Get a 3-Bedroom With Parking for Just $305K in the South Loop: 1720 S. Michigan
This bank owned 3-bedroom at 1720 S. Michigan in the South Loop has been on the market since March 2011.
In that time, it has been reduced $129,900 to $305,000. That price includes the parking space.
This 3-bedroom unit is the largest floorplan in the building. It has Northeast views from floor to ceiling windows.
From the pictures, it appears the kitchen is intact. It has stainless steel appliances and granite counter tops with maple cabinets. The bathrooms also appear to be intact.
Being a newer construction building, the property also has central air and washer/dryer hook-ups in the unit.
The bank has now owned this property for a year. It is getting more aggressive with the pricing, having dropped the price about $45,000 in just the last 6 weeks.
It is the cheapest 3-bedroom currently on the market in the building.
How low will this have to go before someone finally bites?
Coya Smith at Smith Partners & Associates has the listing. See the pictures here.
Unit #1501: 3 bedrooms, 2 baths, no square footage listed
- Sold in October 2007 for $422,000 (included the parking space)
- Lis pendens filed in January 2010
- Bank owned in September 2010
- Originally listed in March 2011 for $434,900
- Reduced numerous times
- Currently listed for $305,000 (includes the parking)
- Assessments of $467 a month (includes heat, a/c, doorman)
- Taxes of $5538
- Central Air
- Washer/dryer hook-ups in the unit
- Bedroom #1: 15×11
- Bedroom #2: 10×10
- Bedroom #3: 10×10
265k. And how dare they put this on the market in 2011 as a foreclosure for MORE than the 2007 price.
The dreary weather outside does nothing for the raw cement dreariness indoors. Sunny weather photos and some furniture would help move this for the range of 275-300K perhaps.
Oh man, with the right photos and even some staging I would be inclined to think this would go… then I saw how far south it is. If it were above 55 I think it would attract more interest. Too bad about this area, so close to downtown! I think one day it will be more in-demand, although I think that about Uptown too.
Except that it wasn’t listed on the market for more than the 2007 price and it is above 55.
“Except that it wasn’t listed on the market for more than the 2007 price”
Sold in October 2007 for $422,000
Originally listed in March 2011 for $434,900
Another CMK McCrap Box. I lived in 235 west van buren, and these finishes are no better than the ones I had. The location and number of bedrooms is attractive though.
Chuk: You think this will sell below the last 2/2 sale in the building (just a few days ago)? Unit #1218 with about 1200 square feet just sold for $285k with the parking.
http://www.urbanrealestate.com/property/1720-S-Michigan-Unit-1218-CHICAGO-IL-60616-LC4UFOQFDDGAM.html
I’m not saying it won’t sell for under this 2-bedroom sale. I think staging is a HUGE part of any sale. The other one was painted, had furniture in the unit, pictures on the wall. It can go a long way to convincing someone that they can live there.
“Chuk: You think this will sell below the last 2/2 sale in the building (just a few days ago)? Unit #1218 with about 1200 square feet just sold for $285k with the parking.”
Maybe. I think this place is very small for a 3/2, so I think that hurts it a bit. Plus, this listing is very stale now and is a foreclosure (not sure about your 2/2 listing). I also think that 2/2 went for too much (probably due to staging). That one should have been $250k tops IMO. There are much nicer buildings in the area without a zillion foreclosures around that same price (1600 S Prairie for instance).
So the building has a bunch of rentals and distressed sales but they’re moving. Unit appears to be 1350 sq ft. and #1701 and 2201 are under contract, listed at 329K and 349K respectively – both short sales.
Still don’t understand why banks use realtors that don’t use crappy pictures. Decision making based upon relationships.
Looked at this tier on the 18th floor last year when we were looking for a condo. (Ended up on Prairie). It’s too bad they took the photos in bad weather, this has a great view of the city & nice views of the lake. My wife liked it because it has a window in the kitchen. It’s a no-frills building, but does have a doorman & a great little grocery store downstairs. BTW, you’ll not find a 3/2 in 1600 Prairie for anywhere near $305,000.00, even without parking.
This is just a terrible location as far as the El is concerned. Nearest stop is Cermak/Chinatown which is a bit of a haul and a fairly unpleasant one at that.
This is a building where it just might get cheap enough to buy multiple units and combine them to get a reasonable sized unit at a good price.
