There are Still Some Vintage Condos in River North: A 3-Bedroom at 55 W. Erie
This 3-bedroom at 55 W. Erie in River North came on the market in September 2018.
Built in 1882, this vintage building has 9 units. There’s no parking with the building.
The building still has its original wood railing in the front staircase (see the pictures).
This unit has some of its vintage features including 2 wood burning fireplaces: one in the living room and one in the master bedroom.
The property also has a stained glass window in the living room.
It has exposed brick, with some of it painted white (in the living room) and some of it in its natural condition.
The kitchen has white cabinets and stainless steel appliances that the listing says were upgraded in 2016 along with exposed wood beams on the ceiling.
It has central air and washer/dryer in the unit, although it’s a combo unit which means the washer and dryer are in the same appliance. It’s commonly called a “European” washer as the combo units are common in Europe.
There’s no parking with the unit but rental parking is available in the neighborhood.
Originally listed in September for $465,000, it has been reduced $15,000 to $450,000.
Do vintage units in River North have a sales advantage due to their rarity?
Tommy Choi at Keller Williams has the listing. See the pictures here.
Unit #2W: 3 bedrooms, 2 baths, 1700 square feet
- Sold in April 1992 for $165,000
- Sold in June 2004 for $360,000
- Sold in May 2014 for $370,000
- Originally listed in September 2018 for $465,000
- Reduced
- Currently listed at $450,000
- Assessments of $501 a month (includes exterior maintenance, scavenger and snow removal)
- Taxes of $7393
- Central Air
- Washer/dryer in the unit (is a combo unit)
- No parking
- 2 wood burning fireplaces
- Bedroom #1: 12×12
- Bedroom #2: 11×14
- Bedroom #3: 11×9
While the exterior is, the interior most def isn’t
Just need some ship lap and a barn door for the full Joanna Gaines look.
Kitchen looks pretty good for what they had to work with, less the fake beams
Not sure how bad the kitchen was but money would have been better spent replacing the parquet floors or at lest getting some area rugs to hide
Guessing with the Crib, the owners figured that this place aint going to work. Need to either find someone in the same boat that’s coming from an apt or empty nesters
Lack of parking blows and probably why it hasn’t moved, but this seems like a pretty good buy in the neighborhood compared to what you’d get in a high rise. A high rise would be a smaller / generic unit. This place has character.
old pix here:
https://www.redfin.com/IL/Chicago/55-W-Erie-St-60654/unit-2W/home/14101953/mred-08533853
probably need to login.
The parquet floors are gorgeous. I would buy this in a minute if our kids were out of the house.
this is great but based on this “cooling” you’re reporting I wonder if there’s just more interesting neighborhoods to live in than downtown/river north.
There is no cooling. Just nothing on the market to buy, so sales totals are less.
I was prepared to hate this place but the interior is better than I expected. I still wouldn’t want to live in this location, or in such an old building that likely has lots of aging issues to be dealt with by the homeowners. You’d better be sure you’re comfortable with the association before moving into a place like this.
I can’t get over how inexpensive this is. What would this cost in NYC?
On the cooling argument, they are seeking 20% over the 2014 sales price, or an increase of 5% per year. Sure, they replaced the appliances, but they were probably quite old (stainless has been fashionable for a long time now).
That doesn’t seem like a cooling price so much as the 2014 price was surprisingly low for the location. (I don’t like the location personally, but the place has charm, and sure it would be easy to get to work.)
ha i am not making a cooling argument, another post on this blog is. 😀
“What would this cost in NYC?”
What would this cost in Helena Montana?
“There is no cooling.”
Ok, so 6% below inflation-adjusted 2004 price (so, like 20% below peak) is ‘sizzle’?
I don’t think the market is sizzling, I’m just not sure that it’s significantly cooler now than earlier in the year (although there’s a perception it is, and that could make it so).
You can find lots of properties from earlier with similar numbers.
I thought even in the spring that buyers were being picky about price and amenities, even with the perception that it was a seller’s market. Lots of places sold fast (but plenty did not), but it didn’t seem to have that much upward pressure on prices — buyers still seemed to be wiling to say “no, not worth that much” and go elsewhere. Maybe less so in supposedly hot neighborhoods where lower prices might have been rising quicker (Avondale? I didn’t look there), but in established neighborhoods where prices were already high, except perhaps for brand new construction.
Helena is a cute town. It’s not a large city with endless amenities. It has no jobs either. I have family from Helena. They all had to leave as much as they loved it.
“I’m just not sure that it’s significantly cooler now than earlier in the year”
The word here on the CC was that the market was sizzling earlier this year.
“There is no cooling. Just nothing on the market to buy, so sales totals are less.”
Over the last 2 years it’s been really hard for me to do posts on this site because the properties would go under contract almost instantly. There are still a few “instants” happening but, for the most part, it’s now price cutting within a week or two of listing. And there are plenty of properties that have been on the market for 4-6 months. That’s the entire key spring/summer selling season.
It could be too many sellers got too bullish in late spring and listed way too high and now mortgage rates are the highest in 5 years so they are no longer willing to pay those higher prices. So these places are lowering the price.
But one agent told me, after having a property on the market for several months, that after he lowered the price, he didn’t even get any calls for showings. Nothing. Nada.
I guess I need to cover more of the properties that have been listed for a while and those that are cutting price pretty aggressively.
“I guess I need to cover more of the properties that have been listed for a while and those that are cutting price pretty aggressively.”
——————-
Or maybe start covering more properties?
Give us some criteria for what properties you cover.Gary can give you some extra neighborhoods to cover.
“Or maybe start covering more properties?”
There aren’t enough properties, I’m afraid.
I used to cover 3 properties a day, five days a week in 2007 and 2008. It’s been years since that’s been feasible. But if inventory starts rising again, then the story may change.
A/I