Under Contract in One Day Has Now Closed: 444 W. Surf in Lakeview
Last February, we chattered about this cute 1-bedroom vintage unit at 444 W. Surf in Lakeview.
See our prior chatter and pictures here.
It had gone under contract in just one day.
It recently closed with a price nearly at the list price.
Heather Hillebrand at Dreamtown Realty had the listing.
Unit#2B: 1 bedroom, 1 bath, dining room, no square footage listed
- Sold in December 1988 for $44,000
- Sold in November 2005 for $212,000
- Was listed in February 2009 for $247,500
- Under contract in one day
- Sold on April 24, 2009 for $244,900
- Assessments of $353 a month
- Taxes of $2322
- No central air- window units
- Washer/Dryer
- Bedroom: 12×10
- Living room: 14×13
- Dining room: 12×12
- Kitchen: 12×8
Just like some people manage to walk away from an airplane wreck relatively unscathed, the same situation applies for some sellers. It only takes _one buyer_ to give them profit or make them whole. Kudos to this one, although I can’t imagine they made a bunch given the high-end finishes put in.
What, no one wants to talk about this? A closed sale for more than the 2005 price?
that is a beautiful place.. if I were still single and only needed 1 br .. this would be a strong contender. I used to live down the street from this building. great location.. don’t need a car, and could probably handle window units…though i’ve never been fond of them. Great looking kitchen.. interesting placement of the sink.. gives you some nice counter space.
I like the frosted glass on the door… Could use that for a bathroom.
only 3 comments? I guess no one likes to talk about places that sell.
This person is obviously a knife-catcher. Doesn’t he know that the Chicago is destined to go back to 1932 pricing?
The asking price was reasonable, which is why it sold so fast. Had the seller been asking $320,000 or something goofy like that, it would still be sitting on the market with no offers.
There are certainly cases where you can get more than 2005 prices, and without ripping anyone off. You just can’t get drastically more.
If this place was gut rehabbed two years ago, looks to me like the seller lost money at this sales price.
Sabrina – you’re going to lose your readership if you keep this up.
Such incisive commentary from the complainers. Seems like **you** don’t have anything to say about htis property, either.
Reversing Stevo’s rent-to-price thumbnail gives an implied rental value of $1450, or $1800 if you don’t “exclude” the down payment. Makes the price seem about fair, given current interest rates.
As long as the buyer intends to (and does) live in the place for more than a couple years, this should be a fine purchase.
MADFLY,
The door is this way ——————————->
Don’t let it hit you you know where on the way out.
The cognitive dissonance is amazing. This seller lost money. From the listing:
“Buyers will love $45k rehab!
2-year gut features open kitchen w/Granite, SS, w/d, and chocolate-stained cherry cabs. Crown molding, 9″ baseboards, 8 ft mahogany doors, dark stained wood floors, CA closets, 9 ft ceilings, rehabbed windows, multi-room surround.”
Toss in the transaction costs of over 6%, ignore the lost use/income while the rehab was going on, and the seller lost well over $25,000 on their $212,000 purchase.
Smart of them not to even try for a profit, though.
One more thing, I wonder if the “under contract in one day” has anything to do with the listing stating it is “agent owned” (not by list agent, but another agent at same office)?
its a bit higher than what i would have paid for it, but it looks like a great place and looks like a pretty good deal.
but i am a bit suspicious when it closes in one day. maybe the buyer and seller knew each other?
IIRC I figured PITI+HOA was about equal to rent for a similar unit in that neighborhood. Not surprising it sold given how many ridiculously priced properties in the neighborhood.
G – why the 6% tc if it’s agent owned?
Not the same agent as owner. Different office with contract. 2.5% to the SO plus whatever discounted fee to the LO/LA.
Paid .75% city transfer tax at time of purchase, .30% city, .10% state, and .05% county at time of sale.
Appraisal, title, attorney, inspection, loan fees, etc add something in and out. Let’s say, very conservatively, .5% in this price range. Mort points and cost of loss of use/rent during rehab could make this much higher, but are omitted.
That’s already >4% with nothing at all for the LO/LA. Still $20K+ in losses to the seller.
The typical seller in this situation would have to pay the additional 2.5% commission.
I wish my Realtard had shown me this place. She is fired.
“I wish my Realtard had shown me this place. She is fired.”
What, because she wasn’t friends with the seller? No love here, but that’s not really fair (yes, I realize you are most likely j/k).
hey bob, don’t ask MADFLY to leave – he’s like a Bill Maher to your Bill O’Reilly. We need the two extremes to keep it somewhat balanced.
“he’s like a Bill Maher to your Bill O’Reilly”
I’ve never heard either of *them* complain about others having nothing to say *and* have nothing to say themselves.
Stephen, you’re realtard is probably working for you about as hard as i would expect someone to work for a jerk that refers to him/her as a realtard. karma. hahahahahahhaaha
Bob and I are hardly the most extreme of the views here.
I don’t even think we disagree most times.
not complaining at all mate. i value their comments and find yours particularly insightful too.
i do find it mildly ironic the fact you often comment on how i add nothing to the discussion though.
anon (tfo) on April 29th, 2009 at 5:08 pm
“he’s like a Bill Maher to your Bill O’Reilly”
I’ve never heard either of *them* complain about others having nothing to say *and* have nothing to say themselves.
Count, I wasnt being serious.
“i do find it mildly ironic the fact you often comment on how i add nothing to the discussion though.”
