Another South Loop High-Rise Begins Closings: 1629 S. Prairie
Another South Loop high rise, 1629 S. Prairie, is beginning to close on units that were sold in 2006.
Here are the building stats I could put togther from the MLS (out of 268 units):
- 138 for sale
- 7 for rent
Some may be both for sale AND for rent.
Some buyers are already on Craigslist trying to get sell their contracts before they have to close such as this buyer of a 2 bedroom plus den on the 25th floor:
This price is to buy our 10% downpayment on this unit. Per approval from the developer you will be assigned our purchase contract. Original purchase price was $547,500 (including garage space) plus $16,050 for upgrades. You will be required to pay $499,536.54 to the seller upon closing. Closing is currently scheduled for April 17th, 2009 but could potentially be pushed back with concurrence of sellers.
This equates to just under .50 cents on the dollar for our equity. My wife and I signed on to this project in 2006 and since then our family has expanded and we are unable to move into this unit.
There is no gimmick here. You’ll have 10% equity in the unit for the price of less than 5%. Currently the unit directly below is being marketed for a significantly higher price (see link below). And ours INCLUDES PARKING. You are getting the same unit for an $87,500 discount.
There are two pictures of the unit in the Craigslist ad. See it here.
Is a buyer getting a “deal” on this unit?
Some units are also already available for rent.
Unit #1308, a 1218 square foot 2/2, is available for $2100 a month (parking included).
Renate Martin at Coldwell Banker has the rental listing. See interior pictures here.
Compare renting with owning as Unit #1408, still available from the developer, is listed for sale for $380,500 (parking extra.)
See pictures of Unit #1408 here (the model unit).
Ralph Olivia at Coldwell Banker has all the developer’s listings.
The seller would need to pay the buyer of this contract hundreds of thousands of dollars.
“This equates to just under .50 cents on the dollar for our equity.”
LOL! Their equity is zero or potentially negative. So I guess this would be a sharing agreement on their equity if its a loss. The purchaser would be sharing the equity loss!
“My wife and I signed on to this project in 2006 and since then our family has expanded and we are unable to move into this unit.”
Another dumb breeder yup couple who can’t forecast even two years into the future. Does this guy even know how he got his gal preggo? Given his lack of forecasting I’m guessing not.
Heres to hoping they get stuck and their youngin has to goto the local non magnet S Loop public school. I bet grand-mammy and daddy bail them out at THAT point.
$16,050 for upgrades and it still has white appliances? Say what you want about SS and it looking cookie cutter, but nothing looks worse than that white stuff.
I’m rather amazed it has an undermount SS sink.
Bob, you have issues…. The amount of negativity you type is really impressive. I’m not perfect, don’t pretend to be, but seriously, I feel like the only thing you ever put on this board is negative crap about how everyone is a dumb-ass or stupid because they made a mistake…
get a life.
Jason R,
Is that your professional opinion as you’re “in the biz”, as they call it? Haha lol too bad..get back to your solitaire game d00d.
>dumb breeder yup couple
what does that even mean?
In Bob’s defense, spending half a million dollars isn’t something that should be taken lightly by someone in their mid-twenties, as this buyer did.
I don’t have much sympathy either for someone who was evidently planning on flipping this place shortly after closing to move into a bigger unit. If you’re about to start a family, don’t buy a condo that can’t sustain one as your primary residence.
Maybe they are like the Chinese couples who couldn’t conceive, were checked out and nothing was found wrong with them. Turns out they were doing it the wrong way – seriously.
They found this out after doctors finally asked them, “um, how are you having_ _ _?” and realized it was a non-conception method.
>dumb breeder yup couple
“what does that even mean?”
It means as soon as the first brat pops out they have to hightail it out to the burbs because thats what everyone else does and obviously “kids need grass”. Their family is expanding by one and they can’t make it work in this spacious condo? Their sense of entitlement is astounding.
Bob doesn’t have to worry about starting a family because he just has a cat. Don’t have to plan too far ahead with one of those there cat things. If its annoying, just throw it out on the street. Babies on the other hand, you can’t do that 🙁
Let me add: their sense of entitlement AND groupthink is astounding.
I can’t wait to follow this listing and see how their groupthink works out for them this time around. Remember only the first few waves of lemmings get pushed off the cliff, is it?
there are lots of breeder yup couples in Chicago, they’re called trixies and chads… unfortunately the Lincoln Park Chad Society page is down, but heres the wiki on a trixie:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trixie_(woman)
Did I miss something, where did it state that the seller in question is in their mid twenties, and for all anyone knows, maybe they did intend to have a kid in this place, but now she is prego with twins or trips… who the hell knows, none of us.
