Get an East Lakeview 1-Bedroom For Under $73,000: 546 W. Surf
Looks like no one wants this vintage one bedroom in a courtyard building at 546 W. Surf in East Lakeview.
Originally listed on April 12 for $129,900 it recently had a drama reduction all the way down to $72,500.
This building went condo in 2006.
The unit is now priced $143,500 under the 2006 purchase price.
There are no pictures of the kitchen or the bath, so it’s unclear if those are intact.
Otherwise, it has hardwood floors and arches.
The unit also has a separate dining room.
There is no central air, washer/dryer in the unit or parking.
In case you are wondering about rental rates in this building, this other 1-bedroom, located on the first floor, just came on as a rental listed for $1550 a month.
See the pictures of the rental at 542 W. Surf here.
Will there be a bidding war on this unit now?
Jason Shapiro at Rising Realty has the listing. See the pictures here.
Unit #3N: 1 bedroom, 1 bath, dining room, no square footage listed
- Sold in March 2006 for $216,000 (looks like there is an error in the data as there are 2 sales recorded in 2006)
- Lis pendens foreclosure filed in September 2009
- Bank owned in January 2011
- Originally listed on Apr 12, 2011 for $129,900
- Reduced
- Currently listed for $72,500
- Assessments of $202 a month
- Taxes of $3342
- No central air
- No in-unit washer/dryer (looks like its free in the building)
- No parking
- Bedroom #1: 12×10
- Living room: 16×12
- Dining room: 9×7
- Kitchen: 12×5
If the other unit rents for anywhere near ask then yes there will be a bidding war for this unit.
If the bathrooms aren’t intact then an investor will buy this and get a healthy return either from flipping it or as renting it out (more likely).
perfect for the college graduate not ready to move on with his life, this place is like returning to a dorm every night after hitting the campus, er…I mean, lakeview bars every night.
If the photos are any indication, Ralph and Alice Kramden would be right at home in this place. All you need is a fire escape outside the kitchen window and a table-top refrigerator. I can just hear Ralph bellowing out the window, “NORTON!”
No way that rents for that much.
Ideal for a kid out of college and a decent job. No sale if you are over 25.
There’s no way anyone would pay more than 950 to rent this, MAX. You’d break even with assesments/taxes on 5/1 arm and have to wait to sell this when the market picks up (even at 99K).
I lived in this building in the early 2000s when it was a rental. I find it amazing that they were able to fix the building up enough to get people to buy units. One of the many, many rental buildings in Chicago that left me scratching my head when it went condo.
a steal at this price.
“I find it amazing that they were able to fix the building up enough to get people to buy units. ”
Do you really think they fixed it up more than freshening the kitchens and baths?
The real price for this unit in the condition of the other 1 bedroom rental should be somewhere around $190k or so. It’s a great location and I know people who are very happy in this building. It could take a lot of work to get that unit as nice as the rental, though.
Are people really paying over 1,500 rent for a 1 BD vintage “condo” in Lakeview?
If they are, I need to go make some easy money right now.
The rental looks excellent. But I wonder if it, too, has a “9X7” dining room. Seems like a table would barely fit.
“Are people really paying over 1,500 rent for a 1 BD vintage “condo” in Lakeview?
If they are, I need to go make some easy money right now.”
I, too, am very, very skeptical they get anywhere NEAR $1,550/month for a vintage one bedroom. You can get a vintage 3 bedroom for $1,500/month in Lakeview.
Methinks its more of a strategy of shooting for the sky then making your renter feel like they got a killer deal at $1,200/month.
You can rent a $450k new condo in The Legacy downtown for $1,700 these days. No way do vintage condos in Lakeview rent for near this same price.
There already is a bidding war, the place will sell well above ask and it will be cash
No central air
No in-unit washer/dryer (looks like its free in the building)
No parking
Kitchen: 12×5
Bidding war? have at it…..
Yeah – $1,550 sounds way too high to me, too. Though it looks like a very nice place.
For that kind of price for a 1 BR, you should get parking thrown in!
Unless it’s a 1 bedroom at 900 N. Michigan or the Trump Tower, there are far better choices for this price.
I saw this. Very good deal for the money even though it is the size of a matchbox and needs work. The building and neighborhood are both beautiful. I believe it will sell above the ask.
This is a tiny 3 room one bedroom, which I believe would rent for about $1000 there.
“No central air”
Wall units.
“No in-unit washer/dryer (looks like its free in the building)”
Free is better than paying for laundry which is majority of rentals around here.
“No parking”
Rent to someone without a car (plenty around here).
“Kitchen: 12×5”
Rent to newer college grad.
“Bidding war? have at it…..”
The investor buying it doesn’t have to live here. At 73k it’s a steal. It will likely sell for at least 90k.
