2-Bedroom Bank Owned Unit in River North for Under $300,000: 600 N. Kingsbury
We’ve chattered about bank owned units in 600 N. Kingsbury in River North before.
But this bank owned 2-bedroom recently came on the market priced about 40% under the 2006 purchase price.
At 1200 square feet, it has carpet throughout but it appears, from the pictures, that the kitchen is intact.
It looks like it has maple cabinets, white appliances and granite counter tops in the kitchen.
The unit also has a balcony and garage parking is included.
Is this a deal at this price?
Benjamin Beaty at Baird & Warner has the listing. See the pictures here.
Unit #910: 2 bedrooms, 2 baths, 1200 square feet
- Sold in June 2006 for $440,000
- Lis pendens in May 2008
- Bank owned in June 2009
- Recently listed for $289,900 (includes the parking)
- Assessments of $602 a month (includes heat, a/c)
- Taxes of $4758
- Central Air
- Washer/Dryer in the unit
Deal at 275K but how would the construction of condos near by affect the value? I know usually, it goes up but this time around, it is merely flooding the market with oversupply.
Appears to be a decent price but the living room layout looks odd.
you can do it!!!!!!!
anyone remember this flip?
http://cribchatter.com/?p=7694
The flip is still available for the same price. Market time at nearly 90 days now.
My Goodness that place is way too bright!! I assume there is wood under that carpet? Seems like a cool place down by the river… a little bland though.
Good building…on Erie Park which will help it maintain appeal. Could use some sprucing. I would bite if the living room was more square. There are not many new condos nearby. This part of the neighborhood is pretty much finished. There is one apartment building being built nearby. Even if it is converted to condos down the road, it would not be competition as, after the American Invesco conversions, people would be wise to stay away from apartment to condo conversions.
How did this ever sell for $440k in 2006? And the owners actually made payments. Ouch.
I’m not a fan of the building but at least this unit isn’t right on the expressway like that stuck flipper. Location is kinda out there but you’re right next to a dog park, an awesome farmers market in the summertime, and the river (yay?), oh and some really really good restaurants. Has outdoor balcony space, AC, W/d, ok view and parking so yes it will sell.
I think it is a good price. If I could, I would buy it.
Toss down some nice pre-finished wood floors throughout, paint it, and move in and enjoy.
If you look around, there are couple residential structures going up north of the building.
Under $300,000 – ok. $440,000? Crazy. The building looks nice enough but the unit looks like a mediocre rental.
Assessments of $602 a month? No thanks.
“If you look around, there are couple residential structures going up north of the building.”
Just 1 building going up that I know of, and its not going to block much since that northeastern exposure is already full of at least two other highrises, your river and west views from this place are safe.
such a nice picture capturing the beautiful weather of chicago. could have been taken today. lulz
Some wood floors, window treatments and a few accent walls and I’d kinda like this place.
Are the assessments high considering the amenities? I assume there’s a doorman?
Is this a comp killer for the building? Does the fact that its a short sale factor into that? Curious.
Fairly certain this building has had multiple very large special assessments over the last few years. Id be worried that more were to come.
I have heard the build quality on this building is not good, which supports John’s comment. Assessments are high, even for an elevator building. Red flag.
The pool, gym and doorman make the assessments high, still way cheaper than a few blocks east in the gold coast…
Screw assessments for a pool and a gym there. Could spend $150/month at EBC a block away and get much more (plus the “prestige”).
Yes I know ChiGuy, that’s my arguement and why gyms and pools in condo buildings aren’t worth it in my opinion, I’m just saying that’s why they’re so much.
depends….I use the amenities in my building every day. I wouldn’t go to a separate location to swim/workout….everyone is different though. Some people actually like the scene of a health club
Sonnies – If there is one area of the city that will continue on the downword plunge it is River North. It is overbuilt and over priced! Nice choice of places to live dumbass!
Oh nice a Heitman imposter troll that can’t spell.
“Some people actually like the scene of a health club”
East Bank pool deck in the summer, for example…
I am better than Heitman, I am steve Heitman the man man!
You guys almost bought it! ha!
so lame.
the lower case s made it obvious.
RN is great!!! We’ll try to get in tomorrow if the snow, sleet, freezing rain, combination of all three, or rain doesn’t prevent it.
ChiGuy: “Screw assessments for a pool and a gym there.”
