Another Trolley Tour: This Time It’s the West Loop
Agent Becky Thomson is back with the Trolley Tour, but this time it’s going to the West Loop.
- Date: June 1, 2008
- Time: 1 pm
- You must go to the website and register: West Loop Tour
Here’s what properties you’ll see:
- 565 Quincy
- 235 West Van Buren
- Emerald
- Trio
- Will be adding one more property- stay tuned.
Becky will have free parking, free food, free drinks, and prizes.
It’s all free.
If anyone goes- please report back in.
will there be beer?
This is why you should not use “BuyaCondo.com” as your buyer rep. Your buying agent should be warning you against purchasing new construction in the South & West Loop, and certainly not show-casing these over priced properties for you to purchase. Are they working for the developer of for you? I think the developer.
Sure you will safe a couple of $1,000 is commission, but you will end up over paying by $30K.
Any thoughts?
If any of you attend please be sure to ask the agent if she feels a new construcution purchase in the South & West Loop is a good investment at this time? Ask her if you were to buy one of these properties, “Would you be able to sell it for the same price in 3 months?” If the answer is yes jump off the trolly and run. Developers have not dropped their prices even as their supply has sky rocketed. Some of these buildings will actually end up turning to rental buildings. Flippers are handing the keys back to the banks and foreclosures are on the rise.
Don’t buy NEW CONSTRUCTION in the South or West Loop. I promise you will lose money.
DtM:
I’m now curious how you jibe your (i think correct) views about the west and shouth loop with your view that LP/LV, etc. are at bottom and going to go back up, if not now, soon. No doubt reasonable people expect LP to be at a premium to W/S Loop, but if the builders re-price their new construction to a market clearing price (i.e., they make S/W Loop significantly cheaper per sq ft and per amenities than LP), won’t that put downward pressure on LP?
Anon – Why does a full sized lot in Humbolt Park cost 1/6th of what is does in lincoln Park? Prices can fall to $0 in the South Loop and it will have little effect on LP. They are different neighborhoods and people move to them for different reasons.
Anon – I never claimed LP and LV were at their bottoms. There will alsways be demand in LP that you do not have in other neighborhoods. If you over paid in the last few years you will lose money. If you have to sell right now you may have to accept less than you hoped for. Prices per sq ft are increasing in LP and that will help the area appreciate when volume picks up.
DtM: Compare “I never claimed LP and LV were at their bottoms.” to “Prices per sq ft are increasing in LP”. Don’t you see the disconnect?
“Why does a full sized lot in Humbolt Park cost 1/6th of what is does in lincoln Park?” Who mentioned HP or the cost of land? I even acknowledged that S/W Loop need to be priced significantly below LP to so much as sell out current new inventory.
And, seriously, you believe that “Prices can fall to $0 in the South Loop and it will have little effect on LP.”? You really believe that people would rather pay $500k for a 2/2 in LP than buy a condo in the south loop for pocket change? If someone offered me a unit in One Museum Park (or any of the CMK buildings often discussed here or any of these west loop buildings) for $1, you bet I’d prefer that to either of those condos on Maud for even 50% off current list.
I only know a few people who wouldn’t prefer assessments+tax only to assessments+tax+$3000/month and none of them would want to live on Maud, either (they’re all either suburbs-only, old town-only or gold coast-only). So if you think that LP volume will pick up if there are other-than-neighborhood comparable units available in the South Loop or the West Loop for less than half price, you are seriously deluded.
You sound like a South Loop owner. Ooooops! People live in Lincoln Park for the schools, parks, and tree-lined streets. Walk everywhere living. South Loop does not compare and should be price significantly lower. Too much supply and too many high rises.
Watch and see…
DtM has already stated here that LP will never lose value.
Ask DtM if you were to buy one of these LP properties, “Would you be able to sell it for the same price in 3 months?”
If the answer is yes jump out of the hummer and run.
DtM sounds like a LP owner. Ooooops!
anon,
You are trying to talk sense to a realtwhore.
Watch and see…
DtM, I doubt you are the type to give freebies, but any data to support your claim that “Prices per sq ft are increasing in LP?”
Or is this only something you whisper softly in your clients’ ears?
