Did a Price Reduction Get a Contract for this Streeterville Penthouse? 270 E. Pearson
This 3-bedroom penthouse in The Belvedere, at 270 E. Pearson in Streeterville has been on the market since March 2010.
After price reductions totaling $251,000, including another $100,000 reduction just last week, the unit has now gone under contract.
It is listed for $919,000 over the 2006 purchase price.
The Belvedere is a luxury boutique condo building with just 42 units.
7 of them are currently on the market.
There are just two penthouses in the building and this one was the only one on the market.
It has 800 square feet of outdoor space, including a 33×20 terrace and a balcony.
The duplex unit has a second floor great room measuring 28×21.
There are 12 foot ceilings throughout and a custom kitchen.
Caroline Druker at Baird & Warner has the listing. See the pictures here.
Unit #16E: 3 bedrooms, 3.5 baths, 3613 square feet
- Sold in June 2006 for $2.58 million
- Originally listed in March 2010 for $3.75 million
- Reduced twice
- Currently listed for $3.499 million (includes 2 parking spaces)
- Under contract shortly after latest reduction
- Assessments of $3163 a month (includes gas, doorman)
- Taxes of $25,333
- Bedroom #1: 17×12 (main level)
- Bedroom #2: 15×13 (main level)
- Bedroom #3: 15×12 (main level)
Great Unit, and love the location…… congrats to the seller………… It appears that the best upper end units are starting to move. The 600 n fairbanks duplex penthouse sold in december over last purchase price…….
Is Clio right……….. buy the right unit in the right location and you will be fine?
3.5 million for that? i’m not very impressed
That 2006 purchase was per the contract signed 8/10/04. An important distinction since the flipper of the larger PH next door was able to contract 3/11/05 at $3.185M, close 10/20/05, and resell at $3.78M on 11/30/05 contract closed 12/21/05. In other words, this was worth a lot more at the peak than the purchase price indicates.
There were 30 condo sales at $3M+ in Chicago in 2010, 12 of which were in the Elysian.
i like that little area in there with the park/running track.
i’d live there…good location, imho.
still surprising that this one is going for ~$900/SF. at least to me.
Great unit and great location, pretty decorating
“i’d live there…good location, imho. ”
But, would you live there for free, but having to pay the taxes and assessments?
“But, would you live there for free, but having to pay the taxes and assessments?”
yeah its a deal at “only” $5274 a month
lol
Thanks Sabrina for providing a very balanced selection of properties. I don’t think anybody would argue that you do an incredible job with this site!!!!!
I think you will be seeing a lot more sales on this level. I keep telling you guys that there are thousands of people out there with ridiculous money -you will soon see……
In terms of this property, I am surprised that it sold at such a high price. There are so many choices out there I wonder what was it about this particular unit that appealed to this buyer. I know one thing – this would be somewhat out of my comfort level/price range
“I don’t think anybody would argue that you do an incredible job with this site!!!!!”
I, for one, would.
I bet Joe Zekas would argue that too…
“I bet Joe Zekas would argue that too…”
I’m being a pedantic, annoying literalist. As usual.
You apparently also learned your reading comp at the Lab School (and also can take the jab, I think).
Anon -come on. Be serious -Sabrina does an incredible job with the properties she showcases – almost all lead to very entertaining and stimulating conversations!!! You can’t argue with that
Ohh – I get it. Yeah – it’s not just reading comprehension i also have problems with grammar, spelling, vocabulary, etc. – I wonder why….
@Clio,
I think anon was kidding…… you know him, has to nitpick/disagree on every point made…
“has to nitpick/disagree on every point made…”
and follow it up with lots of (,),*,_,@,footnotes and headers
he’s like reading a dictionary
I actually appreciate anon and anyone else pointing out mistakes – how else are we going to learn? I hope everyone’s ego can handle it – I know mine can!!!!!
Please, let’s not blame Lab School for Clio’s difficulties with grammar, diction, comprehension, or irony. Calculation…maybe.