The assessments cover heat, a/c too. That’s one good thing about Chicago hi-rises, one is never cold in them. Toasty heat.
DanL: “The assessments cover heat, a/c too. That’s one good thing about Chicago hi-rises, one is never cold in them. Toasty heat.”
The mark-up in assessments for buildings with heat & A/C always seems (to me) $100+ more than I would pay for the utilities out of pocket. “Toasty heat” isn’t free.
WTF is with that assessment!? $602/month is way too high.
“WTF is with that assessment!? $602/month is way too high.”
That’s actually quite reasonable for a 2/2 of 1200 square feet in a full amenity high rise with a pool and doorman.
Those of you who bought in new construction high rises where the assessments are kept artificially low the first few years are in for a rude awakening as the years go by. It’s not unusual to see $800 to $1000 a month assessments in many highrises (for 2/2s.)
To take after my good friend Steve Heitman, I have a question for you real estate downers. What would you consider a fair price per sq ft to pay for a 3,000 sq ft home / row home in east Lincoln Park? Considering a 5% interest rate and taxes of 1.1% of the sales price.
What should people be paying per month to own in the luxurious eastern Lincoln Park? $300, $400, $500 per sq ft?
What should someone in Schaumburg pay per sq ft in comparison? What is the convenience worth to live so close to it all?
Why don’t you go F yourself and pick a new name?
Seriously I do believe Stevo returned two days ago and posted. His capitalization and his pronunciation was correct and it was classic Stevo.
You, my friend, aren’t classic Stevo.
You don’t comprehend that you don’t understand what he knows (the ability to selectively pick facts out of the press and reality to support his position).
You’re just a bore.
Stevo please come back. Even if only occasionally to prove us renters idiots. I would appreciate it! 😀
“That’s actually quite reasonable for a 2/2 of 1200 square feet in a full amenity high rise with a pool and doorman.”
My rent is $750/mo about to be renegotiated down.
Without a corporate discount the gym 2 blocks away is $125/mo, with my corporate discount its $75/mo (also any Joe Schmoe who wants to lie will realize their internal controls aren’t that good).
Thats a total of $825/mo and I can guarantee you my gym is much better than ANY building in Chicago. Yea seriously.
People who pay for the amenities in their building are getting way overcharged for their convenience of not walking to a nearby gym. Most times egregiously so.
If you truly are strapped for time and in the right income bracket then yea I agree it might make sense indeed. Unfortunately during the bubble I suspect too many people got lured in by this convenience and counted on future appreciation instead of monthly expenditures to bail them out of their purchasing decisions.
Caveat emptor indeed. To quote Clockwork Orange: “VIDDY WELL!!” and Merry Christmas!
Bob, with a rent of $750 per month, you are effectively spending .075% of your income on housing ($100,000 income level). You are either extraordinarily cheap, or simply do not realize what owing a classier place will do for your sex life 😉
we all could live in a box… muxt of us just choose not to!
Did you guys hear of the guy who made $100,000 per year and chose to rent a studio while putting all his savings in a 401K? He never had a girlfriend and lost 30% of his 401K in the past year 😉
Hopefully at age 62.5 he will have a huge nest egg and be able to run Gibson’s like a true Stallion.
Live for today and tomorrow!
Bob: if you get Clockwork Orange then read this:
http://tinyurl.com/yevptbr
“People who pay for the amenities in their building are getting way overcharged for their convenience of not walking to a nearby gym. Most times egregiously so.”
But people really seem not to mind and do pay for that convenience. Its no different than having a grocery store in the building ala the John Hancock or going to the dry cleaners in your building vs. down the street.
Its a lifestyle choice. More convenient to get to work. And hopefully nice views. Styling lobby. Its cheaper to live in 6 – 8 floor building. Its cheaper still to live in a 6 – 8 unit condo. But its a totally different feel than living in Trump, Hancock, Elysian, etc.
I believe I looked at a property there a year ago, and their was a big special assessment coming. Is this still the case, and is this something that the bank does not have to disclose?
I`m not so sure living in a 6-8 unit condo is cheaper. Less units to split common costs & a vacancy or two could significantly increase your assessments.
$750 X 12 = $9,000
$9,000/$100,000 = .09 = 9%
Guys who know their math are sexy.
From my personal experience,
If you are in a 2-flat, you don’t usually care about assessments since you hopefully own the other unit and are renting it out.
