Get a Corner Penthouse at 45% Off: 41 E. 8th Street in the South Loop
This 2-bedroom penthouse unit at 41 E. 8th in the South Loop has been on and off the market since August 2009.
It is now a short sale and is listed for about 45% under the 2003 purchase price.
At 1600 square feet, the unit has a den and a private terrace with lakeviews along with a balcony off the bedroom with city views.
The kitchen has stainless steel appliances and granite counter tops.
Is this a deal?
John Federici at Krain has the listing. See the pictures here.
Unit #3404: 2 bedrooms, 2 baths, den, 1600 square feet
- Sold in July 2003 for $577,000
- Originally listed in August 2009 for $460,000
- Reduced several times
- Currently listed as a “short sale” for $320,000 (plus $30,000 each for 2-car parking)
- Assessments of $821 a month (includes heat, A/C, cable, doorman)
- Taxes of $6168
- Bedroom #1: 13×16
- Bedroom #2: 10×13
- Den:
Looks like a great deal to me if it goes at this price.
Doesn’t penthouse mean top floor? The balcony photo shows a balcony one floor up.
Why, oh why, do agents think that listing the parking spaces separate (though are required to buy) will trick people? Just list the damn place for $380K.
How do you get hold of the list of South Loop buildings for which lenders will not write a loan? The list of Miami buildings for which there were no loans available was published publicly, but I’ve been searching for the list of Chicago condos, and can’t find it.
Anyway. The South Loop is DOA for the time being. There is just this massive oversupply of condos there. I never saw so many unlit buildings at 8 PM on a weekday night except Miami.
So if you have a credit score of 800 and an income of $200K and STILL get turned down for a loan 2X your income with 50% down, consider you dodged a bullet. There’s a reason for it that is no insult to you.
Just how much more is this area going to decline, I wonder.
Wow – great price for this place. Unfortunately, people who are looking for something in this price range are not going to like the 1500 in tax/assessments per month – that is something that will turn off a huge percentage of buyers. Buyers who CAN afford this assessment/tax usually are limiting their searches to places over 500k and may not even come across this unit!!!!
Like I said, the South Loop situation is surreal. There’s never been a situation like this in Chicago.
The $1500 in taxes and assessments for a NEW building tells you a lot. Could it be the result of many units delinquent on their assessments, which means that the building’s bills will fall to the remaining owners?
You buy into a situation where there are multiple foreclosures and empty units, you are assuming an unknown liability, which is a dangerous thing to do. This building sounds like a dangerous situation for a middle-to-upper-middle income buyer, deceptively cheap price notwithstanding.
I looked at these units really nice views, Decent space and nice big balcony and terrace. This is a great deal if there are no hidden problems.
How did this sell for $577k *before* the peak?
Laura,
http://www.chicagonow.com/blogs/chicago-real-estate-getting-real/2010/12/why-a-mortgage-may-be-hard-to-get-the-no-lend-list.html#comment-330409
Looks like the parking spaces can be rented for 225 per month.
it is a decent place with great views and seems like a good price. i actually like the south loop (my gf is a teacher down there, so i have spent a bunch of time there) but will prices EVER rise again down there? there is just way, way too much supply.
This building had balcony problems, which might be the reason for the high assessments.
http://cribchatter.com/?p=6039
recently stubmled across an ’07 edition of Chicago magazine…trumping up the red hot South Loop on its cover.
America’s hottest neighborhood I believe was in large font.
the fear of the neighborhood’s real estate woes and the fear of any individual building’s woes would keep me from buying in the south loop for a long time to come.
and p.s. that is an interesting list…some definite surprises on there.
“America’s hottest neighborhood I believe was in large font.”
Another example of the media fueling the fire – in good times and bad. Why on earth would anyone believe anything they read or hear about now? Isn’t it obvious that all of these articles you read are nothing but propaganda built upon some misinterpreted and manipulated facts/data?!!!
Thanks for the link, Peter. WOW, but that list is interesting.
Not nearly so many South Loop buildings as I thought there’d be, but lots of stuff up north, including 1550 N State and 2000 Lincoln Park West.
This is just one lender’s list, but these people tend to follow each other around. Wonder how much longer this list will get. And even for the buildings not on it, lending is much more difficult.
I don’t want to live here if I have to be afraid of getting shot…
http://www.suntimes.com/news/crime/2949046-418/police-bullet-charged-allegedly-condo.html
I rarely feel sorry for a buyer but this one is brutal.
“This building had balcony problems, which might be the reason for the high assessments.”
Aside from the coloring I’m not surprised. Just look at those balconies they don’t exactly look sturdy.
During the boom years, there were a lot of condo conversions. The entire south loop and west loop and then all over the city of Chicago there were condo conversions/additional units built. Does anyone know how many condo units were built in Chicago during the boom years?
All of these excess units will place downward pressure on rents. I currently rent because I believe that real estate prices will still go down further. During a bubble prices reach irrationally high on the way up and when the bubble goes POP, prices will equally go downward to depths most people won’t believe. I don’t think we are at the bottom.
