The 3-Bedroom Contemporary in the Lakeview Midrise: 550 W. Wellington
This 3-bedroom at 550 W. Wellington in Lakeview has been on and off the market since February 2007.
In that time, it has been reduced $140,900.
It is now listed $75,100 under the 2006 purchase price.
The midrise building has only 2-units per floor.
The unit has upgraded finishes including Italian wood floors.
The kitchen has Bulthaup cabinets, granite counter tops and stainless steel appliances.
The 2002 square foot unit also has a balcony and a heated garage space.
It has all the other amenities buyers are looking for including central air and washer/dryer in the unit.
Will this property finally sell in 2011?
Linda Lee at Century 21 McMullen has the listing. See the pictures here.
Unit #4E: 3 bedrooms, 2 baths, 2002 square feet
- Sold in November 2006 for $800,000
- Originally listed in February 2007 for $864,900
- Reduced
- Currently listed at $724,900
- Assessments of $475 a month
- Taxes of $11054
- Central Air
- Washer/Dryer in the unit
- Heated garage parking included
- Bedroom #1: 17×12
- Bedroom #2: 14×12
- Bedroom #3: 16×10
Nice place, the master bath reminds me of the ones at Mandalay Bay in Vegas. I’ll be surprised if it goes for this much, surely you could get at least a townhouse for less.
wow this price is steep. I would not even pay 600K for this place.
On a side note, seems Clio was right about his rent increase prediction:
“Nationally, rents are expected to rise 5 percent this year and another 5 percent in 2012, according to Greg Willett, vice president of research and analysis at MPF Research in Carrollton, Texas. The trend is not expected to moderate until 2013, when new multifamily housing construction adds to supply and the housing market stabilizes enough to attract new buyers.”
Read more at:
http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/43315486/
It’s o.k., but for $725k there might be better options out there to obtain 2,000 sq ft. I’m surprised a place this size and at this price point wasn’t designed to have a small powder room.
This place goes to show what happens to people that can’t acknowledge that they overpaid for a place who then go out and play games with pricing and listing/delisting.
Another rent increase prediction story with industry shills as “experts”? I’m also left wondering about how finding a similar prediction makes someone “right”?
Is this an example of the heralded critical thinking skills of phd’s?
miu.. C’mon… Expected and occured are not the same thing. Me saying i expect oil to go to 150 this year does not *yet* make oil 150.
I have always been a bit surprised by this building – it’s rather out of character for the neighborhood. It’s a nice enough location if you like East Lakeview. The buildout is nice but for $370/sqft in that location it should be, and the layout seems a bit blase for a building like this. Assessments are relatively reasonable.
It looks like this has constantly been on the market (as a flip?) since right after the original purchase, and it looks like the owner might own another unit in the building. He or she is taking a bath on this one. 2W sold at the end of last year for $650k, and I think that this might be going close to there.
I am not saying this is sure to happen but I believe in markets finding equilibria. Something has to happen, either major price drops, or some rent increase, or inflation, or combination of all three.
@ G, for someone who sits in a glass house you sure like to throw stones.
Also can someone please point out what is nice about this place? I think it is so meh.
I am shocked that with 2002sf that they ended up having to stack the washer and dryer.
I’d rather buy something like
http://www.redfin.com/IL/Chicago/434-W-Oakdale-Ave-60657/unit-2/home/13372840
and renovate it any day over this one.
This doesn’t “look” like 2000sf. That usually means it doesn’t “live” like 2000sf either.
A horrible buy at $800k during the bubble.
Are these assessments high? Listing sounds like they don’t include heat or a/c.
This won’t sell above $600k.
Miu,
Great find. It shows that this seller is completely screwed.
This unit is in the back of the building isn’t it? And did the penthouse here ever sell? for (semi close) to the same price but with an entire wall of windows, i’d opt for that one instead
“I’d rather buy something like
http://www.redfin.com/IL/Chicago/434-W-Oakdale-Ave-60657/unit-2/home/13372840
and renovate it any day over this one”.
Hey that place finally found a buyer! wonder how much the offer is.