If you are in a 3 unit condo, and one guy bails, it really hurts as you are down 33% on the assessments.
If you are in a 6 – 8 unit condo, then you are down 15%ish which is a lot easier to swallow.
Once you get to a large building you start getting much larger common assessments. Garage broke. City codes. Elevator building. Doorman salaries.
Show me in general bigger buildings and I think you will overall have bigger assessments.
I DO think there is a turning point though on the building size. I know of large condos in river north that are 400+ units. The assessments on those buildings seem lower than the ones with 200 units for the reason that you are saying. More units to spread the assessments over.
Steve: Who lost 30% of their 401k in the last year? I’m way up. The S&P 500 is up 20% on the year. If you were dollar cost averaging every month of 2009, you are WAY ahead (probably up like 30% to 40%). All the while, real estate is still declining.
It all depends on what your 401k is invested in- but I’m back to where I was before the 2008 crash (but that’s due to some commodities investments.)
The best investment of the last 10 years has been the metals. Gold returned 15% a year from 2000 to 2009. But all the while, everyone is obsessing over housing (which will return relatively nothing over the next decade- but you do need a place to live.)
Oh Sabrina – How is the dollar cost averaging you did when the dow was at 14,500? How about the Naz at 5,500? And gold? Gold is headed back to $800 range in the next year.
Stevo there has been a 30bps spike on mortgage rates. I know math isnt your strong point but that translates into an extra hundred bucks a month on a 400k mortgage. I wonder what impact that will have on RE valuations??
Interesting you should bring up the Nasdaq Steve- which was the last bubble to burst before housing. What’s it at now? Yes- barely 50% of its 2000 high.
Yet you advocate buying housing which will meet the same fate (once we hit the bottom, which hasn’t happened in the Chicago market yet.) Housing will be dead for decades (as an investment) just like it was after the Great Depression. There’s no mystery as to what is going to happen to the housing market. It’s just taking people years to figure it out (to their detriment.)
It’s the same story after every bubble bursts.
Sabrina,
How in your opinion, will we know that housing has hit bottom?
So you are saying my $1,000,000 rowhome will be worth $500,000 in a couple of years? I guess any old guy can then live in Lincoln Park and send their kids to the best schools in the state. I always thought my neighbors were too snobby. It will be great when any regular Joe can be my neighbor.
Sabrina – So you are talking bubbles and fail to realize that a 15% yoy return for 10 years in gold is not a bubble? Are not making gold anymore? Are the Aisians are buying it all? Is it inflation?
Honestly, what kind of idiot are you talking about the real estate run up as being a bubble and the gold run up just good investing?
Everything has its ups and downs. The key is to get in at the bottom and get out at the top.
I can’t believe you have a blog that people actually read. Then again, look at the people who follow you (HD, Sonnies, G, Bob). Oh boy!
Guess where the best market to invest in is right now if you have cash? Real estate. I snuck back into my 401k this year and its up 55% – no longer a good value to put $30k in so I look to real estate. for every distressed seller there’s a smart buyer. Especially first time buyers. check out this article – http://tinyurl.com/yhkjn5l.
first time buyer article: http://union03g.wordpress.com/2009/12/25/the-8000-gamble/
“So you are talking bubbles and fail to realize that a 15% yoy return for 10 years in gold is not a bubble? Are not making gold anymore? Are the Aisians are buying it all? Is it inflation?”
Gold is in a bull market. It is no different than stocks from 1982 to 2000 (until the Nasdaq went crazy and everyone jumped in- and then that bull became a bubble.)
Is everyone you know in gold Steve? I don’t know anyone in it. In fact, over the holidays, the only stories I heard from friends and relatives was how they were all selling their gold jewelry to make money. That’s not a bubble, Steve.
I have no doubt the bull run in gold will turn into a bubble (eventually.) But not yet.
I have no idea, Steve, if your rowhouse will lose 50% of its value. I’m sure those people who bought in South Beach in Miami and even in Beverly Hills (where values have declines sharply) didn’t think they could see 15% to 25% declines. LP didn’t see as big of a run-up as other parts of the city. I would expect the fringe areas to see bigger declines.
As it is right now- people are paying $245,000 for a 1-bedroom in Ukranian Village or Bucktown or Andersonville or Lincoln Square or Lakeview or Lincoln Park (etc. etc.) It used to be you paid a premium to live in the “better” neighborhoods. The bubble changed all that (similarly with the million dollar house as well.)
