3-Bedroom with In-Unit W/D Reduces $70,000 in The Eddystone: 421 W. Melrose
This 3-bedroom in The Eddystone at 421 W. Melrose in East Lakeview came on the market in August 2022.
Built in 1928, The Eddystone was originally meant to be two buildings but the stock market crash and the Great Depression interrupted the developer’s plans. Instead, they only built one building.
It has 2 units per floor for a total of 48 units. The building has a fitness room, sauna, bike storage, laundry room, on-site engineer, 24-hour door staff and the listing says a “newly constructed roof deck with grill area.” There’s no parking.
This unit has many of its vintage features including high ceilings, arched doorways, a foyer and gallery.
It has oak herringbone hardwood floors throughout and extensive crown, picture and baseboard moldings.
The listing says the kitchen and baths have been renovated.
The kitchen has custom white and wood cabinets, stainless steel appliances and quartz countertops.
It has a primary bedroom suite with a full wall of organized closets and a spa-like porcelain bath with rain and handheld shower attachments.
The listing says the unit has new windows.
It has rare in-unit washer/dryer, installed in the half bath, but no central air, window units only, and no parking. The listing says there is monthly parking available across the street.
The Eddystone is in the heart of East Lakeview near all the shops, restaurants, bus lines and the lake front. The listing says it is in the Nettelhorst school district.
Listed in August 2022 for $619,000, it has been reduced $70,000 to $549,000.
Is this a deal for 2100 square feet in this neighborhood?
Christopher Olson at @properties Christie’s has the listing. See the pictures and floor plan here.
Unit #5B: 3 bedrooms, 2.5 baths, 2100 square feet
- Sold in December 1988 for $205,000
- Sold in May 1994 for $234,000
- Sold in September 1997 for $260,000
- Sold in January 2000 for $367,000
- Sold in May 2014 for $515,000
- Originally listed in August 2022 for $619,000
- Reduced several times
- Currently listed at $549,000
- Assessments of $1595 a month (includes heat, electricity, gas, doorman, cable, exercise room, exterior maintenance, lawn care, scavenger, snow removal, Internet)
- Taxes of $8178
- No central air- window units
- Washer/dryer in the unit
- No parking but available to rent across the street
- Bedroom #1: 18×11
- Bedroom #2: 19×11
- Bedroom #3: 15×11
- Living room: 27×14
- Dining room: 17×11
- Kitchen: 13×10
- Foyer: 8×8
- Gallery: 13×7
- Laundry room: 3×4
Maybe it’s the photography, or maybe the lack of furniture, but could this unit look any more cramped? Every room appears short of space. Building also has no parking and high assessments considering the services you get (it didn’t used to have a doorman, maybe it does now – I remember a phone at the entrance where you’d get buzzed in by the resident, but that was in the 1980s).
There are some very lovely units in the Eddystone. I’d prefer a higher floor that gets more sun, perhaps with an unblocked west exposure. The in-unit W/D does get some points for this unit. Unusual in a vintage. Lack of parking is par for the course. Across the street? I assume at a 4+1.
$619 @3.25, with 20% down = ~$4650/mo (yes, I know 3.25 wasn’t available in Aug-22)
To match that at 6.25, but still using the $124k down, need to be around $504k.
That’s admittedly too low, but that’s driving this reduction.
Nice place, tho.
I see why the rooms look narrow – they are. Most are 11-feet wide. The LR is 14-feet wide but twice as long, which makes it look narrower than it is. I think it needs furnishings or it’s impossible to evaluate.
Again, though, you won’t get much light in a low-floor Eddystone unit. There’s a high rise to the east and another one across the street. Best bet is to get higher up and look west. I spent a lot of time in a second floor unit facing north and it was dark even in the afternoon.
I really like the layout. Kitchen is horrible – complete clash. The common bath really needs something to hide the W/D.
“I think it needs furnishings or it’s impossible to evaluate.”
Our house is the same age and LR is similar, your really need to break it up into 2 spaces – Reading/sitting/listening area by the windows – TV further in. The issue with making these spaces function look right is most furniture today is wider than back in the day. The 14′ isnt as bad to work with as there’s no FP/Built-ins protruding into the space.
You’re right – no FP. Just realized. Too bad. If you look at units at other buildings of this era, say 3800 LSD, the fireplaces and mantles are extraordinary. Not having one hurts this unit.
So little interest in the Eddystone, judging from the paucity of comments. Too bad. One of my favorite Lakeview buildings.
“You’re right – no FP. Just realized. Too bad. If you look at units at other buildings of this era, say 3800 LSD, the fireplaces and mantles are extraordinary. Not having one hurts this unit.”