Question:
Pray tell, child, how do you purchase a $2,500,000 Penthouse Unit in one of Chicago’s toniest neighborhoods?
Answer:
You visit National City bank and borrow $2,361,280 of the $2,500,000…..
5% down on a $2.5 mil house should make even the most profligate among us blush….
Those vintage 2006 loans were absolutely mind boggling analyzing them in retrospect…
National City, WaMu and Countrywide made some pretty sweet ‘loans’ back in the days.
I got a perfect 800 on my math SAT (I won’t tell u what I got on the verbal portion). Actually, funny story is that I scored in the 98-99th percentile on all of the sections of the mcat except reading comprehension – I scored in the 38th percentile on that. Thank god the medical schools attributed that to an error in the exam ( I told them that my answers were one off when I was filling out that section)
Hd – how do you think the new owners are financing it? I don’t blame the buyers for putting little money down – that is what all the lenders were telling people to do. They all made me felt stupid for putting anything more down – several lenders told me that I was an idiot and that I should use that money to either buy more property or invest it in the stock market.
Do U of C profs get a big preference (really big? guaranteed in some/many cases?) in getting kids into Lab?
Dz – not sure why u r asking but I don’t think it is hard at all to get in. It definitely helps seal the deal if your parents are affiliated with the university …
“reading comprehension – I scored in the 38th percentile on that”
Yet, you were quick to scream “flip floppers” at Bob and me yesterday over separate issues that were clearly the result of your comprehension problem.
“Do U of C profs get a big preference (really big? guaranteed in some/many cases?) in getting kids into Lab?”
Yes. Also half-price tuition (latter is good for anyone who works for the university: nurses, janitors, profs, secretaries, etc).
DZ, no, profs do not get a guarantee for their kids anymore due to demand. They do leave spaces open to lure star profs, but run of the mill don’t get necessarily get in. If any staff’s kids get in, it is because there husband is a US Senator destined to become Prez. It is nearly impossible to get in these days.
Here you go:
http://www.chicagomaroon.com/2009/6/1/how-do-you-get-into-the-lab-school
Sorry G- I was in a really bad mood yesterday doing my taxes and seeing how much my income has dropped!!!!!! But I’m back to normal today – going to celebrate finishing by going to happy hour at the Four Seasons in an hour!!!
I can say im still trying to purchase properties with as little money down as possible, and i dont see why not!
I mean except if the pricing doesnt work out with a subsequent higher interest rate. For example on the 3 unit i bought I was debating between FHA 3.5% and Portfolio 10% down no PMI in below market rate (3.92, when market was 4.3). In the end the numbers worked out to that on the additional money i put down to get to that 10% downpayment I made an 18% guaranteed annual return in savings in my monthly mortage + PMI payment.
I think if you are planning on selling properties in the short term it just makes more sense to buy with as little down as possible.
I’ll provide an example, you buy a property for 100k and you know you can sell it for 120k in 6 months.
If you buy it with 5k down you are getting a 400% return on that 5k (minus closing costs on purchase and sale)
If you buy it with 20k down you are getting only a 100% return on your 20k (minus all the costs which would likely eat up all the profit)
G – I didn’t think the lab school was that good at all. Look at placement and compare it with new trier, hinsdale central, etc . If you want to compare to other private schools look at phillips Exeter, Andover, sidwell friends, etc. My parents wanted my kids to go to the lab school but thank god I didn’t do it – expensive and way way way too liberal!!!!!!
“Also half-price tuition (latter is good for anyone who works for the university: nurses, janitors, profs, secretaries, etc).”
I believe that is free tuition for profs. Also free tuition for their kids to go anywhere to college (capped at UofC tuition, at least it used to be.) The half price lab school for staff is a carrot on a stick that will always be out of reach since they do not let them in. I think there was a longtime employee who complained in recent years about this and forced changes in the employee manual in how they worded this “benefit.”
