“Huge Price Reduction” On This Bank Owned 2/2: 950 W. Barry in Lakeview
We chattered about this 2-bedroom unit at 950 W. Barry in Lakeview in August 2010.
See our prior chatter here.
At that time, it had just come on the market as a bank owned unit.
Many of you thought the asking price of $375,000 was too high given its proximity to the El and a bunch of nearby bars and that somewhere between $75,000 and $100,000 lower than $375k would get it done.
The unit has since been reduced $76,000.
From the pictures, it appears to have its kitchen and baths intact.
The kitchen has cherry cabinets, granite counter tops and stainless steel appliances.
The unit also has custom millwork.
It has central air, washer/dryer in the unit and parking is included.
Is this a deal now?
William Volpe at Parkvue Realty still has the listing. See the pictures here.
Unit #2: 2 bedrooms, 2 baths, no square footage listed
- Sold in April 2008 for $438,000
- Lis pendens filed in March 2009
- Originally listed in July 2010 for $399,000
- Bank owned in August 2010
- Reduced
- Was listed in August 2010 for $375,000 (parking included)
- Reduced
- Currently listed at $299,000 (parking included)
- Assessments of $130 a month
- Taxes of $6234
- Central Air
- Washer/Dryer in the unit
- Bedroom #1: 13×12
- Bedroom #2: 12×8
- Living room: 18×19
- Kitchen: 14×16
I absolutely think it is a deal for someone at this price. For under 300k you are not going to get a unit with these type of finishes anywhere near this area. Of course the drawback is the El – but that is why it is so cheap. Seriously, if my budget was under 300k, I would seriously consider this place.
It’s pretty nice inside. But there are better options out there that are not bank sale properties (i.e., this one says its $300k; we’ll see how quickly someone can close at or near that price).
I realize that there’s a big gulf between $300k (what this place is theoretically asking) and $400k (what the actual sellers, i.e., the humans who purchased the place a few years ago, thought would be the worst case). Think about that 3/2 on Grant in ELP (to which Bob provided a link and on which I commented), which I believe had been reduced to the high $300’s – by the sellers, not their lender. If that place closed for $350-75k…well, it might not have had the “custom millwork” of this place, but good grief, it had so much more.
This would be an absolutely beautiful place were it not for two small, awkwardly located windows in the living area that wreck the symmetry of the place. If the small window on the wall adjacent to the large living room window had been a full length window also, and if the high, narrow window on the wall close to the kitchen had been eliminated all together, this would be a much better looking apartment.
Otherwise it’s beautiful. Too bad it’s so close to the el tracks, you could almost run a plank from the window to the right-of-way, and flag a train down. Unless this place has really good soundproofing, it must sound like the thing is running right through the living room.
“Think about that 3/2 on Grant in ELP (to which Bob provided a link and on which I commented), which I believe had been reduced to the high $300’s – by the sellers, not their lender. If that place closed for $350-75k…well, it might not have had the “custom millwork” of this place, but good grief, it had so much more”
Oh yeah, and if you are willing to spend even a wee more than that, you can find nice places for 750k, 1 million, 4 million, etc. – the point is that at this price point, you are very very unlikely to do any better.
It kills me that they went to all the trouble to put that millwork, etc. in this cinder block surprise. I would not even rent in a cinder block-sided unit (again). Take that + the adjacent El + a uselessly sized BR #2, and you have a noisy 1BR + den on a middle floor with impending water damage related to cinder block construction. $299K?
It would have been better if this were a simple, no-frills unit, then the price could be less. Spending this type of money building an above average interior at this location is silly. The selling price will reflect the location more than the interior finishes.
How do you guys figure in the price of an REOfactoring the “as is” cause and potential for missing items? In other words if $299k is a good deal for this as REO, what would the corresponding price be for a standard owner sale? $325k? Would a short sale be priced right at $275k or same as REO at $299k?
