Flipper Alert: 1-Bedroom Closes in 340 On the Park
The north facing 1-bedroom unit we’ve been chattering about, Unit #406, in 340 On the Park, has finally closed.
Apparently, there is a big difference in pricing between the north facing one bedrooms and the south (or park) facing one bedrooms.
Here’s the history of Unit #406:
Unit #406: 1 bedroom, 1.5 baths, 1081 square feet
- Sold in July 2007 for $314,000 (I believe this includes the parking spot)
- Originally listed in October 2007 for $620,000
- Reduced several times over the winter
- Finally listed at $499,000
- Listing withdrawn in January 2008
- (Spent several months not on the market)
- Re-listed in May 2008 at $499,000 (not sure if parking was included in this price)
- Reduced
- Was listed in June 2008 at $449,000 (parking $50k extra)
- Reduced
- Was listed in July 2008 at $400,000 (parking $50k extra)
- Finally sold for $420,000 (including the parking)
Compare that to a south facing one bedroom, Unit #3805:
- Listed in March 2008 for $769,000 (parking extra)
- Sold in August 2008 for $765,000 (including the parking)
Wow, that is a lot for a 1 bedroom. I love the views, but over 750K….!
And the “05” lines don’t even have a balcony! Yes, $750K is silly….someone must have been in an 1031 exchange and needed something to buy or something…. People do stupid things for tax reasons sometimes,
I guess we’re also talking about the difference between the 38th floor and the 4th floor. People really pay a premium to live higher up.
So, having a view of the much smaller park to the north makes the north facing units the ghetto side of the building.
Much like when I lived in Park Tower in Edgewater several years back… There were two banks of elevators, the lower levels (2-24) and the upper levels (25-55), you approached them by turning right or left when you went past the security door. I will never forget when at a condo association meeting, one of the long timers was commenting about those that took a right when they got home not having the qualifications to be on the board. She was saying in jest, but you knew she always looked which direction her neighbors were turning… (I lived in the upper 20s)
I take the opposite message that you guys are taking: looks to me like the north-facing, lower units were underpriced at preconstruction (flipper made over $100K); the south-facing, higher units were slightly overpriced (flipper lost a bit).
Granted, n=1 in each cell with two independent variables, so it’s not like I can be very confident of my conclusions. 🙂 But I know some people who live in the building, on the north side, and they were surprised in a very positive way about how nice the park view turned out to be. On the south side, people were surprised in a negative way about how intrusive the BC/BS building turned out to be.
Hi Kenworthey, I guess I don’t understand your post. How did the owner of teh south-facing unit lose money? I show a sale of $515,000 on 8/4/2007 and $70,000 (parking???) on 8/6/2008.
I was misreading what Sabrina posted as two sales; my bad. The March 2008 number she quoted was a “list.”
* Listed in March 2008 for $769,000 (parking extra)
* Sold in August 2008 for $765,000 (including the parking)
The flipper made 200k or so!!!
For those who wonder when the market will hit bottom: it can’t bottom until idiots like the buyer of this unit are flushed out of the system. Every other seller in the building will now feel entitled to get about $775,000 for their unit (because it’s special, you know).
Remember all the huff and puff from Steve about how certain neighborhoods in Chicago wont decline, and now are?
Well even those rich neighborhoods in New York are starting to decline also.
http://www.nysun.com/business/unthinkable-happens-manhattan-apartment-prices/84900/
We’re no where near the end!