Get a 2,000 Sq Ft Corner Duplex for Under $580,000: 1515 S. Prairie in the South Loop
This 2-bedroom duplex-up at 1515 S. Prairie in the South Loop came on the market in May 2019.
1515 S. Prairie was built during the last housing boom, in 2003, and has 186 units in a high rise and a low rise building.
It’s a full amenity building with a doorman, clubhouse and exercise room. It has an attached garage.
This unit is one of the rare low-rise units.
It has its own private entrance which opens into a foyer.
The first floor has the living/dining and kitchen along with a recessed balcony.
The second floor has both bedrooms and a second recessed balcony.
The listing describes the kitchen as “gourmet” with stainless steel appliances, quartz counter tops and a breakfast bar.
It has the features buyers look for including central air, washer/dryer in the unit and 2-car garage parking is available for $18,900 each.
Originally listed at $699,000 in May 2019, it has been reduced to $539,000 or $576,800 with the parking.
This unit was bank owned and sold from the bank in 2015 for $475,500, including the 2-car parking.
Will this unit sell for a premium over the 2015 price 5 years later?
Kevin Maloney at Exclusive Real Estate Services has the listing. See the pictures here.
Unit #201: 2 bedrooms, 2.5 baths, 2000 square feet, duplex up
- Sold in July 2003 for $606,000 including 2-car parking
- Sold in June 2008 for $650,000 including 2-car parking
- Sold in March 2011 for $612,000 including 2-car parking
- Lis pendens foreclosure filed in September 2013
- Bank owned
- Sold in August 2015 for $475,000 including 2-car parking
- Originally listed in May 2019 for $699,000
- Reduced
- Currently listed at $539,000 (2-car parking for $18,900 each) = $576,800 with the parking
- Assessments of $1174 a month (includes heat, a/c, gas, doorman, cable, clubhouse, exercise room, exterior maintenance, lawn care, scavenger, snow removal, Internet access)
- Taxes of $10,689
- Central Air
- Washer/dryer in the unit
- Bedroom #1: 17×16 (second floor)
- Bedroom #2: 14×10 (second floor)
- Living room: 18×16 (main floor)
- Dining room: 17×11 (main floor)
- Kitchen: 15×11 (main floor)
- Walk-in-closet: 11×7 (second floor)
- Foyer: 11×8 (lower level)
- Utility room: 9×3 (lower level)
HOA & Taxes are a killer. Would think there’s decent rental options for 2br @ $4k/mo
Guessing the 2nd br sf includes the closet
It’s a mud room not a foyer
2k a month of assessments and taxes for this split face block built townhouse? lolooool and oh yeah 40k worth of parking spaces and another 540k on top of that? why the hell are the assessments so high
This is a really beautiful block with a great kids park on the corner that has views of the museum and soldier field, as well as a dog park right down the street.
I think the price is extremely reasonable given that the unit has had some upgrades and it’s size. ( Although not personally a fan of the finishes )
Taxes of about 10k seem right, but the assessment is a killer, and is likely what’s holding back a sale.
Taxes for each parking spot are $960.42, in addition to the $10,689 for the unit. So, would bet the assessments for the parking are also not included.
Probably more like $2350/month for assessment and taxes, with the parking.
Now I looked at the pix: that would be an *awesome* vacation rental. Two real bedrooms. The sleeper sofa in the LR separate enough from the bedrooms, and with a half bath.
$100k down + $4500/month basically for the privilege of being exposed to constant tax increases, high cost of moving and stuck on the 2nd floor in a cheap sloop building.
Sounds like a bad idea but then I saw it has a gourmet kitchen and I’m calling the agent.
Seems roomy and bright, but not sure who’d be buying it at this price. Kind of expensive for a young couple, but not luxurious enough necessarily for someone with a lot of money, and too big for a weekend place but maybe too small for a family.
I wouldn’t want to be so low in the building, but that’s not a big concern for most. Also, the finishes are showing their age, so there might be work to do.
Tax increases concerning and a big reason why I’m not sure of buying CHICAGO at any price.
But the price is reasonable. Cap rates on rental buildings around 5.5%. So the imputed financing costs of around 30k per year. That’s 2500 a month. 2k prop taxes and assessments. This is definitely priced to be competitive with rental. Probably getting an extra 500 sq ft and some nicer fixtures that what a 2 bed rental in a nicer building in this neighborhood would run.
