No Marketing Whatsoever: Simply “Sold As-Is”: 655 W. Irving Park Rd. in Lakeview
This 2-bedroom unit in Park Place Tower, the massive high rise at 655 W. Irving Park Road in Lakeview, has been on the market since August and recently reduced $10,750.
It is bank owned.
There are absolutely no pictures with the unit and no description other than “sold as-is.”
So, we have no idea of the condition of the unit.
It appears that this tier faces Northeast.
We do know that it is currently listed for $187,500 under the 2005 purchase price.
For comparison purposes, Unit #3210 is also on the market (presumably in the same tier.)
It is intact with an updated kitchen and listed for $260,000 (parking extra.) It sold for $317,000 in 2004.
You can see those interior pictures here.
Even though we don’t know the condition of the unit, it is currently the cheapest 2/2 in the building and is listed for less than several 1-bedrooms on lower floors.
Is this a deal?
Kenneth Rusin at Four Seasons Realty has the listing. See the listing here.
Unit #5310: 2 bedrooms, 2 baths, no square footage listed
- Sold in January 2005 for $402,500
- Lis pendens filed in March 2009
- Bank owned in June 2010
- Originally listed in August 2010 for $225,750
- Reduced
- Currently listed for $215,000
- Assessments of $675 a month (includes heat, air conditioning, pool, doorman)
- Taxes of $4247
- Looks like there is deeded valet parking in the building
- No mention of in-unit washer/dryer
- Central Air? (looks like it)
- Bedroom #1: 12×16
- Bedroom #2: 12×12
I’d avoid this building. It’s cheaply constructed, more cheaply constructed than most high-rise apartment buildings of its era. A friend rented here; I recall the sensation of building sway, in addition to the other low-rent features. Building back then was a Section 8 haven.
Any guesses on what the bank would accept? It’s amazing the swing in prices in this building in just a couple of years.
I guess you missed the “video tour”
http://www.sawbuck.com/property/Chicagoland/Chicago,IL/Lake_View/5864819-655-W-Irving-Park-Road-5310/video
It seems the place is made for cartoon characters…
HA! That is ridiculous!
OMG that video tour is the most useless and hilarious tour I’ve seen so far! LMFAO!
OMG that video. . . I seriously thought Snoopy was going to jump out and try to sell me some life insurance. . .
HAHAHAHA that video tour was hysterical… the only photo they showed of the place was a crooked picture of the entrance…
Anyway I lived in this building a long time ago in a 1 bedroom for about a 1G a month, then they kicked us out to convert the building to condos. We moved into another unit in the building that was smaller and nearly the same price but with much nicer finishes. Not much space, but not the worst place i’ve ever lived. The building does indeed make noise when its windy from the shaking. Its not that bad though.
Best part is that there was a scratch in the floor when we left, other than that the place was left nearly perfect. The asshole landlord made such a big deal about it he stole my whole security deposit. I do remember having to mail my rent to 10 E. Ontario and I know they purchased in 2004 or so, so it makes me feel good that mr. asshole jr. jewish trump lost his ass.
Anyhoo, other than jr. trump landlords and jerkoff neighbors this building sucks ass. The gays in the neighborhood refer to it as the “homo hilton” and they aren’t lying… go to the pool on a saturday afternoon sometime its like a gay bar in Key West. I mean its better than having section 8 neighbors but you won’t have much in common with any tenants here if you’re a yuppie straight DINK couple.
Also, no in unit laundry you have to use the god awful freight elevators which if someone is moving in, there’s only one elevator for 56 floors!
And dear god, you better weigh over 150 lbs if you plan on walking to the el from here… the wind tunnel on pine grove as you step out of the building is INSANE. Not to mention i’ve nearly been smashed by a crazy car driver at least 5 times crossing the street there by some dickhead in a BMW suv.
sorry for the westloop style ranting
God, i love cribchatter.
Sonies, yours is the type of post that makes this place valuable. you’re not going to get that type of info from anyone selling real estate.
if you posted that on yochicago, i’m pretty sure joe zekas would call you a homophobic anti-semite.
sonies, did you ever consider buying one of the pool cabanas?
hahaha no
this building used to be white. then they spiffed it up for the conversion with a coat of black paint. today that paint has lost a good bit of it’s luster as far as I could tell from wrigley last week.
I saw a pair of units here over the winter when I was house shopping. Nothing really blew my skirt up at all.
the building was a brown color when I lived there
Sonies, if your security deposit ever gets stolen again, there is an tenants rights attorney in Chicago that handles only security deposit law. I’ve used him twice when landlords tried to steal my security deposit. I ended up with double my deposit after all was said and done (both times).
“sorry for the westloop style ranting”
The only similarity might be the length…certainly not the type of language I use in writing or in person.