Homedelete,
You are clueless about RE. No bank is going to do a 95%LTV at this level of loan amount.
And what is the point of the posting? The unit has still sold at a very good level of appreciation. Why? Because, one may like it or not like the aesthetics of it, it is a unique piece of property.
Everything has a price, and unique is expensive. Bottom feeders like homedelete, will never understand that very fact, unfortunately.
“DZ, no, profs do not get a guarantee for their kids anymore due to demand. They do leave spaces open to lure star profs, but run of the mill don’t get necessarily get in. If any staff’s kids get in, it is because there husband is a US Senator destined to become Prez. It is nearly impossible to get in these days.”
Hm, this was certainly not the case a few years ago. Due to my line of work, I know a large number of U of C profs and have never heard of anyone’s kid not getting in. It’s true that none of the kids entered in the last 3 years or so…perhaps things have drastically changed?
The Maroon article does seem to answer DZ’s question affirmatively, tho:
”
But as Newman points out, part of the Lab’s mission is—and always has been—to educate the children of U of C faculty. The admissions philosophy is to accept faculty-affiliated applicants whenever possible, which occasionally it is not. Some priority-one applicants, particularly in high school admissions, appear unprepared for the school’s rigor, and in those cases Newman and his staff help the families look for alternative choices.
”
So, basically, they pretty much all get in, with rare exceptions, esp for older kids.
Sorry G- I was in a really bad mood yesterday doing my taxes and seeing how much my income has dropped!!!!!! But I’m back to normal today – going to celebrate finishing by going to happy hour at the Four Seasons in an hour!!!
Clio, will your lambo be parked in front……. I could use a pick me up today!
Thanks all on Lab School. Really just very idle curiosity.
“If you want to compare to other private schools look at phillips Exeter, Andover, sidwell friends, etc. My parents wanted my kids to go to the lab school but thank god I didn’t do it – expensive and way way way too liberal!!!!!!”
More expensive/liberal than Exeter/Andover/Sidwell? Also, as challenging as clio can be to get along with at times, I’m fearful of what will happen with CLIO!!!!!
clio, according to my link above
“The Wall Street Journal recently ranked the Upper School as the fourth-best private “feeder” school in the nation, sending more of its graduates to top colleges than famed prep schools like Philips Andover in Massachusetts and Stuyvesant High School in New York City.”
“Sorry G- I was in a really bad mood yesterday doing my taxes and seeing how much my income has dropped!!!!!!”
That’s funny and acceptable. Even I wouldn’t call all of your madness yesterday “typical.” But you did give me a lot of material to work with, that’s for sure.
G – I don’t get it. When I graduated in the early mid eighties, placement wasn’t as good as I thought it would be. Many went to mediocre colleges (colleges that they certainly would have gotten into had they gone to a less expensive school). I have to dig it up when I get back home tomorrow..
Doesn’t anyone else see the irony of buying a $2,500,000 Penthouse yet putting only 5% down? It was a 80/15/5 loan. Which is basically a very high paying job with close to zero net worth. Maybe this was an option arm loan too? Who knows@
Dz – yeah I have to use my iPad (hence the all caps) because when gooiest downtown thiis afternoon my wireless connection wasn’t working – I really think the doormen and staff have it out for me here because they were snickering when I was complaining about it. Oh well – and they wonder why I didn’t give them a tip during the holidays
Valasko – I can’t drink and drive so it is parked in the garage already… Sorry – but I’ll drive it by your work tomorrow morning when I head back to the burbs.
“I believe that is free tuition for profs. Also free tuition for their kids to go anywhere to college (capped at UofC tuition, at least it used to be.) ”
Again, this is not my experience. Half off Lab tuition officially (tho in practice they can always just up the salary offer for new hires), and 75% of college tuition.
Of course, it’s possible the profs are just downplaying/hiding their benefits! Who could forget poor Prof. Henderson and his punishing tax burden?
