Juicy Foreclosures Still Occurring in 33 W. Ontario in River North
We’ve chattered about various units in 33 W. Ontario in River North in the past.
This 2-bedroom foreclosure just came on the market for more than 50% under its 2005 purchase price.
It is already under contract but the list price for this one is making me think 33 W. Ontario might give 345 N. LaSalle a run for its money in terms of “deals”.
This corner 2-bedroom looks like it was fully upgraded, with hardwood floors, cherry cabinets, granite and stainless steel.
Great Street Properties has the listing. See the pictures here.
Unit #36EN: 2 bedrooms, 2 baths, 1200 square feet
- Sold in November 2005 for $665,000
- Bank-owned
- Currently listed for $285,900 (looks like there’s no parking included)
- Under contract
- Assessments of $738 a month
- Taxes of $5747
- In-unit washer/dryer
- Central Air
Foreclosures are pushing down prices, but pushing up assessments. Over $700 — yikes. Net-net, you’re paying the same per month to live there.
I’d buy this, as it seems to work, where the cost of ownership is about equal to renting.
How did that place ever sell for $665k in the first place. Nothing about that unit remotely indicates a value of $665k.
This is the standard assessment for a unit like this.
If I was looking to move, I would have definitely considered this place – though it does have a crappy view.
4 rooms at 1,200 sq ft is decently sized but those pictures make it looked really cramped.
Good price. Bad assesments. Seems like a good buy overall @ $285k before due dilligence.
bridget,
I actually prefer this Western view. Lots of sun, no close buildings, great view of incoming storms and the city lights extending to the horizon make for an interesting night view.
Sorry to get off topic but could someone with access to the MLS tell me what happened to: MLS# 07165931? Thanks!
Under contract after 30 days!
DD
“I’d buy this, as it seems to work, where the cost of ownership is about equal to renting.”
Would this place rent for $2500?
and are we concerned about assessments rising? Could they fall as more people move in? I don’t know how these things work.
Thanks SH.
Not a deal at all. Crazy Assessments and crazy taxes, at that price it should have a parking space and a better view than north west. blech.
And what idiot paid $665k for this place! OMFG!
The 665k transaction and subsequent foreclosure just smacks of mortgage fraud. I wonder how many payments they made before the foreclosure process kicked off.
pitdesi
Assessments don’t go down
@ pitdesi –
Yes, this place would rent for $2,500, easily. I reside in the same floor plan but in a lower unit & different view (SE). My rent is comparable.
I can’t say it enough though – the building is great & you can’t beat the location. For a young, working professional, it’s ideal for walking to work and going out in any neighborhood. I’m just upset that I don’t see too much “chatter” about this building on this site. I’d like to get some insight on picking up a distressed unit in the building. Seeing where things are headed, I have to believe a few opportunities will present themselves over the next 12-18 months.
James, I too agree that this area is the best location in Chicago. My problem is that the two bed units in 33 W. Ontario, 600 N. Dearborn, 635 N. Dearborn, 630 N. State and 2 E. Erie all have fairly high assessments (> 600).
Thus, I think looking into a foreclosure / short sale deal in these buildings is the best option.
James, is the “1200 square feet” claim for this floor plan accurate? Neither the pictures nor the listed room sizes for 36EN suggest it is more than 1000 sq. ft.
I don’t think the 285,900 price is bad at all. Regarding the assessment, that’s not horrible. I have a place that’s slightly larger and the assessment is $1100/mo. Now if I paid $665K for the place, I’d repeatedly punch myself in the genitals.
As far as I know, the 1200 sq ft claim is correct. Then again, I’m not one to measure every wall in my unit. Your best bet is to go see a unit with this floor plan to get a feeling for how big it really is. The ones I’ve seen on the market thus far are units 14A, 17B, and 18A.
What scares me about this building is the fact that it’s only 37% owner occupied and has 22 units in foreclosure and is having trouble collecting assessments from other units. I have a client interested in the townhomes in the sky there, which sound cool, but we’re afraid of what’s happening to the building. I called one of the listing agents in the building twice to get more information on what’s going on and she never called me back.