“Jennifer –I’ll be surprised if it goes for this much, surely you could get at least a townhouse for less.”
Why would you presume a townhouse is better? I much prefer all on one level if its just 2000 sq foot. Stairs are a waste and I don’t think there is necessarily better soundproofing in townhomes (neighbors next door) than in condos with THICK concrete between the floors. I hear less in my concrete loft than I did in my prior townhome. Your setiment makes me think you grew up in small town Midwest. Also, that’s a very expensive italian cabinet kitchen twice as much as something traditional.
I’m not sure if the price is justified (not a fan of the layout) but comparing it to townhouses and some of the other place people note that they would rather rehab is comparing apples to oranges. Contemporary is a different market and many people don’t have the cash (harder to get financing on a rehab these days) to do the rehab.
And wtf is with the home theater rack in the laundry room? that is a HORRIBLE idea!
I don’t like the garbage chute in the laundry room either
Overall I do love midrises but this unit is just wacky and it looks like a lot of the electronics work was done by some guy as a hobby who doesn’t really know what he’s doing
Maybe she just likes townhouse living better? nothing wrong with that.
“This unit is in the back of the building isn’t it?”
Nope. The units are split east and west, each having front and back exposure.
“And did the penthouse here ever sell? for (semi close) to the same price but with an entire wall of windows, i’d opt for that one instead”
Same question I had. It looks like it didn’t sell and it’s not currently on the market. Can someone confirm?
How much would they have saved if they’d just walked from their deposit back in 2006?
I don’t think that the markets for those two properties are really the same.
“wtf is with the home theater rack in the laundry room? that is a HORRIBLE idea!”
They should have a cabinet, that’s true.
“wtf is with the home theater rack in the laundry room? that is a HORRIBLE idea!”
“They should have a cabinet, that’s true.”
Yes, cabinet would look better, but is that just an aesthetic concern? Would you need to worry more about ventilation especially if you had a PC in there somewhere.
Leaving execution aside, the idea of a central media cabinet where you stick *everything* except tv and speakers appeals to me.
“Yes, cabinet would look better, but is that just an aesthetic concern?”
Should have noted *ventilated* cabinet.
“Leaving execution aside, the idea of a central media cabinet where you stick *everything* except tv and speakers appeals to me.”
When you’re at that point, I know a guy.
you don’t put electronics in one of the wettest rooms in the house
@ local, i am not fan of town homes at all, but this supposedly contemporary place is not special by any stretch of imagination. you just drank realtor’s kool-aid calling it one!
“you don’t put electronics in one of the wettest rooms in the house”
I don’t know how you do laundry, but the marginal dampness in my laundry room is negligible. I can set up a hygrometer to check, if you like.
ah, the bubble. buying in November and attempting to flip in February…the good ‘ol days
Sorry local, not a small town, not Midwest, not even in this country.
I actually prefer condo living, just not the assessments that it comes with. I just don’t think that most people looking for a 3 bed in this area, in this price point, are necessarily looking for one.
Also do these assessments seem low if there are so few units in an elevator building that has a heated garage?
@anon
whatever dude!
“Also do these assessments seem low if there are so few units in an elevator building that has a heated garage?”
They basically include nothing, and the building is new and exterior maintenance of pre-cast panels *should* be low.
“whatever dude!”
It’s not like it’s a bathroom, or someplace that has consistently high humidity. Yes, better to keep it all in a very low humidity clean room, but that’s not practical in most circumstances. And, unless you’re talking about super-high-end components (and, really, in most cases, even if you are), you’re likely to want to upgrade them to the latest tech before the mildly higher humidity has any significant negative effect anyway.
“Something has to happen, either major price drops, or some rent increase, or inflation, or combination of all three.”
Why are those the only choices? Prices and rents have already dropped from the peak, so why wouldn’t additional “major” price drops eventually lead to further rent declines due to the new investors’ lower cost bases?
“@ G, for someone who sits in a glass house you sure like to throw stones.”
What stones? You brought up the inherently superior powers of phd’s yesterday and I was just curious why you didn’t exhibit them here.
