Crib Chatter

We love skylights and this third floor vintage unit at 703 W. Buena in Uptown apparently has some (but no pictures of them with the listing).

The 10-unit building was built in 1921.

Stacey Grossman at Coldwell Banker has the listing.  See more pictures and a virtual tour here.

Unit #3C: 3 bedrooms, 2 baths, 1800 square feet

• Sold for $370,000 in March 2004
• Currently listed for $449,999 (transferrable rental parking 1/2 block away)
• Assessments of $500 a month
• Taxes of $4,481
• Fireplace
• Space pac cooling system

As has been reported, the July sales numbers are out for Chicago. Median home price is holding pretty steady.

In the city of Chicago, sales fell 20.9 percent to 2,167 from 2,738, and the median price dipped 0.3 percent to $299,000 from $300,000.

Chicago area home sales drop, prices slide (Sun-Times, Aug 26, 2008)

I’m beginning to see more of this- where a developer or rehabber simply runs out of money so the house isn’t completed or the condo is missing a kitchen.

How handy are you?

This 4,000 square foot new construction home at 1631 N. Bell in Bucktown is one of the semi-completed type homes. The bank has been trying to sell it as a short sale. However, a lis pendens has recently been filed.

Here’s the listing:

SHORT SALE** ALL CONTRACTS SUBJECT TO BANK APPROVAL & ASSUMPTION OF RECORDED MECHANICS LIENS** BUCKTOWN SEMI COMPLETED 4000SQFT+ NEW CONSTRUCTION MASONARY 5 BEDROOM 3 1/ 2 BATH**

HOME IS DRYWALLED, PREPARED FOR DUAL ZONED HVAC AND RADIANT FLOOR HEAT, STEAM SHOWER, WET BAR, 2 VNTLESS FIREPLACES, BDY SPRAYS, RAIN, MULTIPLE WHRLPS, DUAL LNDY, AUDIO WIRING, 2C GAR W/BRIDGE TO RF*SOLD AS IS**AS SEEN**…

North Clybourn Group, Inc. has the listing. There aren’t any interior pictures but you can see the listing here.

1631 N. Bell: 5 bedrooms, 3.5 baths, 2 car garage, 4000 square feet

• Currently listed as a short sale for $699,000
• Lis pendens filed in August 2008 for $982,788
• Under contract
• Taxes of $7,112

I don’t remember who it was who commented about $600,000 to $700,000 townhouses in University Village, the area just west of the Dan Ryan Expressway near UIC and Little Italy.

It’s not just expensive townhomes sprouting in that neighborhood.

You can buy million dollar homes within a stones throw of the expressway such as this 5-bedroom home at 1446 S. Emerald.

Emerald is a new cul-de-sac street just east of Halsted and west of the Dan Ryan- around 14th (in case you can’t find it on any of your older maps. Heck- I had trouble finding it on the real estate websites’ maps. Several of them mapped it completely wrong.)

Here’s the listing:

CUSTOM HOME DESIGNED BY JOHN ROBERT WILTGEN. ELEGANT DETAILS ABOUND IN THIS EXQUISITE HOME INCLUDING STEAM SHOWER HEATED FLOORS IN THE MASTER BATH, DESIGNER CLOSET ORGANIZERS ELEGANT CROWN MOLDING AND STUNNING TILE DETAILS.

THIS HOME HAS A ENGLISH BASEMENT WITH A SUITE FOR A NANNY AND A LOVELY BASEMENT FAMILY ROOM. THE FINE CUSTOM FURNITURE AND ACCESSORIES ARE INCLUDED WITH THIS HOME

Amy Settich at New West Realty, Inc. has the listing. You can also see more pictures here.

1446 S. Emerald: 5 bedrooms, 3.5 baths, 3 car garage, 4,299 square feet

• Originally listed in December 2007 for $1.7 million
• Currently listed for $1.7 million
• Taxes are “new”
• It is not on the Dan Ryan side of Emerald but from your front door you’ll be looking at the highway.
• Don’t let the picture fool you- the house is already constructed.

Another foreclosure has appeared in The Sterling, at 345 N. LaSalle, in River North.

This one is another 3-bedroom. There are no interior pictures available.

Unit #3902: 3 bedrooms, 2 baths, no square footage listed

• Sold in January 2005 for $827,000
• Currently listed for $389,900 (parking is rental only)
• Assessments of $837 a month
• Taxes of $9,500
• Applebrook Realty, Inc. has the listing

We have a comp from another 02 unit that recently sold.

Unit #3802:

• Sold in December 2004 for $842,500
• Sold in June 2008 for $400,000

The bank isn’t messing around with those who only want to look. The listing states that “prequal must accompany all offers- no exceptions!”

Prequalification is different from preapproval. Prequalification means a bank has actually confirmed that it would give you the loan for this particular unit.

From what I’m hearing, prequalification is becoming more common. A sign of the times?

The Sunday Tribune had some interesting information on Chicago foreclosure rates and existing inventory numbers.

On the foreclosure rates:

Foreclosures in Chicago in July rose by 84 percent over their level in the same month two years ago.

In the 60611 ZIP code on the city’s Near North side, for instance, the number of foreclosures filed has quadrupled, to 25 in July from 6 in the same month two years ago.

During the same time frame, foreclosures in the 60659 ZIP code, which covers North Park and West Ridge, climbed 489 percent, to 53 from 9, according to data from RealtyTrac.

As reported Thursday, the Woodstock Institute, a Chicago-based non-profit that promotes community reinvestment, said in a report that the number of foreclosed properties going to auction in the five-county Chicago area climbed 98 percent between 2006 and 2007, to 13,727, and that it believes the trend is continuing this year.

