Can You Make Money Buying a Chicago Condo? 345 N. LaSalle in River North
This 3-bedroom in The Sterling at 345 N. LaSalle in River North came on the market in May 2019.
The Sterling was built in 2001 as apartments before it was quickly converted into condos due to the condo craze that was going on at the time.
It has 389 units, an outdoor pool, and an attached rental parking garage.
Many of the units were sold in their original apartment condition, including with carpeting as that was common in apartments at that time.
If you bought a unit above the 20th floor you could buy the “upgrade” package for the kitchen which included granite counter tops. (These were the “view” units and were priced higher than the lower floors.)
This 3-bedroom is on the 39th floor.
It has an unusual feature as it has marble floors in the living/dining room, the kitchen and in the third bedroom.
There is carpet in the other two bedrooms.
The listing describes the master bathroom as “luxury” with a steam shower and double vanity.
It has the features buyers look for including central air, washer/dryer in the unit and parking in the attached rental garage for $289 a month.
It also has unobstructed city views with north, east and south exposures.
This is being sold by the original owner who bought in 2002 at $642,500.
It is currently listed at $730,000.
The Sterling was one of the hardest hit by foreclosures during the housing bust because so many investors owned in it.
As long as you held on through the bust, have long-term owners been okay in the end owning a River North condo?
Darya Lisserman at Jameson Sotheby’s has the listing. See the pictures here.
Unit #3702: 3 bedrooms, 2 baths, 1630 square feet
- Sold in December 2002 for $642,500
- Originally listed in May 2019 for $739,999
- Reduced
- Currently listed at $730,000
- Assessments of $957 a month (includes heat, doorman, cable, exercise room, pool, exterior maintenance, lawn care, scavenger, snow removal)
- Taxes of $9709
- Central Air
- Washer/dryer in the unit
- Bedroom #1: 20×13
- Bedroom #2: 12×12
- Bedroom #3: 12×11
- Kitchen: 10×8
- Living room: 18×16
Gonna need some updating.
The building was another one of those American Invesco disasters. These long term owners might at best make a 10% gain in just over 17 years. And that’s if they get close to ask….that’s not making money. Especially compared to other long term holds in River North. Many other buildings in the area outperformed this place.
I recall looking at a 2bedroom with a huge terrace facing west. Could have had some incredible parties! The unit had a n odd layout but thee was an amazing terrace. For me it was the lack of parking that turned me off most. Thank goodness I passed.
Remarkably low assessments for a 3 bedroom that includes heat / ac. That said, this unit needs some updating. At 4,800 a month this is overpriced with the current finishes. I see it going for 650-675.
Well, I hope the 2002 buyer got good use out of the unit, because he or she certainly didn’t make it work as an investment. Imagine if you’d put the money into the market in 2002 back when the S&P 500 was trading well under 1000. It’s at 3000 now. Triple your money. Of course, people need a place to live, too.
For it to go up in price just 13% in 17 years is pretty sad. I’m thinking the price was simply too high back then.
By the way, Apple shares traded at around the equivalent of $1 a share back in 2002, and is now $207. Amazon was at $2 and now near $2,000. Imagine the possibilities.
“By the way, Apple shares traded at around the equivalent of $1 a share back in 2002, and is now $207. Amazon was at $2 and now near $2,000. Imagine the possibilities.”
I HATE this kind of comparison.
People always go back to when Apple was near bankruptcy. Should you have been buying then? When they had to get a loan from Microsoft to stay in business? Before the iPod? Certainly before the iPhone?
And nearly the same (but not quite as bad) with Amazon. It’s retail business was, and is, crap. By 2002, the Amazon board had to step in and stop Bezos from spending all the money buying crappy dotcom Internet names, which he had been doing. They basically blocked him. Only AWS made Amazon profitable and it wasn’t making “real” revenue until 2012.
Why are the examples of “good” stock investing always Apple or Amazon? Plenty of other boring names that have also been outstanding investments since 2002. Even McDonald’s.
The difference between stocks and housing is that with housing you get leverage. If someone had taken their $40,000 down payment and put it into the stock market in 2002, they would, frankly, not be up that much. At least with a condo, you can live in it and the mortgage has been paid down so you have an asset.
Yes, I know there is maintenance and taxes and whatnot. But you have to live somewhere anyway.
But we have really come full circle if someone on this blog is arguing that stocks are a better investment. Because 6 or 7 years ago all anyone argued was that it was housing.
Fair enough, Sabrina. I wasn’t being all that serious. I appreciate that we all need somewhere to live. The place we bought for $430,000 in 2002 is worth $560,000 now, so I’m in the same boat as the owner of the highlighted condo.
Parents own in this building (yes we knew about the Investico foreclosures way back, etc.); however, when looking for a 2/2 in RN for like $400K with low assessments, this fit the bill well.
They redid the deck and it’s much nicer now (got rid of 1 tennis court and put the fire pits / grills / dog patch in. If you don’t need a car, it’s an overall decent place. You can walk across the street to work / the riverwalk or right to the brown L.
This unit in particular is priced too high tho.