McMansion Foreclosure in Bucktown: 2230 W Medill
The media has been saying lately that foreclosures are “bad for the neighborhood”.
This McMansion house at 2230 W. Medill is the perfect example of that.
The house is near the Kennedy Expressway and Western Avenue in North Bucktown/West Bucktown/Logan Square (???). In the picture below, you can see that there are two McMansions built next to each other that look pretty identical.
In fact, they both were built and sold within a month of each other in 2006.
- 2230 W. Medill: sold in July 2006 for $1.475 million
- 2226 W. Medill: sold in August 2006 for $1.475 million
Now, 2230 W. Medill is owned by the bank and the bank is simply trying to dump it.
It stinks to be 2226 W. Medill right about now, doesn’t it?
There aren’t many pictures of 2230 W. Medill- sorry. But this gives you an idea.
2230 W. Medill: 5 bedrooms, 4.5 baths, 2792 square feet, 2 car garage
- Sold in July 2006 for $1.475 million
- Currently listed for $949,500
- REO Properties has the listing
That’s about a 35% price reduction from the 2006 price.
The listing says the property needs some work:
ARCHITECTURAL GEM IN BUCKTOWN! THIS NEW HOME OFFERS ALL OF THE FEATURES YOU ARE LOOKING FOR- HDWD FLRS, MARBLE BATHS, GRANITE CNTPS. 4 FLOORS OF LIVING AREA WITH FINISHED BASEMENT. HIGH SPEED WIRING INCLUDING SURROUND SOUND / INTERNET / INTERCOM/MORE! CENTRAL VACUUM. BEAUTIFUL ARBOR ON ROOFDECK BANK TAKING A $500000 LOSS NEEDS MINOR WORK APPLIANCES INSTANT EQUITY MUST SEE
Is this “instant equity” or is this the new market price?
That’s really only 2792 on 2+1/2 floors? I know the basement doesn’t “count”, but that’s crazy small with 600+ sq ft on that 3rd floor.
That’s a crummy location in so many ways–freeway, neighborhood, schools. $950k is probably about right, if you didn’t have to fix anything.
The builder paid $685k for the two properties. So say the land is “worth” $350k per lot. And say that the whole house is 4000 sq ft. $950k is $150/ft for construction costs plus the land–pretty fair, even for nice single family construction. The builders made off with a cool million b/t the two.
(2226 also had a lis pendens filed and an assignment from MERS to the bank. It also was 100% financed.)
The buyer used 100% financing and had the lis pendens filed less than 8 months after closing–probably never made a payment.
Wouldn’t be surprised if you did some investigative work and found the previous buyers to be somehow “related” to the developer/builder. Probably the builder couldn’t sell them so they might have done some mortgage scam with 100% financing so the builder can make a profit and probably split it with the person who bought the unit.
Given that (a) these are the only two properties sold by the Seller; (b) a search of the seller’s name turns them up only as a mortgage broker; and (c) one of the buyers also bought another property in the summer of ’06 (the other has too common a name to know), it seems very likely that these were sold in some sort of scam.
Two buyers from the same builder, both 100% financing at prices which seem inflated, and both with NOD’s filed within 8 months of closing? If it walks like a duck…
What do I mean by inflated? Take a look at the MLS history for 2230 W Medill:
4/6/05 – 7/28/05 listed at $1,375,000
7/28/05 – 10/31/05 reduced to $1,225,000
3/1/06 – 4/27/06 listed for $1,245,000 and reduced to $1,199,000
4/27/06 – 5/1/06 listed for, lo and behold, $1,475,000
The listing was then cancelled and it disappeared from the MLS. Public records indicate it was purchased on 6/13/06 for $1,475,000 with 100% financing ($1,106,250 first and $368,750 second.)
anon is correct that 2226 also is under foreclosure, it just hasn’t been taken back by the bank yet. That property has a similar MLS history and it also disappeared as a cancelled listing. Public records indicate the property was purchased on 8/2/06 for $1,475,000 with 100% financing ($1,000,000 first and $475,000 second.)
Geez, I wonder what this all means? I sure hope someone in authority is looking into transactions such as these.
This raises a great question–why aren’t/weren’t the BANKS looking out for transactions like these?
Part of the seller’s name also turns up as the last name of the two co-listers of the 2005-06 listing activity for both properties.
Could they have actually been the developers, RE brokers and mortgage brokers on the, ahem, deals?
Kenworthey,
I imagine they will be looking out for this very carefully in the future. Why not before? Greed, plain and simple. The same thing that clouded most buyers into believing that a new paradigm was achieved during the bubble and that traditional valuation methods no longer applied. The pyramid scheme relied upon the assumption, even by lenders, that real estate would always go up.
An awful lot of current fantasy pricing by sellers is due to the greed and fraud of the bubble. Remove those elements and bubble prices look absurd, as many buyers already realize. I almost feel sorry (ok, not really) for the people that put real money down and bought at artificial bubble prices. I am sure they will understand their predicament soon enough: historical valuation methods cannot be ignored and reversion to the mean is a b***h.
G: [MLS history]
So, looks like they did have about $950 into each house. If they’d priced them at $1.1 to start, they might have gotten real buyers and a still good profit. Greedy, greedy people. I really hope that the banks go after these folks and everyone like them.
This is great. Thanks for all of the other investigative work into these houses. I didn’t know the second house was having problems too- as I was just going off of what has already been foreclosed.
Does anyone think they will really sell even close to $950k in that neighborhood?
We’ll see.
There is a TON of inventory over $900,000 around the city. You pretty much have your pick of a place to live.
