Get a 2/2 at 40% Off the 2004 Price in Old Town: 222 W. Division
This 2-bedroom in the Venetian at 222 W. Division in Old Town was just reduced.
The bank owned unit has been on the market since May 2011 and the price has now been cut $64,500.
It is now listed for about 40% below the 2004 purchase price.
From the pictures in the listing, it appears the kitchen is intact with stainless steel appliances and granite counter tops.
It also appears as though there is only a partial wall height on at least one of the bedrooms.
Built in 2004, the unit has central air, in-unit washer/dryer and deeded parking.
Unit #1303, one floor below, has been on the market since November 2010 for $369,000 plus parking is extra.
Is this unit a deal for this location?
Coya Smith at Smith Partners Associates has the listing. See the pictures here.
Unit #1403: 2 bedrooms, 2 baths, no square footage listed (#1303 is listed as 1300 square feet however)
- Sold in May 2004 for $413,000 (included parking)
- Lis pendens filed in February 2010
- Bank owned in January 2011
- Originally listed in May 2011 for $314,400 (parking included)
- Reduced several times
- Currently listed for $249,900 (parking included)
- Assessments of $464 a month (includes heat, doorman)
- Taxes of $4490
- Central Air
- In-unit washer/dryer
- Fannie Mae Homepath property
- Bedroom #1: 14×12
- Bedroom #2: 11×11
That fireplace wedged into the corner is just plain weird. It doesn’t look or feel right.
The partial bathroom means that you better be very intimate with your guests. All bathroom activities will be acoustically and olfactorily shared with the rest of the unit.
i have a bit of an OCD thing with lines. I would jump off my balcony before i would be able to wait for someone to line up kitchen cabinets.
Overall i remember passing this building and didn’t imagine it was so weak inside.
And HD i think i converted… This listing should cause the owner below to receive a text informing him/her that either they change price within a percent of this listing or be knocked from the mls.
2 open lofted bedrooms and ok finishes. I would rather pay less and live in the new condo building parkside of old town. This building 1 block east doesn’t have that much better of a location. The non-short sale listed for $369K must have been drinking a lot of kool-aid lately.
Where the fuck do you all live – Buckingham palace?!! Good grief!!! Stop the snide remarks and the ridiculously negative comments – this place is actually at or below rental parity – if someone out there still has any money (and balls) to buy a in-town, this would be a great place!
Unit 401 (same sq footage, bedrooms, etc.) is listed for rent at 2400. Do the math, morons – this is about economics now – not aesthetics.
“Where the fuck do you all live – Buckingham palace”
Nope, negotiations broke down on that one. I wanted to convert the place into a one bedroom loft, but historical status prevented it.
I recognize it is below parity, but that wouldn’t help me when I was splattered on the street after looking at the kitchen cabinets.
Yes, clio, maybe this is cheaper to rent than buy. But do alot of people in this market have enough money to make a down payment? Do they have job security to get laid off and pay the mortgage? Who would want to buy a 2 bedroom with these finishes and no complete bedrooms with windows for this price. Only as an investment property does this make sense. When an invester thinks the price is good, it will sell.
This place is a good deal, but I can’t imagine why anyone would want a bathroom that doesn’t have full walls.
Mike HG – I know that u meant to say “cheaper to buy than rent” – but my point is that people that gotten WAY too spoiled and completely out of control on their expectations. Before the 80s, nobody expected gourmet kitchens, nice cabinets, steam showers, etc. – now people think that those things should be standard. Wake up guys, there is a new normal coming and this is it!!!
To be fair, this place is on the cheaper side, but is also down the street from planned parenthood, the currency exchange, a grimey-ass redline, and a large assortment of undesirable characters.
I’m moving out of the gold coast/astor street neighborhood in a few weeks precisely because of the nasty ruckus on division street, and i’m much much further from the riff/raff than this building. No matter what you do, you can’t put a price on not stepping outside your door and seeing bums and drunk suburbanites left and right every weekend.
“No matter what you do, you can’t put a price on not stepping outside your door and seeing bums and drunk suburbanites left and right every weekend.”
Bums I don’t need to see… Drunk suburbanites are kind of funny though, and drunk and late enough….
1-2 nights a week, sure, they can stay in Ze’s world. Ze just requires a much higher floor there.
“I’m moving out of the gold coast/astor street neighborhood in a few weeks.”
What neighborhood are you moving to Riz? Just curious.
This property is nothing to get too excited about and obviously has rental-quality finishes, but barring any problems with the building or association, it makes sense as a rental property. I agree that it’s in a crappy neighborhood, but I do think that it will generate income and be a smart purchase as a rental property for an investor.