“the inherently superior powers of phd’s yesterday”
Only in comparison to MDs and–heaven forfend–lawyers.
It’s like you weren’t even paying attention.
“It’s like you weren’t even paying attention.”
I was – between the bouts of laughter.
Penthouse unit 9W:
listed 11/18/2008 $1,295,000 then $1,125,000 then $1,095,000 cancelled 8/5/2009
listed for rent 8/3/2009 $5,000 cancelled 1/6/2010
listed 8/4/2009 $1,000,000 cancelled 1/26/2010
listed 1/27/2010 $1,000,000 then $975,000 expired 4/27/2010
listed 4/28/2010 $975,000 cancelled 6/14/2010
listed for rent 6/12/2010 $4,750 rented 7/22/2010 $4,400
listed 6/18/2010 $975,000 expired 10/15/2010
G did you read what I said? Major price drops is an option in my comment too. All I am saying is that there has to be some sort of rent-own parity happening in a stable market or some prospect of selling the price for higher price (recall the bubble) otherwise the market won’t stabilize.
As for deductive skills, lets not even go there. I don’t want to have to deal with you being super nasty for 6 month as soon as someone criticizes you.
thx, G.
so, either 9W stays rented another year, or it’s coming back to market in 3, 2, 1 ….
I’ve always hated the appearance of this building and wonder how it got cleared by the zoning board, because it is so out of context and scale. It looks like a B grade 60s-vintage office building.
Nice enough apartment, but I see better places both in Lakeview and the Near North nabes for the money.
$550K.
“As for deductive skills, lets not even go there. I don’t want to have to deal with you being super nasty for 6 month as soon as someone criticizes you.”
My deductive skills indicate you just did criticize me. Criticism is fine, it’s when you distort and attempt to smear that you get what you deserve.
“Red G. on June 15th, 2011 at 8:18 am
Maybe she just likes townhouse living better? nothing wrong with that.”
There is nothing wrong with that but to make a statement that suggests condos shouldn’t cost more than townhouses, is wrong.
i never said that local, i said this particular unit does not merit the price it is listed at. i don’t even like town homes.
I think he meant me. I wasn’t suggesting condos should be less than townhomes either.
I’d be more worried about dust in a laundry room (is the furnace in there too?) that I would moisture. If your laundry room is very moist, you’ve got a problem. Either way, if you have equipment that’s high-end enough that it actually matters (and stereo nerds drive me nuts with their expensive pre-amps and their specially wired power plugs to isolate this and that), a sealed but ventilated cabinet or a more professional set-up is going to be the way to go anyway.
As for stacking/side-by-side, I actually prefer stacking ones anyway, even if there is enough space. I stacked our upstairs w/d after we had it the other way for a while – anybody want an extra Duet pedastal?
muimui – meant for Jennifer and Red G
Jennifer -“I’ll be surprised if it goes for this much, surely you could get at least a townhouse for less.” To me, this seems to imply that a townhouse is somehow superior. Your comparing this unit to a townhouse which you think would be for less…b/c surely if you could get a townhouse for less than this, it must be overpriced as a condo. Don’t see how else to take it.
“I’d be more worried about dust in a laundry room”
Bingo!
“If your laundry room is very moist, you’ve got a problem.”
Yep. Install a vent fan that turns on with the washer and runs for a fixed period after, if it’s a real concern, *after* you’ve had all the leaks fixed.
“if you have equipment that’s high-end enough that it actually matters…”
You either want to show it off or have it in its very own special closet anyway.
For the record… cables, speakers, amps, and turntables age real well and probably never have to be replaced. Video stuff is what keeps changing/forces audio receiver changes. Audio they try and trick you but hell stereo is as good as it will ever get for music. surround audio? sounds weird.
I just leave most of my shit on the floor hidden behind a wall.
looks like most of the equipment is driving in-ceiling speakers, which i have, and am forced to admit to being better than they used to be, but very limiting.
“Audio they try and trick you but hell stereo is as good as it will ever get for music.”