Perhaps they are taking care of a parent for health reasons…
So, according to this site, anyone who buys or sells real estate in Chicago is either a yuppie Trixie or Chad, or one of the much maligned “hipsters?”
Please.
“Perhaps they are taking care of a parent for health reasons…”
Sorry, epic fail. If I need to move to take care of a parent I wouldn’t be claiming my “family has expanded”. And you could easily raise twins in this place. I have a coworker raising twins in a smaller townhouse for $800/month, in an area with no yard *gasp*. Somehow they are managing to survive.
Or perhaps my stereotype and assumptions are right? Did that ever occur to you as a possibility? I made no presumptions about their age only their life situation and choices. Probably eats you up that I’ve pegged this demographic squarely. Its not too hard– they’re not particularly sophisticated and part of the collective groupthink that dominated RE buyers from 2003-2007. A hive-mind paradigm, if you well. There are tens of thousands more exactly like them. We call them FBs on here.
Stephen,
I followed your wikipedia link to Trixie. Pretty, Pretty funny.
I have to agree with some of the posts on here that just about everyone here is as negative as can be. Does everyone look at the glass half empty? Bob is on here as the most negative person, and you do seem to talk down to everyone. What exactly is this high powered 8 figure job you hold that allows you to write on here practically 24/7 and make fun of everyone?
ChrisT: don’t bring down the site by the comments of a few. Sabrina never said those things.
I’m guessing Bob is more right than wrong on this one, though.
I really do appreciate this site and the information given. However, ignorant comments and moronic speculation truly detract from the subject matter.
Maybe if everyone ignores Bob he will fade away. Bob, you must be really unhappy…
I think the problem with these typical split 2/2’s is the living room is always somewhat of an afterthought. Bedrooms opening to the living room is fine for a short term apartment, but it does not make this a home any one would want to stay in for the long term. If you were to take down the guest bedroom wall, this would make a decent 1 bedroom with room for LR furniture and a dining room.
As is, it just does not layout well or provide any privacy for its occupants.
Nice views though..
Bob doesn’t bother me at all. A few negative comments is just like preaching to the choir for me. If you don’t like the comments you don’t to read them. Just like a newspaper. You’re not forced to read every article, you look at the headline and skip the uninteresting ones. If you don’t like bobs or mine or anyone else’s comments scroll down a few lines and read someone else’s rant instead.
There are only two or three people on this site who seem perpetually filled with anger. The best thing to do is ignore them. I read maybe 10% at most of posts by those I have identified as rarely offering anything other than “what idiots! I hope they end up on the streets and their children get roughed up by gangs!”-type comments. This site is filled with genuinely interesting and helpful comments. But like any internet forum, it has its unpleasant denizens (and which ones are unpleasant is often in the eye of the beholder). I admire Sabrina for her hands-off approach, which I presume she’ll continue unless things really get out of hand.
my wife and I looked at this exact floor plan in one of the other museum park buildings. We loved the model we saw, but realized it literally had almost 100k in upgrades, as you can tell from what 16k in upgrades will *only* do. I think formica might have been standard in a 450k unit. I did like the additional den space so you don’t necessarily have to use a bedroom for an office, but as paulj had mentioned, it is the “living” space that we weren’t in love with. Also for a 2/2 I like some sort of entry, a unique experience when walking in the unit. . . not a kitchen on one side and a closet on the other, as so many units have.
i looked at this building and the best the sales agent could offer was “upgrades”. Haha, $300k for a 1bedroom? in your dreams. He scoffed at the notion that his 2bedrooms were due for 100k reductions, but hey, maybe its me who is delusional.
that said, it looks like a decent building. the hallways were rather unpleasant and dark when I visited, but maybe they hadn’t finished putting all the final touches yet (interior work is still being done). Nothing breathtaking, could probably find similarly priced comparable units in Tower IV for cheaper though.
I am thankful to be dating a girl who is terrified of having kids and never wants any.
No burbs for me! DINK!
Aside from all the “I hate your posts” chatter, the fact is they contracted into this agreement in 2006 thinking if housing goes the way it was that they would make a huge profit when they sold it. Surprise! Consider it a costly learning mistake and if anybody is willing to take up on this offer, they should email me and just hand me a few thousand instead.