I think that you guys actually think that one of the bathrooms has a partial wall and that the kitchen cabinets aren’t straight, so let me help you out a little: that’s a bedroom with the partial-height wall, not a bathroom, and the cabinet door in question is open, not crooked.
“I’m moving out of the gold coast/astor street neighborhood in a few weeks precisely because of the nasty ruckus on division street, and i’m much much further from the riff/raff than this building. No matter what you do, you can’t put a price on not stepping outside your door and seeing bums and drunk suburbanites left and right every weekend.”
Good move. My QOL went way up after I left the Gold Coast. While I was pretty irked when the cops shut down the lake front due to a flashmob when I was on a pleasant run, I think the night the prostitutes were soliciting me in front of my building (with my wife in tow) was probably when I officially made the call it was time to move. Though the nightly vomit piles in front of the Hangge Uppe were pretty classy.
While I like to think of myself as bearish, and particularly bearish regarding 2-bedroom condos, the price for this one (with parking) looks good at $249,900. I’ll guess that it sells for within 3% of that ask. (I wouldn’t be shocked if it had multiple offers and sells for something like $251,000, though I think it’s more likely that it sells for like $245,000)
if only i lived here in my early 20’s, Ze how much longer on the time travel formula?
I agree, it’s a partial walled bedroom not bathroom, I think that was just a typo.
I think this will go pretty soon, although not necessarily to someone making a great decision. More people seem to be getting on board with the Homepath process, and of course they are still offering the 3.5% closing assistance.
I’m not seeing the partial height bathroom thing. Am I missing something in the pics or did Sabrina have access to more info?
I’d be extremely surprised if that was the case.
“My QOL went way up after I left the Gold Coast. While I was pretty irked when the cops shut down the lake front due to a flashmob when I was on a pleasant run, I think the night the prostitutes were soliciting me in front of my building (with my wife in tow) was probably when I officially made the call it was time to move. Though the nightly vomit piles in front of the Hangge Uppe were pretty classy.”
Well, like all things in life it’s a tradeoff. I absolutely, truly hate commuting, and so put a big premium on being able to walk to work (or have a short public transit ride). Thus, I’m willing to put up with living near porn stores, panhandlers, and streets with broken glass every Sat and Sun morning. While annoying, they bother me far less than having to spend an hour or more each day in a car, bus, or train.
what a deal! who cares if your bedrooms don’t have windows, you’re probably SLEEPING when in there!
amen Sad-at-plaza440!!!!!!! i found my threshold to be 30 minutes for commuting.
tested that theory a couple summers ago and found that anything over 30 my QOL and mood drops bad
My commuting threshold is 20 minutes and this building would fit my parameters. The price seems good for a 2/2. This area is too congested for my taste, but this seems like it would be a good choice for someone who liked the area.
“What neighborhood are you moving to Riz? Just curious.”
My money is on someplace along Butterfield Road.
Does anyone one know the details of the HomePath program. I have a friend that this might be ideal for….she plans to owner occupy but is concerned about how long she has to reside there. She doesn’t plan on leaving, but you never know if you might have to move for your job someday.
“My money is on someplace along Butterfield Road”
LOL, never gets old 🙂
“What neighborhood are you moving to Riz? Just curious.”
I just finalized on a pretty nifty ~ 1000 sq foot loft in river north, kind of between EBC and where design studio/ligne roset etc is on hubbard. It’s a welcome change, ready to not be the youngest person in my building by 15 years or so.
“My money is on someplace along Butterfield Road.”
Nah, that’s where i go on the weekends to pick up young, healthy, american women 😀
welcome to the hood!
thats a fun location
I bought a Homepath this summer. If you buy it as an owner occupier you have to stay one year, or pay a $10,000 penalty. Not sure how they enforce that but I don’t plan to find out either!
“Good move. My QOL went way up after I left the Gold Coast. While I was pretty irked when the cops shut down the lake front due to a flashmob when I was on a pleasant run, I think the night the prostitutes were soliciting me in front of my building (with my wife in tow) was probably when I officially made the call it was time to move. Though the nightly vomit piles in front of the Hangge Uppe were pretty classy.”
I totally know where you are coming from. It was really nice to live on Astor, have nice big trees and pretty houses, and access to the lake, but the scene 1 block away on division was a constant Sh*t show. No matter how much i told myself that wasn’t part of *my* part of the neighborhood, i had to walk past it to go to starbucks, jewel, the red line, or the library. vomit piles and jersey shore lookalikes get old after a while.