“I don’t get it. When I graduated in the early mid eighties, placement wasn’t as good as I thought it would be. Many went to mediocre colleges (colleges that they certainly would have gotten into had they gone to a less expensive school). I have to dig it up when I get back home tomorrow..”
Take a look at the performance of any of the “elite” schools. Not as good as you’d think.
Lab School is definitely NOT free for U of C profs. They only get 50% off (and only for primary tuition, i.e. 8:30-2:30pm). Plus tuition has increased 6% every year for the last 4 years and seems set to do so indefinitely, which will soon wipe out the tuition benefit in real terms since faculty salaries are stagnant. After school programs are full price.
Hd – this was what all the lenders were advising to do in the mid 2000s. If you had a sustainable income in the mid 6 figures, the world was your oyster. Seriously, anything over 500k and they would approve you for anythimg!
Valasko – I can’t drink and drive so it is parked in the garage already… Sorry – but I’ll drive it by your work tomorrow morning when I head back to the burbs.
YES………. what time?…………………….. I will look at a picture on the internet to hold until morning…….. THANKS
Dz, my son was a student at one of the elite boarding schools out east and you would be amazed at the ivy league placement – wellmover 30percent with an additional 30 percent going to good schools (ie u of c, michigan) and the rest going to mediocre schools (such as northwestern, wash u)…… Ok the bait is set…
“my son was a student at one of the elite boarding schools out east and you would be amazed at the ivy league placement – wellmover 30percent with an additional 30 percent going to good schools (ie u of c, michigan) and the rest going to mediocre schools (such as northwestern, wash u)…… Ok the bait is set…”
I have seen the numbers. Among other things, I believe anon summarized them the last time this case up. Yes plenty go to good schools (maybe a much bigger proportion than Lab, I dunno) but I thought your concern was kids going to what you would call mediocre schools (frankly, plenty lower than NW etc.) they could have gotten in anyway, and there’s certainly plenty of that at Exeter/Andover.
“good schools (ie u of c, michigan) and the rest going to mediocre schools (such as northwestern, wash u)…… Ok the bait is set…”
haha, you can do better than that, clio-san!
I don’t know dz – I cant remember anyone really going anywhere good in my class. I was in the top twenty and I think only one or two went to Barbara, one went to Stanford, and a couple went to other good ICUs but the rest went to second tier schools.
My iPad won’t let me type harvard with a capital h – it keeps changing it to barbara!!!! WTF???
Oh and ivy – not icu
Last I checked Lab School for profs’ kids was 50% tuition; for college, it was as G says, 100% (that is, up to U of C’s own price). Might have dropped by now… it is a mind boggling benefit, and one that has lured more than one person I know to teach there.
“If any staff’s kids get in, it is because there husband is a US Senator destined to become Prez.”
Um, BO, as “senior lecturer” at the law school probably qualified as “faculty”.
“My iPad won’t let me type harvard with a capital h – it keeps changing it to barbara!!!! WTF???”
Wow, that’s some serious passive-aggressive Bill-Gates-hate.
Clio–I fucking hate my iPad for this and many other reasons. I’d sell it but I’m lazy and it’s useful at hotels and airports.
anon (tfo) — that’s funny. 🙂
“Last I checked Lab School for profs’ kids was 50% tuition; for college, it was as G says, 100% (that is, up to U of C’s own price). Might have dropped by now… it is a mind boggling benefit, and one that has lured more than one person I know to teach there.”
The tuition at another school thing is a common benefit at private unis. Many of them have a reciprocity agreement on the matter.
Roma, not surprised if they have changed. 100% reimb made more sense when undergrad tuition was under 10 grand and lab under 7, IIRC.
“Many of them have a reciprocity agreement on the matter.”
Holy crap, that jars loose a memory from college employment. Yes, they do.
Very nice place, but it begs a question I’ve always had:
Why IS is that people who buy vintage places have to open them up and “modernize” them and clean-wall them to death and fill them with track lights and super clinical baths and make them light and bright, while other folks get a modern place and fit it with vintage details and stuff it with knock-off period furniture? Why didn’t these people buy a vintage place to begin with?
