Vintage Unit Still Available 8 Months Later: 3800 N. Lake Shore Drive
We last chattered about this 3-bedroom vintage unit at 3800 N. Lake Shore Drive in July 2008.
8 months later it is still on the market and has been reduced $20,000. The seller is also “motivated.”
See our prior chatter and pictures here.
Unit #14E: 3 bedrooms, 2 baths, 2150 square feet
- Sold in January 2001 for $372,500
- Was listed in July 2008 for $539,000
- Reduced
- Currently listed for $519,000
- Assessments of $1048 a month
- Taxes of $5794
- 2 car parking
- W/D in the unit
- Original carved mantel
- Listing says central air
- Maria Schmidt at @Properties has the listing. See more pictures here.
With those assesments they’ll be lucky to get much above the 2001 price.
Well, they *clearly* spent tens of thousands* updating the place. So they have to re-coup those investments.
*note: in ZWD
Well they should cut up their Home Depot credit card then because this baby ain’t fetching any more than 400k with those assessments.
Bob:
If you look at the pics, it doesn’t appear they’ve done anything but paint. Also, check the exchange rate for ZWD to USD.
anon(tfo),
Sorry didn’t see the asterisk! LOL!
Maybe Laura will win the lottery and bail these guys out. But probably not.
Hey, I’d buy this for, aaah, about $400K if I could put $133K down, and if I could carry the remaining $267K with comfort. I love this building.
It really is beautiful, and it has 2 parking spaces (not that I need them), a rare amenity for a Lakeview vintage. It’s beautifully situated in a great location, and it has a balcony, I believe.
But they didn’t do the kitchen just exactly the way I’d do it, so why should I pay for their “improvements” since I’m just gonna have to undo them all. And the assessments are ghastly. Probably, owners are still paying off the hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of structural work done on this building a number of years ago… for about 6 years back there, the building was covered in scaffolding, and being worked on non-stop.
Most of all, the ask price is the peak price. Some places out there might actually be worth their 2005 prices, but I believe it would be unwise to pay it. The fact that this babe has been on the market for 8 months with no takers tells you how fairly valued it is.
“But they didn’t do the kitchen just exactly the way I’d do it, so why should I pay for their “improvements” since I’m just gonna have to undo them all.”
I think you looked at/remembered the other unit (3g?) from the prior. This one is the multi-hued empty one with the oak and white kitchen. You aren’t paying for much besides what they “should” get for it.
Laura – 5E, same tier (by the way – no balcony in either unit) is available for $375,000. Buy it and do the kitchen the way you want it!
Gorgeous, vintage unit!!!!!!!
i can show it to you if you’d like!
There are a couple of highly renovated 3/3’s in this building listed for $975K (5C) and $1.225M (3A). Now these folks are truly delusional.
The penthouse 3/3 unit 16B is listed for $950K — just a tad less insane since it does have killer views.
I’ve been in all of the units for sale in this building several times, just so I can see what all the humbub was about. 5E is basically an estate sale–no air conditioning, no updates whatsoever, and all the windows need to be replaced, which is why it’s listed at $375,000–not much light in the unit because it’s on a lower floor. (FYI, a space pac is about $25,000+, and the windows would cost between 70K+ to replace)
14E has been rented, which means the VHT pics are old ones. It’s a beautiful unit, and in great condition so, the owner did do a good job restoring it. I can’t believe it’s still on the market!
5C and 3A are gorgeous, and if you look at the records of what highly upgraded units in these buildings sold for, their asking price is not delusional at all. As far as the assessments are, welcome to Lake Shore Drive living. Look at other buildings on LSD, and you’ll see that the assessments are not out of line. The parking garage is a huge deal, unless of course, you don’t have a car or the need for 24 hr valet service. This is a full service building, with on-site management, 24 hour valet service, on-site super that takes your trash out for you, mail service that delivers your mail to your door 6 days a week,etc. (I’ve been to parties at a few units in the building, and the people that live there absolutely love it, and the spaces are incredible)
I agree, lots of special assessments over the last 5 years but, let’s face it folks, the building was built in the mid 1920’s, and maintenance is going to be an issue. At least they are maintaining the building, which is more than can be said of other buildings. These are certainly not the typical cookie cutter condos that are abundant in Chicago–and for about $350,000, you can own a 1200 sq ft cardboard box with Home Depot fixtures like everyone else:) The units is this building are sold to particular buyers who love vintage, and the market times are going to be longer, and have historically been longer in this building, even in GOOD market conditions. If I had about $480,000 to spend, I would offer it to 14E myself–it’s a lot of space, and I think that would be a fair price. I’d offer $350,000 for 5E because it needs so much work. If I could afford to pay $975,000+ for a place, it would be a SFH, not a condo!!
I better stay in the $200K range, bubbleboi. I’m just one person.
But $375K sounds about right for the unit, and if prices go any lower than that, then we will know that we’re in worse economic shape than we think. You really ought to be able to move it at that price.
Isn’t this one of those “three bedrooms” that are really 2 bedrooms and a maid’s room? I rent one of those in a 1927 building down the road from this unit. The maid’s room, behind the kitchen and opening on to the back stairs, is just not a practicable room for anyone — except perhaps a delinquent adolescent boy.
My partner and I put a bid on this place when it was listed at 569K and we offered 525K and was willingly to go up to 535K. The listing agent who is married to the owner (the owner lived there with his previous wife) refused to go lower than 550K at the time. The place is need of some serious bathroom and kitchen work. She claimed that the higher price is justified because of the space pack and new windows…LOL!
I heard from my Realtor that she is sorry now!
“5C and 3A are gorgeous, and if you look at the records of what highly upgraded units in these buildings sold for, their asking price is not delusional at all.”
