Semi-Completed Bucktown Home: 1631 N. Bell
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
Looks like it’s got about $24K in liens on it that you have to assume.
“HOME IS DRYWALLED, PREPARED FOR …”
That sounds very unfinished. Too bad, potentially this could be a great house in a great location. Big lot, which is rare for the area.
appears to be under contract already.
Anyone venture a guess what it would cost to finish a house at the drywall stage?
What value would you place on the structure as it stands?
What about the lot?
You’re right anon. It’s under contract. I missed that.
Interesting that someone is buying it before it goes into foreclosure. Why would you? It’ll be cheaper when the bank puts it on the market.
It might take the bank a while to cut prices 25% from the foreclosure price. Of course, getting the short sale approved should be interesting as well.
I think it might take another $75K to $125K to complete this one. Depending on the quality of fixtures you put in. It sounds like the flooring is unfinished as well as the HVAC. Even on the higher side of those costs, at this point it looks like a pretty good deal. Can someone tell me why there are taxes on an apparently new construction home?
If someone ends up with that house finished for under 900, they got a great deal.
Sold in 3 days. Hmmmm. Think it was underpriced? Why so cheap? The bank still has to approve.
Don’t forget to add in the cost of “de-uglification”
A buyer can’t let the house sit through the winter. The house will likely suffer without heat.
Wow – $699 is damn cheap. My guess is close to land value.
There are so many unknowns they had to price it this low – how mcuh will it cost to finish? how poor is construction quality? how many other liens are lurking?
The de-uglification will be costly, as well as finish up, but i still think it’s a steal.
“A buyer can’t let the house sit through the winter. The house will likely suffer without heat.”
Indeed. There are two other near-finished SFH’s a few blocks away on Charleston that are languishing largely because a they had no heat in the winter, very likely ruining the pipes.
My guess is this place was bought by a GC who thinks he can finish the job in time.
I know a gc who looked at a partially completed REO property last winter; they walked in the front door and were greeted by an ice skating rink with an icicle extending from the ceiling to the floor. The bank neglected to winterize the property.
bubbleboi
I would guess North of $200M. Based on the description you’d have to add for a boiler (In-floor radiant heat). I’m assuming that you’d also have to include Condenser & Forced air, Hot water heater, etc. It doesn’t appear to come with appliances.
Plus $24M in leins (Minimum)
Where did you guys look to find the current leins on the property? Sorry, I’m sure this is one of the same cook county gov. sites you’re always mentioning here and I should already know this by now.
An architectural monstrosity…
Cook County Assessor search page http://www.cookcountyassessor.com/data/searchflat//search.asp
Cook County Recorder of Deeds search page
http://www.ccrd.info/CCRD/il031/index.jsp
Was there an architect involved with this? who knew!
So $700K with 200 more to complete. Call it a round million. Out of reach, in a sane world, of anyone earning less than $400K (unless they’re sitting on a chunk of change they want to sink into a depreciating asset).
How many families bring that in, without already owing on loans and earlier debts? How many of those do not already own? How many sellers are hoping to tap into that market? How many other homes on the market are far nicer than this?
One doesn’t even need to look at the stats to know how dramatically prices must come down. (But $235K is the lower threshold for Illinois’ top 5% of earners)
“$235K is the lower threshold for Illinois’ top 5% of earners”
The ’06 numbers were recently released by the IRS and the bottom of the top 5% earned $161,103 (AGI). There were 286,498 returns in that top 5%.
The top 1% (57,300 returns) had a threshold of $427,938 (AGI).
And $1mm for a home is really w/in rerach for someone making $300k, as long as they have a reasonable expectation of future income growth, $200k for a DP and no other debt (except maybe either car or student loan payments). Maybe not the typical $300k earner, but not extraordinary either.
Also, again in 2006, the Illinois median AGI (i.e., the floor for being the top 50%) was $34,108, while the average AGI was $62,633 (close to the top 25% floor of $68,777). The nationwide comps were median=$32,261 and mean=$58,860.
And California, with their absurd house prices, was surprisingly close to the same as Illinois, with a median of $34,871, a mean of $68,467, top 25% at $70,993, top 5% at $179,365 and top 1% at $469,003.
But this property requires more like a $140K downpayment (20% of purchase) plus enough cash to make it habitable — another $200K based on others’ guesses.
In fact, because this isn’t habitable it is going to require a construction loan (high interest, high downpayment, and balloon payment) until the work is mostly done, at which point it will need to be refinanced under time pressure. If the real estate market doesn’t continue collapsing (endangering the appraisal) and mortgage rates remain stable, the buyer *might* be able to take out some equity — or they could be forced to find a usurer to finance the above-appraisal part of the balloon payment.
Given the condition of the market, and the horrible downside risks, I personally would want to have at least $300K in accessable assets beyond the downpayment and remodeling costs. A 401(k) or Roth IRA loan would work in a pinch, but it would be ugly.
“the bottom of the top 5% earned $161,103 (AGI)” Far lower than reported by the Trib, but obviously far more credible. And more alarming still for wishful sellers.
The queue of those with $200K downpayments, no other debt, and in the market for an ugly house would be remarkably short.
A #300K earner taking on a million dollar house is leaving very little safety margin. As the IRS figures imply, not many have real expectations of permanent large income growth.
Too much house is one of the top reasons we’re seeing so many high-priced foreclosures and high-end bankrupts.
The solution is the cheap dollar attracting unlimited numbers of rich foreign buyers. Problem solved. Next topic!