For $500k there’s still a LOT of money that needs to be put into this place – an actual mirror in the master bath for instance. Also, I have never seen a master bathroom with just a shower and the 2nd bathroom with a tub. It’s usually the opposite. Weird.
The part of Sabrina’s post that really jumped out at me was the subtle fact that 138 out of 268 units are listed for sale… over 50%!?? Not good…
I can’t imagine this is going to work out well for these sellers.
This is one of the major things that went wrong with the real estate market in the first place.
a buyer putting about 10 % down for a condo as an investment, thinking, “hey, maybe we can sell this for 700k in 2 years if the market continues at this rate”…market crashes, condo isn’t a very good deal for 550k….panic at the thought of paying the not so friendly mortgage ( must be high with such a low downpayment ), high assesments, taxes, and moving into a building full of flippers and rentals…
same problem everywhere. i don’t think its a “steal” for 500k. 500k can buy a lot nowadays. drop this to 399 and they’d probably have better luck.
This building is going to have problems. The developers sold the units pre-construction a the height of the boom. The developer was willing to sign a contract with anyone who would could their own home for a 10% down payment. Now that mortgage companies require a 20% down payment a lot of these wannabe flippers are stuck holding the bag. There is no mortgage contingency in the sales contract leaving them two choices: come up with 10% more for a down payment or walk away from their 10% deposit. In most cases the wannabe flippers (or liars in the case above) cannot come up with the extra 10% so they’re resorting to schemes like this or putting it up for sale like the other 138 units. It doesn’t bode well for the building when everyone is trying to get out as quickly as they got in.
above should read “with anyone who could HELOC their own home for a 10% down payment.”
People get emotionally attached to their down payments. You just gotta walk away. Consider yourself lucky that you didn’t close yet.
Yes, there is plenty of blame to go around for the housing bubble and consequent economic collapse that is coinciding with its popping. With that said…
Whether or not this specific anecdote is an exception or not (perhaps they were blackmailed?), the general assertion that people LIKE this caused many of the problems we are now experiencing is both dead-on accurate and completely lost on most of the population (not to mention some of the posters here). Real estate is priced at the margin and I have only slightly less sympathy for the greedy than the stupid (ok, brainwashed).
I don’t think the specific anecdotes cited here should be personally vilified because 1) we have no way of knowing who the exceptions are and even if we did, 2) it is inappropriate and clearly out of Sabrina’s bounds. So, I have no arguments with anyone there.
However, the first thing that comes to mind when I read a complaint about too much pessimism or negativity is that the person protesting JUST DOESN’T GET IT!
In my opinion, if you read this story and don’t get at least a little bit angry then there is something wrong with you. This economic collapse was not caused by a blameless act of nature; it was caused in no small part by people LIKE these sellers. This is a textbook case.
John
The problem is an unknown number of people, although anecdotally I’d say it’s a significant number, borrowed against their own home to obtain a down payment to buy the luxury investment condo. If they walk away from the down payment on the condo they’re still stuck paying for the HELOC with interest, which means that they’re really paying double and triple the down payment over time if they just walk away. They need to recover something, anything, because walking away really is about the worst option available.
“They need to recover something, anything, because walking away really is about the worst option available.”
They will lose a whole heck of a lot more than 10% if they close on this place. Of course if enough buyers walk the developer will default on the construction loan and we will all get to buy overpriced preferred shares with our tax dollars to recapitalize the bank, HooRah!
John
“The problem is an unknown number of people, although anecdotally I’d say it’s a significant number, borrowed against their own home to obtain a down payment to buy the luxury investment condo.”
It’s simpler than that HD. Even those who didn’t borrow to get the deposit “can’t afford” to just walk away from $50k, especially when their investment/retirement portfolio is down 50%, even if they really, really should. And they have sellers (developers) vaguely threatening legal action to force them to close on the purchase–even tho specific performance is a very unlikely remedy–and that makes people do more dumb things.
“Of course if enough buyers walk the developer will default on the construction loan and we will all get to buy overpriced preferred shares with our tax dollars to recapitalize the bank, HooRah!”
And we’ll end up with a lot of “luxury” Section 8 housing.
A buyer can force a seller to sell; a seller cannot force a buyer to buy. All real estate is unique. Money damages does not remedy a buyer; it only remedies a seller. Nobody will be suing this developer for specific performance.