“…prices will equally go downward to depths most people won’t believe. I don’t think we are at the bottom.”
I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again. We are in a real estate DEPRESSION. You are completely correct: real estate with go down to depths most people won’t imagine or even conceptually believe.
ha, if I had purchased my apartment at 40 East 9th Street during its conversion in 2000, this is the buildig that would have completely blocked my view four years later. After the conversion, when I saw how fast prices rose, I kicked myself for not buying – instead I rented in the West Loop. Then sometime in 2005 I walked down Wabash past 8th and 9th Street and just laughed.
“We are in a real estate DEPRESSION. ”
This is not apparent yet in any areas other than the Detroit metropolitan area.
Sure the trend is not homeowners friends, but if most other metros start to approach Detroit levels you can bet our policy makers might do more stupid things like tax credits in an attempt to stem the declines.
Also I am talking about SFHs/townhomes. It is likely that condo owners represent such a small percentage of the voting population that they may get less relief/take a bigger hit.
Don’t bring up the straw man Detroit argument Bob, you’re better than that.
Housing is in a depression because new home sales have collapsed, used home sales have collapsed, residential mortgage issuance has collapsed, prices have dropped 30% on average and in some neighborhoods up to 50%, in places like des plaines, niles, berwyn, inner-ring suburbs. Labor prices have dropped, materials have dropped somewhat, a large % of owners are underwater. The list goes on and on. It’s not just bad, it’s just terrible, totally terrible what’s happened out there. but from the ruins the next generation will rise and they will be able to live in a home, contrary to Bob Toll’s prediction, without allocating 40% to 50% of their income for some crapshack to pay for the retirement of a profligate boomer.
Servicers started 339,000 foreclosures on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac mortgages in the third quarter, more than double the 146,507 modifications completed, according to data from the Federal Housing Finance Agency. Counting short sales, deeds-in-lieu, forbearance, repayment plans and other actions, servicers kept 227,300 homes out of foreclosure during the three months ended Sept. 30, but that’s down 16% from the second quarter. Foreclosures starts, however, increased 23% in the same period for the most the FHFA has ever reported.
http://www.housingwire.com/2010/12/21/fannie-mae-freddie-mac-foreclosures-double-modifications-in-third-quarter
HD some perspective:
339k + 227.3k = 566.3k. Let’s annualize that (keep the math simple) = 2.265MM properties in distress. Sounds like a lot, right?
Census numbers released today show a population of 308MM.
0.74% properties in distressed per citizen. That’s less than one in a hundred. This is not 12/21/2012 even though with days giving us less than 6hrs of sunlight it might seem like it sometimes.
This just 1 quarter Bob. It starts to add up. It keeps growing and growing and growing. Wait until the next wave begins when the public sector starts laying people off. Im not trying to doom and gloom, but the writing is on the wall. You can choose to ignore it to your own peril.
Err rather 0.0074 distressed properties per citizen. Beer math.
“This just 1 quarter Bob”
No I annualized it (x4). .0074 distressed properties this year per citizen. Even assuming it takes three years for a property to exit distressed status that’s 0.0222 distressed properties per citizen. Even that number is likely very high as the distressed pipeline didn’t start this year.
Are you OK Bob? Did you see the ghosts of Christmas past, present and future last night?
“but from the ruins the next generation will rise and they will be able to live in a home, contrary to Bob Toll’s prediction, without allocating 40% to 50% of their income for some crapshack to pay for the retirement of a profligate boomer.”
Yes- it’s about affordability.
Imagine a world where you use just 20% (or less) of your income on housing? Imagine what other productive enterprises your money can go to if it’s not going to housing?
The nation will be stronger for it.
“We are in a real estate DEPRESSION. ”
Detroit is not even the worst off metropolitan area. Prices are down over 60% in both Las Vegas and Phoenix. And it’s not much better in Miami.
I just saw an article about the double dip in Phoenix. At the peak median price was $250,000. In April 2009 it hit $119,000. It rebounded to $130k during the tax credit months in 2009 and 2010. Now, in December, the MLS is showing median price about $115,000. It will be a new low.
both bob and clio switch bodies today.
Holy cow apparently the threat of Clio leaving the site turned Bob into the next RE cheerleader?
As an early Christmas present I’m giving everyone a new slant to their comments for the day on Wednesday until Clio aggrees to return! I’m going to start bashing the west loop especially lofts in favor of low ceiling cramped spaces in ELP. Groove will begin making statements about leaving the NW burbs and moving to the west side for a more urban feel. Sabrina becomes the crazy off topic blogger instead of the voice of reason. I’m assigning Danny to become a big fan of buying immediately instead of renting. Westloopelo will begin to hate NYC and speak fondly of the great finishes he recently found at Menards. HD and Sonies what do you want to be on Wednesday?
“Groove will begin making statements about leaving the NW burbs and moving to the west side for a more urban feel”
fun groove fact; i actually did rent on the west side for a bit to save money. not a fun experiment.