But when were those sales? Not in the current market. The ask for these is delusional for NOW, especially since they are low floor. 5E could be reno’d to this level for $250K tops.
i agree with a lot of what laura said. – these are full service buildings and the assessments cover those costs (plus the increased maintenance etc)
i have lived in full service buildings and cheap buildings and there is something very nice about coming home and finding packages tucked discretely in your foyer vs fighting the receiving room hours or the dry cleaner/convenience store the building has contracted the service to, having you dry cleaning hanging in your place vs picking it up, having all your minor maintenance quibbles taken care of and light bulbs changed and plants being watered while you are on vaca for a few weeks vs getting nickled and dimed by staff or doing it yourself, and quality staff vs. doorman of the month. the list goes on and on. Until you have lived in one (and moved to a less good building after) its hard to appreciate just how nice it is.
so what is my point? sure the assessments are higher than some other units in the same price range. But if thats the comparison you are making and you are hitting you budget ceiling you simply aren’t the buyer for these buildings. most of the time people who buy these units are dealing with purchases prices way below their means and can easily handle the assessments and want this lifestyle. Going on and on about how these high assessed full service bldgs should be priced so much lower is simply irrelevant because the kind of poeple who make that comparison aren’t even in the potential buyer pool to begin with. And thats fine. some poeple look for absolute lowest operating costs and maximum size, others want quality of service/lifestyle. different strokes for different folks
CountDeMonet:
Agreed. Full service buildings offer good value, it’s just that not everyone appreciates it.
Additionally, to those who look for the lowest possible assessments I say beware. Often these buildings are underfunded, and a special assessment or large increase in base assessment is inevitable.
Echoing co-op owner, make sure you have seen the financials for your building before you buy into the place, and make sure you know your place really well. Know what has been done, and what needs yet to be done and how much money will be required to do that.
The Edgewater Beach co-op is the Poster Child of underfunded buildings- I was always struck by how low the assessments used to be in that building. Well, as you all probably know, a few years back, about 40 years worth of deferred maintenance caught up with the place, and the total repair bill for the disintegrating stucco, deteriorated roof and garage and indoor pool and the rest, came to, I’m told, in excess of $100MM. A “bailout” comprised of city,state, and federal funding, because of the status of the building as a historic structure, was arranged, according to the city-employed woman who conducted my condominium buyer’s class, and the final bill was reduced to about $37MM, a massive hit for the moderate to middle income owners who were the bulk of the residents there, or an average of about $40K per unit. Many owners were unable to pay on any terms and were thus forced to sell very cheaply just to get out from under.
This was all told to us in the class by this woman. Since then, I’ve tried to search down the documentation on the building, for surely it must exist, given that public funding was involved in the restoration.
But it is an example of how bad things can get if you don’t fund your building and let it deteriorate. There are many such buildings in all price brackets, and it’s a good idea to front the $1000-$1500 a really thorough building inspection costs, AND the cost of a financial audit, if you are serious about a vintage condo or co-op in a large old building. It can save you serious damage costing many hundreds of X as much down the road.
Spencer,
OMG! I was forwarded this by on of my co-workers, and I can’t believe what I’m reading. I am the agent on this listing, and I completely remember you and your partner. I could’ve killed my husband for not selling the unit to you!! But, I have to say, my husband DID counter the offer to your agent at $535,000, and he said that YOU would not budge above $525,000. I even called him back, trying to figure it out because I thought losing the sale over $10,000 was ridiculous–my husband would have come down to $530,000 to get the deal done. (hell, I would have thrown in an extra percentage point of my own commission to do it–just wish I would have known!)I also spoke with your agent recently, and asked if you two bought a place. He made the comment that he was glad you didn’t buy the unit because he ended up selling a more expensive unit to you, and making more commission. (I believe it was in the $700,000 range) I NEVER said $550,000 was the sale price, and NEVER said it was because of the space pac and new windows.
All the assessments that have been put on this building the last 7 years is to the buyer’s advantage because everything that needed to be done, is done. And, the reserves needed to be built up so there wouldn’t have to be more special assessments put on the building for stuff like tuckpointing, maintenance, etc, in the future. The reserves are in great condition, and the building has been impeccably maintained, which is NOT the norm in vintage buildings. We would have stayed there in a second if he hadn’t bought it with his ex-wife–too many memories. And, he’s had good luck renting it over the last couple of years. (currently rented)
He showed me pics of the unit when he bought it and it was in HORRIBLE condition. It was an estate sale–the owner was put in a nursing home. He put $60,000 into restoring it because A LOT of work needed to be done.
The reason why you don’t see many units in this building being sold on the mls the last couple of years is because many units are never listed in the building–they are sold privately by the owners directly to buyers looking in the building, or buyers who contact the management office, thus never appear in the mls.
He his motivated to sell but is not going to let it go for a ridiculously lower price, especially with renters covering the holding costs.
I totally agree about the kitchen and bathrooms needing to be updated, which can be done reasonably. The neighbor re-did her baths last year (one very small bath, and one bath 1/2 the size of the master in 14E) AFTER paying $630+ for the unit which has a “partial” lake view. (and smaller kitchen)
Maria
I live in this building, in 14C. Every apartment, regardless of how the people remodeled and/or restored, is beautiful. The neighborhood is fantastic, the people that live in the building are wonderful, and it’s so structurally sound.
Every apartment is a perfect palette for remodeling and redesigning, and 3A, if you’ve seen it in person like I have, is asking for what it is worth. The view could be better cause it’s so low, but the materials and the location are worth the steep price.
These vintage buildings are running out, get one before there aren’t any left.
By the way, for what the rest of these apartments go for in this building, 500,000 is a steal.