8 Months and a 139K Price Reduction Later: River North Loft at 215 W. Illinois
We’ve chattered about this large 2-bedroom at the Anchor Lofts at 215 W. Illinois in River North several times.
See our most recent January 2009 chatter here (no pictures.)
The unit has been on the market since September 2008 and has now been reduced $139,000.
It’s also listed for below its 2001 purchase price.
In our January chatter one of you said, “I might be tempted to buy it in a year for $500k.”
And now?
Peter Tortorello at Koenig & Strey now has the listing. See the pictures here.
Unit #4A: 2 bedrooms, 2 baths, office, no square footage listed
- Sold in May 1993 for $225,000
- Sold in November 2001 for $525,000
- Originally listed in September 2008 for $674,000
- Reduced
- Was listed in October 2008 for $649,000 (parking included)
- Reduced
- Was listed in January 2009 for $600,000 (parking included)
- Reduced
- Currently listed for $499,900 (parking $35,000 extra)
- Assessments of $603 a month
- Taxes of $4,615
- Central Air
Hmmm… it seems as though the place was never upgraded except for the pretty sweet lookin kitchen. Meh, i’d totally pass on a place like this because for that kind of price, it better have a dang nice view, and I doubt you get that from the 4th/5th floor. Also for 535k I’d expect my bedrooms to be slightly larger, as those are pretty dinky and something i’d expect on a place that would go for 300k.
I’ve been monitoring two in this building that are listed. This one is the lesser of the two. The other one is Unit 2A that is listed at 524K for 2200 sq feet. It appears to have a better layout and more appealing than this one.
I always love when the unit is empty. Nothing like an owner who has already moved and is carrying 2 payment-makes negotiating easier when the seller is under presure.
I also see that the seller is a big fan of white on white on white decorating. Great sense of style to match their business sense.
Wow. Talk about chasing the market down. This will probably get a bid around the current offer. I say this even though I consider ~500k still buying too high (just slightly), but at least this is close-ish to what I consider a rock-bottom price.
Ha!!! a rock bottom price? Your joking right, at 500k? Good luck! I’d like to see what you say a year from now. I’d be interested in buying a luxury 2bed/2bath in the city for around $350k…sounds like you got to keep going
If this unit is similiar to #4A then I think it’s a fair price and will probably get some traction.
Is it me, or is this another one of those games with the parking space? The price is just under 500K, but if you buy the place with parking (as most people would) the final price $534K… just over the 2001 sale price (and psychological barrier) of $525K.
“Is it me, or is this another one of those games with the parking space?”
It’s not just you. Anytime a listing goes from “parking included” to “parking available for $x”, it’s a game with the parking.
Whenever I see this petty tactic I immediately think: “this schmoe is trying to sell his supposedly luxury condo unit like an item on an infomercial”. I don’t think sellers realize what disservice they are doing from a marketing standpoint if I’m not the only one who thinks like this.
Saw this place yesterday. Dated, but good bones. This place is for someone with money to totally gut and redesign and make special. Lots of natural light from windows across both the front of the apt and the back. The neighborhood is great. Close to everything. The front faces the gorgeous Contemporaine building (across a parking lot) – the back faces the Merchandise Mart. Not a great view during the day but at night beautiful. Definitely worth a look.
Just revisited this old chatter. This unit is now priced at $479k (plus $35k for parking). They are also including a $25k closing credit for renovations. Unit is also staged differently and they added a little paint. Does this help and make it more attractive now to buyers?
Awesome price change history:
Aug 25, 2009 Price Changed $479,900
Aug 17, 2009 Price Changed $494,900
Jul 16, 2009 Price Changed $499,900
Jun 04, 2009 Price Changed $519,000
May 13, 2009 Price Changed $494,900
Apr 18, 2009 Price Changed $499,900
Mar 18, 2009 Listed $529,000
It’ll go full circle and return to $529,000 before the end of the year.
Decent looking place, decent location, hip, sophisticated, yet, fascinating to it listed below the 2001 selling price, and still on the market. The days of the hip petit bourgeois ‘living the dream’ in their two bed/two bath loft in a trend setting neighborhood quickly coming to an end. it’s sort of sad, in a way, as the decade of the ’00’s comes to an end, so does the ‘dream’. These owners bought in November 2001, near the beginning of the decade, just after the pinnacle of the previous economic boom (maybe even signed a K prior to september 11th?); now here they are at the end of the decade, stuck, with a money losing condo, again, trying to sell so shortly after the pinnacle of the housing boom. I could write book or a movie script about these people, a day late and a dollar short; the arc is these owner’s lives in between the purchase and sale of this condo.