My mother remarked that there are two classes of people who buy houses: people who like vines allover the walls and people who don’t, and they’re always buying each other’s properties.
Go figure.
But 100% is very unusual. Northwestern comes nowhere close to that, for instance.
Oh, and since I suppose I should write *something* about this unit–great location! 🙂 But I, too, am amazed it could fetch a price like this. I know the Belvedere is one of those stealth, well-built rich-people buildings… but I still think it’s boring.
Laura, for a truly unique vintage place that hasn’t been remotely clean walled, how about this one? http://www.chicagomag.com/Radar/Deal-Estate/September-2009/A-Three-Way-at-Carl-Street-Studios/ Price is now down to a low, low 1.8 million!
“Um, BO, as “senior lecturer” at the law school probab qualified as “faculty””
So, it remains unanswered whether or not the kids of a staff member whose husband is a US Senator destined to become Prez would even get in.
“Which is basically a very high paying job with close to zero net worth. Maybe this was an option arm loan too? Who knows@”
maybe the person wanted a HUGE tax deduction? what level does that phase out at?
also ipads…. gosh let me just say i’m not surprised clio has one
“while other folks get a modern place and fit it with vintage details and stuff it with knock-off period furniture? Why didn’t these people buy a vintage place to begin with? ”
They don’t want to deal with the old floors/layout/maintenance/etc?
Agreed on the abominable open spaces, track lighting, in vintage spaces. But, to get all anon-y for a second, it raises the question, it doesn’t beg it.
“My iPad won’t let me type harvard with a capital h – it keeps changing it to barbara!!!! WTF???”
You are a prole sheeple prone consumerist, Kenworthey. Why would you want to deviate from the herd and type something like Harvard? Stick with barbara.
When clio wrote this originally, I thought he was referring to UC-Santa Barbara, and I was thoroughly perplexed.
OK, Bob. Thanks for the advice!
Speaking of HPK (via Lab), would this be a good example of a vintage renovation? I’ll take it!!
What was this place on the market for previously?
http://www.redfin.com/IL/Chicago/4937-S-Woodlawn-Ave-60615/home/13950809
p.s. wtf is that little flatscreen doing on top of the mantle, tho???
mantel, sorry…
roma–it’s gorgeous. But don’t you think it’s about a million dollars overpriced? Take a look at zillow and see the values of the neighborhood. (Yeah, yeah, zillow… Still.)
“maybe the person wanted a HUGE tax deduction? what level does that phase out at?”
$1mm. And, if they had the real income to service that mortgage, a substantial phase out.
Kenworthey – probably, i don’t know the multimillion-dollar kenwood mansion market very well. i was offering clio’s or westloop’s money!
I am no expert on over a million dollar condos, but honestly this is so uninteresting. I cannot see why would any one pay so much for this?!
Oh and the decor is so cheesy Crates and Barrel or whatever it is called.
Roma – Love that place on Woodlawn, nice size lot, great street presence but most importantly it looks like a they did a great vintage renovation. Kept what was important and what rooms they did gut they did a very nice job with understated finishes…. and you’ve got to appreciate properties with big coach houses.
Taking a quick look at comparables I would say it needs to take a couple big cuts before getting picked up unfortunately.
This thread has me laughing. Excellent riposte Kenworthy. (I think Bob has a little crush on you)
a little surprised that clio labeling nu mediocre did not provoke an immediate response by wildcats. last couple times he did that it only took a few minutes for one to pounce. good stuff clio, glad you got past yesterdays crabbiness.
“Of course, it’s possible the profs are just downplaying/hiding their benefits! Who could forget poor Prof. Henderson and his punishing tax burden?”
Sadly for Prof. Henderson he was concerned about the wrong level of government giving him a tax increase. With the recent 2% / 67% increase in the Illinois income tax, I can only assume his gardener and housekeeper have one less customer.