There will always be a supply of recent college grads working downtown that want to rent a place like this. Not for $1,550 (LOL) but for $700 gets it rented quickly and makes $ at 73k.
I agree with Laura on the 1k for rent, maybe even less. I rented a 1 bdrm in a similar area (Actually closer to the train) and paid 890 for it including heat.
This place just doestn have investment value, the rent this place will end up getting, just isnt high enough after taxes and assesments kills the rental return.
Personally I find for rental returns 2 bedrooms are the way to go, % wise they arent that much more expensive but you can get alot more rent for them.
There is a larger 4 room 1 bed in this building, in much better condition, that has just been reduced to $150K after languishing for months on the market, first at $179K and then $169K. I’ll see how long it sits at $155K.
Still too darn small, though, so I’ll probably end up in Edgewater or Rogers Park because I don’t want to spend more that $150K. Want something I can pay off very quickly.
For example I could buy a 2bdrm in east rogers park for 50-60k that will rent for 11-1200.
Or i could likely end up paying close to 90k for this place and get 900-1000 for in rent.
You’ll probably pay more like $75K to $100K for a 2 bed in RP, if the building is solid financially and the place is in good shape. But that would still be below rent parity, depending on the HOA and taxes. Still a good deal.
As for Rogers Park still not being completely gentrified, Lakeview was in worse condition in the 70s, and many people felt that it was a very poor investment.
I believe that in another decade, all north lakefront neighborhoods will be very coveted.
I hope you’re right about all of the north lakefront being coveted in 10 years. I say that because I remember Rogers Park in the 1970s and it was a much better neighborhood then than it is now. So hopefully up is the only way to go.
Why does the lack of parking even matter at this price? Though I can understand the logic of “needing” parking for a larger 1BR, 2BR, or 3BR unit (even if I still don’t subscribe to it being a deal killer), a super small 1BR at this price – 2 blocks from the Clark St bus mind you – makes it a non-issue. When gas is $8 a gallon (where it SHOULD be, and is moving), I think this conversation/argument will be less compelling.
Also, I think this building is quite attractive from the outside and has a lot of charm.
Coming out of college, unless something completely missing here. This is a great buy.
Do you really think an investor is going to waste their time on this place for a little cash (perhaps) each month?
Bob’s comments make me laugh (and I’m not referring to the one regarding his constant fascination with gay bars and gays in the city) — a willingness to settle for window units, no parking, free laundry, small kitchen smells like an eternal renter to me. Just saying.
This is a bad comp for people in the same boat around here unless a successful bidding war ensues.
Nothing wrong with window unit, small kitchen, no parking. I agree that for a young college student or even a young couple this might be an ok option. The price seems very affordable.
I can’t imagine packing 2 people into a space this small. I would go crazy.
Didn’t Clio say earlier today that Green Zone prices can’t possibly go down any further?
“— a willingness to settle for window units, no parking, free laundry, small kitchen smells like an eternal renter to me. Just saying.”
You might be surprised, Jon, but a lot of people who might _buy_ a unit like this at or near this ask price _don’t actually have to live in it_! I know it’s an insane concept and tough to get one’s head around.
Also Laura this isn’t comparable to Rogers Park. You might think Roger’s park is comparable but it isn’t–it’s not even close. You can get a place 2x-3x bigger in Rogers Park for the same price. Heck you can get a 1-bedroom ON THE BEACH in Rogers Park for 160k. Yeah, 1200 W Sherin, Unit 1K sold for 160k on 4/22/2011 (MLS 07727916) so please give up comparing Rogers Park to this property in Lincoln Park, Laura.
I know Rogers Park is no way comparable to Lakeview, and didn’t mean to seem to be comparing the two.
I’d rather be in Lakeview, but I can pay the place off a lot more quickly in RP or Edgewater, is all.
As I said in a previous post about this property, it IS a good deal for the money. But it is distinctly a one-person apartment. No way would two people fit into this place, and if they want to spend less than $100K between the two of them, and have a decent-sized place, they will have to look in a “non-prime” neighborhood, that’s all.
“….please give up comparing Rogers Park to this property in Lincoln Park…”
It is an insult to compare ANY property, regardless of the area, to ANY place in Rogers Park.
“…but I can pay the place off a lot more quickly in RP or Edgewater…”
This would be the ONLY benefit of buying anything in RP…I don’t see RP improving in even the slightest way for the next few years, if ever. True it had been on a somewhat solid regentrification path for a bit before the bubble burst, but quickly reverted back to the horrible condition most of it is in.
Loved the “Ralph & Alice Kramden” reference, but it doesn’t seem to apply here. Instead it applies to all those “upscale” houses and condos that have been built over the last decade or so, with the living room/dining room/kitchen all in one “great room” with no dividing walls. Just like the Kramdens’ “downscale” Brooklyn flat!
just was looking at the building stats on CCRD, foreclosures have been filed on 9 condos… thats almost 20%. Also the developer seems to still hold a bunch of units.
