buy-down credit?
• Built in 1900 — when were the roof, HVAC, electrical panel, plumbing, and water heater last replaced?
• Why hasn't it sold? Are there any deal-killer items the seller is aware of (foundation, flood, title, zoning, code violations)?
• Is there a deadline driving the sale (1031 exchange, divorce, estate, relocation)? That informs how much negotiation room exists.
• The area grade is low — what's the realistic commute time and amenity access for the typical tenant pool here? Any planned neighborhood developments (good or bad) we should know about?
• What's the average days-on-market for RENTAL listings here right now (not sales)? A rising rental-DOM trend means longer vacancies and softer asking-rent achievability than the comps imply.
• What's the recent tenant-quality profile in this submarket — average credit score on applications, eviction rate, late-payment / NSF rate, and stable-employment percentage? A property-management company in the area should have these aggregated.