Isn’t this the building that Hossa lives in?
What’s so great about this place? $900-$1,000 per sf?
It has wood floors, some nice paint colors, crown molding, some built-ins flanking the fireplace, a very good (not great) kitchen, some good bathrooms, etc. All in all, it’s not finished that much better than a typical Southport McCrapbox. Actually, I think these photos would be good to save for rehabbers to use as prototypes for higher end rehabs, because these finishes & interior construction while nice are not that expensive or elaborate. That’s it, this place is nice, but it’s not “elaborate” enough to be in the $1000 psf range.
FUnny, I kinda agree with Dan. There are aspects I really like about this place but something about the construction says model townhome to me. Even the kitchen which I want to like the brick backsplash and how it juxtaposes to the neighboring family room wall sans separation bothers me.
Ok wake and bake time and off to play cowboy. Y’all have a nice week!
Hossa’s unit is two floors lower, which is probably a totally different experience.
Hoss has 3,940 sqft vs. 16E’s 3,613 sqft, which is probably a totally different experience.
Hoss paid 2.35m ($596/sqft) last May, vs. 16E’s 3.5m current ask ($968/sqft), which is a totally different experience.
But the differences are probably so worth it: just imagine, living in the PH, looking down on the people 2 floors below you who, okay, may have paid less money for more space, but . . . the differences, like pressing the elevator-button for the top floor—that’s 16, not 14. Huge difference.
And whatever it cost, it’s worth it, just ask the CCers who “hate to be the bearer of bad news” but pronounce contrary opinions, like Dan’s, to be that of “an idiot“; or ask those who think “Bottom feeders like homedelete will never understand” that 16E is “a unique piece of property“, that “unique is expensive.”
There’s no disputing those facts, that logic. So naysayers should save themselves from ignominy and recant their prior opinions.
Seems like the REAL comparison here should be among the Big 3 private schools in Chicago!
How do Lab, Parker and Latin stack up against one another?
And should we maybe include Sacred Heart in Rogers Park in the mix?
Clio, 30th percentiles on the mcat verbal!! You can do better than that! Verbal reasoning is the most important section…I don’t think med schools would accept you today with a score in that range 😀
And I’m sorry everybody, when Clio says a high end property may be out of his comfort zone, it’s definitely very overpriced.., I don’t see the charm
Of this place for this pricetag..
I think I’ll buy the very best house in all of Harvey, IL, so I can be king!! It’s worth it, mentally.
“But the differences are probably so worth it: just imagine, living in the PH, looking down on the people 2 floors below you who, okay, may have paid less money for more space, but . . . the differences, like pressing the elevator-button for the top floor—that’s 16, not 14. Huge difference.”
hd,
It looks like the owner of 16E bought a cheap call option 8/10/04, well before the bubble had peaked, that by the time of closing in June 06 was, according to G, deep in the money.
As per your comment @ LTV, what would you or G guess was 16E’s value in June 06, not 8/10/04? (And factor in that G says 16W had more sqft.)
If 16E was worth, what?, ~3.5m at close, then its new owner had ~ a cool million in (paper) profit before even moving-in (G’s point again), thus making the LTV at close ~ 68%, which if true would distinguish this as one of NCB’s all-too-rare good loans.
As per your mention of irony, if the internet can be trusted — and why not trust it, when it makes gossiping so much more fun? — it appears 16E’s owner worked at an investment bank that collapsed spectacularly in Sept 08 from — what else? — their inability to fund their overleveraged holdings of illiquid RE & PE assets.
National City Bank, her lender, collapsed a few weeks after her employer! So the bubble’s bursting killed not only her employer but also her lender!, leaving her presumably unscathed with a large unrealized profit on 16E — if she can close this sale.