It would be a rough to get a loan on this building, probably won’t matter much in the purchase since this will likely be a cash deal. But would make a short-term exit strategy very challenging… i just dont see a bank lending on a building like this.
westloopo, come take a look sometime. RP has improved somewhat since the bubble burst. Morse Ave FINALLY is coming along, though not as fast as I would like, and two of the worst buildings there finally cleaned up and fixed up. We have two bad pockets left, like the horrid pocket north of Howard (a.k.a. the Juneway Jungle and the Jonquil Jungle,self-explanatory), but there’s no need to be anywhere near there. Many beautiful and safe sections of this neighborhood.
It is not LP or Lakeview, my two favorite north lakefront neighborhoods and never was. But it beats being buried in debt for a substantially similar condo, and I have a feeling that all the north lakefront neighborhoods will be highly valued in another decade.
LMAO at that asking rental rate. Are you KIDDING me? I don’t care how dazzling the kitchen, it’s a damn walk-up courtyard.
Also, with the “laundry situation” it is always, always, always questionable with a courtyard. If it’s free, there’s a reason, and that reason is typically “you need to go outside to get to it!”
Courtyard buildings do not have common area space, and laundry rooms are usually in basement areas not accessible to every walk-up tier. Put your slippers on and drag it out, gurl.
$1,500 in rent. I’m just shaking my head at that hot noise. Granted, with the “I MUST HAVE GRANITE AND STAINLESS!” fads-of-the-moment I wouldn’t put it past me for a sucker to rent this when they could find far better in the hood for far less, even if they have to *gasp* live with laminate.
$1,500 for a 1/1 in a vintage courtyard… lol.
gesc – Can you tell me how you look up the building stats on the CCRD website? Thanks.
you just need the pin number which is listed on redfin, or if you dont have a listing, like if you wanted to look up what your neighbors mortgage is you would look up his address at http://www.cookcountyassessor.com/Property_Search/Property_Search.aspx
then go to CCRD.info and type in the pin number, its a bit tricky to read, but basically lets say in the case of your neighbor you would be able to look all other properties they own or have been involved with in cook county
This place is under contract already, i dont think this will be an example for comps in the area just an anomaly… the only place that has one bedrooms even close to this price is at that ugly building on 2625 clark
Has anyone seen the inside of this unit?
gesc – I know the PIN number will give you the info for that unit, but did you look up all of the PINS in that building to get the info on all of the foreclosures in the building? How did you get the info on the whole building? Is there a building PIN or just individual PINS for each unit?
Also, the unit was Reactivated today. They were having problems with entry so they temporarily took it off the market.
You have to individually look up the pin numbers, all 55, at least thats how i did it.
From what i understand this thing is like a shoebox… i think for the 90k you would likely end up spending on it you could probably find a better deal elsewhere. there is a full size 1 bedroom listed on barry for 100k, maybe you could get that for 90k if you have that kind of cash lying around.
I looked at units in this building back in 2007. They all had nice finishes but were pretty small. This is an awesome courtyard building and my understanding is it was a complete gut rehab by the developer. Surf is a really cool area, I think this can rent for $1000 to 1100 easy.
546 W Surf, Unit 3N has gone in and out of contract a couple of times now. Reactivated for the second time yesterday. The listing notes now say “NO RENTALS”, which is probably the biggest reason why it has not sold. It’s a nice location, but the taxes are way too high at $3,342 for a small 1 BR.
Reduced to 69.9K today.
Thanks for the update Milkster.
So basically- if you can’t rent it out, no investor will want it. That leaves “live in” owners.
To me- it says a lot that this STILL isn’t selling. The 1-bedroom market is dead (at this lower end) because it makes more sense to rent (who’s going to live in a 1-bedroom for 10 years?) And if you can’t move and rent it out after you move- then financially it’s a losing deal.
“(who’s going to live in a 1-bedroom for 10 years?)”
I think Bob’s rented his studio for approximately that long.
Price cut to $69,990.
Under contract. Looks like property is selling in Chicago, just not where the owners can’t drastically cut prices.
This has been under contract several times already- I believe.
548 W Surf Unit 3N (identical unit/different tier/same building?) just popped up on MLS for 124.9K. Assessments are $201. Taxes are $2,760.
544 W Surf Unit 3E had a price reduction today to 149.9K. It’s been on the market for 120 days. It was first listed on 2/17/11 for 165K.
http://www.redfin.com/IL/Chicago/544-W-Surf-St-60657/unit-3E/home/18921697
This particular unit has an updated kitchen and bath. If you really like the building, maybe you could convince the owner to short-sell.
The taxes are very high at $3,341.70.