Still on the Market and Reduced $66K: 433 W. Briar in Lakeview
We’ve chattered about this vintage conversion building at 433 W. Briar in Lakeview several times.
We’ve been following Unit #3C, a 1650 square foot 2-bedroom for nearly a year.
See our February 2008 chatter about the building (with pictures) here.
See our September 2008 chatter about price reductions in the building (with pictures) here.
Unit #3C has been reduced again. It has now been reduced $66,000 from its February 2008 price.
Barbara O’Connor at Koenig & Strey is now handling sales in the building. See pictures of the units in the building here.
Unit #3C: 2 bedrooms, 2.5 baths, 1650 square feet
- Was listed in February 2008 for $515,000
- Reduced
- Was listed in November 2008 for $485,000
- Reduced
- Currently listed at $449,000
- Assessments of $334 a month
- Taxes are “new”
Hey Sabrina you linked the pictures to unit 5A which is a 2500sqft 800k 3br 2.5ba
My husband and I went to see this unit. It’s a nice place but unfortunately there is a new 4 story building going up right next door. As a result, the light in the unit will be severely compromised and it will make the whole place feel a lot smaller. I’m not paying over $400K to look at an alley and a bunch of brick walls.
sweet. 7 units for sale in the building according to K&S. wonder what gives. 17×12 bedrooms look reasonable. My guess is 395K
Per eric, a buyers agent from 9/08:
[this building is great] Not to mention this building is also only 34 units.
It’s so great that 1/5 of the people are selling!!!
“It’s so great that 1/5 of the people are selling!!!”
Aren’t some (all?) of them still for sale from the developer? Are any of the for sales from individuals?
Recent sales in Lakeview seem to indicate that $350K is the tolerance threshold for 2 bedroom condominiums with 1200 sq ft.
I have a feeling that prices are going to have to be dropped another substantial increment to move these units. This is a pretty building, one of my favorites, but it’s not a particularly good rehab, has no parking, and the building doesn’t have many other amenities. Moreover, some people report that many omissions were made in the rehab process, that will end up costing owners greatly in large assessments down the road. Buyers are being much more careful about buying a bundle of potential expensive problems than they were during the crazy years of the boom, and lenders are being much more cautious in financing places like this.
“Recent sales in Lakeview seem to indicate that $350K is the tolerance threshold for 2 bedroom condominiums with 1200 sq ft.”
Well this one is supposedly 1650 sq. ft., a fair bit larger. But it’s still overpriced. I agree that $400K is realistic given that the rehab isn’t the greatest.
Last fall, “Eric” blasted my posts on 433 even going so far as calling me a woman scorned. Huh? My husband and I placed an offer on a “B” unit in July 2008. Subsequently, we diligently did our part only to find many issues that were not cared for during the building’s renovation. These issues included but were not limited to the stacks, the roof, and the security. To us, these issues screamed “special assessments” in the future. Thankfully, we withdrew our offer.
But wait there’s more… in November I received an email from Absolute Builders informing me that my unit’s security system was ready. That I should call them to set up a time for them to install it.
Barbara J. O’Connor is a lovely woman but I think even she might not be able to pull this one off.
The rooms and bathrooms are painfully tiny. There is no outdoor living area (patio/deck). There is no parking unless contracted for across the street.
Lakeview has a glut of units on the market today. Even with the $66K price reduction, 433 remains way overpriced. I wonder how the individuals (Eric included) who purchased a unit last year feel knowing their equity has been reduced to ZERO. Not pretty.
Margo I agree with you that these issues will probably be special assesments in the future.
You are speaking of the drainstacks, Margo? I remember reading somewhere, I believe on this site, that the developers did not replace the 80-year-old drain stacks, among other senile components in the building.
This will mean massive special assessments not long down the road.
I looked at this bldg to rent many years ago, and, frankly, i thought the old antique baths were much more attractive than the ones the developer put in them, though I’m sure many were in such bad shape they would have needed to be gutted and rebuilt no matter what. I don’t like the way the formal dining room was opened up into the kitchen, and I don’t like the way the places were clean-walled half to death. A lot of charm was stripped out of this place in the rehab.
All the problems of an old building, with a lot of the charm lost.
I disagree with Margo’s comment that “the rooms and bathrooms are painfully small”. I’m sure the bathrooms are small by today’s standards, but the living and dining rooms are massive by today’s standards, the bedrooms are good sized and the kitchen is adequate. Not sure if any of the kitchens were enlarged to include maid’s rooms, which might make some of the kitchens pretty large too.
everything else, i totally agree with. i can’t believe an agent would let a client buy in a building like this.
Margo, Eric didn’t purchase a unit here. He acted as a buyer broker for his client. That’s right, he “let a client buy in a building like this.” It could have been Eric’s only transaction in East LV, but he did say that he’s an “expert.”
I lived in large, vintage apartments exactly like this, as a renter, for a long time, and it spoiled me for the newer condos, which seem small and charmless compared.
But anyone buying into a vintage building that has old plumbing needs to know these places come with a lot of extra expenses. Your maintenance will always be steeply higher than in one of the new cookie-cutter “infill” condos. That is why these places sell lower than their appearance and space would seem to justify.
This building will sit in pergatory for years…unless there are massive reductions in price. All of these builders that are “caught” in the massive market turn are, basically, screwed. I laugh at all of the “Developer’s special” marketing. That’s not the way to sell units in this market climate. It just makes buyers more weary that the developer is cutting corners and in firesale mode.
Unit 1C is now listed for 275k. It apparently is not the same floorplan as 3C and is listed at 885sf. $311/sf for this place for a “Luxury high 1st flr sought-after 1br/1.5ba”.
LOL @ unit 1C and good luck. Methinks 180k is more like it.
Luxury + 1st floor? No such thing. Oxymoron.
1C sold for 257k me thinks………so much for the doom and gloom merchants on here!
Client bought in the building. Building entirely SOLD OUT.