“Sabrina,
How in your opinion, will we know that housing has hit bottom?”
It’s impossible to call the actual bottom (of any bust.)
But we’ll likely be seeing these things:
1. It will be more expensive to rent than to own the same property.
2. People will ask you, “why would you EVER buy real estate?”
3. There will be no more flippers.
4. Price to income ratios will be “normal” again (in Chicago- that’s about 2 to 3 times salary. So if you make $50,000 you’re buying a $100,000 to $150,000 home.)
5. Eventually- “normal” sales will make up the bulk of the market. As it is- about 40% of sales are in some kind of distress.
There will be other signals as well. We are starting to see some of these criteria in other cities (especially the part about it being cheaper to own than rent.) Heck, if you’re buying a 3 bedroom house in Phoenix for $75,000- it’s probably cheaper to buy it. That’s why sales are recovering in some of those markets. But there are still too many investors involved.
Turn of Fox news Sabrina and every commercial is about buying gold. Gold peaked at $1,200 per ounce and will now fall as the dollar rallies.
Real estate bottoms are not identified before they happen. Income levels in 2011 could be 20% higher based on inflation. That will make today’s housing prices a bargain. You have a lot to learn with your gold theory! Gold has tripled in 10 years and you identify this as a “bull market” and not a bubble?
You are funny!
“1. It will be more expensive to rent than to own the same property.
2. People will ask you, “why would you EVER buy real estate?”
3. There will be no more flippers.
4. Price to income ratios will be “normal” again (in Chicago- that’s about 2 to 3 times salary. So if you make $50,000 you’re buying a $100,000 to $150,000 home.”
When was the last time it was cheaper to own than to rent?
And when was the income ratio normal? Also it seem that we have extraordinarily low interest rate right now, so how does this rough income to mortgage ratio fact or that in
“Also it seem that we have extraordinarily low interest rate right now”
No we did. Those are gone now. Yes rates are still lower than normal but two weeks ago you could get a 30yr fixed as low as 4.375% with less than a point down. Nowadays thats already up to 4.75%.
Those rates are never coming back. Economists are forecasting rates of up to 6% by the end of 2010. Wonder what impact that will have on real estate valuations?
*1. It will be more expensive to rent than to own the same property.*
?When was the last time it was cheaper to own than to rent?
– Try like most of the 70’s, the 80’s and the 90’s.
Look at the 90’s selling prices for a lot of these CC properties and then figure that a rent equivalent has stayed roughly the same.
2. People will ask you, “why would you EVER buy real estate?”
– I don’t know if sentiment will ever turn that much, people will always buy and sell homes where 65% of the population owns, but sentiment will change to recognize that home ownership isn’t an investment it’s a place to live.
3. There will be no more flippers.
– We’ll always have flippers who add value to a property; but flippers who flip for the sake of flipping? Those will disappear.
4. Price to income ratios will be “normal” again (in Chicago- that’s about 2 to 3 times salary. So if you make $50,000 you’re buying a $100,000 to $150,000 home.)
– America in general is currently undergoing an extensive re-education of what home values should be. The days of the $417k mortgage being something every middle to upper middle class family has is over. Even for those professionals with household incomes over $100k, the prospects of a $300k mortgage will be daunting whereas today a $300k mortgage plus taxes and insurance (even with low interest rates) is considered commonplace, even among blue collar workers in the exurbs.
5. Eventually- “normal” sales will make up the bulk of the market. As it is- about 40% of sales are in some kind of distress.
– we’re a long way from normal sales. The sheer number of homes underwater will pretty much ensure that distressed sales remain a significant percentage of sales.
“1. It will be more expensive to rent than to own the same property.*
?When was the last time it was cheaper to own than to rent?
– Try like most of the 70’s, the 80’s and the 90’s.”
That’s right. About 12 years ago you could easily buy for less than rents in most parts of Chicago (even LP.)
“2. People will ask you, “why would you EVER buy real estate?”
– I don’t know if sentiment will ever turn that much, people will always buy and sell homes where 65% of the population owns, but sentiment will change to recognize that home ownership isn’t an investment it’s a place to live.”
In the 1990s, when you got your first job in your 20s, no one ever asked you if you were buying a condo. I lived in several major cities across the country. No one cared if a 24 or 25 year old owned a condo and to do so was pretty absurd (given that we were all marrying/moving for jobs/going back to school etc.) It was only in the last decade that that has changed. And STILL parents are askign their 25 year olds- “why don’t you buy something?”
