Even the Banks Are Listing Past Peak in the GreenZone: 111 S. Morgan in the West Loop
This 2-bedroom in 111 S. Morgan in the West Loop recently came on the market.
It is a Fannie Mae Homepath property.
The unit has hardwood floors in the main living areas and a fireplace.
The kitchen has granite counter tops and what looks to be maple cabinets.
From the pictures, there appears to be a stainless steel stove but there’s no refrigerator or dishwasher.
It has central air, washer/dryer hook-ups in the unit (not sure if the w/d is actually there) and parking is included.
A few years ago, some buyers would only look at bank owned condos because they thought they were getting a deal.
But this property has come on the market listed $45,500 above the 2007 purchase price.
Are distressed sales dropping in Chicago because the banks are listing at unreasonable prices or because they simply aren’t deals anymore?
Arthur Cirignani at Chicago Realty Partners has the listing. See the pictures here.
Unit #705: 2 bedrooms, 2 baths, no square footage listed
- Sold in April 2004 for $293,000 (included the parking)
- Sold in June 2007 for $355,000 (included the parking)
- Lis pendens foreclosure filed in February 2012
- Bank owned in February 2015
- Listed in March 2015 for $400,500 (includes the parking)
- Assessments of $482 a month (includes cable, doorman, water)
- Taxes of $3759
- Central Air
- Washer/dryer hook-ups in the unit
- Bedroom #1: 11×10
- Bedroom #2: 11×10
“Are distressed sales dropping in Chicago because the banks are listing at unreasonable prices or because they simply aren’t deals anymore?”
But…but…but…interest rates are so low, right?
Contrary to when I bought in 2012, I find foreclosures to be some of the worst deals now.
Distressed sales continue to drop because the banks still aren’t releasing the inventory. Once a distressed property sells, the bank has to make up the capital shortage, so the bank would simply like to bury it’s head in the sand and pray that they can sell the entire bank before delinquent loans dry up all the income. See South Shore Bank, Archer Bank, and soon to come, Leaders Bank.
“Are distressed sales dropping in Chicago because the banks are listing at unreasonable prices or because they simply aren’t deals anymore?”
Chicago’s pipeline of distressed properties is half of what it was 2 years ago. See 2nd graph here: http://www.chicagonow.com/getting-real/2015/03/realtytrac-market-report-chicago-foreclosure-activity-must-be-bottoming-out/
And bank owned properties are not deals any more unless they are trashed – maybe.
What’s going on with the bathtubs in this place? It looks like someone just dropped a new tub inside an old tub.
I bought a distressed property a few years back. No one was going to see it because the pictures were awful, the carpet in the bedrooms was dirty, and the walls were painted horrible colors. The weird part is that bank had replaced the carpeting and painted. If they had just taken new pictures, I probably wouldn’t have been able to buy my place for such a low price.
“What’s going on with the bathtubs in this place?”
Looks like they could have installed new white tubs and kept the old almond color front panels. That, or they went with the ever popular white tub/almond panel look…terrible.
As we are house hunting we are seeing so many properties listed at or above 2006 prices. These aren’t fully updated sexy homes either. They’re nice-ish but many of them have flaws or major things missing such as master baths or old unfinished basements. Sigh. It’s so frustrating.
The subject property is depressing. Morgan is a relatively busy street. The West Loop despite that new unharmoniously-designed park nearby is mostly concrete. People buy these units when they are single, hoping to eventually “get out” and move on presumably via marriage. But what happens when the dream doesn’t pan out for some of the people? Then this unit literally becomes one’s life…year after year, tick-tock. No trees around here either.
Yikes, $400k for that? No thank you. Two tiny bedrooms, no dining space and still a small-ish living room and kitchen.
Some people may find the West Loop depressing, but the folks who live there seem to love it. Evidence? There’s NO INVENTORY. There’s even more no inventory than in those non-depressing neighborhoods like Lincoln Park and Lake View. Of the 43 condos currently listed for sale 19 have been on the market for less than 2 weeks and 24 for less than a month. I used Halsted, Van Buren, Randolph and Ashland/Ogden as my boundaries. When I’m showing West Loop that’s the area folks are considering, although east of Racine is more popular and has more options. That said, this particular unit is a FAIL by the bank unless, as in jenny’s experience, the bank has made additional updates but neglected to update the photos. Even with better updates, that’s a pretty high price for what they’re selling. There are some sweet units in this building, this isn’t one of them.
People buy in the West Loop for the great commute, access to tons of restaurants, and, if you have kids, for the awesome public school, Skinner West.
Now, this unit blows, but there are plenty of people with kids in the West Loop, and they love it there.
My understanding is the bank dictates the price to the listing agent – I’ve seen a lot of HomePath properties listed well above what it would seem to be market price. Over time – they drop…sometimes $100k…the market will clear it at the appropriate price (or a price one person is willing to pay, and hopefully that person is rational)
So many families with kids love west loop because of the Skinner West. As a matter of fact, Skinner West has to cut its classical program from 2 to 1 and meanwhile add its neighborhood program from 2 to 3 to accommodate the increasing number of school-age kids in the school boundary. Rumors on the street: Skinner West is considering getting rid of its classical program totally next year and becoming a neighborhood school.
At least they’re not calling it a penthouse
HomePath prices are ridiculous. There used to be bidding wars for foreclosures; but now they just languish..
This is one of the most overpriced condos I’ve seen. Apparently the bank has no interest in selling at this point. I’m just surprised it’s even listed at this price.