Why are there so many properties featured on CC that are on the El? Of course they go REO or need drastic price reductions to sell, living on the El sucks! If I was reading this blog from out of town I would think that the El has 500 tracks snaking through Chicago.
I am still trying to figure out where the kitchen table goes? I never quite understood condos that create huge spaces for sleeping (bedrooms), but small spaces for living (family room, dining, etc.)
Plus, this block sucks. There is a big parking lot/stalled development on the other side of the tracks and across the street. Who knows what’s going to happen there.
The bank is delusional. Completely delusional with this REO. Units like this are a dime a dozen. and this unit is particularly sucky. $200k
That oven hood looks ridiculous, they should have built some cabinets around it — if that is possible. But it does have parking.
I agree with Clio, at this price point, it is a good deal. Maybe not an outstanding fantastic once-in-a-lifetime deal, but good enough, especialy for someone who needs to relocate to Chicago quickly and likes the general area.
Cinder block construction = large deferred maintenance bills in the near term = massive fail.
I’d rather rent, and save up for something that wasn’t built by a pickup truck developer.
seems like you can get into a bigger building for cheaper (2/1) so look around.
“especialy for someone who needs to relocate to Chicago quickly and likes the general area.”
It takes a rube.
Executed Recorded Document Type Amount
04/08/2008 04/17/2008 MORTGAGE $416,000.00
03/25/2009 04/07/2009 LIS PENDENS $0.00
07/23/2010 08/24/2010 DEED $0.00
Living on one set of el tracks isn’t that bad, two sets and +one 24 hour service train might be a bit much for even me however
This place has the potential for a neighbor to be built to block most of the noise, but then there goes all the natural light that is currently flooding the place. I wouldn’t live here, but it is a decently finished place, my guess is that it goes in the neighborhood of 260k
Has anyone ever been in one of this new constructions by the EL, how loud does the train get inside the units.
I imagine it can’t be that bad, especially if its new construction and the developer was trying minimize the sound level.
seems like you can get into a bigger building for cheaper (2/1) so look around.
Show me!
People buy homes near the El or the tracks all the time, in Chicago. If the home is well built and priced well, regardless of the market it will sell.
I do not understand though why some banks are in the desperate belief that they can make it in this business? This unit has good potential to make it to a decent listing, but look at the photos, and how they are terribly cropped, etc.
Most importantly, look at the terrible price! They’re keeping one property on the market for 6 months now; just think of all the other foreclosures they’re still holding on to and refuse to sell. At this rate it’ll be 2100 before every last foreclosure is sold!
whatever happened to the quick REO foreclosure deal?
“I do not understand though why some banks are in the desperate belief that they can make it in this business? This unit has good potential to make it to a decent listing, but look at the photos, and how they are terribly cropped, etc.”
this is a 2/2, not a 2/1
And HD, why do you think they hold on to these foreclosures?
The bank is not desperate, probably, selling this one or not in the immediate term as it is not going to make or break their business.
You are operating under the assumption that every seller out there is waiting to dump their property. Today, you can find an empty SF lot in West LP,-West of Ashland in the high $600K’s. What does that tell you? The seller is not interested to sell fast, and is in a position to ride out the MKT.
The strength of sellers in a given nhood is also what makes that nhood valuable. Granted, every nhood and every price point has been affected but this is an important element that needs not to be overlooked.
And HD, you are also predicting that huge amounts of foreclosed units are waiting to be dumped into the market. It may be so, but are you analaysing and breaking down carefully by micro locations?
“Today, you can find an empty SF lot in West LP,-West of Ashland in the high $600K’s.”
Don’t see it. The only thing I find is $349 and contingent.
There’s that (almost) whole block on Montana, but that’s east of Ashland.
“I imagine it can’t be that bad, especially if its new construction and the developer was trying minimize the sound level.”