The sentiment will change by the time we hit the bottom. We didn’t see this with the NASDAQ until at least 5 years after the bust though- when it was becoming more and more obvious that it wasn’t “coming back”. Now, NO ONE talks about investing in NASDAQ stocks (for the most part) or even stocks in general. They’ve been burned too many times.
Most people haven’t been burned enough in housing (but they will be.) Heck, I’ve been talking to people recently who truly believe that housing will be “back” this spring and that price increases will return to what we saw 5 years ago. (That somehow going up 10% to 15% a year is “normal” in the Chicago housing market.)
It’s going to take a long, long time for housing sentiment to change. I predict at least another 2 years before people finally realize that owning a home is NOT an investment and before 20-somethings realize that buying a condo will only result in monetary loss and renting is better for their situation.
“3. There will be no more flippers.
– We’ll always have flippers who add value to a property; but flippers who flip for the sake of flipping? Those will disappear.”
There have always been renovators- those people who buy an older property, fix it up, and sell it for a profit. I have no problem with those types of investors. But buyers who buy new construction only to turn and sell it for a profit a year or two later without putting a dime into the property? Those will have to be gone for good.
And yet- we still see them. There are still people trying to flip in the Legacy, 757 N. Orleans, The Silver and other new construction buildings.
Oh- we also don’t yet know what will happen when the credit to buy a home is truly tightened. Yes- mortgage rates will rise. And eventually- the FHA cannot finance every single purchase at the conforming loan limit.
When private capital starts financing again (as they are doing at the high end) they will require 10% to 20% down. This will depress housing values for years as buyers will have to literally save money (gasp!) in order to buy a house. This is what happened after the Great Depression when the 20% down requirement was put into place.
The easy credit fueled the housing bubble. Without it- prices aren’t going anywhere for a long, long time.
Everyone needs somewhere to live. Just don’t think of it as investment. It’s somewhere to enjoy your life. That’s it.
“And STILL parents are askign their 25 year olds- “why don’t you buy something?””
I’m a lil older but my parents ask the same thing. Especially with regard to the tax credit. They’re financially savvy (enough) in most other areas, but I think their viewpoint is skewed by their generation being unusually lucky when it comes to bubbles and living beyond one’s means. The boomers benefited from so many bubbles its insane. Most of all which was the credit bubble of 1980-2007.
Some boomers benefited and some just squandered it all away. For those boomers like my uncle who bought a home in the silicon valley in the 1970’s for $25,000 and at the top of the boom it was worth a mil, and even today with an addition (like every home in the ‘hood) it’s probably still in the $600’s; some also benefited from the 17% interest rates of the early 80’s by tying up cash in CD’s for years and years; CD laddering worked quite well for them. I personally know some boomers who cashed out of the market a few years before the crash (early retirement) and are (presumably) still living off the interest of long term CDs. And even the Bull markets of the 80’s and 90’s benefited them nicely.
OTOH I also personally know boomers that literally squandered it all, every penny of it. Wasted it on cars, vacations, homes, second homes, tuition, dinners at TGIF’s, everything you can imagine. Today they’re saddled with tens of thousands in credit card debt, a large mortgage with a low interest rate and nothing to show for their debt.
In the last six months for various reasons I will not divulge here, I’ve started doing bankruptcies for suburban households that make well in excess of $100k per year for basically most of this decade. it’s amazing to see these households, it’s the same story every time: large house in the suburbs or exurbs, $100k plus a year HH income for nearly a decade, husband primary wage earner, 2 or 3 high school and post-college aged children all living at home; 4 or more cars; a nice vacation every year; a $250k or $300k mortgage on a house that’s underwater; tens of thousands of dollars in credit card debt from every CC company imaginable; zero savings and zero assets. Most of these debtors have had income reductions of 25% to 40% due to the recession and the entire debt servicing scheme has fallen apart. I call it how to earn a million dollars and squander it all.
“The boomers benefited from so many bubbles its insane. Most of all which was the credit bubble of 1980-2007.”
I agree Homedelete. It depends on what the baby boomers did with their opportunities. I, too, know several that are on easy street. Purchased houses in the 1970s. Put money into stocks over the years (good quality names.) They now own the house outright and even with the stock market crashes of the last 10 years, still have plenty of investment money to live off of.