If I have ever made that comment *except* in the context of someone complaining about others not adding to the discussion, I sincerely apologize. I admit to not paying attention to whom I am getting on about posting complaints about others with nothing (or boring) stuff to say w/o suggesting an alternate focus of discussion, so it’s nothing personal; indeed I have no idea if you’ve ever done that.
If one doesn’t like the focus of the discussion, complaining about it doesn’t do anything–making a substantive comment might or might not, but at least adds something other than mild irony. If one also has nothing to say, scrolling past is usually the best solution.
Stephen, im surprised no one has called me a realtard for using the wrong “your/you’re”
Probably a smart move by sellers. They clearly listed it to sell fast and at list price – and who knows their motive. Maybe to upgrade and take advantage of a deal on something else. But what I do know is that it’s refreshing to see an agent listing the property at a realistic price and staging it to make it look like it was worth $20k more. Nice work.
If it went under contract in only one day it was underpriced, IMO. Much like an oversubscribed IPO, there was money left on the table with this sale.
“If it went under contract in only one day it was underpriced, IMO. Much like an oversubscribed IPO, there was money left on the table with this sale.”
But that can’t be Bob. We’ve all learned here that the sale price in an arm’s length transaction is the fair market value. There’s no money left on the table, because the sale price is all that anyone was willing to pay for it.
anon(tfo),
For a listing that was on the market for a reasonable amount of time (30 days at least). Accepting an offer the first day of a listing at ask means the seller is not playing the field in terms of buyers who may even want to pay more. Hence, underpriced.
“For a listing that was on the market for a reasonable amount of time”
Nononono. If it’s the sale price it’s FMV. It’s in Wikipedia. It must be true.
Ok wiseguy how much is the property worth? In your opinion, how many better offers could the seller have gotten if she waited 30 days?
“In a Buyer’s Market the First Offer is the Best Offer”
“Ok wiseguy how much is the property worth? In your opinion, how many better offers could the seller have gotten if she waited 30 days?”
Bob sez it’s worth more, you say it’s worth the closing price.
What’s it “worth”? The buyer is paying ~$1675/month (at 5.5% cap rate, or ~$2200/month at 8%) for a one-bedroom apartment with window a/c and no parking. Seems excessive to me, but what do I know?
I’m just saying that non-standard transactions–while indicative of “market” values–are not *necessarily* true market values.
Koenig & Strey closes River North, Lincoln Park offices
(Crain’s) — Koenig & Strey GMAC Real Estate, one of the Chicago area’s largest residential brokerage firms, has shuttered offices in the River North and Lincoln Park neighborhoods as it continues to cut costs amid the housing market slump.
Both offices, at 750 N. Orleans St. and 1800 N. Clybourn Ave., opened within the last four years and housed a combined total of roughly 230 employees, says Doug Ayers, president of the Wilmette-based brokerage. Koenig has now closed seven offices this year, having earlier shut branches in the Roscoe Village neighborhood and in Evanston, Wilmette, Deerfield and Wheaton.
http://www.chicagorealestatedaily.com/cgi-bin/news.pl?id=34090
hd,
Maybe they did score a hole in one and they found the buyer willing to pay the desired ask price for their particular property the exact day they listed it. More than likely though it wasn’t a hole in one and had it been listed at a higher price it would’ve gathered some interest albeit at a slower timeframe to allow more people to view the property and consider it. One day list times are extreme outliers just like 600+day list times.
Conversely if a property sits for 600+ days with no reductions and finally sells I’d be inclined to beieve it was overpriced for the overall market as well.
How you taking the news today SHill? Did your office close today? What if, god forbid, you get transferred to the suburbs??
Interesting. That chicagorealestatedaily site had some good news also.
Zell: Housing market will stabilize this summer
http://www.chicagorealestatedaily.com/cgi-bin/news.pl?id=34086
Who knows if it will come to pass but it made me feel better. 🙂
Hate to link to JoeZ’s website two days in a row, but he did put up some of Zell’s other comments recently:
http://yochicago.com/today/quote-of-the-day/quote-of-the-day-sams-crystal-ball_8811/
Key takeaway: probably not a good idea to take advice, especially investment advice, from somebody with a track record of bad investments and of blowing smoke. In fact after his predictably disastrous purchase of Tribune I’d say perhaps best to use Zell’s statements as a contrarian indicator. The guy has far more ego than business acumen and sense.
From the previous article it does look like he made a ton of money in real estate with great timing but maybe he was just lucky.
I’ve heard that the key to wealth is hard work plus good luck.
“probably not a good idea to take advice … from somebody with a track record of bad investments”
Yeah, we should all much such bad investments. It’s usually the guys making lots of bad investments who end up billionaires.
Just need to overcome our inclination to make good investments, I guess.
Okay well in any case we should consider the source. Zell stands to benefit personally quite handsomely if/when the real estate market does turn around. So it should come as no surprise he’s eternally optimistic it will because 1) he wants it to and 2) if by him making a statement he can influence it positively in any way thats ultimately a benefit for him.
I still don’t consider him a shrewd businessman. His Tribune purchase shows that his ego hasn’t accounted for the luck part of his success and he likely chalks it all up to hard work and skill.
You would’ve have to have been insane to purchase a newspaper conglomerate when he did (or even today).
“His Tribune purchase shows that his ego hasn’t accounted for the luck part of his success and he likely chalks it all up to hard work and skill.”
C’mon, he tossed some chump change (for him, something like $300mm–like me buying a lottery ticket (slight exageration)) at it, hoping to have it pan out. Dude got 90+% financing to control the company–crazy stuff.
And, yeah, you always need to be wary of bigshots puffing up their book. Zell certainly *wants* the resi RE market to come back.