“They need to recover something, anything, because walking away really is about the worst option available.”
The thing is, the down payment is already gone, assuming the price of their purchase fell by $50K. Either way, you already lost $50K (i.e, sunk cost). So the question really is, do you want the new mortgage payment, assessments and taxes, and to own a asset that is decreasing in value?
“And they have sellers (developers) vaguely threatening legal action to force them to close on the purchase”
This is laughable and can’t be taken seriously.
“Nobody will be suing this developer for specific performance.”
Of course no one would need to sue the developer–any developer would *love* to close on any signed contract (including Trump on the temporarily rescinded friends and family contracts) right now. It has been suggested that **developers** are implying to contracted buyers that the *developer* could force the buyer to close. I’ve been trying to disabuse everyone of the notion that that is even possible in a residential context (in a commercial context, it’s possible, but almost always prohibited by the contract).
This came up in one of the RD 659 discussions–some of the contracted buyers were discussing the developer suggesting that it would seek to force them (or others–I forget if it was second-hand or not) to close–with a clear implication (or did someone actually post that the developer suggested it was a potential remedy?) of seeking specific performance in court.
“This is laughable and can’t be taken seriously.”
I know that. Some of the RD 659 contracted buyers were discussing it as if it weren’t. And remember, many, mnay, many of the contracted buyers are not sophisticated RE purchasers–there is a reason why people make vague, baseless threats in business transactions, sometimes they work and there’s no downside, so long as you’re vague and you don’t put it in writing.
It’s a corralary to something I always say–if you don’t ask, the answer is already “no”. If the developer doesn’t imply that they have remedies beyond the deposit, there’s no chance of closing someone who’s about to walk away. Dirty pool? Yep. Understandable? You bet.
“So, according to this site, anyone who buys or sells real estate in Chicago is either a yuppie Trixie or Chad, or one of the much maligned “hipsters?””
Aren’t most of the posters and properties featured here loosely meeting these definitions? Even if we/they don’t want to… (admit it)….
The whole hipster thing passed me by. I don’t get it.
especially the tight skinny jeans on the dudes. its disgusting
I am more the ‘Lakeview drunk’ stereotype. But I do have a lot of similarities with the Chads. I like Trixies, I have to be clean cut for work, I like to get drunk and watch football, I like 80s cover bands when wasted, I wish I was still in a frat, etc. I’m much more dressed down than the Northface crowd though and I drive a Honda not a Jetta.
And I despise hipsters too, except for the rare hipster girl who isn’t inked up yet like an old sailor. Good thing the hipsters tend to mostly congregate west of the river. STAY OUT OF MY LAKEFRONT COMMUNITY, LEBOWSKI!
I too have to be clean cut for work Bob but I differ from you in that i don’t like 80’s cover bands, I never wished I was in a frat and I’m sick of the supposed cultural superiority of the north side lakefront neighborhoods with the rest of the midwestern transplants.
Speaking of hipsters I saw one get off at the logan stop the other day. she had inked onto her chest below her neck the words “abide by me” I don’t know what that means or why anyone would ever be compelled to tattoo themselves with such a ridiclous phrase.
“especially the tight skinny jeans on the dudes. its disgusting”
I wanna know how the hell that is even somewhat remotely comfortable… It can’t possibly be, unless they have vaginas?
That’s why I wear em baggy and half off my ass. Now that, my friend, is comfort.
I was already too old to be a yuppie when the term was first introduced. I’m perceived more as an old fart.
“>dumb breeder yup couple
what does that even mean?”
“Breeder” is a term that gay people use to describe heterosexuals, I’ve never heard a straight person use it, not that there is anything wrong with that.
I have this bldg at 274 units (11 per 7-30th floors, 10 on 31st.)
The 138 active listings all appear to belong to the developer. There have been 57 closings to date and 76 are currently pending. However, #1701 is shown as both active and pending. The remaining four units are not currently active from the developer (expired/cancelled.)
The remaining developer units appears to total 142 (52%.) Add in those among the 76 pending that will likely not close due to the saving grace of their inability to obtain financing or just plain cutting their losses. Closings began 12/16/08 and it appears they have slowed. The 76 pending represent contracts dated in the following years: 2006 = 50, 2007 = 15, 2008 = 9, 2009 = 2. We will have to wait to see how many close.
I would guess that recent buyers will be similarly vetroed as those at the neologistic fount: http://cribchatter.com/?p=6399#comment-30222