Looking for Vintage in River North? A 3-Bedroom Under $450,000 at 55 W. Erie
This 3-bedroom condo at 55 W. Erie in River North came on the market in September 2020.
Built in 1882, this building has 9 units with no parking.
It’s one of the rare vintage buildings that has survived in this neighborhood.
This is a first floor unit with some of its vintage features still intact.
It has high ceilings with beams in the living/dining room along with exposed brick walls and a stained glass window.
The unit has 2 wood burning fireplaces, one in the living room and one in the primary bedroom.
The listing says the property has an “updated kitchen” with dark wood cabinets, granite counter tops and stainless steel appliances.
It has central air but there’s no in-unit laundry. The listing says its available for “free” in the basement just below this unit.
There’s also no parking with the building but rental parking is available in the neighborhood.
This unit hasn’t been sold in nearly 15 years.
Is this a rare opportunity to get a vintage home in River North?
William Goldberg and Konrad Dabrowski at Fulton Grace Realty have the listing. See the pictures here.
Unit #1W: 3 bedrooms, 1.5 baths, 1700 square feet
- Sold in July 2006 for $375,000
- Originally listed in September 2020 (I can’t find a price)
- Currently listed at $435,000
- Assessments of $544 a month (includes exterior maintenance, lawn care, scavenger, snow removal)
- Taxes of $8622
- Central Air
- No washer/dryer in the unit but available for free in the basement
- No parking but available to rent in the neighborhood
- 2 wood burning fireplaces
- Bedroom #1: 14×14
- Bedroom #2: 14×10
- Bedroom #3: 14×10
- Living/dining room: 17×15
- Kitchen: 11×9
No in unit laundry = no go.
great listing photos RE industry sales professional.
This place shows well and like how it isn’t over cluttered.
The 1.5 bath, lack of washer and dryer, and no parking are deal killers though.
It is pretty sad how so many places here in metro Chicago have seen little to no appreciation over 15 years. Yet, I am sure property taxes have doubled in that time period.
Unless there’s a bunch of missing pictures there’s zero chance that this is 1700sf. Being generous this might top out at 1200sf
Being on the market for 2 months at this price point tells you that this place sucks. I dont think the realtard lying about room sizes and SF is helping much
With so many residential highrises in the area, am sure that there are several parking options within a one-block radius.
The no in-unit laundry would be a bummer, but perhaps a trade-off to be able to live right downtown in a property that actually has some character and isn’t in a highrise or loft. $544 HOAs for a 3 bed downtown is great too.
The dealbreaker on this for me is the first floor, and the lack of views in every room except the front room. It looks like the natural light is limited, and you’d likely need to have at least a partial window covering on the street-facing side most of the time.
“there’s zero chance that this is 1700sf. Being generous this might top out at 1200sf”
So, the whole building is ~50×56–2800 sf. So, max, 1400 sf + the basement storage room. But the common hallway, etc, have to eat up at least 100 sf of this unit’s half.
But I guess it’s just a number.
“But I guess it’s just a number.”
Well according to the realatards its a 3BR + Den, so I guess that goes for room count as well
At $256/sf this is a steal, at $360/sf its a hard pass
“At $256/sf this is a steal”
Let’s give them the benefit of the doubt, and call it 1400:
$256*1400 = $358,400.
That does sound like a solid good deal.
At the somewhat more likely 1275, it’s basically $325k, which is absolutely a steal.
Price is low for area and I see why. No parking and most rooms look into a brick wall. How depressing.
“It is pretty sad how so many places here in metro Chicago have seen little to no appreciation over 15 years. Yet, I am sure property taxes have doubled in that time period.”
When you buy an asset at the height of a bubble, whether it is a house, a collectible, a stock, yes, it can take 10 to 20 years to even get back to breakeven.
Don’t let the Chicago bulls trick you into thinking you’re making gains on your property.
Gains are relative. If Chicago real estate goes up 5% but national real estate goes up 20% , you are losing 15%.
Chicago is the 2nd worst performing large city for price appreciation and Illinois is the worst state for price appreciation.
Absolute basis appreciation? Sure? Relatively, nah.
“Gains are relative. If Chicago real estate goes up 5% but national real estate goes up 20% , you are losing 15%.”
The ask is 10% behind CPI. It’s a loser in real dollar terms.
“Gains are relative. If Chicago real estate goes up 5% but national real estate goes up 20% , you are losing 15%.”
Thats a telltale sign of a HAWT Market ™