Well, there’s nothing BAD about the immediate area and it’s really close to everything, but (1) the traffic on Fullerton is hellish, (2) they are certainly the most expensive houses on the block, (3) they back onto Fullerton, which isn’t nice, (4) the neighborhood school aint great.
But, the park that’s about three blocks away is nice, access is prety good, you are close to lots of stuff. And it looks nice. Replacement cost would be over $800k, probably close to $900k. The neighbor had apparently been recenently listed for $1.495. There are other, not new homes, within a couple blocks, listed for around $900k.
Bottom line–I wouldn’t want to live there with kids (but would consider it for the right price). I wouldn’t want to pay $950k and move in needing to buy all the appliances and figure out what else was done to the place. I’d buy it for below replacement cost–$850k would probably work nicely.
any idea who has the listing for 2230 w medill and the statis of this home and or the home at 2226 w medill thanks jim
Poor cabinet job. Look at the cabinets across from the sink: not only do they look tacky but they are wider than the wall behind them.
The MLS shows that 2230 Medill is pending with a contract dated 2/2/08. DENNIS R SCHROEDER of REO properties has the listing. It is bank owned.
2226 Medill has been cancelled as of 1/16/08. JOHN BAER of Coldwell banker had the listing.
thanks for the info happen to have a phone number for dennis schroeder at reo props, thanks jim
The MLS lists Dennis Schroder’s number as (773) 588-1359
I’m looking for contact information for 2322 w Charleston street in Chicago any info available for this property thanks jim
Jim, you can email me at megc629@yahoo.com. I don’t want to clog up this site. But I am happy to help you!
Hi Meg,
Do you know if 2230 W. Medill is still in the MLS or if there is a pending contract on it? If it’s bank owned, do you know which bank owns it. Please contact me at 312.671.1966 or lampinc1@aol.com
Thank you,
Jim Lee
2230 is still shown as pending with a contract dated 2/2/08.
I have an update on this property and others discussed in recent chats. We bid and won the listing at 2230 Medill back in May (we were the “pending contract” that was referenced above)—but it ultimately failed b/c the bank actually DID NOT own the property! They owned the property next door at 2226 Medill. It’s a case of ‘switcheroo’. The shady developer mixed up the lot numbers w/ Cook County and dealt with 2 different banks- Citibank and Bank of NY. So, our entire transaction was void. The title company totally screwed up. We lost $ from the inspection, lawyer fees and radon testing—plus all the time spent!
The foreclosure proceedings will need to start fresh with the ACTUAL owner bank for 2230 Medill (Bank of New York)—which will likely take too many months for us to wait around for—so we are moving on. We actually wanted to live there with our 2 very young children and make city life ‘work’— so we were really disappointed.
HOWEVER: It is really close to the freeway AND it has the LARGEST utility pole/power line right behind the patio—quite an eyesore. It’s truly above and beyond the typical Chicago alleyway utility pole. I think it services all of Fullerton. It is a monster. The powerline feels like it’s right on top of you when you look out the kitchen and master bedroom windows.
Regardless, it is still a nice house, but it does have its downsides. It is spacious, which is a premium in the city. No backyard but the rooftop deck has potential for a garden and trellis to block the sight of the ugly power pole. Lovely third floor, heated marble floors in almost all bathrooms, yada yada.
I even called ComEd to find out how much it would take to move it—don’t even bother trying.
We also bid on one of the Charleston houses in Bucktown—but we were outbid. So, I’m surprised to hear they are both going into foreclosure? Incidentally, none of the above properties had any major appliances—and the Charleston houses were victims of break-ins—a common thing I suppose in these empty homes?
We’ve had it and will move to the suburbs!! (maybe) 😉 It would be interesting to hear about the challenges of buying these supposedly hot foreclosures/short sales from other buyers.
2230 W. Medill is being listed again, now at $839,900
JG:
Thanks for the update.
VERY interesting. So, the house has been on the market for a year at the drama bank-owned priced and STILL no one is biting.
Not until we start letting the banks fail en masse will we see them actually reflect pricing that will sell in this environment.
In this environment the banks are holding back pricing their properties correctly because if they had to lower this one to sell they would have to lower all of their other REOs and admit that their portfolio isn’t what they claim and they are truly insolvent.
So the actions of our policy makers are just giving banks money to keep them afloat and pretending their okay and keeping housing unaffordable.
Bob – totally agree. Just prolonging the inevitable
This is hardly a crummy area. Yes, this specific house runs along Fullerton and the expressway but we live a few blocks south, very close to Holstein Park and we couldnt be happier. Walking distance to everything, the pool, too many parks to mention, 5 minute drive to our kids private school, Blue line, expressway, buses. The neighbors are incredibly nice & diverse, its quiet and safe. we lived in the “heart of bucktown” (wabansia & wood) for a few years and hated the speeding drivers, no parking, the noisy bar/restaurant patrons, garbage everywhere. Here you get all the excitement of the Bucktown neighborhood without all the headache.
we bought a rundown starter home 10 yrs ago and loved the neighborhood so much that we knocked it down and built our dream house. our family couldnt be happier.
I agree with beth that this area is very nice—that’s why we wanted to live here, but there was too much drama involved b/c of the whole bank switching nightmare (see earlier Leslie T post). So, I’m happy to update that we did move to the suburbs (we work there anyway), and are happy in our home in Ravinia/Highland Park.
The Holstein Park area is great— we would have loved to live there but it wasn’t meant to be….
Sabrina- any updates on this property? It’s been sitting empty for over 2 years–maybe 3? What about its sister McMansion next door?
Umm..this is definitely not a McMansion..It looks like a relatively normal-sized townhouse. Perhaps it is too big for its location, bit in a city it wouldnt be considered out of place.