Does Parking Matter? A 4-Bedroom Single Family Home at 1218 N. Astor in the Gold Coast
This 4-bedroom single family home at 1218 N. Astor in the Gold Coast has been on and off the market for just over 2 years.
Built in 1900 on a 25x109x25x113 lot, it is located on prestigious Astor Street yet is just steps from the restaurants of Rush Street.
It has a modern eat-in kitchen with upgraded stainless steel appliances and what look like stainless steel counter tops.
The master suite is located on the second level with the other 3 bedrooms on the top floor.
The house has central air, a new deck and a private yard.
But it doesn’t have any parking.
The listing says leased parking is available at 1150 N. Lake Shore Drive for $370 a month.
The house is now listed as a “short sale” at $780,000 under the 2007 purchase price.
Is this a deal?
Or does it have to go much lower to find a buyer without the parking?
Jennifer Ames at Coldwell Banker has the listing. See the pictures here.
1218 N. Astor: 4 bedrooms, 4.5 baths, no square footage listed
- Sold in May 2000 for $2.25 million
- Originally listed in April 2007 for $4.3 million
- Sold in November 2007 for $3.45 million
- Re-listed in September 2009 (I couldn’t find an original listing price)
- Was listed in June 2010 for $2.95 million
- Reduced
- Lis pendens foreclosure filed in May 2011
- Currently listed as a “short sale” for $2.67 million
- Taxes of $31,739
- Central Air
- No parking
- Leased parking available at 1150 N. Lake Shore Drive for $370 a month
- Bedroom #1: 20×28 (second floor)
- Bedroom #2: 11×19 (third floor)
- Bedroom #3: 8×20 (third floor)
- Bedroom #4: 10×13 (third floor)
- Family room: 14×43 (lower level)
“Is this a deal?”
Maybe. It looks great, but the no parking issue is major. It’s also on the least desirable block of Astor (it’s still very, very nice, but it’s a half block from Division). I think there’s another SFH for sale a block or two north on Astor, approximately in this range, though I can’t recall if the renovations are complete.
This place is going to require a buyer who really wants/needs to say that they live in a SFH on Astor. There are (understandably) folks like that, but not many, especially once you account for the folks who’d be just as happy with a $3 million SFH a couple of blocks away from this one or in ELP, as well as the folks who’d take a $2 million condo in the vicinity.
Beautiful place. But no pics of bathrooms. Also text say that second fl has two full baths and master bedroom while third floor has three bedrooms and a half bath. So as is this house is great for a childless couple.
That said I would be surprised if it sold for asking price.
For that price, it is tough without parking unless you are driven all of the time.
“For that price, it is tough without parking unless you are driven all of the time.”
No Parking? Maybe they forgot to mention the heliport on the roof. Who needs a car when you have a chopper?
Listing says 1 car garage, so there is parking, just not for the extra Lamborghini.
Suppose if you can afford the taxes, no reason you can’t afford a nanny to stay upstairs with the kids. And the extra parking’s valet–maybe a little bonue will get them to bring the car over.
This place is drop-dead gorgeous.
If they really wanted to sell it fast, they should list at 2.2million. I am joining the ranks of the chatterozzi/chatterotti who complain that places aren’t priced well. The market isn’t as bad as most sellers think – they just have to be realistic. If anyone is interested in selling (and I mean really interested), just price your place right and it will sell in a matter of hours. I honestly sold two of my properties in the past month within HOURS of listing (and they weren’t listed at rock-bottom prices, either – both were about 10-20% off 2009 values – probably 20-25% off peak values). Sure it hurts – but it feels great to unload the burden!!
Why is this in foreclosure? What is the morgage? Why did someone buy a place like this if they need to worry about having the money to pay for it? In all seriousness, I always imagined–perhaps erroneously–that anyone who lived on Astor, with these taxes, would never be in a position to lose their house because they couldn’t pay for it. Someone way over extended themselves, perhaps? If so, shame on the banks for lending them the money.
