Waiting 860 Days (and Counting) for a Buyer: 6201 and 6203 W. Addison in Dunning
These two new construction 5-bedroom brick ranch homes at 6201 and 6203 W. Addison came on the market in April 2008- or about 860 days ago.
Over that time period, both houses have been reduced $104,100.
They have the bells and whistles of new construction including stainless steel appliances and granite counter tops in the kitchen and wood floors throughout the main living area.
2 of the 5 bedrooms are on the basement.
The listing also describes two separate entrances in front and back for the basement.
Both are built on similar lots: 29.6×126.
What will it take to finally sell these houses?
Grace Wnuk has the listings. See the pictures of 6201 here and 6203 here.
6201 W. Addison and 6203 W. Addison: 5 bedrooms, 3 baths, 2 car garage, no square footage listed
- No prior sales price- new construction
- Originally listed in April 2008 for $479,000
- Reduced numerous times
- Currently listed for $374,900
- Taxes of $6562
- Central Air
- Bedroom #1: 16×10
- Bedroom #2: 14×10
- Bedroom #3: 14×10
- Bedroom #4: 14×13 (basement)
- Bedroom #5: 15×8 (basement)
While it’s sad that these houses are not selling, it is not surprising – in this neighborhood there just are not many people willing or able to buy – no matter what the price (ok, maybe less than 250 – but maybe not even then).
The sellers/builders need to think differently. Either offer seller financing, lease/option, contract sale or just rent the places. These places would rent VERY fast because of their condidition. If the seller was smart, he/she should rent the houses out for a few years and sell thereafter. Not ideal…. but probably the best option.
I would not would not want a bus stop in front of my house…. no matter what the price.
Does the listing seem to imply that after closing someone can add a small kitchen and use this as a non-conforming two flat?
The problem isn’t the neighborhood, which is safe, near the metra and has a high polish population. The problem is PRICE.
I know people who bought in dunning, quite recently in fact, and they didn’t buy $374,000 new construction. They bought an older but well kept property for half the price. Young families with two working parents need to keep costs down as much as possible especially if one of them has hours reduced or loses a job.
I disagree homedelete – the problem IS the neighborhood. This house in L.P., L.V., old town, etc. would be double the price. That being said, I understand what you are saying – it is the price in this particular neighborhood which is the problem.
So the problem is never the price of the real estate, it’s only the neighborhood in which in property is located?
“#clio on August 25th, 2010 at 7:41 am
I disagree homedelete – the problem IS the neighborhood. This house in L.P., L.V., old town, etc. would be double the price. That being said, I understand what you are saying – it is the price in this particular neighborhood which is the problem.”
Isn’t Clio the person who dodn’t even know McKinley Park existed? This is our expert?
Moreover clio, if this were lincoln park or lakeview, the builders would have NEVER built a house this small. They would have instead built an enormous mansion, 3,000 or more sq feet, taking up two full levels and a basement costing $1,000,000 or more; or they would have put a large cinderblock three flat, with a duplex down and a duplex up. So it’s a difficult comparison to make if it were 5 miles east.
HD — New construction is bounded by construction costs. The wood, siding, mechanicals, PVC, flooring, roofing, etc. doesn’t cost any less because of the neighborhood.
The old house price is because it is just that — old. Well maintained is a joke, especially in a harsh clime like Chicago — older houses are always more expensive to maintain (if they are even maintained). One new roof on a 200k house just increased the total cost 10%.
“I disagree homedelete – the problem IS the neighborhood. This house in L.P., L.V., old town, etc. would be double the price. That being said, I understand what you are saying – it is the price in this particular neighborhood which is the problem.”
Are you guys disagreeing just for sport? You agree the price is too high for the neighborhood. HD says lower the price. clio says change the neighborhood. If you’re both right that the price is too high for the neighborhood, my guess is that HD solution is a little more feasible for this particular house.
“it is the price in this particular neighborhood which is the problem”
Ding, ding, ding the correct answer.
My parents neighbors took a look at this house for there daughter, they said the place(s) is nice and seems to be built really solid.
But the price is just way up there and you can get a soild, but old, bungalow for like 250k.
besides the price they say the negatives are,
*its a house with no back yard in a neighborhood with yards with pride.
*your view is of a church parking lot and back of a church
*your on a main street and a traffic light stop to boot
its a hard sell when a block over you have a “historic bungalow” strip down a quiet beautiful patterson street and can get a historic home for less than this.
Sort of interesting how new construction costs are also bounded by the costs of abilities of families to finance the purchase…
It’s been listed for 860 days and counting….
Maybe they should move the house to a different neighborhood if they’re so serious about the price.
