4-Bedroom Pre-War Lakeview Unit Now $145K Under the 2006 Purchase Price: 411 W. Briar
We have chattered about this 4-bedroom sprawling pre-war vintage condo at 411 W. Briar several times since last August.
See our November 2009 chatter and pictures here.
Since that time, it has been reduced by $145,000 and is now $145,000 under the 2006 purchase price.
It has more space than most single family homes at this price point, including a dining room and a sun room
The unit has central air and an in-unit washer/dryer. There is no deeded parking, however. It is available for lease in the neighborhood.
Will this property finally see a buyer at this price?
Claire Sylvestre at Prudential Rubloff still has the listing. See more pictures here.
Unit #3D: 4 bedrooms, 2 baths, 2600 square feet
- Sold in March 1995 for $267,500
- Sold in August 1997 for $265,000
- Sold in March 2006 for $535,000
- Was listed in August 2009 for $535,000
- Reduced
- Was listed in November 2009 for $494,900
- Reduced
- Currently listed for $390,000
- Assessments of $901 a month (includes heat, tv/cable, security system)
- Taxes of $5881
- Central Air
- Washer/dryer in the unit
- No parking (leased)
- Bedroom #1: 17×13
- Bedroom #2: 14×14
- Bedroom #3: 14×13
- Bedroom #4: 10×9
So, this one is teed up to be snapped up.
And Bradford is proven right–$400k is laughable for this property. Wait, he thought $400k was laughably low? Oh. Oops.
i still like this place and am still shocked to see it not selling, there has to be something up that we dont see in the listing or pictures. it cant just be the parking and ass fee holding it back
I agree (as usual) with Groove – I really think this place looks lovely and aside from the lack of parking and the assessment don’t understand what the problem is.
“it cant just be the parking and ass fee holding it back”
um… those are two pretty critical problems that you can’t easily change. So yeah, It IS what’s holding this property back
The lack of parking and the assessments are probably deal killers for a lot of people. Great looking property and a ton of space though. The folks that typically will pay $500k will want at least one parking spot. $900 bucks before you even pay the mortgage and taxes is pretty steep imho especially considering you aren’t getting a door man or any of the other typical high rise amenities.
it’s gorgeous, but the assessments are murder.
The link provided shows that the list price is still $494,900….
We’ve friends who own a unit in a 9-unit townhouse association, with no doorman, no landscaping, no utility costs, no basement, no indoor common area, etc in assessment. Assessment basically covered liability insurance and a once-a-week porter to walk-thru small common area. Assessments were in $250/unit range due to INSURANCE. Association was buying a State Farm-type residential home coverage type-of-insurance. I directed friends to a commercial insurance provider, and by changing carrier and insurance broker, association’s premiums dropped by 80% while increasing coverage.
Might be same situation here. Small owner-managed associations often have little practical real estate management experience, and may not be properly served by their vendors and service providers.
It is a great space. But lack of outdoor space and parking together with the brutal assessments would make it a deal killer for me.
What are names of commercial insurance providers? I thought State Farm Farmers All State all did small condo associations.
Back to the property man it looks nice.
I wonder what type of reserve they have given the high assessments
These assessments are rough, but for 2600 s.f. they aren’t really *that* obscene. If this were a 1,300 s.f. place with $450 assessments, there wouldn’t be as much chatter about it.
I’m with Ryan, lack of outdoor space is killer. I’m curious, has it ever been discussed on cc what it would take a place like this and add a roof top deck? I imagine close to impossible, but you are on the top floor and have plenty of space to add stairs.
Agreed, especially since heat is included. And older buildings do cost more to properly maintain.
“These assessments are rough, but for 2600 s.f. they aren’t really *that* obscene. If this were a 1,300 s.f. place with $450 assessments, there wouldn’t be as much chatter about it.”
I visited this place during an open house earlier this year and immediately struck it from our consideration list for a number of reasons:
1. It’s a 4th floor walk-up.
2. Assessments are high for what’s included.
3. The place needs to be rehabbed and has an unfortunate floorplan. There’s no powder room for guests, the laundry is tucked into the closet of a tiny 4th bedroom, all of the bedrooms are small…I could go on.
