Are Light Hardwood Floors in Again? 1366 N. Dearborn Parkway in the Gold Coast
This 3-bedroom in the vintage mid-rise at 1366 N. Dearborn Parkway in the Gold Coast came on the market in May 2018.
The building was constructed in 1926 and has 40 units but no parking.
This 10th floor unit has an elevator that opens directly into the apartment.
It has many of its vintage features including a wood burning fireplace in the living room, built-in cabinets, crown molding and wainscoting.
There are French doors that lead to the dining room.
The unit has a galley kitchen with stainless steel appliances, quartz counter tops and a marble backsplash.
Like many vintage units, it has a butler’s pantry that now has a wine refrigerator and other storage.
Each of the three bedrooms is en suite.
The master suite also has a den, accessed through the master bedroom.
There’s a half bath off the eat-in kitchen.
The unit has space pak cooling, washer/dryer in the unit but there’s no parking with the building. It is rental nearby.
For over a decade, the dark walnut floors have been “in” especially in the $1 million+ units.
However, this unit has light hardwood floors. They look almost white in the pictures.
The light hardwood floors used to be “in” in the Chicagoland luxury market in the late 1980s and early 1990s.
Are they coming back in again?
Jeff Lowe at Compass has the listing. See the pictures and floor plan here.
Unit #10BC: 3 bedrooms, 3.5 baths, 2700 square feet
- This is a combined unit. #10C sold in July 1988 for $310,000
- #10C sold in April 1997 for $374,000
- #10B sold in November 1988 for $145,000
- #10B sold in June 1997 for $130,000
- Originally listed in May 2018 for $1,324,900
- Reduced several times
- Currently listed at $1,195,000
- Assessments of $2,464 a month (includes heat, exterior maintenance, lawn care, scavenger, snow removal)
- There’s no doorman
- Parking is rental nearby
- Space pak cooling
- Washer/dryer in the unit
- Wood burning fireplace
- Bedroom #1: 25×14
- Bedroom #2: 14×13
- Bedroom #3: 15×12
- Dining room: 15×14
- Foyer: 15×5
I like this layout very much, wish it had lower assessments though. Good walking location to shopping and all of the beach stuff. by bikini will be sad we cannot afford it 🙁
Floors? Really? They look nice with this decor. If you don’t like them, refinish to whatever the hell color you like, trends be damned. You just paid 1.1M, you can afford it. Poof, problem solved. Lovely classic city unit to me.
What kills it for me is rental parking nearby. No thanks.
I absolutely hate this ugly ass shiny patterned wallpaper trend going around these days… whos idea was it because it sucks and looks like ass!
I think Sabrina buried the lead: the floors I can live with, the wallpaper might kill me.
I don’t understand who the potential buyer pool for a place like this might be. There’s hardly any common area, so it’s a tough place to entertain or to raise a family. There’s no parking, so it’s tough for older empty-nesters too. Plus, between those assessments and taxes, you’re running at least $4,000 per month even if you bought it free and clear with no mortgage payments. This corner and the surrounding blocks are beautiful (Clark Street excluded), but it’s unlikely the restaurants close by are attractive to the potential purchaser of this apartment(with limited exceptions). It just seems like there are so many better options for the price point.
Beautiful place that I’d love to own, but the fact that even if I bought the unit for cash I’d have to write $3,500 in checks each month for taxes, HOA, and parking makes me wonder who the potential buyer for a unit like this might be. Certainly someone with a lot more money than me (and I’m not poor).
“I absolutely hate this ugly ass shiny patterned wallpaper trend going around these days… whos idea was it because it sucks and looks like ass!”
Wasn’t shiny wallpaper in in the 1970s and early 1980s?
Sonies: everything comes back “in” eventually. Lol.
“everything comes back “in” eventually. Lol.”
thats true, I see women wearing those horrible clear framed glasses and high-waist jeans that make your butt look flat and huge that were very popular in the 80’s as well… sigh never thought I’d see those awful things again
The same unit 4 floors up with nicer views is also on the market at $250,000 LOWER in price. The seller is giving the option to sell the B and C units separately, and I inquired about one of these, so got more info and got pics. The 14th floor unit is pretty much trashed out. Looks like squatters lived there for the last 50 years. Funny enough, some of the windows are new, and there is SpacPac (which is not true for many of the units in the building). Therefore, I would say $250,000 is sufficient to take completely renovate this unit to a fairly high standard. Here is the listing:
https://www.urbanrealestate.com/property/1366-N-Dearborn-Unit-14BC-CHICAGO-IL-60610-6WqFjpjtkpq5.html
This brings to mind the question I have always had. Despite those charts that give “return on the dollar” amounts to various home improvements, which hardly ever give 100% return to even the most desired items – like renovated kitchen or bath – I have generally found that a condo unit that has had money poured into it asks MORE than 100% premium for this compared to other identical comps that are in dilapidated condition. I don’t understand this. It seems to me that if you are going to rip everything out and redo it, it is just the same to find a unit that has not been redone since 1970 as it is a unit that has nice, but slightly dated finishes from, say, 2000. Is it because you are competing with buyers who are wiling to live in the circa 2000 unit without changing anything that you can get the circa 1970 unit for way lower in price?