I will be happy to send it to you. give me your email address.
G – what kind of whore are you? What crap do you or does your company sell? We are all whores with one goal.
All whores think everyone else is doing it. Look up cognitive dissonance. It’s what keeps you going.
I don’t know why there is such animus to someone’s profession. The realtors themselves were not solely responsible for this bubble. In fact they played a relatively minor role. Argue him on his points, but to resort to name calling is a bit much.
If anyone is a whore its that buyacondo.com website. Do you not think their idiotic sign at Wrigley might have contributed to the bubble moreso than word of mouth realtors who have to gather business by providing good service?
I have no doubt that websites such as zillow, trulia, and this buyacondo played a big part in the bubble. At least trulia has removed their obscene “heat maps”. What garbage.
What name calling did I do that was incorrect? DtM agreed that he is a whore.
I have never refered to the profession as a whole. Only certain realtwhores that have presented themselves here. I haven’t seen anyone tout the other examples you gave, about which I agree.
Sorry if you misunderstood, but my best friend, mother-in-law and godfather to my youngest all understand. And they are realtors (tm.)
And I am a whore because I contimue to say do not buy in the South and West Loop? Not a whore my friend but a simple word of good advice to you. All for free too! My take is you are either a renter or overpaid in the South Loop.
Which is it?
Did you blame the stock brokers for the Nasdaq bubble 10 years ago? No, it was people not listening to the good stock brokers that coaused the bubble. Discount equity brokers provide the same service as buyacondo.com. They will complete the transaction for you, but you better know what you are doing because they are not there to help you. Good stock brokers had you out of the nasdaq in 2000 and good real estate brokers have you out of the South Loop and buying at current FMV in area where supply and demand is in check.
I have been in the industry for 15 years. Lincoln Park, Gold Coast, parts of Lakeview, and Old Town are retaining their values and even appreciating. The worst area in the city is the South Loop. If you purchased in the South Loop in 2005 or 2006 (new construction) you will lose 30% of your equity. The South Loop was over priced to begin with and the current over supply will bring values down. In 10 years the South Loop will be a great place to live but right now it is a bad investment.
“area where supply and demand is in check.”
Any data to support where that is true? Why not send it to cribcahatter at yahoo.com along with the data to support your previous claim that $/sf is increasing for LP?
A “good” broker would have no problem with the request because they would present the data instead of projecting their whorish fantasies.
DanTheMan: MY THOUGHTS
Did you mean OwnACondo?
BuyOrSellACondo.com is a new domain and BuyA Condo.com doesn’t exist.
People still buy new construction: my job is to make sure they don’t overpay. There is nothing wrong with buying new construction. My job is to make sure everyone makes a smart decision. I’m upfront if a developer is overcharging. I also know how to negotiate.
I also would never suggest buying a place and reselling in 3 months. You are absolutely right: any agent who would is a fool.
Lastly, I don’t work for the developer- I am completely independent.
This is a fun way for people to learn about the changes in each neighborhood, explore some options, and do so without too much fuss.
I prefer a condo in the South Loop to one in Lincoln Park. I live in University Village in a townhouse and can get downtown in 10 minutes in little traffic. The side streets of Lincoln Park with their huge townhouses are beautiful, but the main streets are unbearable to the point I would not want to live there even if the price of a lincoln park townhouse was less than or equal to the price of a townhouse in the South Loop.
Of course, not everyone minds traffic, crowds, and crazy bikers. My home is a place I live. While I don’t want to lose money, gaining money isn’t that important.
I have nothing against Lincoln Park. I’m just saying that not everyone would pick it over the South Loop even if property in Lincoln Park was less expensive.
“You sound like a South Loop owner. Ooooops! People live in Lincoln Park for the schools, parks, and tree-lined streets. Walk everywhere living. South Loop does not compare and should be price significantly lower. Too much supply and too many high rises.”
Somehow I missed all this. No, I don’t own in the south loop. No, I wouldn’t choose to if comparable homes were available for comparable prices in LP. The South Loop should definitely have lower prices than LP.
However, you said that “Prices can fall to $0 in the South Loop and it will have little effect on LP.” which is ridiculous and when I pointed this out, you chose to deflect and avoid the subject.