This isn’t NYC. Of course parking matters. Really, NYC is the only place in the country you can sell extreme high-end residences without parking.
I think the listing of 1 car garage looks like a mistake. the pictures on Google make it appear that this parcel is landlocked.
The pictures of the public rooms and kitchen are gorgeous, but I wonder about the rooms they didn’t show–I’m guessing they are a lot less gorgeous–the lower level, the bathrooms, etc.
Also, no pictures of back yard (except a partial view in the kitchen picture, which (along with the google view) suggests that it is a VERY public backyard–literally surrounded by buildings).
To the point about the “half-bath” on the 3rd level, I read it that way at first, but it says “hall bath”.
One last thing–I looked at the brochure that was on the realtors website, and the floorplan makes it appear that access to lower level is via a spiral stairway right in the middle of one of the first floor rooms?!
“I honestly sold two of my properties in the past month within HOURS of listing”
Sounds like you priced them too low.
Sounds like he priced them to sell, and they did. Unlike most of the market, which prices properties to sit, and to languish. And if they sold within hours, they probably multiple bids, which again indicates to me that the properties were priced correctly, and they sold. Good job Clio, good job.
“chuk on October 10th, 2011 at 8:59 am
“I honestly sold two of my properties in the past month within HOURS of listing”
Sounds like you priced them too low.”
Don’t like it. Appears from the kitchen picture that there are lots of people that can see in. Absolute 100% non-starter for Ze.
The condos I sold within hours of listing were NOT listed too low – they were listed at the price of the comps which sold in the past 6 months. The thing I did was to list at a price where I wouldn’t negotiate. Here are the two examples:
1. On one of my condos, I knew I didn’t want to take less than 360k (I had paid 390k in 2009). I listed it at 365k. On the first day, I got three offers (between 325-335). One of the buyers actually came up to 360k). In the meantime, a slightly bigger and slightly nicer unit in the same building has been languishing on the market at 379k.
2. On the second condo, I listed for 259k (bought in 2007 for 250k). I knew I didn’t want to go below 250k. Within hours I got an offer of 230k. I got that person to come up 250k. Similar units in the building are languishing at 299, 305, and 324k.
The point is that sellers need to be realistic. Even listing SLIGHTLY lower than your competition can make a difference.
Sure, there’s parking – a block away and leased.
It’s a short sale…what makes you think that “they” *can* list it at 2.2?
This is way over priced. My guess is that it won’t sell for more than $1.9. I’d much rather have 1308 Astor for $1.95mm (I think they took it off the market because it wasn’t selling, and now are trying to rent it for about $7500, which probably means you could buy it for less than $1.95 now). People don’t realize how many properties in the Gold Coast are in or close to foreclosure. Depending on the the lending institution, smaller banks are now willing to take much more of a haircut on these (speaking from experience).
“Sounds like he priced them to sell, and they did.”
So, if he priced it at $1, and it sold within hours, does that mean he priced it right? Boy do you have a lot to learn.
1) I don’t believe he sold 2 properties within hours of listing.
2) If he did, they were priced too low. Guaranteed.
So, you believe there is such a thing as pricing a property too high, but you don’t think there is such a thing as pricing it too low?
Just a quick thought about parking. I live in the GC, and moved here from NYC. It seems like at least 40% of my neighbors in SFHs have lived in or are from NYC. That said, parking across the street doesn’t seem like a big deal at all to us (even with two babies)- especially since many of us had to pay $799/month for parking 5-10 blocks away back home. Our house in the GC has a very small garage, so paying an extra $300/month for a spot 100 yards away is a bargain.
“So, you believe there is such a thing as pricing a property too high, but you don’t think there is such a thing as pricing it too low?”
Multiple bids take care of the ‘priced too low’. It’s called an auction.
BOY you have a lot to learn.
“Multiple bids take care of the ‘priced too low’.”