The fact of the matter is, despite being $250,000 lower in price, I don’t think the 14bc unit is going to find a buyer for even the $945,000 asking price, I think a flipper is going to come in and get it for $800,000, put $150,000 into it, and sell it for $1,200,000, and pocket the $250,000 profit.
” Is it because you are competing with buyers who are wiling to live in the circa 2000 unit without changing anything that you can get the circa 1970 unit for way lower in price?”
Not sure what your experience with home reno is, but if you don’t do it often (eg, if you are at least a part-time flipper), it’s a huge pain.
Also, doing it for yourself means paying “rent” on two places at the same time, and either having $250k extra cash over the DP, or dealing with a construction loan which, see above.
“Is it because you are competing with buyers who are wiling to live in the circa 2000 unit without changing anything that you can get the circa 1970 unit for way lower in price?”
at $1MM, I dont think buyers are willing to live with “Circa 2000” w/out some caveat of access preferred schools.
A 30YO couple w/ Kids isn’t going to want to live thru a live remodel, isnt going to deal with the contracting the updates and/or doesnt have the skills to do even the smallest of updates.
anon & JohnnyU – So, in your opinion, if one is in a position to be able and willing to do renovations, and it’s not an issue finding another place to live during the process, renovations DO financially pay off more than 100% of the cost of doing the work?
This confirms my experience from 3 years ago selling a rehabbed vintage walk-up in Lincoln Park. I had spent a judicious $25,000 updating everything, and when I put it on the market, I got 7 offers in one week, and sold for $30,000 over asking price. I felt badly for the woman who had put in the second highest bid because she had written me a really nice letter telling me how much she loved my place. It occurred to me that the mirror-image unit on the other side of the building was owned by an old lady who I knew would be interested in selling if she only knew where to even start, because her unit had not been renovated since the condo conversion in the ’70’s. So I contacted the agent working for the woman who lost out on my place, and asked if she would like be put in touch with the old woman next door. I told her her unit was EXACTLY the same as mine, but it would take around $50,000 to put it into the same condition, but then she could pick exactly the finishes and fixtures she wanted. I told her I was pretty sure the old woman would be willing to sell for $60,000 below what my unit sold for, so her buyer would be actually better off than if she had bought my place!
You know how the agent responded? She said her client would NOT be interested! She told me that the unit would have to be priced at $100,000 below my unit if it would take $50,000 to renovate it in order for it to be considered as desirable!! I remembered I disputed this with her, saying that there was nothing I had ever read about renovation costs that said you could get back even 100% of what you put in when you sell. She insisted this was not true, and also pointed out that many buyers have to scrape together the 20% needed for a down payment on a place with their last pennies, so are in no position to put even $5,000 additional into fixing up a place after they buy, much less tens of thousands of dollars. She said this was the situation with her client, so there was no point in bringing this option up to her.
I don’t know if I believed her, but I let it go since I had only thought of this to help her client, not for anything that would benefit me. A few months ago, I happened to notice a listing in that same building. Not the mirror image of the unit I sold, but one floor lower, and a slightly bigger square footage (due to lack of an interior staircase). I believe the unit would be valued around the same as what mine was other than for the fact that it was last updated around 20 years ago. Still in pretty good shape, and clean. Absolutely nothing wrong with it. The seller started out pricing it at just slightly below what I sold my unit for 3 years ago. Since then, she has lowered the price three times. Now, it is priced at $100,000 below what I sold my unit for. It would take, imo, about $25,000 to remodel to the level that was my unit. Still no buyers after 6 months!
“Now, it is priced at $100,000 below what I sold my unit for. It would take, imo, about $25,000 to remodel to the level that was my unit. Still no buyers after 6 months!”
Sounds like an opportunity for someone to make $75k, assuming they can reduce/eliminate double realtor commissions and transfer taxes.
Yes, people are pretty illiquid, so that’s a real issue. Yes, dealing with contractors is a headache for most, so that’s a real issue.
Those ‘return’ estimations are a bit wonky–for example, a midrange bath remodel is:
Update an existing 5×7-foot bathroom. Replace all fixtures to
include 30×60-inch porcelain-on-steel tub with 4×4-inch ceramic
tile surround; new single-lever temperature and pressure-balanced
shower control; standard white toilet; solid-surface vanity counter
with integral sink; recessed medicine cabinet with light; ceramic
tile floor; vinyl wallpaper.
and says that’s ~$25k in Chicago metro, or $19k national average.
