The $800,000 2-Bedroom Condo: 1852 N. Halsted in Lincoln Park
We’ve chattered about 1-bedrooms for $300,000, but what about the $800,000 2-bedroom?
This penthouse duplex unit at 1852 N. Halsted in Lincoln Park is priced at $799,000 – a price you could buy a similarly sized single family home in parts of Lakeview and North Center for.
What’s the market for a condo at this price in Lincoln Park?
There’s no square footage listed but it has an upstairs family room that looks over the living room (as it has 20 foot ceilings.)
- Living room: 18×18
- Kitchen: 12×12
- Family room: 17×13
- Bedroom #1: 14×12
- Bedroom #2: 12×10
Eudice Fogel at Rubloff has the listing. See the pictures and a virtual tour here.
See the property website here.
Unit #3: 2 bedrooms, 2 baths, family room, no square footage listed, duplex up
- Sold in April 1999 for $397,000
- Currently listed for $799,000 (parking included)
- Assessments of $145 a month
- Taxes of $5712
- Fireplace
- Wolfe & Miele appliances in the kitchen
Right…….. this is beyond delusional……..
You need not even go up to LV or NC you can get a detached SFH in LP of larger size for cheaper.
There really isn’t a lot of price discrepancy between LP & LV in the sub million dollar range. Its just above that LP tends to have more inventory.
The 1999 price is about right on this one! Wow! What on earth are these people thinking?
Wow. This is going to sit, um, FOREVER.
I could see this selling for $500K. pretty unique space and i’m sure someone would rather live here for 500K than an apartment/condo
“i’m sure someone would rather live here for 500K than an apartment/condo”
How is this not an “apartment/condo”? It’s the duplex up in a standard 3-unit condo building.
this is actually pretty standard ’07-’08 condo pricing in lincoln park. i still see a fair amount of condos priced like this in ’09 and it confuses me… do these sellers really think this would sell for 800K?
price this at 600-650K and you will possibly sell now. refuse to drop and… nothing will happen.
tfo: I meant a condo/apt that is a 30×30 box with some interior walls. This place has character. dark wood. tastefully decorated/painted. roof deck.
Seems like theirrealtor would point out that 800k for a small duplex condo in lincoln park is pretty ambitious in this market. There are a few duplexes in Lincoln Park and Old Town in the same price range that have more than double the space. Nice unit but they need to drop that price by a good 20% if they want this place to move.
Chiguy: You are right, it is beautifull, but for $800k, it better come with its a treasure chest full of gold coins!
ChiGuy: Well, yeah, especially for about teh same $$. I guess I misread what you meant.
But, this is still pretty much an $800k bachelor pad.
I agree that it would sell if it were in the $600-650K range. This place is just a whole lotta drywall. That vaulted ceiling in the LR is just not attractive as it was the mid 1990’s.
This developer threw these things up all over the north side. There must be 50 of them in LP/LV.
I usually don’t comment on here…but I can’t resist this one. We are currently looking in the LP area and this is the biggest joke I ever saw!
I personally like this layout in a duplex up. This place has nice finishes and some character. I could see a 500-550K price, but even in this market this asking price isn’t uncommon. Don’t know what they are thinking…
for those of you who like combining numbers + anecdotes….
today’s homes sales indicates that there is about a 13-month supply of inventory nationwide…
this is despite a decrease in the number of houses listed….
presumably from my anecdotal experience the decrease is due to a sizable number of home sellers who pulled their listing from the market….
now once the selling season starts when it warms up these listings will come back on the market + everyone else (laid-offs, transfers, downsizers, etc)
If the unemployment stays/increases, last year’s price drop will continue into the fall of 2009.
And as the above listing shows (and some of the comments above mentioned), there are a lot of ho-hum homes being priced very opimistically on the high side.
YMMV.
And its on Halstead – late night bars
and what about parking? nothing menioned in the listing
$800k – come on get real
“what about parking? nothing menioned in the listing”
Website sez one garage spot.
“on Halstead – late night bars”
All a block-plus north, and so not much of an immeidate issue, no? Good proximity to the Mamhandler (is the “park in rear” sign still in the window?), tho, if that’s your thing.
I think this is underpriced at 800k, I think the seller should price it at atleast 7 million and call it the “Final Price” and threaten to take the listing offline if these unreasonable buyers don’t step up to the plate. That will teach the stupid buyers a lesson.
Sartre:
May as well. I think he’s about as likely to get a buyer at $7mm as at $800k. Probably get more traffic, too, just from curiosity seekers, wondering WTF makes a condo on Halsted worth $7mm.
“Snarky” Definition 3 from Urban Dictionary: “Any language that contains quips or comments containing sarcastic or satirical witticisms intended as blunt irony. Usually delivered in a manner that is somewhat abrupt and out of context and intended to stun and amuse.”
See any thread on Crib Chatter for examples.
Y’all must be crazy. The balls & stupidity on this agent/seller are off the charts. El stupido.