Ha, so all possible bids are discovered on day 1? Sabrina wouldn’t even have a chance to profile his deals here.
“It’s called an auction.”
It is?
It also probably helped the Clio wasn’t doing a traditional “short sale” that requires bank approval. My parents recently sold a condo they inherited in just 3 weeks. It was priced right and the buyer wanted to move in quickly and not deal with the hassle of a short sale (which most of the other listings in the building are).
“I think the listing of 1 car garage looks like a mistake. the pictures on Google make it appear that this parcel is landlocked.”
The listing says (when you hit the more button) “Leased Parking available at 1150 N. Lake Shore Drive for $370 a month” (IMO thats quite a hike for the closest available parking space)
But listing that this has a 1 car garage is nothing more than just a scummy realtor tactic so that MLS autosearches will show this house when 99% of the people in this price range want at least 1 parking space if not an attached garage. Now Jennifer Ames is usually a lot better than that, but thats kind of a crappy thing to put on here when its the largest negative about the place.
Chuk: is it more likely the best offer will come on day 1 or day 270?
“Chuk: is it more likely the best offer will come on day 1 or day 270?”
Those are my only 2 choices? What about day 7? You really think people are falling over themselves to buy places not even 10% under the 2009 price, with multiple bids within hours site unseen? You must be very bullish on real estate…
This place is cursed – the last two owners have gone into foreclosure. That seems crazy to me.
“Even listing SLIGHTLY lower than your competition can make a difference.”
Clio… it’s like talking to a little kid with you. I have told you that time and time again. Glad to see you are finally learning.
I’ll go with HD. Most buyers that are looking. Will simultaneously see something if it is priced too low and go after it. You will get multiple showings and a good feel for interest. As Clio said. You don’t have to accept the first offer if you see the interest. You might not get your best price that way (probably won’t), but if you want to get rid of it, it’s probably a small hit for quick relief. My personal preference.
“You will get multiple showings and a good feel for interest.”
But will you get 3 offers within hours of listing it sight unseen? For something 10% under the 2009 price? Really? Is this really cribchatter that I’m on or do I have a bad link?
Yes, you must price your property right. Yes, you can price it too high. Yes, you can price it too low. The ONLY way you are getting 3 offers within hours sight unseen is if you price it too low. Period.
If it’s a nice place and is priced realistically compared to the comps, it will go under contract quickly – especially right now when most of the market is stuff that has been languishing. When you can effectively ignore 75% of the listings out there, the good stuff is very visible very quickly.
I’ve been shopping for a long time; the chances are very very good that I have personally walked through the comp. You can’t give me a bunch of BS about why your condo is worth $50,000-90,000 more than the comp. Three more open houses yesterday, three more properties crossed off. Sadly, one of them was only because the original developer was a bonehead with the floorplan – I guess if it gets cheap enough then it becomes worth it to simply tear the interior apart and start over.
“The ONLY way you are getting 3 offers within hours sight unseen is if you price it too low. Period.”
chuk.. you are doing this again. Nowhere did Clio say ‘sight unseen’.
Welcome to another episode of chuk vs his straw man…
“chuk.. you are doing this again. Nowhere did Clio say ‘sight unseen’.”
So, you believe that this was listed, they immediately had 3+ showings in the next couple of hours, and 3 people put an offer in?
Oh, and you believe this happened with TWO properties?
“Welcome to another episode of chuk vs his straw man…”
Chuk vs straw-for-brains man. So, G, you believe that his property had 3 offers within hours, AND it was not underpriced? I can believe one, but not both.
Of course, in the scenario clio laid out it looks like he has done something that I believe could be considered rational. undercutting the competition acheives the end goal of dumping the property. If all the offers were coming in ABOVE list then we might have a head scratcher – it sold for what he was willing to sell it for and from theinfo given it didn’t seem like it was a distressed sale.
The chuck guide to selling (TM) must be to reject any offer that comes within x days of listing. You should also consider raising your price if people are interested in buying it.