And an “upscale major” kitchen remodel is:
Update outmoded 200-square-foot kitchen with 30 linear feet of
top-of-the-line custom white cabinets with built-in sliding shelves
and other interior accessories. Include stone countertops with
imported ceramic- or glass-tile backsplash; built-in refrigerator,
commercial grade cooktop and vent hood, wall oven, and built-in
microwave unit. Install high-end undermount sink with designer
faucets and water filtration system. Add new general and task
lighting, including low-voltage undercabinet lights. Install tile or
similar flooring that looks like wood.
and averages $144k.
Those are both ~60% return projects.
None of which seems to me to relate to reality, unless your reality is some portion of the burbs I have little familiarity with.
“anon & JohnnyU – So, in your opinion, if one is in a position to be able and willing to do renovations, and it’s not an issue finding another place to live during the process, renovations DO financially pay off more than 100% of the cost of doing the work?”
Depends
If you can do most of the work or know good contractors, yes.
“Update outmoded 200-square-foot kitchen with 30 linear feet of
top-of-the-line custom white cabinets with built-in sliding shelves
and other interior accessories. Include stone countertops with
imported ceramic- or glass-tile backsplash; built-in refrigerator,
commercial grade cooktop and vent hood, wall oven, and built-in
microwave unit. Install high-end undermount sink with designer
faucets and water filtration system. Add new general and task
lighting, including low-voltage undercabinet lights. Install tile or
similar flooring that looks like wood.
and averages $144k.”
$720/SF? If I give $25K for appliances, thats still $600/sf. Seems awefuly steep
anon & johnnyU -In case you are curious about the vintage walk-up building in Lincoln Park I referred to, here are the links to the two units. The first one is the unit that belonged to me that I sold, and the second is the one currently on the market. NOTE: I made a typo in my last post. I wrote that my unit sold for $30,000 above asking instead of $3,000. (However, if you look at the sales history of the unit, you can see I made a tidy profit after owning only 3 years and putting $25,000 into updates.) Also, the square footage listed for the two units is somewhat misleading. Although my unit is shown as bigger, it is actually smaller due to a lot of space being taken up by the entry and interior staircase, adding no space of value. In fact, my 2nd bedroom was a ridiculously small 8’7′ space, as opposed to the 2nd bedroom being a “normal” size in the unit for sale now.
https://www.redfin.com/IL/Chicago/917-W-Webster-Ave-60614/unit-3E/home/13352948
https://www.redfin.com/IL/Chicago/921-W-Webster-Ave-60614/unit-2/home/12570716
Update outmoded 200-square-foot kitchen with 30 linear feet of
top-of-the-line custom white cabinets with built-in sliding shelves
and other interior accessories. Include stone countertops with
imported ceramic- or glass-tile backsplash; built-in refrigerator,
commercial grade cooktop and vent hood, wall oven, and built-in
microwave unit. Install high-end undermount sink with designer
faucets and water filtration system. Add new general and task
lighting, including low-voltage undercabinet lights. Install tile or
similar flooring that looks like wood.
and averages $144k.
We did the above pretty much, plus repiping all horizontals in our house, upgraded the electrical in the kitchen, turned a window into a patio door and had a wall of cabinetry put in the breakfast room, wood floors installed and matched to the rest of the house and it ran under $144k, even with all Wolf and Sub-Zero appliances. Probably $20k less… We didn’t have a water filtration system put in, but that doesn’t account for that much $$
“She insisted this was not true, and also pointed out that many buyers have to scrape together the 20% needed for a down payment on a place with their last pennies, so are in no position to put even $5,000 additional into fixing up a place after they buy, much less tens of thousands of dollars.”
Look around at this market.
What sells fast?
Anything renovated.
What isn’t?
Anything with finishes 10+ years old. Yes, even 10 years old finishes are now considered “old” mostly because that means the kitchen will have granite (when quartz is now in) and you’ll have things like cherry cabinets (when white is now in.)
And no, new homebuyers don’t want to do it. Even if you told them you could secure the $50,000 home renovation loan. 99% of buyers would run from that. They want to buy it, get the keys, and move in (not even paint the walls!).
Since then, she has lowered the price three times. Now, it is priced at $100,000 below what I sold my unit for. It would take, imo, about $25,000 to remodel to the level that was my unit. Still no buyers after 6 months!
This also tells you what is going on out there right now.
The Chicago market has changed. It’s much different even from last spring. There are dozens of properties sitting on the market that would have sold, sometimes with multiple offers, last spring and they are just sitting there now.
And no, they’re not all SFHs or kid-friendly properties where the reason they aren’t selling is because school has started.
These are simply properties that aren’t selling. I’ll do some posts on them.
To answer the question: “are light hardwood floor in again?” Anyone who has lived with dark hardwood floors for 10 minutes would say “yes please”. Dark floors show every single speck of dust.
BTW – I love this unit.
Closed, 975K