New laws sprout as homes sit [Chicago Tribune, Aug 24, 2008]

On MLS inventory:

That compares with active MLS listings for nearly 63,000 detached homes and another 39,000 attached (condos, townhouses and duplexes) for just the Chicago area as of July 31, said Alvin “Chip” Wagner III, owner of A.L.Wagner Appraisal Group, Naperville, which tracks MLS numbers.

Trading Places [Chicago Tribune, Aug 24, 2008]

(“The Chicago area” was not defined in the article. I don’t know if that is the 9-county area that the IAR uses for its monthly numbers or a 5-county area.)

While we’re waiting for Lincoln Park and Lakeview prices to decline, the price reductions are happening in other neighborhoods- sometimes quite dramatically.

Take the case of this lovely unit in a 1906 vintage building at 1353 W. Wilson in Sheridan Park (or is that Ravenswood?) on the North Side.

The listing indicates that lender approval is now required.

The property was first listed for sale in February 2008. Its been reduced several times since. A lis pendens was recently filed.

Here’s the listing:

HUGE PRICE REDUCTION! LENDER SAYS SELL! MAGNIFICENT VINTAGE OPULENCE. 3 BED/2 BATH HOME W/ GRANITE SS KIT/NEW BATHS. HIGH FIRST FLOOR.

SPECTACULAR AND ORIG OAK INT WOODWRK, LG DR W/OAK HUTCH AND BEAMS, ORIG POCKET DRS, FIREPLACE, W/D, 2 PORCHES, STORAGE & PRKG INCL. CLOSE TO TRANSP AND SHOPS. LENDER APPROVAL REQUIRED.

Jeffrey Walter at Baird & Warner has the listing (see more pictures here). 

Unit #1: 3 bedrooms, 2 baths, no square footage listed

• Sold in February 2006 for $366,000
• Originally listed in February 2008 for $389,000
• Reduced several times
• Currently listed for $295,000 (includes one parking spot)
• Lis pendens filed in August 2008
• Assessments of $220 a month
• Taxes of $5,620
• Two porches
• In-unit w/d
• Central air

Is this a deal?  The room sizes are fairly large:

• Living room: 16×15
• Dining room: 17×13
• Kitchen: 17×9
• Bedroom #1: 14×12
• Bedroom #2: 13×12
• Bedroom #3: 10×8

Gosh- a lot happens when I’m out of the loop for just a few days.

Thanks to G and others who posted the new downtown condo sales info in a prior thread (with links to the Crain’s article.)

I’m reposting it here for further discussion because of the implications for the overall market from these sales numbers. These numbers do NOT include The Spire and are for buildings with at least 25 units.

• First Quarter 2008 Sales: 201 units
• Second Quarter 2008 Sales: 126 units
• First Six Months 2008: 327 units
• First Six Months of 2007: 2,443 units
• Total number of new units expected by end of 2009: 9,528 units
• Total of those “unsold”: 33% (the others have contracts)
• Number of units put on hold this year: 10 buildings totaling 1,100 units

From Crain’s:

Sales are expected to continue to fall this year, making it unlikely that the market will reach a total of 1,200 contracts in 2008, far below the previous low recorded by Appraisal Research of 3,258 in 1998.

“This is just the bare minimum in terms of (sales) activity that a city of this size would support,” says Gail Lissner, vice-president with Chicago-based Appraisal Research.

“People want to know where the bottom is — if they knew where the bottom is, they would jump up and buy,” says developer Charles Huzenis, a principal in Chicago-based residential brokerage Jameson Real Estate LLC. “I don’t know when that day is, and I’m not predicting it.”

He concedes that slow sales have delayed the sellout of his 34-unit condo project at 50 E. Chestnut St. The luxury building, with 15 sales closed, was originally expected to be sold out later this year but now won’t reach that goal for another 12 months, he says. He has refinanced the development, lowering his interest rate and buying time.

Condo Chasm Hits New Low [Crain’s Chicago Business, Aug 18, 2008]- with an excellent bar graph depicting sales going back to 1997.

The Manhattan Building at 431 S. Dearborn is on the edge of Printers Row, but not quite in it.

The building was built in 1891 and has 105 units. There is no parking (but rental parking is available nearby.)

This 11th floor unit has a private 500 square foot terrace that overlooks the Harold Washington Library.

Keller Williams Lincoln Park has the listing (see more pictures here.)

Unit #1101: 3 bedrooms, 2 baths, 1600 square feet

• Sold in October 1998 for $287,000
• Currently listed for $399,900 (parking is rental)
• Assessments of $499 a month
• Taxes of $3,198
• Central Air

Remember when River North actually meant artists and galleries?

Some of that ambiance still exists in this boutique building at 215 W. Huron.

Here’s the listing:

Luxurious Sun Filled Condo/Soft Loft In Much Sought After Gallery District!

Private Elevator Into A Wide Open Floor Plan Makes A Very Spacious Unit. Sleek Snaidero Kitchen, Hardwood Flrs Throughout, Big Windows, 11 Ft Ceilings, Crown Moldings, Spacious Walk-in Closet With Organizers, Gorgeous Master Bath W/ Double Sinks, Jacuzzi And Sep Shower.

In Unit Washer&dryer. 1 Indoor Parking Space Included! Easy To Show.

MC Realty Group has the listing (see more pictures here.) 

Unit #2: 3 bedrooms, 2 baths, 2400 square feet

• Sold in April 1997 for $335,500
• Sold in November 1998 for $310,000
• Sold in March 1999 for $419,500
• Sold in March 2001 for $599,000
• Sold in July 2003 for $600,000
• Currently listed for $750,000 (parking included)
• Assessments of $375 a month
• Taxes of $6879