Tired of Renting? Buy a 1-Bedroom Southport Loft Instead: 1122 W. Newport
This top floor 1-bedroom loft at 1122 W. Newport in the Southport neighborhood of Lakeview just came on the market.
This is a 23 unit industrial building just a few blocks west of Wrigley Field.
It is an authentic loft with exposed brick walls, 14 foot timber ceilings and big industrial windows.
This is a corner unit, so there are two walls of windows and the bedroom also has windows, which isn’t common in many 1-bedroom lofts.
There are hardwood floors in the living room and carpet in the bedroom.
The kitchen has white cabinets and counter tops along with stainless steel appliances.
This loft has the features buyers look for including central air, washer/dryer in the unit and outdoor parking is included.
With mortgage rates still low, is this a good starter condo for someone tired of renting?
Ben Bodelson at Dream Town Realty has the listing. See the pictures here.
Unit #3A: 1 bedroom, 1 bath, no square footage listed
- Sold in September 1992 for $128,000
- Sold in December 1995 for $137,000
- Sold in May 2000 for $217,500
- Sold in September 2013 for $230,000
- Currently listed for $269,000 (outdoor parking included)
- Assessments of $188 a month (includes scavenger and lawn care)
- Taxes of $3258
- Central Air
- Washer/Dryer in the unit
- The listing says “No pets allowed”
- Bedroom: 13×13
- Living room: 17×19
- Kitchen: 13×7
Looks like a decent place for the $. Might move faster with dropping $20-25k on kitchen remodel and add to the price
The common roof deck just outside your door could be a big negative
Might move faster with dropping $20-25k Period.
Mortgage rates are not low anymore. Our rate jumped from 3.625 to 4.125% (higher for others) in the span of a week thanks to ‘Murica electing F–kface Von Clownstick. Talk about adding insult to injury! We couldn’t lock it because it’s a short sale and didn’t get bank approval until yesterday.
I think plenty of Chatterati here have voiced the drawbacks of timber lofts, but those aside, this being on the top floor is a huge benefit. I’d still be worried about roof leakage though, it happened to one of my friends’ top floor timber units in Wicker Park. Unit is probably trying to price in the Cubs success.
“Mortgage rates are not low anymore. Our rate jumped from 3.625 to 4.125% ”
4.125% is a very low rate for a 30 year mortgage.
“I’d still be worried about roof leakage though, it happened to one of my friends’ top floor timber units in Wicker Park.”
wouldn’t anywhere being on the top floor be at risk of a roof leak. heck, a single family home can have a roof leak.
Don’t worry Elliot, rates will fall again within a year or two and you can refinance
“a single family home can have a roof leak”
Boy howdy.
And you get to pay 100% of it yourself, instead of splitting it with the association.
4% mortgage rates. Oh the horror! This is predatory. Someone call Elizabeth Warren.
I realize that 4 is still close to historical lows, but that half a point increase is $18k down the drain over the life of the loan. Would you want to burn $50/month if you had to?
Trump will likely save you a lot more in taxes than $50 a month
“I realize that 4 is still close to historical lows, but that half a point increase is $18k down the drain over the life of the loan. Would you want to burn $50/month if you had to?”
No, but what you said was “Mortgage rates are not low anymore”. They are still very low, just not all time lows.
LOL. Trump won’t be cutting taxes for average folks. I am just hearing the very wealthy and corporations…neither of which is a good idea with the exception of smaller non-public corporations which are taxed at a rate that deters entrepeneurship.
Headline on Yahoo finance:
“What you should do about exploding mortgage rates”
“In the past week, mortgage rates have spiked tremendously, now averaging 4.02% for a 30-year fixed-rate, up from 3.77% before the election of Donald Trump.”
Exploding!! Spiked tremendously!!
This isn’t gonna end well…
Sonies, you make a good point. His tax plan will offset this additional cost.
Liz – his plan does benefit the uber wealthy the most but it will offer relief to most people, even middle class (though it apparently hurts single moms). We’ll ultimately end up paying for it in the future, so I see it only as a temporary relief.
Chuk – they are not low relative to where we should have had it, unfortunately.
Russ – $18k plus opportunity cost of that lost money, so f*ck off with the condescending sarcasm. It’s not a deal killer, but it does sting.
“Exploding!! Spiked tremendously!!”
If you haven’t locked in, it’s a big deal, especially if you’re looking in the higher brackets.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-11-15/spike-in-mortgage-rates-throws-a-wrench-into-u-s-housing-market
San Diego mortgage broker Shanne Sleder said a third of his clients, many of whom were already stretching budgets to buy homes in pricey southern California, are having to reconsider what they can afford as rates soar.
“With a number of the people we were in the middle of pre-approving, as rates are going up, it’s getting tighter and tighter qualifying them,” Sleder said. He’s urging them to lock in rates. “In some cases, the higher rates are making it so they are not as comfortable with the payment.”
“I realize that 4 is still close to historical lows, but that half a point increase is $18k down the drain over the life of the loan. Would you want to burn $50/month if you had to?”
The last time mortgage rates suddenly moved up this much was in 2013 and it did slow the housing market.
Sales were already slowing before the rates spiked, however. As Gary posted here, October was the slowest in 5 years. We shall see what happens over the next few months. I’m already hearing anecdotally that some buyers are trying to “hurry” and buy something before rates move higher. They have pushed up their buying calendar by several months.
“4% mortgage rates. Oh the horror! This is predatory. Someone call Elizabeth Warren.”
You shouldn’t mock those who are afraid of higher rates. Most Americans live paycheck to paycheck. They might not be able to afford the house they thought they could. And that’s going to be upsetting to a lot of people- especially with housing at record highs.
“You shouldn’t mock those who are afraid of higher rates. Most Americans live paycheck to paycheck. They might not be able to afford the house they thought they could. And that’s going to be upsetting to a lot of people- especially with housing at record highs.”
Good.
Well if you are afraid of higher rates and live paycheck to paycheck, lock in your rate. People get sucked in on low adjustable rates, then crybaby when the rates go up.
Glad I locked in my jumbo @ 3.5% though… NAILED IT
“Well if you are afraid of higher rates and live paycheck to paycheck, then you shouldn’t be buying a house.”
Fixed that for you…
Sabrina, not mocking anyone, just pointing out the lack of perspective.
It is always interesting with mortgages how focused people get about their payment, but at the same time that same scrutiny doesn’t apply in other aspects of their life where money gets wasted.
Rates go up .25 bps, everyone starts calculating life of loan costs of $40/mo or whatever (ignoring of course no one keeps a mortgage 30 years) as if it is going to make the difference between buying in Berwyn or Wilmette. Meanwhile, they are holding a $5.00 Grande Pumpkin Spice Latte, driving a 12mpg SUV, paying $250/mo for cable, texting away on iPhone 7s, and pissing away much more money on all sorts of things.
Thank you, Russ.
Russ – Rates have gone up at least 50 basis points. I’d also love to see your budget so I can pick and choose what I deem frivolous or excessive.
“Russ – Rates have gone up at least 50 basis points. I’d also love to see your budget so I can pick and choose what I deem frivolous or excessive.”
It was the largest 2-week gain in the 10-year yield in history.
“It is always interesting with mortgages how focused people get about their payment, but at the same time that same scrutiny doesn’t apply in other aspects of their life where money gets wasted.”
It’s the bank that cares about the increase. It’s the bank that will say “no bueno.” And yes- they will do it, in some cases, with a 50 basis point increase.
If this rate spike holds for a couple of months, then we’ll see what homebuyers did. We know what they did the last time there was an increase. Sales declined. But this time, prices are even higher (although the rates are lower.)