I agree, and for the most part so does science, but the audiophile community will go on and on about this stuff for billions a year forever. I had a former co-worker who was always trying to convince me that I was missing out with a “consumer” Harmon-Kardon or Marantz or whatever and that I might as well be listening to an AM radio from a ’73 Pacer, and he didn’t even like music that much. The lengths these folks go to are insane.
I have all my a/v equipment in a closet in my home theater. In terms of through-the-wall type installations, I’m also still thinking about running a tap line through the wall to a kegerator in my rec room, but I don’t drink that much beer anymore and I start to get sick of even the tall skinny kegs before I drink them up. It would be cool to have a box in the wall that you open to pull a pint, though.
“I’m also still thinking about running a tap line through the wall to a kegerator in my rec room, but I don’t drink that much beer anymore and I start to get sick of even the tall skinny kegs before I drink them up.”
Ever since I saw the movie The Jerk, I always wanted white and red wine water coolers by a tennis court.
And please, for the love of god, tell me you have a pinball machine in the rec room. I’m dying for just one CC listing with a nice Bally Playboy or KISS machine.
miumiu – thanks for acknowledging me about the rent issue – but I think that most people “in the know” already knew that this would happen. It is quite logical. X number of new renters are created every year (graduation from college, moving to another city, divorce, etc.). Y number of people are getting foreclosed upon. Usually some Xs and some Ys buy a property – but nobody is buying now so the rental pool is X +Y which is zzzzzzzzzz this is boring – bottom line – more rental demand = higher rents.
This is an interesting listing to follow only because there really isn’t much modern new construction with all the amenities nearby.
JJJ I used to fantasize about a kegerator as well. But when you consider the savings aren’t really there anymore (no more $50 half barrels) and the practical considerations they’re more trouble than they’re worth vs. bottles & cans). Just extra crap to worry about & clean for no realized economic benefit. Some people love draft beer vs. cans vs. bottles. My palate can’t tell.
Clio – you would expect higher rents, but not 10% increases – more like 0-4% instead, depending on the area. Tempering the increased rental demand is the # of people sharing apartments (for example 3 people in a 2 bedroom instead of 2 people in the past), and also recent college grads living at home for 2-3 years to pay down student debt. Also, the shadow inventory is still huge in certain parts of the city which also holds down rent increases. I have 6 condo owner friends who are all renting out their units, all of them held rent flat this year except one, which had a $25 increase (consistent with the increased assessments).
Dave M, there’s also the increasing supply due to investors making up the bulk of foreclosure purchases of formerly owner-occupied properties. Bank delays in foreclosing and disposing of properties might create a temporary increase in rents, but it won’t be much and it won’t last. Those “in the know” understand this as clearly as they understood the unsustainable bubble prices or that June 2011 sales won’t exceed the dough4dumps inflated totals of June 2010.
tempering rents will be not being able to gett blood from a stone and people buying at lower prices, who can now rent it out for less. But yes, in crappy econ times rents entertainingly do tend to rise.
And bob, i think for JJJ it’s more a matter of ‘hey guys check this out’, and then all acting stupid and having fun drinking directly from the tap, than a cost issue.
G- don’t mock me. I would bet that I have made more money in real estate over the past 15 years than anyone on this site. I understand market dynamics, etc.
The bottom line is that we are still in a bit of a slump – but we are NOT going down any further. We may bounce at steady prices for the next year but starting in 2013 you will start to see steady appreciation – and, by 2020 increased appreciation leading to another bubble in 2025. Again, just look at all the different factors that go into creating a bubble and then look at historical data in real estate. Match that up with the psychological need for people to own, as well as the time needed for “serial renters” (eg HD) to get fed up with increasing rents, inability to change anything in their home, and constant moving, and you will see that a 10-15 year time frame is just about right to create another bubble. Buy something cheap now in a good area, keep it for 15 years (either renting it out or living in it) and sell at a HUGE profit – but remember, this is a long -term game now. You have to be prepared to financially and mentally hold on to something for 15 years – you are almost guaranteed to greatly profit.