I see it as a selling point. Who uses it? Especially wood burning? More space for a tv or other things in the living room without it.
“$619 @3.25, with 20% down = ~$4650/mo (yes, I know 3.25 wasn’t available in Aug-22) To match that at 6.25, but still using the $124k down, need to be around $504k.”
Why would you have to match it?
All of this wrong analysis of what happens when rates rise. We are a monthly payment nation. If you are thinking, “I will buy a house in 2023” you first would get preapproved for a mortgage. They will tell you how much you can afford and it will be on a monthly basis. $4000 all-in. $5400 all-in. Whatever it is.
They don’t tell you, “well, you know, if you had come for pre-approval 14 months ago when rates were 3.25%, you could have bought a $700,000 house but now you can only buy a $400,000 house for that same $4,000 payment.”
The person who would have bought the Eddystone with the 3.25% rate is no longer able to look at the Eddystone. So no, the seller of the Eddystone doesn’t chase the old buyer DOWN. Never, ever. The Eddystone seller is now trying to get the buyers who would have bought the $700,000 unit but is priced out of that.
That’s why Chicago is holding up okay, so far, with the higher rates. We actually DO have properties you can move down to that can fit your monthly payment.
Now, some buyers are waiting on the sidelines, I’m sure, convinced that at any moment the mortgage rates will plunge and they will get “more for their money.” It’s why there was a burst of sales when rates went back down to 6%. However, rates are back to 7% again which will surely slow things again in about 2 months when the rate locks expire.
I usually agree with Sabrina but have to disagree this time on WBFP. We use ours all the time, and so do many of our friends and relatives who have them. Even if they’re not used, they can be a lovely and enticing feature of a vintage home. I’d never deface the LR of a place like the Eddystone with a TV. Call me a snob if you wish. We don’t have a TV in our LR. That’s what the den is for (or extra BR). I realize not everyone has a den or extra room for a TV, and if not, sure, LR is fine.
“Why would you have to match it?”
Becasue the $619k ask was (likely) based on comps from when rates were lower, and this is 100% a HMAM type of unit.
They’re already 60% of the way to matching the HMAM of the intitial ask with their current ask, and, since every month closing is delayed costs them over $3,000 (as they’ve already moved out), $525k now is the same net than $549k in October–their price exploration has been too slow, as they’re holding out hope.
“I see it as a selling point. Who uses it? Especially wood burning? More space for a tv or other things in the living room without it.”
I dont know anyone that doesnt appreciate a wood burning fireplace, but then again I dont hang around chuds
I specifically wanted a place without a fireplace, but gave up because every single house I looked at seemed to have a wood burning one. I ended up with 2 fireplaces, neither of which I will ever use. They are pretty, but they take up wall space.
I use my living room for entertaining or just quiet space when it’s just me. One of my requirements when looking was a living space without a TV and a separate room for the TV. Having a fireplace in the same room as the TV is really annoying because you’re so limited in where you can put a TV. Having one over the fireplace in my condo caused permanent neck pain. It got better when I spent thousands of dollars on a special TV mount with expert installation for my condo that let me pull the TV down in front of the fireplace, so I could look straight at it. The neck pain is still there though and I have to be diligent about exercising or the pain creeps in again.
I think fireplaces should be a specialty type feature and not the default. Every single condo unit shouldn’t just automatically come with a fireplace. Not much can be done about older houses with wood burning fireplaces.
“The person who would have bought the Eddystone with the 3.25% rate is no longer able to look at the Eddystone. So no, the seller of the Eddystone doesn’t chase the old buyer DOWN. Never, ever. The Eddystone seller is now trying to get the buyers who would have bought the $700,000 unit but is priced out of that.
That’s why Chicago is holding up okay, so far, with the higher rates. We actually DO have properties you can move down to that can fit your monthly payment.”
I have never understood this absurd line of thinking. There is a much smaller buyer pool at 7% Vs 3%.
One of 3 things is going to happen
TOM is going to increase
Buyers are going to take stupid risks wrt leveraging, putting their cat child at risk
Prices will drop
I dont get where you think the typical family is getting the extra scratch to meet the HMAM, especially with the current inflationary environment
“I have never understood this absurd line of thinking. There is a much smaller buyer pool at 7% Vs 3%.”
Actually, there isn’t. Same Millennials looking to buy at 7% as at 3%. But they have to make the numbers work, right? So the “pool” for that $1 million actually IS smaller because they have to trade down. Again, Chicago allows you to make the numbers work. And as long as they have their jobs, which most do, they will trade down and just buy something else.