“So, G, you believe that his property had 3 offers within hours, AND it was not underpriced? I can believe one, but not both.”
I honestly don’t believe much of anything that clio posts. What does that have to do with you creating that “sight unseen” straw man of yours? Is it just habit? I mean, a smart guy like you doesn’t need to make things up to get a point across every time, do you?
“What does that have to do with you creating that “sight unseen” straw man of yours?”
How else do you sell within “hours”? There isn’t even time to show to all 3 people.
“I mean, a smart guy like you doesn’t need to make things up to get a point across every time, do you?”
Make it up? What would you assume from his statement that it “sold within hours of being listed”? He didn’t say whether it was shown or not. That leaves one to draw their own conclusions. Applying even the SLIGHTEST amount of common sense would tell you it’s not realistic to have 3 showings and 3 offers within hours of listing a property.
So, what is it clio? Did all 3 of those people see your property before submitting an offer?
“The chuck guide to selling (TM) must be to reject any offer that comes within x days of listing.”
You seem to be confusing “days” with “hours”. And yes, if you get 3 offers within the first few hours of listing, you probably should reject them. You priced it too low.
“So, what is it clio? Did all 3 of those people see your property before submitting an offer?”
LOL. Isn’t the correct question “Did any of those 3 people…?”
Regardless, “sight unseen” was your creation. Do you have ANY common sense?
hug it out, bitches
If you get an offer close to your list price what is an appropriate amount of time to have elapsed for it to not be indicative of too low a price? If you are a seller and you get a price you feel is reasonable then why is it “too low”? In this market does it actually make sense to hold out beyond what you would accept as a bottom line? For me, no.
“You seem to be confusing “days” with “hours”. And yes, if you get 3 offers within the first few hours of listing, you probably should reject them. You priced it too low.”
“If you get an offer close to your list price what is an appropriate amount of time to have elapsed for it to not be indicative of too low a price?”
An offer? Or three offers?
forget the quantity, if you reach a mutually agreeable price, who cares?
“hug it out, bitches”
Not a chance – I got hayfever and he reeks of straw.
“forget the quantity, if you reach a mutually agreeable price, who cares?”
How can I forget it? That’s the entire argument. I didn’t say if you get 1 offer on the first day that it’s too low. I said if you get 3.
Supply/demand. He has a supply of 1. He has a demand of 3 near his price (in just a few hours). That tells me that he could likely charge a higher price.
“Supply/demand. He has a supply of 1. He has a demand of 3 near his price (in just a few hours). That tells me that he could likely charge a higher price.”
You’ll should take into account that the Clio persona is not exactly known for its veracity.
Back to the subject property, I agree with the first poster. Someone is going to want the Astor address at this price point.
In addition, market times at this price point are significantly longer than those of rental grade Invesco 1/1s 2/2s
“So, you believe there is such a thing as pricing a property too high, but you don’t think there is such a thing as pricing it too low?”
Sorry to miss the height of this discussion – was cleaning one of the condos before closing tomorrow!!
Selling cookie cutter condos in a desirable building is very very helpful in achieving a fast sale. Basically, you have a set of buyers who want to move in – they know the units, they know the building, they know the area – they are just waiting, like snakes in the grass, for some fresh meat to pop up. When it does, they are ready to strike. Again, this is for cookie cutter condos in large popular buildings. I probably couldn’t sell a house in hours….(maybe a few days,…)
I sold a condo in 2007 and had 2 offers immediately as my realtor had already a buyer and someone else showed interest immediately. Now I don’t remember if it was hours or a couple of days but it was very quick. But that was 2007. I have to say in 2011 it seems pretty unlikely to get offers within hours. Not impossible but unlikely IMHO.
Chuk: “The ONLY way you are getting 3 offers within hours sight unseen is if you price it too low. Period.”
Well, not if you’re just getting lowballed.
It seems clio if not distinguishing between lowball offers on day 1, and when he actually closed on the higher price.
