A Contract and “Special Pricing” at 3500 N. Lake Shore Drive in Lakeview
We’ve chattered about this vintage co-op building at 3500 N. Lake Shore Drive in Lakeview before because the units are massive and some of them appear to be “cheap.”
Unit #2B has gone under contract after over 2 years on the market and a 45% price reduction.
Here’s its history:
Unit #2B: 4 bedrooms, 3 baths, 2700 square feet
- I couldn’t find an original sales price
- Originally listed in July 2006 for $449,900
- Reduced numerous times
- Reduced from $299,000 to $249,900 in November 2008
- Under contract
- Assessments of $1963
- Taxes of $5800
- No central air- window units
- Listing says “Deal! Deal!”
- Rental parking nearby
- Laura Arnett and John Eggert at Baird and Warner have the listing. See the pictures here.
Unit #7B is also on the market. The listing states that there is a “special limited price reduction to $350,000 through 12/21/08.”
Also, 80% financing is allowed in the building.
This unit has both central air AND an in-unit washer/dryer.
Unit #7B: 3 bedrooms, 3 baths, 2400 square feet
- I couldn’t find an original sales price
- Currently listed for $350,000 (special pricing- apparently)
- Assessments of $2097 a month
- Taxes of $4370
- Rental parking available nearby
- Cyd Archer at Coldwell Banker has the listing. See the pictures and listing here. (For some reason, Coldwell Banker’s listing info isn’t updated to show the “special limited price reduction.”)
How exactly can a building have some units with central air and some without?
That just doesn’t seem right.
What’s wrong with this building? You don’t have $2000 a month assessments when a building is in good shape. There has to be some huge financial drag here that isn’t being reported. Buyer beware…
Seller : please can somebody takes this off my hands for an all in price that looks like a rent…..so buy for 350k (cheap), pay insane assessments, all-in-cost – Ok ?
A granny cabin with 2k/mo assessments? bwhahahaha OK!
As to the A/C these are OLD buildings. If someone chooses to put in a Space Pak and can afford to do so and the building will allow, they do. If someone cannot, they don’t. This is not new construction.
As to the assessments, I believe this is a Co-op, not condo and thus the assessments include property taxes, etc.
Yes, property taxes and heat would be included. Still high, but really only because a) it’s old, b) there is an elevator, and c) wood burning fireplaces increase price of insurance.
I think the listing is deceptively written re: the deck. It implies it is private; it clearly is not.
I think this is a really nice old place. If 2B is setting the comp, though, they have some serious price dropping to do (esp. given how much renovation work will be necessary.)
Units like these with massive assessments (even if they are nice-ish) will fall in price more than SFHs and low-assessment newer condos. This isn’t that revolutionary of a view to take, but unit #7B seems to disagree.
Wow- those assessments are a real bargain. Looks like a well managed joint.
Only two years on the market… that realtor shoud be fired! Now see what happens when you price something reasonable? (like 45% off your idiotic initial asking price?) It goes under contract! Wow! I’m shocked!
If, in fact, the taxes are included in the assessments, it is interesting that they are also listed separately in the listing.
Even so, assume that the 5800/year quoted is correct and you get a bit under $500 a month in taxes. That still leaves you with ~$1500 per month for…what exactly? Heat? OK, take off 150/mo. or so. That’s $1350. Anything else I’m missing?
No matter how you slice it, those assessments seem fantastically high for what you get. A doorman, elevator, “exercise room” and shared roof deck just aren’t worth 1350 per month. There has to be some major issue with the building or its management. No thanks…
I believe what happens in these older buildings is that major capital components break down (elevators, boilers, windows, roof, tuckpointing) and they either do a one-time special assessment to each unit owner — thousands at once — or take a loan and amoritze the cost over all the units, proportionally, over a period of years. while there are variables regarding building quality and condition, what I am finding in my search is that generally, all else equal, the older the building, the higher the assessments. The prices of older building units should (but aren’t usually) correspondingly adjusted downward for the higher assessments, so that fairness will prevail.
The assessments are large because they include taxes, heat, and and several building personnel; because the building is older and needs more maintenance,AND must maintain a large reserve fund, and because this apartment is HUGE- more square footage than most 4 bed 3 bath houses.
The apartments are beautiful, but this is a lifestyle for the affluent. Always know the financial condition of a building like this before you bite, and make sure there is an ample reserve, and that it’s being added to monthly.
These “special pricing” listings are so stupid. What are they going to do if it does not sell by 12/21/08? Raise the price?
why would you fire the realtor? 99% of the time, overpriced listings are the result of sellers refusing to get real. realtors don’t want grossly overpriced listings that don’t sell and take a lot of time and money and don’t/rarely/never pay out. – just doesn’t make sense. frankly i think its amazing the realtor kept the listing that long. with all the work that happened over two years she surely didnt make any money. i would have “fired” the seller much sooner
I recall that this building was studying how to incorporate on-site garage parking on-site. Maybe ten plus years ago. Trying to shoe-horn parking into the rear of property. Perhaps assessments have been increased to cover construction costs, or to save up for a construction loan.
Because the realtor didn’t have the balls to tell their own client that that price is idiotic and will never sell. Its time for realtors to give their clients a dose of reality instead of being yes men/women all the time. You’re under contract, tell them like it is!
Regarding the assessments: First, as Laura notes, the apartments are very large. Assessments in a coop for a 2700 sq ft apartment strike me as reasonable. Second, as this is a coop, assessments include property taxes and most likely all utilities except phone & internet. If the building has taken a mortgage to finance capital improvements, the assessment will also include this. The advantage of doing so is that this avoids a special assessment so owners don’t have to cough up a large lump sum up front. That portion of the assessment is also tax deductible. Lastly, coops, particularly large older ones, tend to offer a higher level of service which means they carry a larger staff. This extends beyond full time doormen. It includes 24 hour on-site engineering/maintenance staff and often a concierge. The maintenance staff may also make repairs inside the apartment, often for free, that a condo owner would be responsible for himself. You may find this desirable or you may find that lower assessments are more important, but this is a far cry from a rip-off.
There are still some clueless realtors that try to “win” the listing by quoting the client a super high listing price. In this market all they win is the right to watch a property sit on the market unsold, and not make any money in the process.
I am always amazed by the huge assessments of the units along the Lake Shore Dr. I love the view, but boy, all the units in these buildings have crazy assessments, and they are not even co-ops.
I don’t know who would be out of their mind enough to buy a unit like this. I mean, even if you get it for free, you have to pay 2000 dollars every month, it’s like renting, only it’s an old and ugly unit that has nothing decent.
If it were a condo in the same location, the price would be MUCH higher for this caliber of Pre-War vintage space. For some of us, the real wood burning fireplace seals the deal. Ditto for the enormous kitchen. If you had dogs to walk being on the 2nd floor would be a godsend.
And if it were a condo built in the last 10-15 years, the fireplace would be a giant, Jersey-Guido-Paradise 70s-microwave looking faux appliance slapped on the wall and protruding 3 feet into the room. With “heat included” I would have the windows cracked and the fireplace running all winter long.
Do a cost purchase analysis taking into account the tax deductions and the price isn’t that bad. Yes the assessments are high, but again the same space in a condo would be roughly twice the price. One could have roommates in a place this size and you’d never see them.