4. The assessments are high for what’s included.
5. No parking (although plenty of homes in this area also don’t have parking included, but combined with the other issues, it’s on the list of negatives)
Overall, the negatives on this place outweigh the positives in my opinion. The place is also empty now and does not show well without furniture. The owners should stage this place asap!
My guess is it will sell in the low 300’s.
“I agree (as usual) with Groove – I really think this place looks lovely and aside from the lack of parking and the assessment don’t understand what the problem is.”
Good looking out PC, most dont agree with me, mainly my wife 🙂
“um… those are two pretty critical problems that you can’t easily change. So yeah, It IS what’s holding this property back”
sonies it has to be something else, parking here cant really be the issue (see my previous rant on positives of zip car)
second heat is included in asss fee an i see radiator covers so i can see the bills being high for a 4br.
question for you all….
If you found out that the HOA reserves are fat and could pretty much cover major stuff where you wont be hit with a special assessment if something were to happen…..
then would you still bat an eye on the high ass fee?
Large HOA reserves are usually viewed as a plus, covering contingencies like major storm damage, new roof, new elevators, etc without requiring a huge special assessments ($1000/month, etc). I’d be more worried about a small (or missing altogether) reserve fund.
Biggest issue w/HOAs is whether board is disfunctional, stupid, or tyrannical, and whether condo association itself is at war. Our friends in the 9-unit association are frequently accosted by crazy neighbors with crazy demands and serious bad behavior. These friends are quiet, very civil and orderly, and are the remaining original owners in townhouse compound. Worst behaved are the most recent purchasers, their possessions “exploding” out of the confines of their townhouse units, running amok.
Architect on April 14th, 2010 at 2:41 pm
” I directed friends to a commercial insurance provider, and by changing carrier and insurance broker, association’s premiums dropped by 80% while increasing coverage.”
Hey Architect, would you provide me with a couple of names–I am convinced we are paying way too much for our condo board insurance and I would like to look into it further.
So RS, what did you think about the assessments? 🙂
RS, thank you for finally mentioning that it’s a fourth-floor walkup. Wouldn’t I just love to haul my groceries and rugrats and dry-cleaning up the stairs, over and over again until I need knee surgery.
Low $300’s.
Saw this place, and completely agree with RS’s comments above (see my comments from the Nov chatter).
It is huge, has lots of windows, and is a great location. I don’t even so much mind the fact that it’s a fourth floor walk-up, because there’s no noise from above and you avoid the costs of an elevator.
However, it currently has the assessments of a place with an elevator. For that matter, the assessments would lead one to believe that the building is very well kept…but it’s not. And nobody wants to buy anything bigger than a one bed without a parking space (it would be less of an issue if there were multiple high rises next door with spaces for rent, but such is not the case). Lastly, as RS notes, it has a rather unfortunate floor plan and needs some work, factors which are greatly amplified by the fact that the place is empty.
“Hey Architect, would you provide me with a couple of names–I am convinced we are paying way too much for our condo board insurance and I would like to look into it further.”
I’m not Architect, but our Association recently went shopping for new building insurance. We went with Greater New York. The company apparently is one of the better-rated insurance companies and our premium was over $5k less per year.
Sorry – our premium DROPPED by over $5k per year. The other company we considered was Traveler’s.
I switched our insurance (I’m our assoc.’s treasurer) from Liberty Mutual (they were getting out of the condo building insurance business, it seems) to Traveller’s and am saving around $6k/year. I got the policy through the Draper & Kramer agency. They were very nice and very helpful — as well as very quick.
I got several quotes and they were, by far, the cheapest.
Sold on 5/24/10 for $385K.
2D now for sale for $379k (as a reference point, it sold for $325 in 1998, if Redfin has it right):
http://www.redfin.com/IL/Chicago/411-W-Briar-Pl-60657/unit-2D/home/13373981
Funny to go back and see what people were saying about prices in the old posts…
Thanks for the update Roma. These are a hard sale if they don’t have parking. Buyers have gotten picky! I’ll be interested to see what this sells for after watching the other one all those months.