“JMM on August 25th, 2010 at 7:58 am
HD — New construction is bounded by construction costs. The wood, siding, mechanicals, PVC, flooring, roofing, etc. doesn’t cost any less because of the neighborhood.
The old house price is because it is just that — old. Well maintained is a joke, especially in a harsh clime like Chicago — older houses are always more expensive to maintain (if they are even maintained). One new roof on a 200k house just increased the total cost 10%.”
How apropos.
Sales of U.S. New Homes Dropped to Record Low in July (Update1)
http://noir.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aekD4Ff6lgOI
Aug. 25 (Bloomberg) — Sales of U.S. new homes unexpectedly dropped in July to the lowest level on record, signaling that even with cheaper prices and reduced borrowing costs the housing market is retreating.
Purchases fell 12 percent from June to an annual pace of 276,000, the weakest since data began in 1963, figures from the Commerce Department showed today in Washington. The median price of $204,000 was the lowest since late 2003.
The really terrible dilemma right now is where to invest all of your money. The stock market is tanking, real estate is in the dumps, interest rates for savings are incredibly low. Seriously, where should one invest? It is a very serious problem and is creating a lot of stress for many people.
HD —
Widely anticipated due to the tax credit and the availability of better priced 2000 era construction. No more houses in Palatine, Plainfield, Marengo, etc.
Only the best builders are building spec right now and if they do its only to have one home for the occasional relo couple or to show quality of construction.
“Sort of interesting how new construction costs are also bounded by the costs of abilities of families to finance the purchase…”
Plenty of Chinese families that can afford construction materials and aggregates right now, apparently. So, broaden your scope (outside of Chicago and then outside of the country) and you will get it.
JMM – “Sales of U.S. new homes *unexpectedly* dropped in July to the lowest level on record, ”
Widely anticipated?
I didn’t realize there was a neighborhood WEST of portage park… god this place is practically in Iowa, I’m sure the jets fly low around here and are noisy as hell… almost 400k for a house out here that isn’t a huge mansion is pretty funny though, I’d expect this to sell around 250-300k eventually
Yeah and those Chinese properties are up to 70% vacant in second tier cities, 50% vacant in tier one cities.
“Plenty of Chinese families that can afford construction materials and aggregates right now, apparently. So, broaden your scope (outside of Chicago and then outside of the country) and you will get it.”
Clio:
From Chapter 7: “Things Become More Serious”
Things keep getting worse
Extracts from “The Great Crash: 1929”, John Kenneth Galbraith, First Published 1955, Page 130
“In the autumn of 1929 the New York Stock Exchange, under roughly its present constitution, was 112 years old. During this lifetime it had seen some difficult days. On 18 September 1873, the firm of Jay Cooke and Company failed, and, as a more or less direct result, so did fifty-seven other Stock Exchange firms in the next few weeks. On 23 October 1907, call money rates reached one hundred and twenty-five per cent in the panic of that year. On 16 September 1922 – the autumn months are the off-season in Wall Street – a bomb exploded in front of Morgan’s next door, killing thirty people and injuring a hundred more.
A common feature of all these earlier troubles was that, having happened, they were over. The worst was reasonably recognizable as such. The singular feature of the great crash of 1929 was that the worst continued to worsen. What looked one day like the end proved on the next day to have been only the beginning. Nothing could have been more ingeniously designed to maximize the suffering, and also to ensure that as few as possible escaped the common misfortune. The fortunate speculator who had funds to answer the first margin call presently got another and equally urgent one, and if he met that there would still be another. In the end all the money he had was extracted from him and lost. The man with the smart money, who was safely out of the market when the first crash came, naturally went back in to pick up bargains. (Not only were a recoreded 12,894,650 shares sold on 24 October; precisely the same number were bought.) The bargains then suffered a ruiness fall. Even the man who waited out all of October and all of November, who saw the volumne of trading return to normal and saw Wall Street become as placid as a produce market, and who then bought common stocks would see their value drop to a third or a fourth of the purchase price in the next twenty-four months. The Coolidge bull market was a remarkable phenonmemon. The ruthlessness of its liquidation was, in its own way, equally remarkable.”
“I’m sure the jets fly low around here and are noisy as hell”
IDK but i don think there is a landing strip route over this, isnt it Lawrence or Bryn Mawr the closest plane route?
thanks homedelete, that made me feel MUCH better……..
HD, There is a bubble in chinese realestate, but its much different than the US. There is real demand and a growing encomony, many wealthly people have bought units as investments and let them sit vacant waiting for future returns. (Weather this is a good investment decision time will tell.) Additionally it should be noted that currently the government has in place laws on lending requiring a 20% downpayment on your 1st house, a 50% downpayment on your 2nd house, and all cash deals on 3,4,5. Much different than the lending practices in the U.S.