But there are others who overleveraged like everyone else. These are the ones who you read about in the mainstream press as “having to work for forever” or “never able to retire” even though they’re 70.
They SHOULD be on easy street. But it was poor planning.
By the way- I don’t know how many of the baby boomers will be able to retire (especially the younger ones.) I personally know of several with no more than $100,000 in a 401k and they’re in their 60s. And the house is no longer going to pay for 30 years of retirement.
Bob and Sabrina,
Interest rates for much of the 70’s 80’s and 90’s was above 10%. I lived in Chicago in the early 90’s and I don’t remember renting being the same price as owning. So I’m not so sure that is the bubble ending.
I agree with you that back the day twenty somethings were not even thinking about buying. And there were not a million flippers out there. Also very little new residential construction.
There was a downtown condo boom in Chicago in the 1970s that went bust (and homeowners were underwater in those buildings for 15-20 years.) There really wasn’t much new construction built during the bust years (for obvious reasons) as there just was no demand for condos.
If this bust is like other Chicago busts, it will be many, many years before there are new high rises built.
Rates weren’t above 10% until much later in the 1970s but, you are correct, they stayed above 10% until 1991.
Assessments of $600+? OUCH. First question would be “what aren’t you telling me here?”.
Anyone who thinks Chicago is WAY oversupplied in housing – I invite them to do the math.
1. How many new condos/apartments have been built over the past five years and how many will be built in the next five years? (Think – cost to construct in an inflationary environment with helicopter ben at the helm) Add those two together.
a: in the tens of thousands
2. How big is the Chicago MSA?
a: In the millions
3. How many homes in the Chicago MSA become woefully obsolete and/or torn down each year?
a: No one keeps records but my guess is quite a few
Now, how does your supply/demand curve look? Consider the fact that the U.S. could be up to 500MM people by 2050. How many people are we adding per year? How many young people want to live in cities? How many empty nesters want to live in cities. Take yet another look at your supply/demand curve.
If you look around, everything is being de-monetized due to advances in technology. Everything that is, except real estate, b/c real estate cannot be destroyed by technology – i.e. disrupted into bits and bytes.
I love the negative sentiment on this site – keep up the good work people and spread it around!!!!
Dear Howard,
Buy land: they’re not making any more of it!
Sincerely,
Homedelete
p.s. real estate has no where to go but up from here! Go out and gorge and overleverage yourself on real esate!
hd – love the negativity. I guess you are on the anti-buffett investment scheme: Be fearful when others are fearful! What does feel like to be apart of the herd?
Nobody in the ‘herd’ saw this whole mess coming in the first place. I don’t really care what anyone else thinks, to be quite honest. Whether I’m with the herd or against it really doesn’t matter to me although I understand that the trend is your friend and the only trend I’ve seen in real estate since 2007 is down.
“Howard roark on December 28th, 2009 at 3:52 pm
hd – love the negativity. I guess you are on the anti-buffett investment scheme: Be fearful when others are fearful! What does feel like to be apart of the herd?”
If you buy this place, in 10 years you would be sitting very pretty.
Unless in 10 years every 2/2 in the area also sells for $300,000.
Howard, why waste time here when you should be out there snapping up deals? Believe me, we’ve been hearing about your Siren’s song for years now. Funny thing is, all those who have pursued it in the past seem to disappear. Please don’t let it happen to you. Just have your crew strap you to the mast and fill their ears with wax so you can return next year and we can laugh.
“the U.S. could be up to 500MM people by 2050.”
I know Howie such negatoids! I am no negatoid I am optimistic that a condo I buy in 2010 I will indeed be able to sell for a profit forty years hence. Afterall its my belief that anyone who buys a place with a time horizon of less than this is just a transient.
People better start buying now or they will be priced out forever. Remember the younger crowd wants to live in the city and they don’t need good paying jobs to support their lifestyle their boomer parents and ample access to consumer credit will chip in and help out.
“Everything that is, except real estate, b/c real estate cannot be destroyed by technology – i.e. disrupted into bits and bytes.”
I’ve always had this nagging feeling that I should’ve went into residential home construction, Howie. Or perhaps being a maid or short order cook?
Howie,
Speaking of supply/demand curves I was wondering if you could chip in a few thoughts regarding your own as it relates to real estate valuations…
1) What happens to mortgage interest rates when the Treasury stops buying agency MBS securities on Thursday?