Toss the current apartment development bubble here onto the pile, too. They are building to “projected” and “expected” demand. Again.
“but starting in 2013 you will start to see steady appreciation – and, by 2020 increased appreciation leading to another bubble in 2025.”
Stating that as a fact when it is 14 years out is a little silly. You don’t know where prices will be next year, forget about 14 years from now.
“And bob, i think for JJJ it’s more a matter of ‘hey guys check this out’, and then all acting stupid and having fun drinking directly from the tap, than a cost issue.”
I also doubt that JJJ would be serving $50 (or $100) 1/2bbls, probably more like $100 or $150 1/6s:
http://www.wlvliquors.com/images/kegfinal.pdf
” I would bet that I have made more money in real estate over the past 15 years than anyone on this site.”
You would lose badly.
“we are NOT going down any further”
Measured how? Serious question.
“You would lose badly.”
He meant via direct ownership of residential real estate. Still might not be true, but there’s at least a chance it’s correct.
“but we are NOT going down any further”
This is what you say every month, every month you have been wrong.
“I understand market dynamics, etc.”
All I’ll say to that is enjoy your last month here.
“You would lose badly.”
REally? All I see here are renters, people underwater, and people who cannot understand how anyone can come up with 20% for a downpayment. It doesn’t seem that these are real estate sharks on this site!! (do you not read the posts everyday?)
G – I’m not going anywhere – and even if I did it doesn’t mean that my views are any less valid. Remember, just because you close your eyes, the world doesn’t disappear. You have to face your opposition like a man – not just hope that they forfeit or run away. I know that it is easier for you if I just disappeared and nobody challenged your idiotic and incorrect analyses, but not everything in life is easy. You really have to grow up and learn to discuss/fight like a man – not a 5th grade girl.
““we are NOT going down any further”
Measured how? Serious question.”
Clio–
In case you missed it. Serious question. Not going down any further measured *HOW*?
“REally?”
Yes
All I see here are renters, people underwater, and people who cannot understand how anyone can come up with 20% for a downpayment.
Anon, myself, JMM, anonny, JJJ, G, i think even milkster now owns, Miu will own shortly, Riz I’m sure shortly too… Sorry Clio but most here are educated, homeowners, and can come up with 20%. The problem is most of the rest of the country can’t.
“Anon, myself, JMM, anonny, JJJ, G, i think even milkster now owns, Miu will own shortly, Riz I’m sure shortly too”
And you’ve got less than half of the owners among the semi-regulars.
But in fairness Clio, I am on your side of the rent vs own argument, even believing prices continue to fall.
“And you’ve got less than half of the owners among the semi-regulars.”
I have a bad memory.. let them chime in too. I’m sure half of the other half still doesn’t fit all your comment. HD and Sabrina (particularly Sabrina) I bet no problemo with the 20% down if so desired. No matter, even half ain’t 99.9999%
I’m curious what that argument is, ze?
“The bottom line is that we are still in a bit of a slump – but we are NOT going down any further. We may bounce at steady prices for the next year but starting in 2013 you will start to see steady appreciation – and, by 2020 increased appreciation leading to another bubble in 2025.”
We have had one bubble in 70 years. Why do you think there will suddenly be another one just 20 years later?
The housing bubble was a credit bubble. You are assuming that credit will once again be that readily available- when history of housing bubbles shows that it takes decades for credit to loosen again. (How many decades was it before you could put less than 20% down on a home to get a mortgage? It was around 50 years.)
Fannie, Freddie and FHA will not be here in their same form in just a few years. What will replace them? How will people get mortgages if they don’t have downpayments saved? Unless prices drop further- it will take 5 to 7 years (conservatively) for even DINKS to save the required downpayment.
How does housing recover in the meantime with no buyers?
ah reading comp ain’t obviously my strong suit either.. I misread you anon. got it now.
“We have had one bubble in 70 years. ”
That’s just crazy. You often talk about the 70s condo bubble in Chicago. There have been multiple housing bubbles since the 30s, just nothing even close to the size of this one.
