Flipper Alert: Flipping a Townhouse in Park Side of Old Town
The flippers are still alive and well in Chicago despite the slowdown in the market.
We’ve seen quite a few of them in the newly constructed high rises. But they’re also active in the townhouse market.
Take 1145 N. Cambridge in Park Side of Old Town, the new development in the Old Cabrini Green neighborhood at Division and Clybourn.
The listing says “Brand new. Never lived in.”
1145 N. Cambridge: 3 bedrooms, 2 baths, 1606 square feet, 1.5 car garage
- Sold in December 2007 for $521,900
- Originally listed in February 2008 for $600,000
- Reduced
- Currently listed for $585,000
- Roof rights (otherwise, no outdoor space)
- Assessments are $246 a month
- Den/Third bedroom is 10 x 10
- @Properties has the listing
Will they throw in a .5 car, if I offer asking price?
Maybe it’s bad photos, but that carpet looks gross. Bad apartment carpet for $600k.
maybe its just me – but I wouldnt offer more then i though i could rent the place out for…because I would be renting it out and holding it as an investment property for quite some time! That area needs ALOT of work before it’ll be worth spend $600k+ to live there…
a view of cabrini green for $600k or a nice 3bdrm 1400 sq ft place on or near the lake in streeterville/gold coast or even in the real Old Town for a place equal in size…hmmmm not such a hard choice to me!!!!
Was it built in the late 1970’s?! Thin granite counters, cheap carpet, plastic counters in the master… The photos make it look very low rent. It likely sell in the low to mid 400’s so the new owner can renovate.
I went to look at the model townhouse in the Parkside development and I thought the prices were ridiculous. EVERYTHING was an upgrade and it was nearly impossible to get even the smallest townhouses for under 600K. The sales center staff love to act like Cabrini is basically gone and the whole area is just a year or two away from being totally transformed, but it’s going to be at least five years (maybe more) before it isn’t an eyesore and feels safe to walk around. I made the mistake of walking south on Larrabee to get to Chicago ave and the minute I got a little too far down the road to turn back, several hoodlum kids started coming out of the woodwork to follow me. There were at least five or six of them hanging around a playground sandwiched between an old cabrini high rise and the remaining two-story occupied homes around there, and more guys started coming out of those houses. I don’t think I’m that skittish, but it was pretty scary. Suddenly I was a good two blocks from any street with any traffic on it walking as fast as I could while trying not to looked panicked. I have no idea why this area is already priced as though it’s totally gentrified.
Can’t imagine what makes this place worth more than $270K.
It’s bland, and really rather ugly, especially the staircase. Rental grade appointments, no architecture.
.. and the neighborhood is still very marginal, at best. The area around Cabrini started “gentrifying” 20 years ago, when first I arrived in this city. Some very attractive townhouses, much better than these, were built across the street from the Cabrini buildings.
Well, I cruised through this area just last summer to see how things were, and they were nowise improved over 1987. This area compares unfavorably to many ‘untrendy’ neighborhoods, such as my own Rogers Park, that in my opinion have a lot more going for them by virtue of location, amenities, and both built and natural beauty. The Cabrini area is still VERY spooky and desolate; no place to be after dusk.
It makes the beautiful old places on Menomenee look like gifts, even though even they sure are not gift.
“Can’t imagine what makes this place worth more than $270K”
Well, it should reant pretty easily for $2500, which makes it “worth” over $350k. And at $350, they’d have no problem selling it; heck, at $450k, they’d porobably have no problems–that just isn’t the kind of place you want to buy if you need a jumbo loan.
I went to check out a 1 br condo here and as a previous poster mentioned, it was a total bait and switch. They tried to get me into a 260K 1br that wasn’t even finished and let me tour a 600k townhome “to get a feel of the finishes.” Everything in the townhome was upgraded and wouldnt’ even be included… Plus just look at the siding they put up in the balconies. It looks like they found some cheap brown sheet metal and put it up