I have an idea! we should suspend mark to market accounting in the housing market. Then we can all claim whatever price we want for all our crap and use that to gain more leverage. You see mark to market is an evil concept which says ” a thing is only worth what someone will pay for it”. What an absurd concept. Don’t they know this is the “new” economy?
Or we could suspend mark to market and unwind our current leverage?
Well the choices are:
A) Mark to Market
B) A number that doesn’t make me look so poor but has no coincidence with reality.
At this price point the buyers have so many options. Why pick busy Halsted St? Easy access to the number 8 bus?
For a condo, Halsted is great to live on — we used to be right down the street. Single family would be odd, but condos work well. As far as transportation goes you are within 2 blocks of red line, brown line 8 bus and not far from the highway.
I think this seller got a little excited by the monstrosity going up at 1932 N. Burling and priced accordingly (seriously, you have to see it to believe it — use google street view).
Out of their minds.
Why are people so in love with cathedral ceilings and lofting? The scale is always off.
Every time I decide to stop reading this blog since no one seems to like anything, you come up with one of these. What a total delusional joke – a unit in one of a million generic butt-ugly buildings that should never have been allowed to have been built in the first place, and they think their gonna get WHAT for it?? Maybe when the prices drop to – oh – $10 (that’s ten dollars) we can buy them all up and TEAR THEM DOWN.
“Every time I decide to stop reading this blog since no one seems to like anything, you come up with one of these.”
Wait, you don’t like the negative comments, but stay around because occassionally there’s a property that you *agree* has nothing to like about it? Funny, funny stuff.
I live nearby and could see this going for $700k, I would put in a wall versus the loft, the big downside I see is that the outdoor spaces are off the second floor and masterbedroom. Looks like the over improved this unit for what it is. Would also be better if they turned the office into another bedroom I don’t think it is too fair to call it a 2bdrm, if it was a $700k 3bedroom duplex up I think you find some interest, $650 it would def. sell.
I refuse to buy a place that doesn’t have the outdoor space off the living room/kitchen. The $700k+ price point is very tough for condos with the required down payment making it almost impossible to buy. Even at $650k most people dont have $230k for a DP.
“most people dont have $230k for a DP.”
And if they do, is this the sort of place they would choose? Seems too “in-between” to me, if that makes sense.
If I had 230k for a DP I would laugh at this place even more ridiculously than I am now.
“If I had 230k for a DP I would laugh at this place even more ridiculously than I am now.”
But what if it were in McK Park? And had 3 extra bedrooms (i.e., was a SFH, and, of course, were on the market for $200k less)? Yeah, I thought so.
You can get a decent sized SFH or townhome for 800k in LP, that’s how freakin insane this price is!
While I agree with everyone. Can anybody please point me in the direction of a “decent” SFH in Lincoln Park? I would like to purchase it.
JK
2500 block of N Seminary. MLS searching is your friend. Go go go hurry!
You can’t lose with a 700k+ purchase these days, JK, its a genius move.
Thanks Bob, I guess what I meant was I wanted to hear if there was a SFH in LP for 800,000 that anyone would actually consider buying. Maybe I’m too picky, but I would never buy a SFH in LP on anything less than a 125 foot lot.
Patience, Stocks look like they want to go below 5,000. Going to get ugly.
You mean uglier, surely.
Some questions for the masses:
Could somebody give a breakdown, or point to a link, that explains Chicago ‘lot sizes?’ Is there a standard width/depth? Also, where does one go to verify that an advertised lot size is correct?
Is there an easy, free, and accurate way to see what properties have sold for in the past? I have an agent sending me MLS listings but I can’t see previous sales prices (unless I ask for a specific address) or any previous listing information. It’s really annoying.
I heard from a random agent the MLS site can be gamed and the ‘sold’ figures aren’t always accurate. I guess they often show listings sold at a higher price point than reality. But I digress..
I appreciate this blog, and the information the commenters add, but for newbies it’s hard to get useful information. Somebody asks to see an $800k SFH in LP and somebody says go look at the 2500 block of Seminary on MLS. Well, I can’t do that. Can you post a link?
MT:
I have posted the information about how to find sales prices in the past- but in honor of all the new readers of Crib Chatter- I’ll repeat the info.
You don’t need an agent to obtain prior sales information.
First, if it’s new construction (a high rise or home built in the last 2 years)- I would check the Chicago Tribune’s real estate page. Go to the Latest Sales link and put in the address. It’s the best place to look for new construction sales prices.
If it’s older, you can start by going to the following:
Cook County Assessor
Do a residential search by putting in the address and getting the PIN number (property identification number).
Then, go to the Cook County Recorder of Deeds site.
Put in the PIN number and you will have the property’s history going back to around the late 1980s (if it exists.)
You also don’t need the MLS if someone says “go look at the 2500 block of Seminary”.
Go to any of the realtor websites such as redfin.com, coldwellbankeronline.com, rubloff.com and do an address search. In Coldwellbanker’s search engine you can put in “n seminary” and Chicago and it will bring up all the listings.