It’s a great location for the bus though.
‘Nearest stop is Cermak/Chinatown which is a bit of a haul and a fairly unpleasant one at that.”
Roosevelt stop is about equal distance and fairly pleasant.
I was in this building when the building first opened. It seemed nice. The finishes were appropriate for the price point. How is the building now? Are the renters all college students?
(The building has a dog run, which is a huge plus.)
Also, is it a bad idea to buy the largest, most expensive unit in a particular building?
There’s still nothing walkable within 3-4 blocks of that building. Kroll’s is there, and South Coast sushi, but otherwise, you’re in the middle of the South Loop desert.
“Also, is it a bad idea to buy the largest, most expensive unit in a particular building?”
It all depends on the following:
1. type of building (location, number of units, amenities)
2. price (are you getting a deal?)
3. assessments
so basically, the answer is that there is no standard answer. Each unit and each building is unique. People really have to understand that real estate is NOT a game of averages (which is why I don’t have ANY respect for the idiots who quote indices and averages) – REAL ESTATE IS PROPERTY AND LOCATION SPECIFIC!!!
“blah blah blah…the sky is blue…blah blah blah.”
Hey, look, clio got something right.
This is the size of a nice 2 bedroom. Too small for a 3 bedroom. I wouldn’t get caught up in bedroom size…it should sell for the price of a 2 bedroom. The only advantage of a 3 bedroom is if you are going to rent to a bunch of students. Allows one more roomie and to keep the price down.
The sky looks grey to me right now and it’s raining.
“(The building has a dog run, which is a huge plus.)”
The dog run here is tiny and always smells very unpleasant. On the plus side though they are building a dog park on Wabash though that will be accessible from the alley through the garage. Very convenient. The field was always used for dogs already, but they fenced it in now that they are actually building the park probably in the spring.
1218 has partially blocked views, which 1501 doesn’t. It’ll probably sell for around 300k. If you only need 2 bedrooms the 18 units are better, it has a more expansive kitchen/dining/living area, while the 01 is rather compartmentalized and there just isn’t enough square footage to make that work all that well. However I seen a high up 01 unit completely custom higher end finished. Looked fantastic. Standard builder finishes however are very very cheap stuff. Imo, remodeling is practically required for at least the kitchen.
L access isn’t bad, I rented here for several years, it’s about 12 minutes speedy walking on fairly chill streets. Location has very easy lake access over 18th street bridge, and also walking distance to chinatown, and a few buses on michigan and state that will take you just about anywhere downtown. A new green line stop is also going in on Cermak.
Rentals were about 44% when I was there, not sure if that still holds true, but as far as I know lenders don’t have a problem with this building as long as the appraisal checks out.
“There are much nicer buildings in the area without a zillion foreclosures around that same price (1600 S Prairie for instance).”
The north facing units at 1720 have fantastic views. 1600 S Prairie if you want a view you’re not getting it that cheap and taxes and assessments are far higher if I remember correctly.
So I looked at the floor plan and it looks like this unit actually has full height walls for the bedrooms! Wow CMK doesn’t cut every corner imaginable on the non-entry level units!
“If it were above 55 I think it would attract more interest. Too bad about this area, so close to downtown!”
It is above I55. The location on Redfin is wrong… the property is at 1720 S. Michigan, NOT 2520 S. MLK Drive.
This unit caught my eye over the weekend, but when I noticed how many units in the building were for sale, I got concerned. If the rental rate is 44% or higher, I certainly wouldn’t want to put $300k into this condo the way the market currently is. How many of the units for sale are distressed? If there are many distressed sales/foreclosures, how healthy is the association? I’d worry about getting stuck with a high assessment because others aren’t paying.
“how healthy is the association? I’d worry about getting stuck with a high assessment because others aren’t paying.”
Biggest reserve I seen in the South Loop. Don’t quote me on these numbers, it’s been a minute, but it’s in the general ballpark. About 1 to 1.2m for 1720, in contrast, OMP east at the time was about 600-700k, Museum Park Tower 4 I think around 500k, one of the earlier museum park tower about 350k, etc, it’s the only building with 1m+ that I saw, but there may be others.
