How Do You Price in Lincoln Square? 2455 W. Leland
Lincoln Square was once considered an “affordable” up and coming neighborhood before the housing boom- and now- not so much.
This 2-bedroom duplex at 2455 W. Leland has been on the market since June 2008 and has had three price reductions.
This duplex seems to have it all (central air/fireplace/w/d)- except a deeded parking space.
What’s it worth in this changing market?
Here’s the listing:
Third price drop! Amazing Lincoln Square location on a beautiful block! This stunning duplex features hardwood floors, newer stainless steel appliances, fireplace, and in-unit laundry.
Cozy sun room, extra storage, and plenty of deck space make this a must see just a block away from Brown line, restaurants, and shopping. Rental parking available behind building.
Laura Topp at Koenig & Strey has the listing. See more pictures here.
Unit#1: 2 bedrooms, 2 baths, no square footage listed
- Sold in October 1999 for $156,000
- Sold in April 2003 for $243,000
- Sold in July 2005 for $305,000
- Originally listed in June 2008 for $365,000
- Reduced in August 2008 to $360,000
- Reduced in September 2008 to $355,000
- Reduced in October 2008 to $349,900
- Currently listed at $349,900
- Assessments of $223 a month
- Taxes of $2,214
- No parking (but available for $50 a month behind the building)
- W/D in the unit
- Central Air
Ah, the cell phone camera comes in handy once again.
The place looks really tiny and claustrophobic with those photos.
List at like $319,900, and folks might look at it. No way they’re gonna profit more than $5k on this, just barely enough to move out and paint a new place…
No SF listed = red herring.
Someone is trying to dump their 1100sf 2/2.
looks very dated…probably because pictures were taken at night. with no parking I wouldn’t pay over 299 for this one!
Oohh Ouch! That living room is tiny! What did they do, put up a wall in the original living room to create the second bedroom? How would you have a conversation with guests sitting in those sofas without breaking your neck?
I say it isn’t worth over 250k
255k if they throw in the frog sticker on the fridge!
It’s bozos like these people who f’ked up the housing market. Let me tell you why. After using googles and the various county government websites I pieced together a story. I cannot verify it’s accuracy but its pretty typical of the stupid follow the crowd under 30 type attitude.
In 2005, bozo and bozoette decide to buy a condo together. They pay $305k for A GLORIFIED APARTMENT. They could have rented a similar unit for probably $1,300 or $1,400 a month, tops. They put down $15k (5%) and borrow the other 95%!!!
Unfortunately, they were greedy and impulsive. Since they were getting married, they NEEDED to buy and they NEEDED to buy now now now!!! They paid roughly 25% appreciation to the previous owner who lived there for 24 months! Their purchase as a comp drove up the price for everyone else in the neighborhood.
Our 26 year old paralegal friend says, well, if dumpy 2/2 1,100 sq ft condo sells for $305k then I’m getting a deal if I pay $350k for my new construction 2/2 condo around the corner.
And then the families who want to buy SFH say, well, if new 2/2 condos are $350k then houses should be at least double, say $700k. I can buy my new $700k home with an option arm loan and make a smaller payment than the guy with the $305k dumpy 2/2. It’s called buying smart. And so on and so on.
To continue on with the story, our bozo FB’s decide to refi a year later. In late 2006, They refied from a 95% $289k loan into 2 different mortgages. A first for $260k and a second for $38k. They increased their loan balance $8,000 and probably took a little cash out. You know, to pay for the wedding or whatever.
Fast forward to today. For reasons unknown, they want to sell after living in a glorious and luxorious but cramped apartment. Moving after 3 years? So sad. Maybe they want to cash in on their appreciation. Maybe a baby is on the way. Maybe the ARM just reset. Who knows or cares.
Today the home is listed for $349,000. You know, they CAN’T just give it away! They are entitled to significant appreciation just the previous owner. They’re holding out for the trust fund baby or the young couple with a signficant down payment from the ‘rents to FALL IN LOVE with their cramped but glorious 2/2 just like they did.
How will the story end? Foreclosure and/or bankruptcy. And that’s the easy way out. Chances are this household will be an insolvent zombie for sometime. Maybe hubby will get promoted from junior analyst to senior analyst. Big promotion at work = $10k+ pay raise (and 10+ more hours a week too!). Hhahhaahahha have a nice day ya’ll
This unit is a disaster; it’s difficult to justify a price higher than $200,000, and even then, a tough sell. Livingroom is unfurnishable, diningroom seems to be entry hall. Unit is tiny, unattractively remodelled, w/o parking, and “Home Depot”/Polish contractor quality. Who cares if it’s duplexed into the basement; basement “habitable” space is still damp, cold, prone to flooding, and unhealthy livingspace long-term, and stair consumes useable livingspace within the original unit.
