Vintage Co-Ops are Cool But Sales Are Slow: 2440 N. Lakeview
I’m a sucker for the old “pre-war” buildings that were built along the lake and parks in the 1920s. They have great construction, views and are usually really large units. No 700 square foot one bedrooms here. They’ll have dining rooms, dens, butler pantries, maids quarters- the works. Some of the buildings have parking, some don’t. Some allow washer/dryers in the units, some don’t.
But one thing many of them have in common (especially those buildings that are co-ops) are that they are slow to sell. There are several reasons for this, even in good markets.
- The assessments are always really high because many times that includes the taxes, heat, doorman, cable etc. It includes EVERYTHING. Also, it costs a lot to run these massive stone buildings (many of which have pools and other amenities.)
- Many times, as I said, there is no parking and when you combine that with already high assessments, it seems financially not prudent to purchase there.
- Also, several of them don’t allow dogs (and some don’t allow either cats or dogs.)
Such is the case with one of my favorite buildings, 2440 N. Lakeview, which sits directly on the south end of Lincoln Park. There are several units for sale in the building which has parking. That’s it pictured on the right below.
Unit #5C: 1 bedroom, 1 bath, dining room
- Currently listed for $234,000
- Assessements of $1273 a month – includes taxes, parking, cable, heat
- No dogs or cats allowed
- No washer/dryer (but does the building let you put it in???)
- No central air
The room sizes are very generous:
- Dining room (looks like it’s used as a den): 20 x 12
- Master Bedroom is 21×11
- Kitchen is 15 x 9
- Livingroom is 21 x 13
- There’s a foyer that is 11 x 10 (is this the foyer? It looks like it)
What’s the total square footage? Over 1100??? The building also has a nice rooftop deck:
$234,000 seems cheap, doesn’t it? Except you have that big assessment looming out there.
The Baird and Warner mortgage tracker shows that if you put 20% down (for a loan amount of $187,920) you would pay about $2450 a month with the 30 year fixed loan (it doesn’t say what the interest rate is on that loan.) Also- the tracker includes the taxes so I subtracted those as those are included in the assessment.
That’s pretty pricey- even at the “lower” sales price. That could be the reason it’s been on the market for quite some time now. (I saw it listed over a year ago.)
There are two 2 bedroom, 2 bath units also available in the building. Both are priced under $400,000.
Unit #14D: 2 bedroom, 2 bath, 1400 square feet
- Last sold in September 2000 for $316,500
- Currently listed for $399,000
- Has been on the market for several YEARS now
- Koenig & Strey has the listing
Unit #6D: 2 bedroom, 2 bath, 1400 square feet
- Last sold in February 2001 for $330,000
- Currently listed for $395,000
- Baird and Warner has the listing
Yep, it’s hard to sell these co-ops with these big fees- even if they ARE cool.
Sabrina:
Somehow, your calculation is all wrong. A 30 year amortization of a $187,920 loan with payments of $2450/month would require an interest rate of 15.5%. A 7% loan would have payments of $1250.24 (at 7%, $2450/month pays off $187,920 in 8.5 years). $2450/month should pay the mortgage AND the assessment.
The problem with this unit is not so much that it’s too expensive (it is a little), but that it’s extremely uggo. Think about how those rooms fit together–you walk in to bright RED, the living room is retirement home YELLOW, with dated light fixtures, ugly drapes and a dark blue rug, the dining room isn’t a dining room and it’s got ugly PALE BLUE wallpaper (with matching curtains), the bedroom has FOREST GREEN wallpaper, a crappy, crappy ceiling fan and a vaguely nautical theme and the kitchen was dated when it was remodeled 25 years ago. Strip all the wallpaper, paint all the walls ecru, replace the ancient dishwasher (something cheap would be fine) and put a dining table and chairs in the dining room and this place sells–heck, it should be rentable for $2500/month with the included parking/heat/cable. But without that bland-ification, anyone looking at it only sees a ton of work.
Anon: Sorry if I wasn’t clear. The $2450 includes the assessment (so the actual mortgage payment is only about $1200 a month on a 30 year fixed.)
But I agree with you that the unit is completely outdated. It’s not showing well exactly for the reasons you pointed out. But some of the two bedrooms are much more modern (minus the forest green wallpaper) and they too have been on the market for years.
It’s hard trying to sell a co-op.