One word….Invsco
I’ll never buy in a hi-rise. The asst are out of control. I’d rather live in an amazing walk-up, enjoy the neighborhood, take a cab to my 5 star gym, go to the John Hancock and see the view every week, hire a person to personally call and wake me up every morning and still net out less per month than these asst.
Hi-Rise — No Way!
Floorplans are available at http://www.milleniumcentrecondos.com.
The EN units are indeed about 1200 square feet, though the room dimensions differ a bit from those in the listing.
Sorry — take the period off the end of the URL
http://www.milleniumcentrecondos.com
LOL — there are two “n”s in millennium!
http://www.millenniumcentrecondos.com
I am worried about foreclosures in my hoity-toity building shoving the already high assessments into the stratosphere. Does anyone know how to find out if there are any pending forecosures in my building? Many thanks all you smart, savvy people.
I lived in a high rise and loved the view / living style. Strangely satisfying to take the garbage out to the hallway and throw down chute. I would absolutely live in another high rise, high floor, if I had the opportunity. Safety is unmatched living in a hive as well.
Best location in the city?! Are you kidding me? This is the suburbs – no neighborhood.
I think this is a decent price for the square footage but you cannot really call 1200 SF a two bedroom and live properly unless you like your living room in the middle of your kitchen. I would take down one wall and have a true living room and dining room.
Friends and family can stay at at hotel….
“Best location in the city?! Are you kidding me? This is the suburbs – no neighborhood.”
What? Its at the end of the Mag Mile, borders the gold coast and everything you could ever want in River North. Its a great location! What other area of town is more conveinent by foot than this?
In my opinion this is the most “metropolitan” area of all of Chicago. On my way home the other day (to 600 NF), I drove down State all the way from Division to Ohio and the energy present in this area was very high. The problem is, as I mentioned earlier, is the assessments in all the surrounding buildings are just too high.
“Best location in the city?! Are you kidding me? This is the suburbs – no neighborhood.”
Whoever foreclosed this unit is an idiot. Why didn’t he/she rent it out
Why would foreclosures effect assessments? The lien holders are on the hook if they take the property back… If they don’t pay, they cannot sell the property since the condo association will lien the property. They might be a bit slow to pay, but then they are subject to fines which go to the association.
paulj when you first equated RN with the burbs I thought you couldn’t possibly be serious. RN is not for me but its about as far from the suburbs on the spectrum as you can possibly get, FYI.
As an out of towner, with no prejudice to any area. I will have to agree, River North/Streeterville/GC is by far the most centralized (business/pleasure) and most convenient place in Chicago to live. I loved being in RN. Ontario St would not be my first choice but the area is awesome.
We are very happy with our February River North purchase. Lots of stores that you can walk to, and I mean stores where you can actually buy things you need, like hardware and drug stores. Tons of restaurants at at all price levels, the dog park, the Merchandise Mart, subway, 90, and lots of people on the street at night. The Mag Mile and several theaters are within walking distance, Not sure if any supermarkets are nearby; that’s the only drawback that I’m aware of. And, BTW, unbeatable views.
SteveA… the supermarkets get closer as it gets warmer…
Yeah its not bad even when its crappy as steve and I are about the same distance from the nearest grocery store. People are just lazy. I mean its less than half a mile and take you no longer than 10 minutes to walk to trader joes or Jewel. This place at State and Ontario I believe is 1 block from both of those places.
There is also a Whole Foods at State and Huron.
Lazy… ROFLMAO!!! Being out of country one thing that now really shocks me is when I turn on the news and see how obese people in the States are. Now that I don’t see daily, 3-4 people on scooter wheelchairs because they are too stupid to stop eating and are now too fat to walk, it really stands out. No problem though.. their healthcare will be paid for by you 🙂 Get a nice little BMW scooter too!
One of the reasons for living in a city is being able to walk to places, and there are lots of great places to walk to in RN and relatively nearby. My wife is particularly partial to the Nordstrom Rack and the soft cream and the huge McDonald’s nearby. Usually we just park the car in our space and walk everywhere.
“and the soft cream and.” The second “and” should be “at.” And yes, I realize that it’s mostly chemicals. Hey, I don’t eat it.
There aren’t a lot of fatties in RN compared to say, the far south side or the burbs where people have to drive everywhere. Its really quite shocking going to a mall in the burbs compared to north michigan ave. and state st.. My tax dollars at work keeping these blimps alive. Makes me really excited about the future!