No- anon (tfo). There was a condo craze in downtown Chicago in the 1970s- and that is it.
It wasn’t single family homes. It wasn’t townhouses. It wasn’t multi-family homes. It wasn’t condos in Lakeview, Uptown and Edgewater. It was condos in the Hancock and a few other downtown buildings. A condo craze isn’t even close to the same thing.
There haven’t been ANY other “bubbles” since the 1930s. Do you know what a bubble is? There have been housing booms- sure. But NO bubbles.
True bubbles are actually pretty rare. People use the term too loosely now- calling everything a bubble when clearly they are not.
“I’m curious what that argument is, ze?”
One that requires you to remove the belief that your/mine/anyone elses opinion is worth anything. I did the math on it one day but no one wanted to play (except anon of course, he’ll always humor me). I can do it again but it takes some time. Basically the market volatilities are saying you have more risk on the i rate side than benefit on the price side.
Again this is owner vs. renter and NOT as an investment.
G.. It also requres one to accept my argument that renters have huge skin in the game cause they are short both price and i rates. Of course if they NEVER intend on buying, they are not.
I own a 1Br condo and a SFH in this country and I a all for buying but at least at rent parity.
“Do you know what a bubble is? There have been housing booms- sure. But NO bubbles.”
Whateves. Narrow the definition enough and the US *never* had a housing bubble before this one, and this one wasn’t even a *housing* bubble, but purely a credit bubble.
“The housing bubble was a credit bubble. You are assuming that credit will once again be that readily available- when history of housing bubbles shows that it takes decades for credit to loosen again”
The way banks make money is through credit/lending. Right now, the government has tight reigns and a watchful eye on this. As time goes on and government loosens its grips, greed will once again take over and easy credit/loans will once again be made available. There is no moral or ethical code in business. People may be shocked and think “didn’t they learn anything by the last bubble” but what these people don’t realize is that these banks/businesses don’t really care what the future implications are as long as they make their money now. On the other hand, the masses are still stupid and ignorant and will continue to greedily take the credit because they, also, have not learned anything and, once again, the people who will pay the price (financially) are the idealistic responsible people who understand and abide by the moral/ethical codes. This goes on over and over and over again – it is so predictable it is boring!!
I guess that risk would depend on the amount of cash down and the % it is of their total wealth.
“Right now, the government has tight reigns and a watchful eye on this.”
If you really believe this, and it’s not just a line in your argument, do a little more digging. Guv is too involved, but it’s not because it is placing restrictions on the lending market.
“I guess that risk would depend on the amount of cash down and the % it is of their total wealth.”
I’m going on a different path, although the principal invested is a big thing with me, as well as bet size to asset size, so I agree with what you just said. I am speaking strictly from a mathematical standpoint. Basically what’s the NPV of a 2% up move in i rates on a 30yr? (again, your/mine/anyones personal opinion on i rates is meaningless).
My wife is about to pull me outta here cause it is way too nice out, but G pull this convo up any time you want, late night.
Would anyone know what’s going on here:
There was a cheap condo which popped up on MLS and stoked my curiosity. There are 17 units in the building. I looked up everyone’s financing on CCRD. Everyone bought from the developer in 2005. Back then the units sold in the 150 – 170K range.
Practically everyone bought with very little to no money down. If buyers made downpayments, they tended to be in the 2 – 4K range.
Here’s the really weird part: Everyone appeared to have 2 mortgages taken out on the same date from the same lender. For example, if someone bought a unit for 150K, there would be 2 mortgages from JP Morgan Chase for example. One mortgage was for 140K and the second one taken out on the same date was for 10K.
Do you know why this would be? Why would they all have their mortgages split in 2 portions with the second portion being very small?
Thanks for any light you can shed on this.
“Do you know why this would be? Why would they all have their mortgages split in 2 portions with the second portion being very small?”
Guess, purely–down payment loan in some fashion subsidized by the developer.
