Should You Buy that One Bedroom? 711 W. Melrose in East Lakeview
711 W. Melrose in East Lakeview was converted into condominiums at the peak of the housing boom in 2005.
Four owners are trying to sell their one bedroom units.
Each has a new kitchen and bath, a washer/dryer, central air and a fireplace. Parking is available for $20,000. There’s no square footage given for any of the units.
Can you make any money owning a one bedroom condo, even if you own it for three years in a desireable neighborhood?
Unit #B1: 1 bedroom, 1 bath
- Sold in August 2005 for $242,500 (I don’t know if this price includes the parking)
- Was listed last week for $269,900 (parking $20k extra)
- Reduced
- Currently listed for $254,500
- Assessments of $152 a month
- Sussex & Reilly has the listing
Unit #F1: 1 bedroom, 1 bath
- Sold in August 2005 for $262,500
- Currently listed for $268,500 (parking $20k extra)
- Assessments of $187 a month
- Dream Town Realty has the listing
Unit #D2: 1 bedroom, 1 bath
- Sold in August 2005 for $256,000
- Currently listed for $264,900 (parking $20k extra)
- Assessments of $164 a month
- Baird & Warner has the listing
Unit #B2: 1 bedroom, 1 bath
- Sold in August 2005 for $245,000
- Currently listed for $259,900 (parking $20k extra)
- Assessments of $150 a month
- @Properties has the listing
The last unit to sell in the building was Unit #A2 which closed about a year ago:
- Sold in August 2005 for $273,000
- Sold in July 2007 for $286,000
These are nice units but not worth more than 200k. They likely wouldn’t rent for more than $1500/month (with parking).
I find it amusing that the latest trick seems to be playing games with the parking when we all know a spot was included with each unit. Some of these flippers _may_ make some profit on these given the hot area and we’re early into the decline.
The interior of these units looks very nice. The building’s exterior is incredibly ugly to me though. If I was looking for a unit in Lakeview, I might consider one of these units if I could get over the ugly facade.
We’re back to the traditional rules of real estate, where you expect to lose money if you hold for less than 5 years. The market has been hot for so long that people have forgotten about this. To say the least, the prices won’t be going up again anytime soon, so sellers should price their units as low as necessary to get them sold.
The outside looks like a CHA development.
195, tops. I can get a nice 1br in south loop for what they’re asking.
But A, haven’t you been paying attention? According to Stevo, no one will take a South Loop condo FOR FREE while Lincoln Park still exists. So, you’d be a fool to buy in SOLO (ha!) at any price when for a mere $250k more you can live in LP.
Hideous building on the outside. Great area. The only way these people lose their shirts is if they price unrealistically, for example above the 2005 price.
Bob,
Agreed on the silliness of this parking game. At least at 20K, your 30-year mortgage payment is in the $120/month range, which is probably reasonably at rent parity for the area if its an outdoor spot, or a good deal if its an indoor spot. Either way, it seems like something that would weaken the seller’s negotiating position, so I don’t see why they bother, especially when at absurd prices like $35-50K
Those layouts are still wierd. and Lakeview and LP are crowded, and believe me, the action gets old quick!
Novice here to this site, but how can anyone even compare living in south loop to east lakeview? i have friends in both nabes. one is urban living at its finest–walk to everything, good transportation, lakefront accessibility; the other requires a car, has a space-ship on the lake, and the Michigan Ave. bus.
I could never live in a building this ugly on the outside, no matter how cool the unit is inside.
“how can anyone even compare living in south loop to east lakeview”
It’s been stated that even if the South Loop dropped to FREE condos, it would have NO effect on LP/LV. There is clearly a huge difference in the neighborhoods, and most (not all) people here would prefer LP/LV (including me), but, honestly, would you pay $250k for one of these condos or take a SoLo (ha!) one bedroom for FREE?
I’ll take the Melrose condo rather than live (even for free) in SoLo, unless I could rent SoLo out as part of the “deal.” LOL My only point is no condo is sold “apart” from its location…and I would rather pay a premium to live in east lakeview than live in the south loop, regardless of price or condo size/amenities.
Huh? What is so bad about Solo? We live in a beautiful 100 year old building with an insane amount of storage including storage that is 12×12 above the bathrooms, a 5×8 storage cage in the basement, a bikeroom, we walk to the lake, the Jewel, the gym, the El, the bus, the museums, Grant Park events, and if we DO want to drive anywhere we are minutes from LSD as well as the Kennedy/Dan Ryan.
I’m surprised to find myself agreeing with much of the above: if I acquired a free condo in the South Loop, I’d still be looking for a place to live elsewhere in the city.
Not here, though – I won’t condone this crime against architecture.
i’ll take the South Loop over east Lakeview any day. Access to Grant Park and the lake at your doorstep. Easy shopping on Roosevelt. Walk to work. Did I say walk to work. Beats the he** out of taking the on again/off again El and fighting the traffic to try and get anywhere.
Point is that some of us like the South Loop quite a bit. Don’t knock what you don’t know.