I think the only reason this hasn’t sold is because before it came on the market just now again it was listed at 350. Both 1701 and 2201 are under contract, listed 329/349 respectively. (also have crap pics or no pics). Wasn’t competitive at 350, now at 305 I think it is.
The assessments seem really reasonable and it looks like the association is healthy. My only concern would be the neighbors. This building has a lot of tiny one bedrooms and I would be concerned they would attract a lot of college students.
The 2 bedroom has slightly higher assessments than the 3–perhaps there is more square footage. It looked like the living area in the 2 br was a lot more open although the listed living room sizes were similar between the two. The 2nd and 3rd brs in this listing are quite small, and it looks like there is wasted space in a strange and dark hallway. But it could just be that the pictures suck.
It seems to me this three bedroom should sell for a little less than the two bedroom. It’s not as finished and it’s a foreclosure. I would prefer to buy in other buildings in this area for a lot less though.
F’UGLY epitomized. Inside and out. Sales agent: here ya go big 10 professional, here’s your nice 3/2 with a second bathroom just as shitty as the one you had in college! And the master bath is only a little nicer. Yeah these banks have a sense of humor by listing at a foreclosure initially higher than the sucker in 2007 signed and stiffed them. As buyer’s we just need to look the other way and not buy into their b.s. Expect this unit to loose at least 20% of it’s value over the next five years.
“It looked like the living area in the 2 br was a lot more open although the listed living room sizes were similar between the two.”
The living room is almost twice as big in the 2br.
“It seems to me this three bedroom should sell for a little less than the two bedroom. It’s not as finished and it’s a foreclosure.”
I agree.
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,Signifying nothing
“…so basically, the answer is that there is no standard answer. Each unit and each building is unique. People really have to understand that real estate is NOT a game of averages (which is why I don’t have ANY respect for the idiots who quote indices and averages) – REAL ESTATE IS PROPERTY AND LOCATION SPECIFIC!!!”
and here we have the same poster quoting Case-Schiller:
clio on October 25th, 2011 at 7:41 am
Wow – things in the housing market are getting worse and worse – who knew the geniuses on cribchatter have always been right?!!!
link here references Case-Schiller numbers : finance.yahoo.com/news/Survey-Home-prices-up-in-half-apf-498985547.html?x=0
It was better when our subcontinent brown skinned MD actually posted every once in a while vs. the collective angry RE office trolls
Regarding the property.
CMK isn’t for everyone, but I do believe there is a market for their properties – now whether it is better to be an owner, investor, or renter or their properties…
Personally, if I were building up a South Loop investment portfolio, I’d have some interest in the 1 bedrooms here.
Living in a 1,300 sq foot three bedroom in a high rise is in reality not all that much different of a layout than a 1,300 sq ft 1950’s three bedroom ranch style home in levittown. The high rise has an extra bathroom. whoop te doo.
There is a market for CMK properties – so long as you don’t pay a penny more than rental parity (incl taxes, ass, etc). Otherwise you have overpaid. And remember a CMK box will rent for much less than a bigger, more nicely appointed unit in the same location.
“The dog run here is tiny and always smells very unpleasant.”
Is there a dog run in the city that gets a lot of use and doesn’t smell unpleasant? The Churchill Park one in bucktown smells terrible in the warmer months.
“Living in a 1,300 sq foot three bedroom in a high rise is in reality not all that much different of a layout than a 1,300 sq ft 1950?s three bedroom ranch style home in levittown”
ARE YOU INSANE?!! There are so many differences:
1. Outdoor space, outdoor space, outdoor space – good god – even in the winter, having kids play outside is a Godsend
2. Basement – usually not included in square footage
Once again, HD – you prove you completely don’t understand anything.
@Pete
Completely agree – which would lead to different target markets. There’s a different market for renting to students, 1st job professionals, big 10 transplants, etc.
no basements in many of those post-ww2 ranches. And the outdoor area does no good when it’s too cold outside. Functional but small kitchen, small living room/dining room area, small beds sort of cramped in. sounds like the layout of a cheapie highrise.
“how healthy is the association? I’d worry about getting stuck with a high assessment because others aren’t paying.”
This sparked a thought/question that I have…
If this were to happen, if you had to pay higher assessments due to the lack of payment of other units, is there a mechanism in place to rectify that? I would imagine there would have to be; you can’t be expected to ‘float’ other units indefinitely with no eventual payback!