Milkster – could one have been a home equity loan/line and the other a mortgage? I know that when I bought in 2004, my mortgage broker encouraged me to do this (I put down 20%) but she said I absolutely should take out a equity line/loan for that 20%. When I told her I didn’t need the money for anything, she convinced me that I did – so I did what she told me to do and used that 20% for fun things and, of course, soon it was gone and my loan was 100% of the purchase price!!! Bottom line – in the mid 2000s mortgage brokers were very greedy – they obviously got some commission for every loan/line they opened and what easier way than to get 2 commissions from one property.
clio:
reposting again, just so you don’t miss it:
***Serious question. Not going down any further measured *HOW*?***
third time I’ve posted it, so no response at all will be fairly interpreted as you dodging the question.
clio, credit debacles like the one we are now in recovery from come along about every 50 years, after the people who lived through the previous one all die off and there is no one who remembers just what a disaster the last one was.
If our government withdraws its support from the mortgage market and fades Fannie and Freddie, as I passionately hope will happen, and lenders must once again carry their own paper as they did before 1980 or so, you will see no resumption of the easy lending that created this disaster. We will return to the lending standards of yore, which were 20% down and a DTI ratio of 2.5. That will pretty well nip bubble in the bud. Derivatives based on mortgages will be much less attractive, especially since the tower of derivatives out there now continues to unravel, sucking capital and ruining more people and entities.
We might see modest appreciation starting in 2013… or not. Incomes are still falling and since FHA stepped in to replace all the subprime lenders that bit the dust in 2008, and started writing loans with DTI rations of 4 to 1 for extremely marginal buyers buying laughably overpriced housing that has since dropped steeply in value, the combined delinquency and default rate on vintage 2008 and 2009 FHA loans has reached 20%, while FHA is now the provider of about 50% of all house loans being written now. That means we have another disaster unfolding, especially since many of these loans are ARM loans. YES, the FHA writes ARM loans and even does cash-out refis. I know, because I’ve been offered the ARM loans,usually on ridiculously overpriced rehabs in Rogers Park, that are priced at 50% to 100% over comparable units in the area that were rehabbed and sold a few years ago.
The banks are now more leveraged than they were in 2008, and we have this monster wave of FHA defaults rolling in that will require ANOTHER bailout, so, while it’s difficult to believe that prices will drop lower, they will have a hard time rising in these conditions.
This is all happening amidst the biggest economic shift in a century, which will result in vastly different conditions than we’ve been used to for the past 60 years and will turn all our assumptions upside down, or so I believe. One thing that will change is credit. I don’t believe that we will have anything like the credit available to us for the next 50 years that we’ve had for the past 30, if only because the credit bubble sucked up so much capital and left such an overhang of debt to be cleared that we will be digging out for the next 20 years at least, and under conditions of rapidly depleting fossil fuel resources and the need to supply capital to the new industries and technologies we will need to transition to a new fuel regime.
Life will be very different.
Thanks for the info, guys! That building looks like a mess now. Everything’s in foreclosure. I’m guessing no lender will finance anything there now. I’ve been asking the LA to provide HOA financials and meeting minutes and he keeps avoiding it. I feel sorry for the 2 owners who did make significant downpayments.
I wish this building had never been built, and if I had been sitting on the zoning board in Lakeview, I’d have killed the project. The appearance of Lakeview was really damaged by inappropriate development in the 00s.
Laura, I completely disagree – things are more stable than the media and doomsday people think (of course they are less stable than those living in their own fantasy world seem to think). Bottom line, like everything else in life, nothing is as bad (or good) as it seems. There will be a return to midline/baseline in the coming years – human nature doesn’t change – and human nature is what creates these mini-bubbles, mini-recessions, etc. Don’t worry…. it will all be OK
if i may… Combining Clio and Laura. There will be enormous credit available, it will be available for the adults. Writing loans at 5 percent down is not the same as one with 20, it is a loser.
Laura, I actually like the way this building looks… Plus, things that go in front of review boards dont always look exaclty the same when they are actually built. (I work in apartment development and acquisitions, and nothing looks exactly like the renderings.)
“Writing loans at 5 percent down is not the same as one with 20, it is a loser.”