I wouldn’t count on a developer of a 2005-era building — esp one built with cinder blocks (see the sides) — putting in the extra effort to sound proof. Sure, some rare and angelic developers would make the effort, but 2005 was not a good year overall for new multifamily-flats in Chicago.
The unit interior/finishes aren’t that “particularly sucky”. First time I’ve seen pendent lights above master bathroom sinks.
its not a deal; if it was i would be happy to say so. o/o would take it b4 200K; investor would want it for less.
“seems like you can get into a bigger building for cheaper (2/1) so look around.
Show me!” -> give me hourly plus expenses.
They don’t have the staff or money or training to handle the onslaught. This is coming from someone who is familiar with ‘asset managers’ which are the 3rd parties contrators that handle REO’s for the banks. They charge $500 bucks or less per file to track the foreclosure, winterize the property, find a realtor to list it, sell it, close it and move on to the next one. They pay staff like $14.00 an hour and if they spend too much time on one file, they lose money, so often they just let them sit. Or they get lost in the shuffle. Meanwhile they have to deal with teh bank, the servicer, the lawyers, the investors, the realtors, the borrower …. it’s a clusterF as they call it.
There was a concerted effort a few years ago to hold the properties off the market with the thinking that the market would return and they could unload them at a higher price, but, that plan has failed miserably. prices are falling again, and the speed at which prices are falling is accelerating, and the longer the stalemate goes on, the more quickly the prices will fall, and the banks are freaking out.
“Spinoza on February 4th, 2011 at 11:44 am
And HD, why do you think they hold on to these foreclosures?”
About the soundproofing- the great rental building, the Morgan at Loyola Station, that went up next to the Loyola el station on Sheridan, has amazing soundproofing- you cannot hear the traffic or the trains when the windows are closed, and very little when they’re open, so it’s possible to soundproof a place against the train noise.
You just have to experience it in the place in question to know how bad it might be.
“It kills me that they went to all the trouble to put that millwork, etc. in this cinder block surprise. I would not even rent in a cinder block-sided unit” – shortwithhighceilings
“Cinder block construction = large deferred maintenance bills in the near term = massive fail.” – Dave M.
How is that different from any other type of building construction? All types including vinyl/aluminum siding, cement siding, wood siding, common brick have a maintenance period. Usually it is priced accordingly into the initial build. Wouldn’t cinder block require a tuck-point after 20-30 years and regular crack repair? I am curious why the distinct aversion to cinder block? I am not a fan of it either , but I do not see it as a maintenance nightmare.
“I am curious why the distinct aversion to cinder block?”
Has a reputation (at a minimum) for leaking if not sealed regularly and properly. Don’t think (but may be wrong) there is a good way to confirm that sealing has been done well and it isn’t cheap.
Love me some bank owned. I look forward to seeing many, many more of these McCrapBoxes which litter Lakeview and Lincoln Park come onto the market in the future.
“Think about that 3/2 on Grant in ELP (to which Bob provided a link and on which I commented), which I believe had been reduced to the high $300’s – by the sellers, not their lender.”
Whats funny is they pulled that listing but walla, relisted it to give it that fresh new feeling.
I wonder how things like the internet are affecting the strategy of using MLS tricks to sell a place? It seems a lot of realtors don’t understand that you can find out almost anything on the intertubez.
is cinderblock as bad as split-faced block construction?
My impression was that it’s the split-faced stuff that’s the one most prone to improper install, improper maintanence, and catastrophic failures, not cinderblock.
Can someone clarify?
logansquarean: I doubt there’s a single universal truth when it comes to what you are asking. I live in a cinderblock building, and now know more than I ever cared to about CMUs. However, we remedied the situation with a full building seal and rebuilt part of the flashing. Fun stuff from a special assessment point of view but now we have a warranty for just about 10 years from the manufacturer & sealant company against water penetration of the building’s shell.
Truthfully wasn’t that expensive or difficult to do either but you need your neighbors to understand that it is time to pony up and complete the work when you live in a condo.