But the ho-hum trade I really like is the one G noted above, in which (it appears) the “hot money” guys (Clio’s friends?) lifted the offer on 16W and then flipped it a few weeks later to a man who, before the bubble popped, had made big money at Deutsche Bank running their CDO & bond correlation trading (!!), the latter of which produced spectacular losses at DB about a year after 16W’s new owner had moved to Chicago, where he joined a prominent hedge fund that was also was on its deathbed in Nov. 08 from — what else? — correlation trades gone bad.
So the two different owners of penthouses 16W and 16E, have so far produced an awesome, enviable record of skirting the disasters & bombs detonating all around them, that — who knows? — they may have even helped lay. Now that’s trading!
Interesting synopsis wojo. If this weren’t cribchatter I might confuse your post for a snippet of a Rolling Stones article by Matt T. And I mean that as a compliment.
After Lehman collapsed, the owner took a job at another i bank and then moved over to Mesirow. Funny there’s a Mesirow employee in my area who last yer bought a million and a half dollar home with a half a million dollars down. Must be nice to have that kind of money and job security in this economy. Like a guy I know who says that when you can flash that kind of money, there’s a good chance you’re stealing it. In this case, the money is coming directly or indirectly through the taxpayer as it trickles up from my wallet into theirs.
“Now that’s trading!”
Now that’s entertainment. Thanks, wojo.
Wow, great posts. Thanks for the info and analysis wojo.
is the owner also now a bigshot at the cta? or just a namesake
same name, different person.
wojo: in the 3rd most taxed unit in this building, on floor 15, dwells a former Federal Reserve president. They could rename the building, Bailout Plaza.
Just as all the members and progeny of Chinese Communist party receive the best perks in life, in the America, those with connections to the financial world and investment banking receive the same.
“And whatever it cost, it’s worth it, just ask the CCers who “hate to be the bearer of bad news” but pronounce contrary opinions, like Dan’s, to be that of “an idiot“; or ask those who think “Bottom feeders like homedelete will never understand” that 16E is “a unique piece of property“, that “unique is expensive.” ”
The Zagat style brought to CC. Kudos.
NCB was clueless, not me. Look at the county records. 95% financed. Look it up yourself.
“AndrewT on January 19th, 2011 at 4:32 pm
Homedelete,
You are clueless about RE. No bank is going to do a 95%LTV at this level of loan amount. “
“NCB was clueless, not me. Look at the county records. 95% financed. Look it up yourself. ”
I think there’s some time line problem in this dispute. Yeah, no bank is doing a 95% LTV at $2mm+ NOW, but in Jun-06, I’m only surprised it wasn’t 110%.
In 1980, DuPage County was the 3rd richest county in America, today it’s not close to being in the Top 10. Among the tops today are all the VA and MD counties surrounding Wash DC, home of our massive Fed Gvt.!!
“Just as all the members and progeny of Chinese Communist party receive the best perks in life, in the America, those with connections to the financial world and investment banking receive the same.”
@Laura,
“Why IS is that people who buy vintage places have to open them up and “modernize” them and clean-wall them to death and fill them with track lights and super clinical baths and make them light and bright, while other folks get a modern place and fit it with vintage details and stuff it with knock-off period furniture? Why didn’t these people buy a vintage place to begin with? ”
Great comment, but here’s a subtle distinction: I think it is absolutely ridiculous to buy for instance a Mies and then do a victorian, I simply do not understand people who do that. When it comes to vintage though, a decent renovation should mean “improvement”, with new and improved materials, new technology, etc. Check out this issue of Dwell to see some well renovations with thr right philisophy in mind.
“I think there’s some time line problem in this dispute. Yeah, no bank is doing a 95% LTV at $2mm+ NOW, but in Jun-06”
Agreed. I thought he was talking about the last purchase.
forgot the link sorry!
http://www.dwell.com/magazine/renovate-reuse-recycle.html
I found Lab school to be much more intellectually interesting than college and grad school. I didn’t have a parental connection to the University. I hope if I ever have kids, I can get them in. I would definitely opt for Lab over even paying for an Ivy League college eduction.