Unless you can charge enough to cover the defaults!!
Payday loans are a huge winner for the lenders, and they get *nothing* for real collateral.
“Payday loans are a huge winner for the lenders, and they get *nothing* for real collateral.”
Really profitable? Not just regular profitable? Doesn’t seem like a hard business to get into.
“Really profitable? Not just regular profitable? Doesn’t seem like a hard business to get into.”
Other than the other guys coming to break your kneecaps, no.
Gotta make a lot of money on it to make those kinds of payof… campaign contributions to Luis G.
Unless you can charge enough to cover the defaults!!
Payday loans are a huge winner for the lenders, and they get *nothing* for real collateral.
“BINGO!!!” back to several days ago convo. Vinny baddabingbaddaboom understands intricately what your Senators don’t.
On the keg front check out the Krups Beertender. We used to have one in our office back home! But you can’t beat a vaasje of Heineken fresh out of the brewery. Amazing.
Crazy. Outside looks like an ugly office building. I can’t even tell if the windows open. Maybe someone will pay 600 but I wouldn’t.
I’ll repost it again:
“clio:
reposting again, just so you don’t miss it:
***Serious question. Not going down any further measured *HOW*?***
third time I’ve posted it, so no response at all will be fairly interpreted as you dodging the question.”
Anon and Clio –
Here’s another case scenario I’m looking at for a different HOA:
– I looked at the financing info for all the owners in one tier of a vintage condo in Albany Park
– There are 4 units in that tier
– All owners bought from the developer in 2007
– Additionally, all owners obtained 100% financing (or close to it) through a land trust set up by the developer
– All 4 units have had lis pendens filed by the City of Chicago against the developer’s land trust.
Out of curiosity I would like to look up the units in the other tiers of the building, but how do you find out the address of the other tiers without physically walking by the building?
Addresses of vintage buildings in Chicago are never self-explanatory!
Milkster, what do you need the condo addresses for to do a recorder’s search? That sure sounds like the long way to do it.
Hi G –
This is the process by which I’ve been researching things. If you have a more efficient way, please let me know!
– Here’s the link to that condo I looked up in Albany Park. By the way, it’s in contract:
http://www.redfin.com/IL/Chicago/3849-W-Ainslie-St-60625/unit-3/home/26804131
– I went to the Cook County Assessor’s website and did a search by ADDRESS which pulled up the PINS for all the units in that tier. (However it does not pull up the other tiers in the building.)
– Then I went to CCRD and looked up each unit by the PIN to get the financing information.
If you have a better way that would be great.
Thanks.
That’s what I thought. You have the 14 digit condo PIN 13-11-323-030-1015. The first 10 digits represent the entire condo, the last 4 represent the unit. Just put the first 10 digits in the assessor’s site PIN search and leave the last 4 blank. This will return all the unit PINs/unit numbers/addresses which make up the condo. You’ll soon see that addresses can be wrong so you would never find some units the way you have been doing it. You still have to put them in by unit in ccrd. You’re welcome.
interesting info G. thanks!
G –
Thank you. I’m grateful for that info. It was extremely helpful.
I looked up several of the units in that Albany Park building I mentioned…
http://www.redfin.com/IL/Chicago/3849-W-Ainslie-St-60625/unit-3/home/26804131
…and they were all in some stage of foreclosure. Any owners left in the building are screwed.
Also, I was wrong about something in my prior post. It was not the City of Chicago which filed the lis pendens. It was the Chicago Title Land Trust Company (which helps their clients create land trusts for real estate holdings). It’s the condo developer’s land trust which is being sued.
The crazy thing is that the unit is agent-owned. When I was first asked if I was interested, the first thing I asked for was HOA financials and meeting minutes. The seller/realtor made some excuse that she was trying to obtain them which was an immediate red flag. Then she accepted someone else’s offer and signed the contract without weighing all offers. Mega sketchy.
Unit 4E at 550 W Wellington relisted on 12/1/2011 with an ask price of $675k.
When RE agents can no longer afford to live in 800k domiciles you know the market is retreating from the insanity.