This unit is an example of the shoddy, unattractive residential rehab development that occurred in many north-side neighborhoods. “Pick-up truck” contractor/developers bought up the older apartment buildings cheaply, then did a quick “eyewash rehab” that often only added new cabinets, granite, and a quick floor refinishing. Traditional working-class small-unit rental housing was nominally rehabbed to sell to naive young buyers. Many of these units will age badly, become unsaleable, create blight-conditions in their neighborhoods. Sad story.
This unit will be for sale a year from now.
Homedelete: Check out the pictures (to confirm at least part of your scenario.)
This is the difficulty of this market. Some areas of the city appreciated so rapidly, there is no way those prices will be supported now. And you can’t sell after 2 or 3 years and expect to even break even (let alone make any money.)
What will many of these homeowners do? Stick it out? Or just walk away?
This duplex has it all except any living space.
HD… nice story but left out the part where you now pay for it!
ugh. this place would never convince me to move out of my apartment. I can’t even understand how this place is laid out w/ the pics provided.
There’s nothing “stunning” about this one. All the disadvantages of vintage with none of the charm. This one needs to be gutted and the price needs to reflect that. The vintage two bedroom on Wellington looks like a palace compared to this one.
Did anyone see last Sunday’s trib? North Center (which borders LS) is one of the few areas that had a year over year increase in median sales price. Does someone want to break that down for us? SFH, condos, etc…
I think the paint they chose is nice.
It is also close to the great Lincoln Square Lanes. So that’s good for all the potential buyers who bowl.
1. 5%/year from the 1999 price thru to Oct 2009 (since they aren’t selling it anytime soon w/ their asking price) gives us $254k. That seems about right to me–maybe $270k b/c people have actually heard of lincoln square now. But at least 10% off the ’05 bubble price.
2. They desperately need someone with a lick of sense to come in and re-arrange their furniture and tell them to get rid of the TV cabinet. If they just re-oriented the living room to focus on the fireplace and moved the dining table into the current living room, it wouldn’t look like such a disaster.
3. “They increased their loan balance $8,000”–hell, with their apparent savvy, that $8k might have all been “closing costs” (i.e., mortgage broker’s commission a/k/a HaHA, sucker).
4. The re-fi indicates that the appraisal in late ’06 was for $325k ($260k=80% of $325k). So their brilliant pricing strategy appears to have been “it went up $20k in one year, it must have gone up $20k each of the next two years”.
Lincoln Square is so far out there it might as well be a suburb. 350k? Yeah right, even 250k is too high. 200 tops, especially because of parking.
$200,000 is too high:
Sold in October 1999 for $156,000
Lincoln Square– Oct-08 Oct-07 YOY
SFH——–Sales 8 8 0.0%
SFH———-Med $507,500 $482,000 5.3%
SFH———-Ave $617,797 $632,125 -2.3%
Condo/TH–Sales 22 33 -33.3%
Condo/TH—-Med $278,725 $290,900 -4.2%
Condo/TH—-Ave $324,807 $298,091 9.0%
C/TH-Sales w/SF 14 13 7.7%
C/TH w/SF—Med $219 $257 -14.8%
C/TH w/SF—Ave $225 $253 -11.2%
North Center—- Oct-08 Oct-07 YOY
SFH——–Sales 10 12 -16.7%
SFH———-Med $732,500 $847,500 -13.6%
SFH———-Ave $803,412 $936,667 -14.2%
Condo/TH–Sales 22 29 -24.1%
Condo/TH—-Med $421,750 $376,000 12.2%
Condo/TH—-Ave $396,493 $379,333 4.5%
C/TH-Sales w/SF 12 11 9.1%
C/TH w/SF—Med $259 $269 -3.7%
C/TH w/SF—Ave $261 $275 -5.1%
My meaningless valuation edict: Ask somewhere around $280k, but don’t push hard if any offers come in above $260k.
Really don’t want to take the hit because you can’t afford to bring cash to the closing table or take out a loan to pay off the balance? If they put 20% down, they’ll be alright, say goodbye to some equity and walk away. Otherwise, stay put until we inflate the dollar a bit more.
Inflating the dollar will not stop home price deflation unless incomes are also inflated. And that ain’t gonna happen.
That first picture sure shows a nice walk-in closet. My question is why did they take the shelves down and move furniture in there?
Who wants this dive when you can now get 2/1s in Lakeview for 160k! (1122 W Grace-go Stevo run!)
I hope they got a toaster with their mortgage because thats their financial situation.
This place sucks. 350k? WHY???
I don’t think there’s any reason to think it’s worth any more than what they paid for it. 2005, sometimes even 2004, can be pointed to as the peak. I’m seeing some things at 2002 prices and beyond. This property is on the el. And it’s not well staged or photographed. They are painting it with a bargain brush but not pricing it to match. Price it at $299,000 and with any luck you’ll maximize your selling price.
Still on the market… now asking $315K