What Happens After the Developer Slashes Prices? 757 N. Orleans in River North
In September 2009, we chattered about the price cuts at the new construction high rise 757 N. Orleans in River North.
See our September 2009 chatter here.
A year later, there are still units for sale from the developer and an advertisement in the Sunday Tribune which says “dive in…to river north’s best financing.”
But what happens to the original purchasers who now, nearly 2 years after the first closings, want to sell?
This 2-bedroom unit, #911, is one of those.
The listing says the Southwest corner unit has been upgraded with dark espresso floors and a marble master bath.
The listing also says this tier is sold out.
The unit is now listed for $24,500 under the 2008 purchase price (if you include the parking).
Jeffrey Proctor at @Properties has the listing. See the pictures here.
Unit #911: 2 bedrooms, 2 baths, no square footage listed
- Sold in December 2008 for $459,500
- Originally listed in July 2010 for $405,000
- Currently listed at $405,000 (plus $30,000 for parking)
- Assessments of $456 a month (includes pool)
- Taxes are “new”
- Bedroom #1: 12×15
- Bedroom #2: 15×10
- Living room: 19×15
- Kitchen: 12×8
How timely that 911 is available!
“911 is a joke in your town.”
Sorry, had to be said.
This will not end well for the seller.
doesn’t this building fall under the “epic fail” adjective so commonly used on CC?
Y E S
nice place, god you guys this particular unit isn’t that bad, at least the unit isn’t facing the EL tracks, but the building is on a gross part of Chicago avenue but it also has a walgreens in the 1st floor which would be both awesome and sucky. good luck to the seller!
No, the unit is not that bad, but the developer is still trying to sell units, there is no decent grocery store within reasonable walking distance (horrible December-March), it’s a few blocks down from some seriously sketchy projects and there are scores of comparable places on the market that aren’t selling. The place is decent, but the days of the slightly upgraded cookie cutter 2/2 that is far from the Lake selling for $435k are over. This seller will be lucky to get $375k with parking. In case you have noticed because you’ve been reading too many of clio’s posts, this town is full of proles who couldn’t sniff the 20% down that any bank is going to require before underwriting a mortgage on this place.
House of pain. Don’t buy. Don’t buy. Don’t buy. House of pain. Sorry guys, I watched 2 minutes of Mad Money last night.
Perma Bear: Two words – Pea Pod!
And in the winter, having a Walgreens in the building could be very handy, esp. On flu-shot days. And I think they still sell Snuggies. 🙂
What should be the price of a 2/2 unit in one of these newer construction high rises like silver tower with parking. Should I pay 375k? I’m about a year out from buying, but I don’t want to lose money on this type of investment if I try to sell 8 years later. Thanks for the help!
Pea Pod is okay, I just like going to the store and Whole Foods would be a LOOONG walk from this place. That Walgreens will do nothing but attract poor people on those cold winter days – you’ll get sick just by going in there.
I don’t know where the market’s gonna settle on a place like Silver Tower or this. The units are decent, but the locations aren’t particularly great. I make decent money, not clio level or anything, but after living in Japan for a few years, I’m pretty worried about plunking down significant cash on RE during the middle of d-spiral. On the other hand, you never know when the cash that the printing press has thrown into the market is going to lead to inflation. If you’re staying for 8 years, anything under $400k with parking seems decent, you might lose some cash on the sale, but you’ll have lived in a nice condo for 8 years and with tax benefits and low interest rates, you shouldn’t be paying too much over rent parity on a monthly basis. The x-factor that has kept me on the sidelines is the City’s fiscal condition – I can overcome the d-spiral fear, but the fear of what will happen to property taxes to feed the city unions and keep services operational could be really ugly and has been enough to keep me firmly in the cash rich-real estate poor renter class rather than the cash poor-real estate rich owner class.
“911 is a joke in your town.”
Get up, get, get, get down.
Hats off to you, Madeline.
@permabear. i live almost 1.5 blocks west of orlean and a bit south and walk to whole foods regularly. it’s at huron and dearborn, only a few blocks away from this property. bitter cold? cab it for $6.
I live a few blocks south of this place and walk to the Jewel on State & Grand, Trader Joes on Ontario and State, all the time and if you have a car (this place does come with parking) there’s an awesome brand new jewel at Kinzie & Milwaukee with a huge parking lot no more than a 3 minute drive from here.
I think at sub 400k here with parking its a good deal and if you plan to live there 7+ years you’ll be fine and could minimally break even assuming you take good care of it
Selling after 2 years? I would expect to loose money no matter what market you are in.
great analysis of the RE market, Permabear. Lots of issues to weigh in the balance. Rates are indeed at historically low levels, and money-printing, confidence crisis, and inflation could arise and we’ll never see these rates again. That said, I think property values will continue to fall, but rates could rise during that period. Taxes and assessments have only one way to go and that’s up. If Chicago’s fiscal situation does get really bad, and the city gets rougher, a high rise offers great security.
There’s nothing wrong with being in the cash-rich real estate poor class. It’s a lot better than the people who got no down loans back in 2006, their mortgage payment is as much as they can pay, and now are way underwater. The only people who made money off condos were the realtors and bankers and other parties involved in all the sales transactions behind the scenes, unless you were lucky and timed your sale for summer of 2008.
UNIT LOOKS GREAT – I think the unit looks lovely. I understand that it’s a standard look among new condos and condo conversations, but I think it’s tastefully done. I love the look.
LOCATION ISN’T VERY GOOD – I understand that this type of thing is always relative. Some people are willing to walk 2 miles each way to buy groceries, some won’t walk 2 blocks. But I live on Chicago/State and I personally don’t walk west of Dearborn and never go west of LaSalle. The area just gets shady and quiet – more quiet than shady. On average, it’s a nuisance to hang out and live in that area. For that price, I would expect better location. Hey, it’s better location than South Loop but that’s not exactly the benchmark for excitement. Peapod was ok when I worked easy hours, but they are a pain in the butt when you work long hours.
PRICE IS EXPENSIVE – Rent around that area for a somewhat new 2 bd/ 2 bath is around $2,100. You’ll find more expensive rents, but not that far west on Chicago. If we assume that parking is $200/month, then we’d need to see the price come down to $355,000-$365,000 for unit AND parking to reach renter/owner parity (I’m taking mortgage, taxes, assessments into account). I feel bad for the seller, but I’m guessing he doesn’t need my pity. We’ve all got problems. Mine are probably worse than his.
What are peoples thoughts on this place now? About 70% sold. There is 1, one bedroom left in the layout that I like and I am contemplating buying. List price is 261K. Includes parking and storage.