You don’t need to be registered on those sites in order to see most of the information.
The Tribune site is not exhaustive though. Developers have found a way to semi-game it in that they don’t always report the unit number sold, making comps more difficult to obtain in some cases.
That’s true about the unit number not always being posted on the Tribune. But between the Tribune and the MLS- you can put together a pretty good picture of what a new construction property recently closed for.
There is also a website http://www.intochicago.com The website will show you the active listings and closed sales. You do have to register to get the unit # for the closed sales and the Market time represents the days from the listing until present. So if a unit closed two years ago it will show over 700 days for MT. I recommend it to buyers who like to actively look on their own.
Oh! The website only gives you the list price (not the sold price) but you can use it to cross reference the tribune prices or to see what is or isn’t selling in a building or neighborhood.
MT: Also, I would ask your realtor to give you a comparable report for the last six months of sales in the area and type of home you are looking for. It only takes a couple of hours to put the information together and is necessary when you are trying to purchase a home.
Sabrina: Thanks for the how-to. Annoying how MLS has decided to give realtors the easy access but hide it from the people actually purchasing the property. What’s the logic there? Besides making it harder to determine a fair value?
VT: When I narrow it down I will definitely get comps. But I’m just starting my search and I’m considering condos, townhomes, and SFH in 3 or 4 neighborhoods. Right now I just want to a quick and easy way to see market time and previous listing and sales prices.
Redfin has a good feature which is showing the last sale price –though it’s not always there, and occassionally, won’t match public records, so always double check. It also shows total time even if the property has gone off market and come back (ie, it’s not tricked by “relistings”)
Another good website is blockshopper.com – they group associations which have different addresses and show sales from all units going back to the late 90s usually. very helpful for looking at a building, assoc, and trends.
“Could somebody give a breakdown, or point to a link, that explains Chicago ‘lot sizes?’ Is there a standard width/depth? Also, where does one go to verify that an advertised lot size is correct?”
25×125
Oversized lots are 30×125, 37.5×125 or 175 feet
Sorry for the totally off-topic post but HSBC shuts down its US subprime lending operation after heavy losses, fully writes off division.
I’ve been saying that HSBC US assets are crap; I’ve been saying this for years. The $34 bil they claim to still have in subprime assets ain’t worth a hill of beans.
“25×125”
Also, 24 x 100 is a “standard” size in portions of Bucktown, WP. And 26×125 is standard in some other areas.
And you can check on the assessor’s website. It doesn’t have dimensions, but it does have the square footage.
And, you can find the plat maps here:
http://maps.cityofchicago.org/kiosk/mpaddress.jsp?maptype=mapsplats_transonly
They won’t necessarily tell you the exact dimension of the lot, b/c often the actual lots are combinations of the platted lots (eg, my house is north half of lot x and south half of lot y), but it will show the lot depth for the block(s) you’re looking at.
But HD,
Remember what a thriving US mortgage business they had..even as recently as a year or two ago? Remember all those great families they helped with their ZERO DOWN loans?
I hope congress passes laws forbidding the surviving companies who engaged in zero down loans from ever doing mortgage origination here in the US again.
My goodness the stock market is doing very poor today.
Don’t worry a 4,000 Dow will not affect real estate… nothing to see here.
“Don’t worry a 4,000 Dow will not affect real estate… nothing to see here.”
That’s because all the smart doctors and lawyers are in 100% FDIC insured CASH just waiting on the sidelines to throw down a down payment to move into the hottest neighborhood in the northern hemisphere that never loses value ever… lincoln park!
Dow won’t goto 4,000 only because the financials and GE have effectively been reduced to zero influence anymore.
Now the S&P500 could goto 500, but remember the Dow is a poor index cuz its only 30 components and determined by their price, not market cap. The S&P is a far better index to determine how much wealth has literally evaporated.
Patience, Stocks look like they want to go below 5,000. Going to get ugly.
Well stocks are at 7,500 today so is everyone feeling good about the real estate market! Or are we still going to 2000 pricing and giving away homes.
Also FYI- any decent SFH in LP is still >$1mm (unless you are talking about the far west lincoln park N of Fullerton that isn’t near any public transportation, there is a reason those homes aren’t priced better because it is a bad location and an outlier for LP SFH pricing. Anything E of Sheffield is going to be $1mm+ easy.
bjb,
Your inclusion of the adjective ‘decent’ makes your claim subjective. I’ve seen homes that are ‘decent’ to me listed for ~700k in LP and not in the outlying areas. Its all perspective I suppose.
I dont’ have access to the MLS but I suppose sales of $1,000,000 plus homes in LP are probably way down; you know the pattern, no need to repeat it.
“far west lincoln park N of Fullerton”
Lots of $2mm+ SFHs in that area. Heritage Park or whatever. Drive Paulina b/t Diversey and Wrightwood and west to the railroad. Nothing under $1mm there.