I’d call your language and this writing style ‘straight white trash’.
To follow up on Djiddy’s post. The Chicago landlord-tenant ordinace is very tenant-friendly and provides for double security deposit refund if the landlord wrongly withheld. Even though security deposits aren’t very high (in comparison to legal fees) the ordinance also provides fees for the attorneys that bring those suits at no cost to the tenant. So, if you really feel like you’ve been wronged (in the future or the short past) it certainly makes sense to get a lawyer that specializes in those type of cases.
ah well, I own now, so I don’t have to worry about those jerks stealing my security deposits anymore… yet another reason to own! 8)
Yes Kevin. The landlord-tenant ordinance is very tenant-friendly. So tenant-friendly that even an honest landlord can find him/herself in violation of the ordinance very easily. So, if you are an honest landlord, make sure you read the ordinance carefully before renting out your property.
Folks,
I have an unrelated question. We work in a small town couple of hours from Chicago. In 2008 we bought a 1BR condo is museum park for weekends. We love south loop and Chicago (Actually the location of SL works well for us as we live south of Chicago and it saves us commute time). Our first condo has some city views but it is not amazing. We are thinking of buying a 2BR again in SL with views (both city and lake). We then will rent the other 1BR. Do you all think it is an ok decision? (We owe only 30% of the value of the 1BR in mortgage) and we are paying 30% in down payment for the 2BR. Basically, how easy is it to rent a 1BR? A thing that a bit bothers me is that the 2BR is around $370/sqft. It is a high floor and has nice views and no it is not in one museum park (that one is too expensive for us). Do you think the price seems reasonable? How much lower do you think the market will go. I mean shouldn’t the prices stabilize at some point?
I’ve seen quite a few cases where judges award $15,000 and $20,000 in attorneys fees to the Plaintiff, routinely. It’s all BS and the judge knows it but basically whatever the other laywers attorneys fees are, that’s what it is. That $1,000 security deposit can cost you $30,000 including your and your tenants attorneys fees. Believe me, I’ve seen it happen.
If you don’t accept security deposits, then the statute doesn’t apply to you.
Simply charge a $1,000 non-refundable move-in fee instead of a security deposit, or don’t take a security deposit at all.
“#Kevin on September 27th, 2010 at 11:15 am
To follow up on Djiddy’s post. The Chicago landlord-tenant ordinace is very tenant-friendly and provides for double security deposit refund if the landlord wrongly withheld. Even though security deposits aren’t very high (in comparison to legal fees) the ordinance also provides fees for the attorneys that bring those suits at no cost to the tenant. So, if you really feel like you’ve been wronged (in the future or the short past) it certainly makes sense to get a lawyer that specializes in those type of cases.”
well if your jr trump rlto doesn’t apply to you
Lived across the street around 2000-2002 and checked out the place when going condo. I recall that the windows were pathetic and the unit interiors and finishes were institutional at best. The building did have great views of Wrigley/Lake/City and a cool pool deck with cabana’s that I think you could rent for the summer When going condo I think that you could buy one. That was the coolest feature of the place.
If you really like the area check out 3930 N. Pine Grove. It was a decent pool, back then it was not Key West style. There were very high reserves a conservative board, and some pretty cool floor plans. Back then I lived in a one bedroom “01” unit and really liked the place.
“If you really like the area check out 3930 N. Pine Grove.”
that building is even worse than this one… wtf are you smokin man!
that building is even worse than this one… wtf are you smokin man
Well it is not glamarous like the Trump, Ritz, or ELSD. But it was a well managed building with 24 hour engineer, doorman, pool, in unit laundry hook-ups, and a great association. I think that it was converted in the 70’s. When I was there the board was stable with a very conservative viewpoint. They had already set aside the correct future dollars to replace the windows and re-point the concrete WITHOUT ever having to come up with a special asmt!
I just looked at Redfin and saw a “10” unit for sale at $179K. For someone who wants a 1bedroom condo it is a fair option. The assesments are a bit high at $487 but include everything including pool pass. My only knock is that parking is rental and currently $128 per month. If I recall correctly I sold my unit at 228K. things have fallen back pretty far since then. Ouch!
Still a WAY better option than 655 W. Irving.
I was once at a party on the 50-somethingth floor of this building, went into the stairwell to smoke up, and ended up being locked in the stairwell and having to walk down 50-something flights of stairs to get out.
I hate this building because of that.
The stairway doors probably don’t lock anymore, as I’m quite sure that is now a fire-code violation for residential buildings.
I have a bit of “history” with both buildings being mentioned here.
