This 1-Bedroom in Streeterville Doesn’t Meet Redfin’s Minimum Pricing Rule: 230 E. Ontario
This 1-bedroom in 230 E. Ontario in Streeterville just came on the market.
The building was built in 1969 and has 144 units.
In the listing on Redfin there was this clause in the column to the right of the pictures of the property that said:
Below Minimum Price
Please contact the listing agent directly to see this home or learn more:
Jennifer Ames 312-XXX-7525
Coldwell Banker Residential
To ensure every client gets the highest level of Redfin service during strong demand, Redfin is currently unable to service this property
You can click on a link to “learn more details” and it turns out that Redfin can’t help you if the price is too low.
Does Redfin have a minimum price limit?
Yes, though this price will vary depending on which part of the country you’re in. If you’re interested in a home with a list price under our minimum price, we’ll connect you to a local partner agent who can help you tour the home and make an offer.
This one bedroom has a wall of sunny, south facing windows.
It has carpet throughout the main living areas.
The kitchen has white cabinets and stainless steel appliances.
The bedroom has an open wall to the living room but the listing says there is a curtain on a floating track if you want privacy.
The unit has central air but no in-unit washer/dryer. Parking is leased in the building.
However, this is a full service building with a doorman, a rooftop outdoor pool and an exercise room.
Has anyone ever run across this minimum pricing limit in the Green Zone before?
Is Redfin just so busy it can’t help you with certain listings?
Jennifer Ames at Coldwell Banker has the listing. See the pictures here.
Unit #1804: 1 bedroom, 1 bath, 675 square feet
- Sold in June 2004 for $140,000 (per Zillow)
- Currently listed for $169,500
- Assessments of $579 a month (includes heat, a/c, doorman, cable, exercise room, scavenger and pool)
- Taxes of $2521
- Central Air
- No in-unit washer/dryer- laundry room is in the building
- Leased parking (not sure how much that is)
- Bedroom: 12×11
- Livingroom: 20×12
It sounds like they are realizing that there is more work involved than their business model originally expected. As a result, they can’t offer the discounts and provide full service on lower priced properties.
One bedroom condos throughout the city are the bane of realtors everywhere. They’re a lot of work to sell, the selling price is often low making the potential commission small, and god forbid you actually have to work with the type of people who are interested in buying a small 1bed condo.
When I was looking in 2012, the min pricing was $100k. All the 99k condos fell under the “below min pricing” rule. It was recently (last couple of months) increased to 200k.
Yeah answering the phone and opening doors and flipping on light switches is pretty rough work for 1500 bucks
I’m surprised Jennifer Ames has this listing
“Yeah answering the phone and opening doors and flipping on light switches is pretty rough work for 1500 bucks”
would you rather do that for $1,500 selling shitty condos or $6,000 selling lakeview 2/2’s?
If I was hustlin I wouldn’t care
Hi Sabrina,
We strive to provide the best possible customer service to as many people as we can. When our Redfin agents are at full capacity, we refer them to partner agents who are selected because they provide equally excellent service. Partner agents are local real estate agents who work for other brokerages but who share Redfin values. They are a way for Redfin to provide great customer service.
Right now, at the height of the busy real estate season, our partner agents have reached their capacity as well in this area. In the meantime, we continue to display all the information possible about every listing on the market, but we’re temporarily unable to offer our agent services.
That said, we are currently in the process of hiring more Redfin agents and partner agents in Chicago so that we can expand our services and meet more demand. Thank you for your patience.
Best,
Alex Starace, Redfin Communications Specialist
“god forbid you actually have to work with the type of people who are interested in buying a small 1bed condo.”
What “type” of people are those? The type of people who don’t want to spend a huge percentage of their net worth — or over-leverage themselves — on a property? Or are they the “type” that can only grasp at cheaper housing because housing prices are escaping middle-class affordability? How do these people have less worth (as you implied) because they’re not lining the pockets of “hard working” real estate agents as much as they should? How are these people looking for condos in the 150-200k range different from those looking for a house outside of the city for that same price?
Please elaborate on that disparaging, elitist comment. I’m genuinely curious to see what you meant by it.
If realtors don’t want to deal with any hassles that come with selling a one bedroom condo, or “god-forbid” a cheap one bedroom condo, then they shouldn’t take the client. Also, I thought the Chinese were buying up all the GZ-1bdrms.
As a long tenured Redfin broker, I can assure you that we have pricing thresholds in place since day one in Chicago. The biggest difference between us and other brokerages is that our Agents are paid a salary, which necessarily increases some of our costs. As noted our minimum threshold will vary from market to market.
yes, Elliot, yes.
So as an in-town this unit fails. The $600 assaements + 200 in taxes + 150 in utilities + furnishings is $1k per month and at that price you can stay at the Four a Seasons or peninsula for two nights per month all year long. And even more nights if you choose a moderate priced hotel.
But you do get to live over Ron of Japan! Just hope the unit doesn’t smell like the restaurant!
Why show us the picture of all those chairs? In case prospective owner has a book club? This would be a good buy for a resident in the area. Live close to the hospital, basically a cheap crash pad. Jennifer Ames has the listing, I doubt she shows it. She sends someone.
I live there. They are building a high rise next door. The construction started in October, and it will be at least another year or so, there is construction noise and debris. Also it is in front of the hospital on Erie so there is a lot of noise from sirens. The exercise room consists of one treadmill,one elliptical, one exercycle, and one weight machine. The laundry is $1.25 per load and the dryer is $1.05 which is cheap. They recently hired a firm to “fancify” the building because it is so outdated.
Very interesting. Wasn’t aware that they were operating that way.
I don’t fault them for trying to maximize the profit they generate for their time but you can’t really provide the proper service to your clients while closing off an entire category of properties. You have to do this at the client level – e.g. if a client approaches you and says they are looking to spend no more than $200K then you decide if you are going to help them or not. But if they tell you that they are looking up to $250K and you take them on and then want to see a $170K property you’re going to refuse? That would be crazy.
As for “answering the phone and opening doors and flipping on light switches is pretty rough work for 1500 bucks”…while I do believe many realtors are grossly overpaid setting up a showing and actually driving to and from it – assuming it’s the only one scheduled – and conducting it is going to take you maybe 1.5 hours on average. Now the co-op commission on this one at a sales price of around $160K would be around $3700. If an agent just did this one showing and closed a deal it would be a pretty good payday. They might work a total of 20 hours on the deal if everything went smoothly, which would work out to $184/ hour. However, they could end up showing that buyer 20 places and submit several offers and have a deal fall through…you get the picture.
“Jennifer Ames has the listing, I doubt she shows it. She sends someone.”
She is one of the top agents in the city. When you get to that level, you have a team of agents that work underneath you to help all of the buyers/sellers get the best service.
Of course she’s not personally showing this unit. But this seller most likely hired her “team.”
Alex, I think there was a delay in posting your comment. Just now saw it. So how does it work when you have a buyer who is looking for properties, some of which are above your threshold and others are below your threshold?
“Also, I thought the Chinese were buying up all the GZ-1bdrms.”
No. That would be 2-bedrooms.
homedelete on June 17th, 2016 at 6:34 pm
yes, Elliot, yes.
Well that says it all, then.
Hi Gary,
In those cases, a customer continues to work with the agent (Redfin or partner) that they started working with. If something significant changes with the customer’s search, we may work with them to find the best agent to match their needs.