Good Vintage Bones in Lakeview: 3560 N. Pine Grove
This circa 1915 2-bedroom co-op unit at 3560 N. Pine Grove has great vintage bones: a sunroom, fireplace and a coved ceiling in the dining room.
It’s also been on the market for 9 months and has been reduced $30,000.
It has the always vital central air and an in-unit washer/dryer. For a co-op building, it also has a reasonable monthly assessment.
Where are the buyers for this property?
Stephen Bognar at Koenig & Strey has the listing. See the pictures, the floor plan and the virtual tour here.
Unit #1: 2 bedrooms, 2 baths, 1715 square feet
- I couldn’t find a prior sales price
- Was listed in May 2008 for $389,000
- Reduced
- Currently listed for $359,000
- Assessments of $498 a month
- Taxes of $3395
- Central Air
- In-unit W/D
- Sunroom
- No Parking
- Listing says 90% financing allowed
Comparing to the unit on LSD in Lakeview from yesterday…
Pluses: bigger, W/D in unit, Central Air, lower assessments (but not by much).
Minuses: first floor, no view, finishes are much worse, 30K higher asking price.
I guess this listing makes yesterday’s look pretty good by comparison. I really doubt I’d consider either, but I like yesterday’s more and it (likely) sold for much less. These folks are going to have a really tough time selling, IMO.
The fact it is a co-op will make it harder to finance and probably eliminating quite a few potential buyers. You don’t have very many financing options for co-ops. The place needs a make over, but sizable unit.
Allows 90% financing
Kitchen + Bathroom + 13×9 2nd bedroom = Laughing at 360k.
Why dont I just buy the (still) overpriced 330k 2br I saw here the other day which is much closer to downtown?
Oh, wait, I still wouldnt even buy that one. This one is a joke.
First floor, no parking in a congested neighborhood. It’s just not that special. Price is too high.
I saw another place in this building a few months ago. I think it was on the top floor and had a parking space. It too needed some work (except for the kitchen), perhaps more than this place; its dining room was absurdly large. It was only a little more expensive than this place. Wonder if it ever sold…
Floor plan indicates *two* sunrooms, and a deck.
Mario Greco just had the unit above this one (#2) go under contract. It had just been reduced to 399k w/ parking and beautiful kitchen. So 1st floor, no parking, out dated kitchen. This will be lucky to fetch 339k.
The Lake Shore place from yesterday looked nicer, but this unit is 350 square feet bigger and has that all-important second bathroom.
Should the taxes be included in the assessment since this is a co-op? I know this often comes up, but I can never remember how it works.
With a Co-Op, the taxes are on the building, not the particular unit like with condos. Therefore they divide the buildings taxes among the owners and include it in the assessment. I never owned a co-op so I don’t know if the tax payer can claim the taxes, but I don’t see why not, but I don’t know how.
The second sunroom is off the master. The unit itself has a nice floor plan and lots of space, but the outdoor space and the master/sunroom feels a bit dim and dreary. Otherwise I have no complaints. (Kitchen can be redone, after all.) Good luck & good riddance to the people who bought the overpriced renovation from Greco… I would rather pay the offer on this one and put in my own finishes than buy into his garbage.
taxes are included in the monthly assessment since the co-op building is taxed as a whole and the taxes are payed by the corporation (or sometimes trust) that owns the building. however sometimes agents like to break the tax portion of the assessments out and list them separately in the mls so that the assessments look more “condo-like”. i’ve seen other agents list the full assessments with zero for tax, and still other that list the full assessment but then note what portion is tax etc etc. you really just have to ask to know what you are getting. You do not get to claim your taxes, as KC08 questioned, but there is a method for this to happen thru the building in aggregate. in the co-op i own the building does this and you get a check once a year – its equivalent to about 1 months assessment for me. you must live in the unit on Jan 1 to qualify. look at Citibank, Northern Trust, Delaware Place Bank and National Coop Bank for share loans. Delaware i think has been out for a few years but i list them cause ive used them a couple of times in the distant past. IF anyone knows of others doing co-op loans id be interested. rates tend to be slightly but not much higher than condo. like condo buildings there are great co-ops and there are horrible co-ops, you need to to your due diligence in investigating the strength of the building just like you would a condo building. Ive seen some great deals in good co-ops because poeple are generally afraid of them for historical reason that no longer apply.
Sorry to dredge up the perennial topic of parking….but is this a permit parking area?
correction – i think you do get to directly deduct your share of taxes depending on how the co-op is structured – corp or trust.
If the assessment includes heat (likely since it’s radiator) as well as taxes, it’s not bad at all.
LOL at the Greco comment, hopefully he gets a clue, several of his listings are over a year old with numerous price reductions…he overprices his property by a ton…in this market, it ends up looking pretty stupid.
Here’s one of his that is ridiculously overpriced:
http://rubloff.com/property/4186726
I just wish he would leave his hands of nice vintage. He can hawk new construction all he likes.
Indeed seanzee, a marketing strategy that worked during the bubble is detrimental in the current environment. These days listings really need critical mass (location, presentation, amenities, perceived value pricing). It is getting harder and harder to overcome objections (no parking, the appearance of a lot of work, seemingly high assessments). The Greco listing in this building I believe started at 439k and was reduced to 399 when it went under contract.
This listing is challenged with no parking and first floor location at Pinegrove and Addison. Not a great place for floor one, don’t care how high.
The kicker is that I have been in these units and they are very dramatic and impressive, much better then newer crap that has parking, new kitchen, baths etc (like what I bought).
Reminder: Please keep the discussion to the actual property and NOT the agents.
Thanks.
Greco had that 3449 Paulina house that everyone said wouldn’t sell for more than $500k. Closed for $600k this week.
“that 3449 Paulina house that everyone said wouldn’t sell for more than $500k. Closed for $600k this week.”
Not *would*. *Should*. It *should* have been ~$500k. The buyers either (1) are ambitious DIYers, (2) expect inflation, or (3) overpaid. It they can complete a ~1200 sqft addition (back 20 feer on all three levels) for ~$120k, they’ll be in really good shape, having $720k into a house that’s comparable to $750-800k+ houses. The problem is raising the $120k these days. As a stand alone as-is, with present comps, in this particular location (not the right neighborhood school), it’s a little ‘spensive.
In photo #5, you can see that the “sunroom” off the master bedroom has brick walls a few feet away from both sets of windows. Not sure it really counts as anything other than an office or something.
This place is large and feels like a good deal for this neighborhood. You’d have had no trouble getting $450K for this at the peak. The little sunroom is a nice extra space.
Good location with a roomy, attractive old apartment. As for parking, Lakeview people are used to having to scramble for parking spaces.