I happen to be very fond of 3930 Pine Grove and am a friend/agent of the widow of one of the original builders. She owns several condos there and I find renters for them. To a person, all of the tenants have been very pleased with the living conditions at 3930 and have usually renewed their leases; they only move if they’ve “outgrown” the place or must move out of town.
The doorpeople are always friendly, the building is clean and well-kept, and the amenities are very good (only thing lacking is a dry-cleaning drop-off, but there is one across the street at 655).
I was also the agent for an investor who bought two units at 655 as soon as it turned condo in late 2001. This was during the post-9/11 trauma, when hi-rises were a “difficult” sell. So the condo converters made the terms very buyer-friendly and my client struck very good deals for her places. She was given the option of “as-is” condition (which of course the tenants were also given at the time of conversion) or “upgraded.” She went with the former, hired her own people to do the upgrades, and found renters on her own. The investments turned out very well for her.
Unfortunately, that has not been the case with other buyers in this building; there are quite a few short sales and pre-foreclosures going on. A couple of units are going to “sheriff’s sale” shortly, as a quick glance at the News-Star (neighborhood newspaper) will attest.
Generally I like this building as well for the location and amenities. The main negatives are (at least for some people) lack of in-unit laundries and balconies.
BTW some people may also be turned off by the walled-in kitchen as shown on the virtual tour of this unit. Please be advised that not everyone is in love with open kitchens (especially, based on my experience, first-generation “ethnics” who often associate open kitchens with lower-class living in the old country) so with proper niche marketing this could turn out to be a good deal.
I’m the former owner that walked away from this defective unit. This unit is full of defects of which the then association’s board refused to fix the numerous defects. The worst and major of all the unit’s defects were the exterior window wall curtains that were breaking, cracking, and blowing away. Therefore, this allowed water to infiltrate this unit to the point of severe and on-going water damage, mold, warped real hardwood floors, and the nightmare goes on an on.
As a kicker, the unit on top of mine (5410) had a defect in their flooring that made my unit unlivable unless they pulled up their laminate floor and put down the required cork under layment, which it was for resale at the time I bolted. When I bought mine, it was still for sale by the developer and had not been converted. After it was converted and sold to the new owner, I had been living there already and started fighting with the association to fix the defective floor that made every waking moment that I lived there a noisy nightmare.
My health and sanity was worth more than the 2 year association fight and losing my large down payment, thousands of dollars of after move-in upgrades, and ruined credit.
Buyer Beware, this is only a small glimpse of the defects, numerous special assessments, and other unit owners that were/are in the same situation as myself who lost to the association’s board of directors. Why do you think so many owners in the “corner unit” upper tiers were/are walking away and losing everything they put into their “dream condo” and accepting the consequences of foreclosure and ruined credit?
If anyone thinks this is a good investment, you should go in and see it yourself. Sit on the floor and you’ll see the sun shining in from where the window seals cracked and blew away. Or in the winter 3 inches of ice forming on the floors and windows. You live and you learn. Also, neighbors plumbing backing up into my shower drains, leaking windows, etc. If you want to know more or ask, post here. And you wonder why it is priced so low, listed AS-IS, and had no pictures.
Lastly, when I bought it and after I closed, it appeared on the front page of the Chicago Tribune real estate section, with complete inside pictures of both the unit, myself, and a half page article on how great the converted building was and I was interviewed as well. This window wall deterioration started slowly about 2 years after I moved in, and then it just got worse and worse. Very similar to dried out windshield wipers where they start cracking and the rubber breaks off. Imagine that happing throughout your entire condo that has all wall to wall windows (floor to ceiling).
Lesson learned. Never again. Best of luck to those that may believe they are buying the best, (or in this case, at SUCH A BARGAIN) but they get stuck in a horrific situation that is out of their control. Yes, lawyers wanted to take it for a very large retainer fee, but with the assessments at over $800 a month (I also bought a 2 car tandem indoor parking space on the second floor of the garage and it too leaked onto both of my vehicles during rain), plus the mortgage and the taxes, I still had to live in this moldy, noisy, smelly nightmare from HE** until any lawsuit would have weaved its way through the long and never ending legal system.
Sorry ChiTownGirl, but you should go and see units that you recommend as a potential good deal, since you are a real estate agent.
bumping Former Owner’s post.
Thanks. Had missed it.
Sabrina, Further reason to consider anon (tfo)’s earlier suggestion:
“Okay, this *really* makes me wish there were an “older posts commented on in the past 7 days” list on the page somewhere.”
My wife and I looked at a unit in this building a couple of weeks ago for an in-town. Fantistic view looking South, but the floor had a serious deflection in it, maybe 3-4 inches difference from the valley in the middle of the living room to the outside wall. The interior wall also had a huge crack where the valley in the floor was. This did not give us a warm fuzzy feeling about the construction of the building.