Also Nordstrom Rack rules for work clothes, you can get some quality stuff there real cheap, although you have to work to find good stuff. If your wife likes ice cream she should try that place attached to Gino’s East, its good!
Sonies… I almost got run over quite a few times in the food court upstairs at the Nordstroms mall on Mich Ave. It is hilarious though that you can get a handicapped sticker for your car simply by being too stupid/depressed to stop eating too much crap. Oh it’s a disease, I forgot, one that is predominately only contagious near a McDonalds.
Steve A: Probably the biggest reason I miss living in River North would be that I could walk from my building to that Jewel over at State & Illinois. Overall not the best selection sometimes but with the volume of sales the veggies/fruits were fresh. Just walking there isn’t what I miss though – for $10 they’d deliver your haul back to your kitchen.
I grocery shopped way more than I do now as I’m not in the part of wicker/bucktown that I could walk to a grocery store.
I moved mainly due to cost of assessment + mortgage mean more space ‘way out west’ in Wicker/Bucktown, and more of a neighborhood to walk around in.
on the weekend north mich ave is filled with fatties on shopping vacations from indiana. they pay a lot to stay in a fancy hotel room then go to the gap.
Yeah I get the urge to slap those fatties on their Rascal carts. I’m like DUDE. Put down the double cheeseburger and your giant jug of Coke and take the stairs instead of the frickin elevator everywhere you go and you would actually be able to walk on your own two legs instead of riding around in a double wide cart made for people 3x your age!
“on the weekend north mich ave is filled with fatties on shopping vacations from indiana.”
And our home state, Wisconsin. Not us of course. I don’t drink beer, and I don’t eat brats. Of course, I’m not a native.
Sonies. I swear my wife and I would walk around with a camera and take pictures of the morbidly obese. I thought of making a website to post them on and have people from all over the U.S. attach photos of obese people. I was thinking of calling it wherethebuffaloroam.com In 6 blocks I would get a good 30 shots. Almost always they were holding soda and much to my later viewing pleasure often Hershey store bags. Oh I would literally roll on the floor running the slideshow.
I always found Dominics to have the best fruit (other than the awesome summer mkts). Whore Foods sometimes, but usually disappointing.
Lol Ze, you should make a website like http://www.latfh.com but for obese poeple… you’d get a hit a day from me!
I drink a lot of beer and eat McDonalds. I am not obese. Know the secret? Only eating when you are hungry and exercising and also walking ~1 mile to the bar.
When I first moved to my neighborhood I remember thinking six blocks away was a long walk, boy was I fresh out of suburbia driving life. Nowadays I don’t think twice to walk 3 miles (in nice weather) to visit friends, etc. Its a beautiful city too and you never know what you’ll find or see on the way. My latest favorite is a mural of Blago jogging under the I90/94 walking from LP to BT.
What happened to the penthouse units in this building? I recall that they sold/resold at huge price increases and smelled of major mortgage fraud. Does anyone know if they are in foreclosure?
In the process of purchasing a 3 bd 2.5 bath in this building. VERY spacious and includes two parking spots. The views are enough to make anyone speechless! Wondering if anybody knows about the other amenities, pool/deck/grills/etc….
What are people seeing now on units that are being sold in 33 W Ontario? Seems that deals will be comparable to what is being seen in 345 N Lasalle, another invsco property.
Assessments are high but prices are low. At what point do these units cashflow?
Any idea about the financials of the building? Not sure what the reserves are and the projected increase in assessments going ahead.
Looks like this unit sold for 330,000 dollars… I think they got a deal based on what all the other units are selling for and the way the unit is upgraded… dont think you can find a 2 bedroom in rivernorth for a better price…
Does anyone know their rent to own ratio? Can people get a loan for this building?
You can get a loan but you may need to put 25% down to get a good rate.
I’m probably already out 100K on my unit and assessment are super high. I purchased a couple years ago.
would I buy now? probably, but that’s because I got nailed even when the market was “cheap”.
You actually cant get a loan in this building right now… they are not freddy/fanny approved do the rent to owner occupied units. Even with 20% down and preappoval, the loan wont be able to close…