For example, do future owners have to pay back assessments to you with substantial interest? Or do you start to build up a partial ownership of the units that are not paying?
“how healthy is the association? I’d worry about getting stuck with a high assessment because others aren’t paying.”
This is brought up quite often on this website, most here don’t understand condominium law. Outstanding assessments can be settled two ways.
1. When a condo is sold all outstanding assessments have to be paid at closing.
2. If a condo owner is deliquent in paying their assessments for a specific period of time the condo association has the legal right to take over the condo and rent it out to cover assessments.
While that is true Valasko, rarely do either of those happen. Many condo buildings end up just being stiffed. Perhaps that is less likely in a high rise than a small building, but it happens.
.”If a condo owner is deliquent in paying their assessments for a specific period of time the condo association has the legal right to take over the condo and rent it out to cover assessments.”
Yeah- but there are costs associated with this. More often than not they have to go to court. That means lawyer fees. And the condo board usually doesn’t take possession immediately of the unit. How long do they wait until they sue to get possession so they can rent it out? I’m sure it depends by each board. 6 months? A year? 2 years? Imagine doing that (trying to take possession) on a 100 units in a 250 unit building?
Good times.
“1. When a condo is sold all outstanding assessments have to be paid at closing.
2. If a condo owner is deliquent in paying their assessments for a specific period of time the condo association has the legal right to take over the condo and rent it out to cover assessments.”
That makes sense, and I more or less was already aware of that.
But what prompted my question was the scenario suggested where things are so bad that neither of 1. or 2. from the quote above are able to resolve the financial issues in a timely manner, so that assessments increases are needed so that the units that are paying are paying above their share.
Bri,
All late fees, attorney fees, etc. are collectible. 30 days delinquent and 30 days notice to start the process, 2 – 6 months to take possession.
nw,
1 and 2 will collect all past due assessments, late fees, attorney fees etc. I understand your scenario, could happen if things really got bad. Even the sterling the foreclosure capital of the city was able to manage this issue without increasing assessments. Large building will use reserves to manage the delayeed payments.
“All late fees, attorney fees, etc. are collectible. 30 days delinquent and 30 days notice to start the process, 2 – 6 months to take possession.”
Thanks for the info. I don’t know all the details on how it works. One of my friends is renting in a unit where her landlord hasn’t paid assessments in 3 years. The landlord owes the association $12,000. The condo board took possession 2 years later. I guess you’re telling me they could have done it much earlier then. My friend is now paying her rent to the condo association so presumably they can easily pay off the $12,000 that way. When the bank takes over- the bank has to pay the assessments- right?
Bri,
Boards and management companies are starting to become aggressive on this issue. You friends situation is the easy scenario, the board waited way too long.
This building is a catastrophe. Not only are the layouts horrible but there is an abundance of short-sales, foreclosures, and unsold units in the building. I don’t think I would pay more then $200 for this place. Then I would rent it out.
Wilson–I’d pay 220k for this place so I’d beat you to it. Then again I’d bet an investor would pay more & beat me to it.
“I don’t think I would pay more then $200 for this place.”
People are paying way more, probably because you don’t have a clue of what’s out there in the sloop.
You’re also plain wrong, there isn’t a single unsold unit in this building. Short sales/foreclosures, yes, but that’s to your advantage as a buyer as long as the association is healthy, which it is.
Also keep in mind this building has 500 units, so what may look like a foreclosure epidemic isn’t all that significant once you look at it as a percentage. Also the nice tiers, like a high 18 unit, are never available, at least not when I was looking. Otherwise I may have considered buying here.
1/1 WITH parking for 89k in this building?
http://www.redfin.com/IL/Chicago/1720-S-Michigan-Ave-60616/unit-307/home/39707583
Big 1 bedroom at 900 sq ft. Sounds too good to be true. Under contract already, but I would have bought this one for sure.
“1/1 WITH parking for 89k in this building?”
Insider deal perhaps? Size isn’t listed correctly though, it’s only 692, no balcony or anything, big awkward concrete column in living room.
Too many short sales, foreclosurers and non paying assessment units.
When a homeowner is in over their head they tend to give up and walk away.
The South Loop did not blossom into the hip area that it was projected to be and by the looks of things they may never happen – too many CHA and empty buildings which has produced more crime.