Prices on Bank Owned Units Fall Further in River City: 800 S. Wells in the South Loop
It’s been about 6-months since we last chattered about River City at 800 S. Wells in the South Loop.
We have chattered about this building numerous times over the past two years. In fact, it was one of the first properties I ever chattered on.
It looks like the banks are getting a bit more aggressive on the 3 bedroom duplexes in the building.
Unit #550 has been reduced by $47,500 since July 2009.
When do these units become a deal?
Ayoub Rabah at Great Street Properties has the listing. See the pictures here.
Unit #550: 3 bedrooms, 2.5 baths, no square footage listed
- Sold in December 2005 for $522,000
- Lis pendens in January 2008
- Bank owned in December 2008
- Listed in July 2009 for $183,000
- Reduced several times
- Currently listed for $135,400
- Assessments of $922 a month (includes heat, A/C)
- Taxes of $6585
- Washer/Dryer in the unit
- Central Air?
- Leased parking available
- Bedroom #1: 12×20
- Bedroom #2: 8×11
- Bedroom #3: 8×11
- Living room: 18×20
- Kitchen: 7×9
- Other: 5×7
I wouldnt live here if it was free
“Move-in condition”??? The pictures tell a different story.
“Public Act 94-1049 may apply.” –> tack on 6 months of unpaid condo fees ($5,500).
I love how two of the pics are exactly the same and they’re too lazy to pull up the blinds on all the windows.
The taxes and assessments in this building are insane. Its poorly managed, strange and in disrepair, its no wonder so many of the units are bank owned.
“I love how two of the pics are exactly the same and they’re too lazy to pull up the blinds on all the windows.”
Check out the virtual tour – I am sold on this place! Not. At least they leveled off the tragic blinds for the virtual tour.
What’s the Steveo back of the napkin forumla again?
whats the value in buying all the units, dissolving the HOA, selling the building for scrap material, and starting over?
Oh. BTW back in the early 90’s I knew someone who lived here and it seemed pretty nice at the time.
However, the 80’s called and they want thier cabinets back.
How the hell did this place ever sell at $522k? The bank must have used a “stated appraisal” loan because at no point ever would that unit have been worth $522k. Especially with the dirty 1985 cabinets and carpet.
“What’s the Steveo back of the napkin forumla again?”
Not sure, but with those assessments and taxes this place is probably worth negative something…
Taxes will have to be appealed. Needs About 20-25K to upgrade if you use sweat equity. Assesments are crazy. I wonder why they are so high? I’d offer 50K. It is such a nice short walk to downtown, that’s the only good thing about it.
“that’s the only good thing about it.”
If you own a boat they have on-site slips. But I’d imagine most people that can afford to own a boat will want something nicer.
“What’s the Steveo back of the napkin forumla again?”
(12*(Rent-Assess)-Taxes)/.055(Int.Rate)/.8(DP)=Value,
or, reverse engineered:
(Value*.8*.055+Tax)/12+Assess=Rent
Which gives you $1967/month implied rent on this place.
I think it’s more reasonable if you ignore the .8 DP factor, which makes implied rent of almost $2100.
But this is about a $1500 rental, isn’t it?
This building is an absolute mess! I just googled the address and looked at some of the places for sale… Here’s my favorite though – 501 – for $344K. Check out the jacuzzi bathtub in the corner of the carpeted master bedroom. And I think that frosted glass is the shower. That’s just weird.
http://www.trulia.com/property/1060997145-800-S-Wells-St-501-Chicago-IL-60607
“How the hell did this place ever sell at $522k?”
How do whole buildings full of crappy apartments sell as if they are bona fide luxury condo units?
American Invsco, that’s how!
Note that LP was filed the month after any 2/2/2 plan (don’t know if they offered that at RC) would have expired.
man, i still think river city is cool and that jacuzzi in the bedroom confirms it. there supposedly are some townhomes up on the roof. it’s like a miami vice fantasyland. where’s my white sport jacket?
The marina also. I figure this is probably a $1500.00 rental. 501 isn’t that bad….
“The marina also. I figure this is probably a $1500.00 rental. 501 isn’t that bad….”
I’m sure someone will scoop up this deal because assuming no mortgage you’re looking at a whopping $30 a month cash flow!
I’d buy this place and rent it by the hour as a Sybaris-type “couples retreat”… Could make a fortune.
JMM – I’d recommend you advertise at a) Alcocks, b) Cactus, and c) Franklin Tap. You’d probably get takers, and possible semi-permanent residents.
JMM, I like that. Excellent idea. The place does have an Austin Powers feel to it.
Sold in December 2005 for $522,000? Serious? WTF. Man, I would have liked to meet the buyer. If you’re out there, I have a couple of deals for you my friend. Please call me at 312-You Big Dummy.
Anon(tfo), oh yeah, I forgot about Invsco. Seriously though, I just want to talk with the person who paid $522k. How could anyone, even at the height of the madness, look at this place and be like “$522k, that is a good deal!” I mean there is absolutely NOTHING about this place that even remotely screams $500k. You could get some seriously nice places for $500k in ’05 even with the bubblicious pricing, but this place is an absolute joke.
Looks like dude* bought *another* one for $499k. Which he managed to dump in Dec-08 for … wait for it … $190k, in an apparent approved short sale.
Both of them were 100% financed, this one with a $417k 1st and the rest as a 2d, the other with a single $499k first.
*name’s too common to reasonably speculate anything else about the buyer.
Also, Russ i accidentally hit your name at work and got filtered for “sex” content… there something on your website I don’t want to know about?
This price reduction, particularly since 2005, makes my stomach turn. I do not believe we have hit bottom.