“welcome to the hood!
thats a fun location”
thanks! you’re in that building on franklin, right? I saw a unit in that building but the 1 bed was a bit smaller than the unit i went with. I definitely like the neighborhood.
haha riz yeah I’m on franklin, and up by my building there are still plenty of jersey shore d-bags on friday and saturday nights, but also a lot of hotties with no clothes on… only the occasional vomit pile too
The cops this summer have been keeping the bums out of the neighborhood which has been nice, can’t say the same about the loop or the GC
perhaps we will cross paths sometime at the shamrock club, man that place is so cheap and Chicago I love it.
“perhaps we will cross paths sometime at the shamrock club, man that place is so cheap and Chicago I love it.”
Haha, yeah, i was there this past week, it’s a good dive bar. if you see a plastered brown guy moaning about healthcare reimbursements , you’ll know who it is, haha.
Riz, we were thinking about moving over to Astor street area but I never thought of the whole jersey shore situation on Division–thanks for the enlightment. 🙂
BettyB,
no prob. It’s a beautiful neighborhood with great access to the lake. If you only drive and don’t need to hope on the red line or walk to places, the nastiness on division is probably avoidable..if you’re looking at astor closer to north avenue it’s also no problem, i lived close to astor / division so the scene was just a bit too close for comfort.
“It was really nice to live on Astor, have nice big trees and pretty houses, and access to the lake, but the scene 1 block away on division was a constant Sh*t show”
Exactly, but the operative word here is DIVISION. Division is what makes the subject property undesirable, just as it lessens the desirability of any property in OT or the GC within a block or so of its seedy reach. Astor north of Schiller is a different world altogether, despite its closer proximity to North Ave Beach. (And if you’re going to argue that things are nicer around the EBC than on Astor between Schiller and North, well, we’ll just have agree to disagree.)
haha i’ll keep my eyes out for ya, if you see a tall guy cramming chicken tenders in his face while drinking bud, thats probably me 8)
” (And if you’re going to argue that things are nicer around the EBC than on Astor between Schiller and North, well, we’ll just have agree to disagree.)”
Absolutely not. Even where I lived on Astor/Goethe, the neighborhood was beautiful. River north overall is a great ‘hood, but isn’t as ‘pretty’ or as ‘nice’ as any part of Astor. On the same hand, the restaurant/lounge scene in RN is a lot more upscale, there are some pretty hip lofts , and the median resident age is probably 20 years younger. Surprisingly though, rent prices in river north are right up there with the astor st. neighborhood .
“On the same hand, the restaurant/lounge scene in RN is a lot more upscale, there are some pretty hip lofts , and the median resident age is probably 20 years younger. Surprisingly though, rent prices in river north are right up there with the astor st. neighborhood.”
All true.
clio: “Wake up guys, there is a new normal coming and this is it!!!”
If that is the case, then I’d be splattered on Division St. right next to Ze. At least I didn’t spend $413k on this POS like a certain SOL seller.
The cutest little neighborhood though is old town just west of wells and north of north around St. Michaels. The problem with OT is all the public housing scattered around. Ever drive around west of wells, south of north? Not good.
It’s a good deal as an investment when you fail to consider 1) tax increases 2) tenants stiffing you, and 3) depreciation.
It’s a good deal as a place to live when……well never.
So it’s not a good deal as an investment or as a place to live. So why do you people like it again?
Might make sense as an investment but as a place to live, it is a dump. BTW, if I were a renter, I would never ever rent this for $2500. There are so many better options out there.
Riz and Sonies – go get a frickin’ room already. Unbelievable…..
Clio don’t be jealous. There will always be a special place for you in my heart.
“but my point is that people that gotten WAY too spoiled and completely out of control on their expectations…”
ITA, and do get sick of ‘hipsters’ judging all, while they live in messy studio apts.
Someone please name one desireable thing about this location – and it can’t be close proximity to Dominicks/Starbucks or proximity to Wells. This is an awful location. I’d MUCH prefer living in between Schiller and North if between Halsted and Wells…
I’m just saying – I’m not smoking the dope on buying in this location with this quality construction.
Clio, There is no 401 so you must have the wrong building…
Sorry- slip of the fingers that I said the “bathrooms” only had partial walls when it was indeed at least one of the bedrooms with partial walls.
Though if it was a bathroom with partial walls- that COULD be interesting. ha! ha!
I have corrected the post.
If Chicago code required natural light to reach a room to be considered a “bathroom” no doubt we’d see some developers trying to pull that crap and people dumb enough to buy them during the bubble.