Flipper Alert: Flippers Trying to Make Big Bucks in 240 E. Illinois
The Fairbanks at Cityfront Plaza, at 240 E. Illinois in Streeterville, has been closing for the past few months.
Flips have started appearing in the building, but not as many as you might think for a building of that size. It has 31 stories.
Current stats:
- 12 units for sale
- 4 units for rent
The “loft” units on the lower floors (the big base of the building), closed many months ago and many of those have already been rented out. Those were floors 3 through 8.
The flippers, so far, seem to be trying for the big bucks.
Unit #1408: 2 bedrooms, 2 baths, 1293 square feet
- Closed in November 2007 for $550,000
- Currently listed for $639,900 plus $55k-65k for the parking
- Assessments of $576 a month
- Centrum Properties has the listing
Unit #1105: 2 bedrooms, 2 baths, 1473 square feet
- Sold in November 2007 for $618,000
- Currently listed for $759,000 plus parking extra ($55k to $65k)
- Assessments of $590 a month
- Baird & Warner has the listing
Unit #801: 2 bedrooms, 2.5 baths, 1595 square feet
- Sold in October 2007 for $628,000
- Currently listed for $799,000 (not sure if that includes the parking)
- Assessments of $715 a month
- Centrum Properties has the listing
Fairbanks at Cityfront Plaza [website]
Wasn’t Centrum the developer/developer’s agent? Perhaps, they were asked to resale some of the units for the early closers….very common these days.
Yes, Centrum is the developer. I thought the same thing- because these units definitely closed. It seems that the flippers are having the developer re-sell them.
It makes some sense as they still have a sales center etc.
wouldn’t that put them in some kind of conflict of interest with the present owners? That is, it is to the owners’ distinct advantage that the building get “sold out” as soon as possible. If Centrum sold a flipped unit at the expense of a developer’s unit, the “sold” rate stays low. Why wouldn’t this be a problem under realtors’ ethics rules (assuming Centrum are realtors as well as the developers)?
Kenworthey,
This is a fairly common practice over the last 2-3 years. The sales center agent will charge the owner a flat rate, such as 5K, instead of the typical 5%-6%. Yes, it allows the building to say it is sold out faster and the developers friends and family can buy up units, then have them sold for them without paying a big commission.
If I was an owner in that building, that would make me pretty mad… first, the “sold” rate preconstruction is inflated by sales to family and friends that were never “real” sales. Second, the “sold” rate stays low post-construction whenever the developer sells one of the faux-sold units instead of one of the developers own units.
Here is one that is really worth watching. The 1105 unit shown above, and listed at $759k just got significantly crossed by the listing of Unit 2405 at $729k in the same line in the same building. OUCH!!! I looked carefully at the two listings and it appears there are about an extra 15-20k in upgrades in 2405 also. Just look at the kitchens and you see the full granite backsplash in 2405, and the higher unit claims to have the custom wall units built into the den. If you add in about 5k per floor, which makes a big difference here on the river views, you would think 1105 should be about 80k lower than 2405 or another less nice way of putting it, the listing appears to be about $110k too high. Once again OUCH!!!!!
Mispricings as such are almost always the harbinger of big price drops.