Well, I don’t either. However, this is a bad example. It is a problem building. It is going to take someone taking control and straightening it out.
Anon(tfo),
if the previous owner had another unit and both 100% financing, I would bet a steak dinner these places were out right mortgage fraud. One hundred percent financing was readily available then, but not on investment properties which means the owner defrauded the lender by probably lying about the intended occupancy. In addition, I am sure the lender didn’t know about the 2nd unit in the development as that would have a raised a big flag. It wasn’t uncommon during the heyday for specuvestors to purchase two “owner occupied” properties and close simulataneously on the same day at different title companies using two different lenders so neither bank knew about the other loan. Highly fraudulent.
Sonies, that is weird. You work at the Vatican or something? Nothing to do with sex on my site, although my blog posts can be a little R rated sometimes, so maybe it is just picking up on some key words since I can have a mouht like a sailor sometimes.
i wouldn’t say this place is a crap hole….but i mean, it’s a crap hole.
i live in the neighborhood ( south loop ) and this place is just an eyesore and nothing else. yeah it’s got free slips for boats…but if i owned a 100k+ boat i would definitely not invest in property in this building…i mean, the bally’s fitness and proximity to congress parkway are probably the only positives to living here…but for some reason this building attracts a lot of the H-1 visa folk , and the hallways waft with the stench/aroma of south asian cooking. don’t get me wrong, i’m indian and i love indian food, just not in my hallway. i’ve seen a few rental units here and noticed some of the renters pile up 3 or 4 guys into some of the 1 bedrooms! just ridiculous.
baaaaahahahahahahahahaha 135k for a 3 bedroom craphole. Even though its in the loop and you can have a “boat landing” this proves location does not trump all.
I like Goldberg and would go out of my way to live in a building with unique architecture like this, but the interior sort of speaks for itself. River City was just meant to be cheap apartments, like most buildings American Invsco ruined.
“Sonies, that is weird. You work at the Vatican or something? Nothing to do with sex on my site”
Same site blocking for me, and no, I don’t work for the Archdiocese (and I won’t make the joke about underge boys).
75 years from now, people are going to look at buildings like this and think “what in the HELL were they thinking of?” IF the building is still standing, which I doubt it will be.
Seems that the Modernist movement spawned a lot of really gemlike buildings, but about twice as many that are just ridiculous.
This building has a lot of problems that make it an undesirable place to live and the apartment is absolutely hideous. But even so, I’d think you’d be able to get $189K, never mind the current $135K ask price. That’s below rent parity. If it won’t sell for this much, might as well demolish the building.
“Same site blocking for me”
anon, i would have assumed since your an internet genius you would work around the company’s proxy to directly connect? I had no clue how to do it, but the head of IT here hooks me up with all the cool stuff. I took him out for a few drinks 5 years ago got him laid by a girl way out of his league (he still talks about it to this day). plus when people from the company go play some ball i usually pick him up second. (he cant shoot but can play some D)
You guys should e-mail Russ the site blocking software if you’re aware of what it is. That stinks that innocent people are bulldozed over and their sites blocked by a computer miscategorization.
” the current $135K ask price. That’s below rent parity.”
As noted above, that’s not really below rent parity, unless the taxes are reduced a *lot*. Or it would rent for quite a bit more than we think–do you really think you could rent this place for $2200/month?
“75 years from now, people are going to look at buildings like this and think “what in the HELL were they thinking of?””
People are saying that now.
Even if it was for sale for $1 it would be a bad deal. Assessments + taxes = what it should rent for. Ownership just gives you unlimited liability for special assessments.
Perhaps this building should be considered for housing the Guantanamo detainees??
“Even if it was for sale for $1 it would be a bad deal. Assessments + taxes = what it should rent for. Ownership just gives you unlimited liability for special assessments.”
At a buck, it’s probably a reasonable wager. The taxes are going to come down on appeal. And with only a buck at risk, if there’s too big a special, you just give the association a QC deed.
“Perhaps this building should be considered for housing the Guantanamo detainees??”
That would be considered torture would it not?
i’m at home and have clear access to russ’s site. wa wa wee wa are you guys missing out on some hot hotness.
Russ, were you “edumakated” previously?
the site callruss could be interpreted as a escort type service and with the profanity, seals the deal.
I don’t get all the hate for Goldberg; this building adds a lot more to the landscape than most of the schlock going up in the South Loop (e.g., Museum Park). 75 years from now, we’ll be wishing more architects took pride in their jobs.
That said, the building’s shape clearly affects the quality of the units. I completely agree that these units are near worthless based on the assessment and taxes.
“could be interpreted as a escort type service”
Debt slavery mistaken for white slavery?
I don’t get the hate for One Museum park… despite them not putting the cladding up on the core of the building its a beautiful addition to the skyline for such a huge building
I’d rather have One Museum Park than many modern buildings. The units are beautiful, with 9′ ceilings and huge expanses of plate glass. And they make sense.
Round buildings never made sense. They were mid-century mod architectural stunts,Novelty Buildings done more in the spirit of “look what we can do” than to build places people could actually live in, sort of like most Gehry buildings are now. You get pie-wedge-shaped rooms and bizarre floor plans that waste space and make it impossible to fit cabinets or furniture well.
I love the crystalline quality of fine modern architecture, but most people are sick of stunts done just to be more “modern”. The Cutting Edge gets outdated awfully fast, and like most extreme mid-century styles translated into modern-to-middle bracket housing, looks just plain sad and faintly cartoonish once it’s outdated.
Sonies, hilarious comment re: Guantanamo.
I believe the One Museum Park cladding is now complete.