Would disagree this is expensive for a young couple. Your basic 23 year old straight from college couple would be making about 140k a year combined in your entry level big 4 consulting/auditor job. That’s about 50k a year in interest costs/assessments/taxes or about 36% of pretax income.
“But the price is reasonable. Cap rates on rental buildings around 5.5%. So the imputed financing costs of around 30k per year. That’s 2500 a month. 2k prop taxes and assessments. This is definitely priced to be competitive with rental.”
————————–
Wrong. Rentals don’t have nearly the transaction costs that sales/buying does (remember that ol’ debbil “broker’s commission” — leaving aside transaction taxes). The landlord is amortizing those costs over many years, but the buyer is paying them up front and therefore has to hold for many years. That means that crap construction and gawd knows what else come home to roost. ANYONE who does not call this a hard pass at anywhere near the asking price is a complete and total idiot. ALMOST as much of an idiot as someone who believes that Bucktown extends South of Armitage, or North of Fullerton (save for the Vienna Beef cut-out).
What are you talking about? Buyers don’t pay transaction costs. Sellers do. Outside of I believe a 1% stamp tax. But hypothetically seeing this listing they could show up with no buyer agent and get a 2% price reduction then add 1% stamp tax. So up front it would be easy to get this done at 1% below list price.
If they bought they would be in the same situation as a landlord. They could hold forever.
And commercial would only have cheaper broker commissions. The transaction taxes I believe are actually higher.
The only thing the buyer would have to pay is the 4400 a month the Redfin lists as all in costs which includes some principle pay off.
I agree with the transaction costs issues but they wouldn’t pay them until they sell. If they owned it for 6 years principle amortization roughly equals the costs to sell.
“ANYONE who does not call this a hard pass at anywhere near the asking price is a complete and total idiot. ALMOST as much of an idiot as someone who believes that Bucktown extends South of Armitage, or North of Fullerton (save for the Vienna Beef cut-out).”
Okay. Do you live in Chicago? 2k square feet on a prime stretch of south prairie avenue, even in an older building, with parking included for 575k is a extremely reasonable price.
The slightly boring finishes and insane assessments make this a no-go, not the price. Find me another 2k square foot 2 or 3 bedroom for under 600k, with parking, in this neighborhood. please.
Oh, and am I completely off here – I thought bucktown definitely DID go south of arbitrage, all the way down to north avenue-ish?? Agreed about it not extending north of Fullerton.
*Armitage.
Yep this about all in 5k a month without the parking if you price your cost of capital on the 100k down payment at 8% which is likely reasonable. That’s not counting principle payment because you lose that if you sell in 6 years which most people do. 5k for this size comps very well to rental buildings.
Now my expectations on property taxes is they all basically have to double and get pension reform for Illinois books to balance so that makes me scared of owning anything. But if we didn’t have that issue and you could price in modest 2% a year appreciation this would be a no brainer.
“Would disagree this is expensive for a young couple. Your basic 23 year old straight from college couple…”
“your cost of capital on the 100k down payment”
Where’d your “basic” 23-yo couple get the 100k?
“Oh, and am I completely off here – I thought bucktown definitely DID go south of arbitrage, all the way down to north avenue-ish??”
It does. Or at least down to Bloomingdale. johnc is just a crack-addled boomer who insists that a neighborhood, once defined, is immutable.
“And commercial would only have cheaper broker commissions. The transaction taxes I believe are actually higher.”
1. It depends. A 600k commercial building might be *higher*. But a $100m office building would certainly be a lower percentage.
2. Where’d you get the idea that commercial has higher transfer taxes? I can’t think of a state where that is true.
also: “Buyers don’t pay transaction costs.”
You’re suggesting that in a commission fee free world, Seller’s would still expect the same prices? Hmmmm, I dunno. Seems kinda like claiming that European consumers don’t pay VAT.
I agree buyers do pay the tax. But we are looking at prices with that already imputed in the price and then looking at cost of ownership.
NYC has higher taxes on commercial. Significantly.
“johnc is just a crack-addled boomer”
——————————
Single malt scotch, thank you.