We are a monthly payment nation. When the mortgage broker tells you you can afford $4500 a month, you look at properties that will cost you $4500 a month. It doesn’t matter what the mortgage rate is.
Rates went higher last year so fast it’s going to take time for the buyers to adjust. We haven’t even had the high rates for 6 months yet. But once you have them for a year, the market will adjust.
Of course, if the job market blows up, then buyers will be on the sidelines.
“I think fireplaces should be a specialty type feature and not the default. Every single condo unit shouldn’t just automatically come with a fireplace. Not much can be done about older houses with wood burning fireplaces.”
Agreed Jenny. The fireplace in a condo can literally take up a foot and a half of space into the living room too when they just slap in the gas ones. And then there is the television problem. I’m so sorry to hear about your neck pain. Ugh.
I had a vintage wood burning fireplace for 4 years and NEVER used it. Not once. It was over 100 years old and I was scared about that chimney. Lol.
“Actually, there isn’t. Same Millennials looking to buy at 7% as at 3%. But they have to make the numbers work, right? So the “pool” for that $1 million actually IS smaller because they have to trade down. Again, Chicago allows you to make the numbers work. And as long as they have their jobs, which most do, they will trade down and just buy something else.”
Are you dense or just enjoy purposefully misstating comments?
So you agree that the buyer pool is smaller if prices dont move and rates rise.
Everyone differs on WBFP, but I don’t think people should write them off as a “never-used” feature. We use ours all the time and know plenty of other people who also do.
“Everyone differs on WBFP, but I don’t think people should write them off as a “never-used” feature. We use ours all the time and know plenty of other people who also do.”
In a condo?
“So you agree that the buyer pool is smaller if prices dont move and rates rise.””
The buyer pool is the same but it depends on what price point you’re at as to the pool at your price. Buyers simply trade down. The 10 buyers at $700k are now buying at $500k. The 10 buyers at $500k are now buying at $400k. Fewer can afford to buy the luxury price points so there will be fewer buyers, ultimately, at the higher price points. Thank goodness Chicago has plenty of properties under the $1 million level. Buyers CAN trade down. In LA, NYC and elsewhere, you can’t trade down. You are out of the market.
“Actually, there isn’t.”
“So the “pool” for that $1 million actually IS smaller”
Did you actually think JU was referring to all potential buyers, rather than potential buyers at *this* asking price?
Come on!!
I think the main reason why this unit hasn’t sold is that the building is planning to do a major plumbing riser project and electrical upgrade. They’re building reserves for it but I think a special assessment will ultimately be required and there’s no telling how much that will be. When values and rates are where they are, buyers don’t want to deal with this kind of uncertainty.
“In a condo?”
When we rented a condo unit at the Marlborough, it had a really beautiful WBFP. I think we used it maybe a half dozen times over the two winters we lived there. By the second winter kid 1 was crawling fast and climbing up on things to try and walk, so it was just another hazard, and in general getting (and storing) the wood bundles was just a bit inconvenient (or maybe I was still recovering from spending one early ’90s September in the mountains stocking vacation rentals with firewood, hauling it upstairs all day, or years of splitting and stacking a few cords every fall for my own residences). When we bought a place down by the zoo, it had one too, but we used it even less (same reasons). But they are nice to have.
It’s not nearly as charming, but gas fireplaces are just so easy.
To be fair, not sure I know people who have or use them in a condo.
So I was flipping back thru prior featured 3-beds, and came to this one.
It closed on May 12.
I refer everyone back to my comment of March 3, 2d from the top:
“To match that at 6.25, but still using the $124k down, need to be around $504k.
“That’s admittedly too low, but that’s driving this reduction.”
What was the closing price?
$505,000.
So my “too low” was $1,000 too low.
Yet, we are, according to some, “always wrong”.
“Yet, we are, according to some, “always wrong”.”
Wow- you found ONE property out of thousands that have been featured here where you actually guessed right.
Good for you anon(tfo). You really nailed that one. I’m sure that means that going forward you will nail all the rest of the featured properties here.
Wait- you haven’t? Oh, okay.
Because, yes, the chatterati is always wrong on the prices on these properties. By thousands and thousands of dollars usually. Lol.
So Rules for CC
N=1 and Sabrina agrees is the absolute truth
N=1 and Sabrina disagrees is a lucky guess and not indicative of anything
This is some drunk rationalization
“the chatterati is always wrong on the prices on these properties.”
That’s a very fact-free definition of “always” you’re using there.
Should get a commentator job with OAN.