> 1. On one of my condos, I knew I didn’t want to take less than 360k (I had paid 390k in 2009). I listed it at 365k. On the first day, I got three offers (between 325-335). One of the buyers actually came up to 360k).
What was the final selling price, and how long after the listing date did you go into contract?
> 2. On the second condo, I listed for 259k (bought in 2007 for 250k). I knew I didn’t want to go below 250k. Within hours I got an offer of 230k. I got that person to come up 250k. Similar units in the building are languishing at 299, 305, and 324k.
How long did it take for the bidder to come up to $250k ?
“What was the final selling price, and how long after the listing date did you go into contract?”
Condo #1 never even made it to the mls before it went under contract. A realtor in the building has almost all of the listings and knows tons of people that want to move in. When I called him and told him my bottom line price, he showed it to a few people and I had three offers. Of course it was ass-backwards bc I hadn’t even signed the listing agreement and I already had offers. This was mid sept. – we close tomorrow. 100% cash buyer at 360k.
condo #2 – took 1 day to come up to 250k – hot area, good price, multiple offer situation. The next cheapest unit is 299k and not budging.
“It seems clio if not distinguishing between lowball offers on day 1, and when he actually closed on the higher price.”
Well, he said they sold within hours of listing. So that means they agreed upon a price within hours.
sorry – there was some tweaking of the offer situation – but the people that made the offers that were eventually accepted did so within hours. The sale, even though it was a cash sale still is taking 3 weeks.
I have talked with so many realtors and they all tell me the same thing – if you don’t have at least 10 calls, 5 showings and 1 offer within the first two weeks, you are overpriced. Before, I thought this was BS – but now I am really beginning to see that they were/are right.
“I have talked with so many realtors and they all tell me the same thing – if you don’t have at least 10 calls, 5 showings and 1 offer within the first two weeks, you are overpriced. ”
I would agree with that.
seems workable to me.
“Just a quick thought about parking. I live in the GC, and moved here from NYC. It seems like at least 40% of my neighbors in SFHs have lived in or are from NYC. That said, parking across the street doesn’t seem like a big deal at all to us (even with two babies)- especially since many of us had to pay $799/month for parking 5-10 blocks away back home. Our house in the GC has a very small garage, so paying an extra $300/month for a spot 100 yards away is a bargain.”
It must drive you transplants from Manhattan insane at how quiet the GC is, and that all you can walk to is a CVS.
“they are just waiting, like snakes in the grass, for some fresh meat to pop up. When it does, they are ready to strike.”
Great! That has to be an all-time best CC metaphor!
shirt sale?
780k?
this is just to sucker you into a bidding war
short sale?
780k?
this is just to sucker you into a bidding war
$2.6M and there is no parking – its landlocked.
The person who buys this needs their head examined. I don’t care if it is on Astor St.
J, its been reduced in price by 780k… the house is a short sale for sale @ 2.67 million
funny you think its not even a deal at 780k… most would probably deal with the no parking at that price LOL
“funny you think its not even a deal at 780K”
I think he was saying that there is no way the bank will approve a 780k short sale? Dunno….
I dunno it was quite the enigmatic double post
Who expects a garage, driveway, and parking spot in front of thier home when it’s less than a mile from the Lake? This is ‘urban living’ you transplanted farm folks.
“Who expects a garage, driveway, and parking spot in front of thier home when it’s less than a mile from the Lake? This is ‘urban living’ you transplanted farm folks.”
This
“Who expects a garage, driveway, and parking spot in front of thier home when it’s less than a mile from the Lake?”
Someone spending 2.67 million dollars on a house in said location?
tomm on October 11th, 2011 at 1:02 pm
Who expects a garage, driveway, and parking spot in front of thier home when it’s less than a mile from the Lake? This is ‘urban living’ you transplanted farm folks.
@ 2.67M I expect this. You can probably be “on” the lake by going up to Wilmette at this price point.