2) What happens to mortgage interest rates when the Federal Reserve stops buying MBS securities by 3/31/10?
3) What happens to demand for housing when the tax credit expires on 4/30/10? What impact do you suspect this discontinuation would have on the equilibrium price of housing as it compares with today?
What impact would the first three questions have on the mean price of housing as well? Can you chip in some thoughts for us Howie?
One final question–Howie are you a fan of hockey?
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_pMscxxELHEg/SzlHENw2q2I/AAAAAAAAHIA/JYD3JhLbgW4/s1600/FannieMaeDelinquencyOct.jpg
First, in the interest of full disclosure, I’m the co-list agent on this one. I’m writing to state some facts (and a little opinion)as it seems like there is a lot of false information and inferences being posted here.
The assessments are indeed about $600/month. Some interpret it as pricey, but I encourage one to compare this unit’s assessments to other comparable units. Assessments also include, heat,a/c, basic cable, gym, pool, doorman, insurance on the unit (not belongings/incidents though)
Special assessments and such, one person stated and inferred that this building having had a special assessment means that its automatically a bad investment- a special assessment was assessed and all major issues resolved, a special assessment often means that a major issue has been handled and there is a high probability there won’t be others in the near future. Note that normal assessments have actually gone down in the last year in this building.
There was a comment about unpaid special assessments and taxes… If one does their homework, they will find that the bank will pay these as it’s needed (for the most part) to get clear title and ensure a buyer can close. However, note that if a foreclosed unit is late on normal asssessments, the association can only make the bank pay for 3 months and the new buyer pay for 6 months of back assessments. The association eats the rest of the loss.
Foreclosures are the way to go. Do your own homework instead of listening to alot of posters here. Use a professional to do the homework for you. A smart person will realize that much of the “advice” given by many posters is bad or just outright ignorant. Reading the posts here only reinforce the idea that a buyer should use a professional- yes I am saying for one to use a realtor. Remember, it can be more expensive trying to be cheap.
Fannie Mae: Delinquencies Increase Sharply in October
http://www.calculatedriskblog.com/2009/12/fannie-mae-delinquencies-increase.html
“Fannie Mae reported today that the rate of serious delinquencies – at least 90 days behind – for conventional loans in its single-family guarantee business increased to 4.98% in October, up from 4.72% in September – and up from 1.89% in October 2008.
A measure of credit performance and indicator of future defaults for the single-family … credit books. We include single-family loans that are three months or more past due or in the foreclosure process.”
And Obongo and Turbotax Geitner just gave Fannie and Freddie and explicit unlimited guarantee of taxpayer monies, snuck into a press relesase on X-mas eve. Straight out of the pockets of tax paying middle class and into the coffers of the Wall Street elite.
But hey its Christmas who cares about a massive health bill or guaranteeing unlimited losses when a new American Idol is on?
Oh Bob… the economy is just a little more complex than your limited brain can digest. Just go buy some gold with Glenn Beck and Sabrina and you should be fine. Because remember, housing will decline for the next 20 years and gold should head higher by 15% per year for at least the next 20 years.
It is that simple!
“Foreclosures are the way to go. ”
For once I agree with a realtor on here. And also Jeff might I note that by merely being the listing agent and commenting on this foreclosed property you have demonstrated more effort than I have ever seen than the combined agents of hundreds of other foreclosed properties.
Foreclosures ARE the way to go. Want a 550k house in an area but can’t afford it? Get a foreclosure for 400k. But like you said don’t be cheap and try to save a nickel on the inspection only to pay dollars later. With foreclosures you need home inspectors like Gadget himself. I’m definitely going to get a foreclosure when it comes time to buy. The extra hassle of more paperwork and potential issues is more than outweighed by the huge savings.
Per my last post, I am the co-listing agent on this one.
The offers are starting to trickle in. It’s now or never…
We’ve just confirmed that the bank has paid the special assessment and will pay for back due assessments from when the bank took possession (except maybe for 6 months per the 765 ILCS 605 act).
If you’d like to schedule a showing find my co-lister or I. A pre-approval/qualification letter will need to be presented before showing.
I saw this unit last week, its blows badly. However, the door guy did say there were a lot of hot chicks in the building. Hot chicks but shitty unit, where do your priorities sit?