Groove:
Welcome back!
Doesn’t the SE-NW landing route take planes over this hood? It’s not the primary, but it does get used.
HD knows nothing about China valasko, but thanks for setting him straight.
Point is the global market for contruction materials, aggregates, etc. sets what new construction costs (above labor rates of course).
They should throw a kegger when it hits the cool 1,000 mark.
“The really terrible dilemma right now is where to invest all of your money. ”
LOL. You can get savings accounts at up to 2% from a few competitive banks. FDIC insured up to 250k.
Sounds like you’re still stuck in the old paradigm of yield chasing. Note to clio: don’t yield-chase or chase hot trends when there is immense wealth destruction going all around you.
When the Chinese urban RE bubble pops it might not take down the banking system with it but it will certainly cause a lot of problems. Their RE bubble is immense, with some urban areas having a median property value at 100x+ the median annual wage. I wonder when it pops if they’ll keep buying US treasuries.
“Groove: Welcome back!”
only for this thread. once the Clio show dissipates i should be back.
“Doesn’t the SE-NW landing route take planes over this hood? It’s not the primary, but it does get used”
yep just texted a buddy who lives by oak park and addison, he says there is a route over head but says he can only hear it when its a “low flyer”
“once the Clio show dissipates i should be back.”
I don’t even understand what this means….
“Their RE bubble is immense, with some urban areas having a median property value at 100x+ the median annual wage.”
Obviously median numbers aren’t relevant when half or more of your billion people live in abject poverty.
“I wonder when it pops if they’ll keep buying US treasuries.”
I cannot wait for this to happen. Will be a wake up call and will reset borrowing costs and interest rates to where they should be. Not like low rates are solving the problem anyway.
“once the Clio show dissipates i should be back.”
“I don’t even understand what this means…”
It means he is sick of reading your posts.
Bob,
As I mentioned before the Chinese government is taking the proper steps to insure this doesn’t happen. I consult in China and see first hand what is going on. New residental construction has slowed dramatically. The middle class and upper class are growing by leaps and bounds. It is much different there than here in the US. The Chinese are great savers, the typical chinese person is becoming wealthly while in the US people/government are sinking further in debt. That being said there is still a problem that they have over built on the luxury side, so absorption rates may be slow, but most owners paid cash so they can ride it out.
“It means he is sick of reading your posts”
that is just plain mean…. my opinions on the various aspects of real estate are valid and are rooted in 15 years of experience flipping houses/condos in Boston, S.F.(Atherton, CA – look it up) and Chicago.
“flipping”
This is a very dirty word to many CC regulars. You might want to pick a synonym.
“If the seller was smart, he/she should rent the houses out for a few years and sell thereafter. Not ideal…. but probably the best option.”
A few years later I can’t that this house in this neighborhood will ever be worth more than it is now, and then you also have the “new house smell” gone due to renting it out? Not the best idea. I’d shave price until it sells, take your lumps, and be done with it.
can’t imagine, woops
Clio, we cannot look it up because we don’t know your real identity.
These homes have the same problem that my dream house (which was taken off the market) has: anyone who can afford the asking price doesn’t want to live there and anyone who wants to live there cannot afford the asking price.
“A few years later I can’t imagine that this house in this neighborhood will ever be worth more than it is now…”
I have to disagree. Whenever we are in a recession, everyone always panics and truly believes that prices will never come back. There is no light in sight, etc. – but when you look at the history of real estate, prices have ALWAYS rebounded (I know that it may not seem like it, but it WILL come back – remember that everyone needs a place to live, Chicago is a great city, and the population keeps growing). There will always be people who spout nonsense about how this recession is worse than any other, etc. but those are the same people that say that their generation had it worse than any others (ie chronic complainers)
Of course I think that the recession will end at some point – the problem is that to try and take a guess as to when is just that, a guess. Either way, there’s no way that home prices in this area will trend upward for a number of years, and this is obviously overpriced to begin with. So you think that paying carrying costs on a short(ish) term depreciating asset (and being a landlord to boot) for some uncertain amount of time until maybe this house is worth more is a good play?
the doom and gloom is spreading as the dow gets closer to 10k… bunch of morons I say
“anyone who can afford the asking price doesn’t want to live there and anyone who wants to live there cannot afford the asking price.”
anyome who can afford this doenst want to live on a main street at a stop light and bus stop. which could be rememedied a bit if the could retreat to a back yard for quiet, which it has none.
*FYI, this lot used to have only one house on it and it looked like a a log cabin type of building. it was run down and not very attractive. and this was when the area was beautiful with decent neighbors. when these new homes were built the area was attracting not so great types of people which i was so surprised a person would build a high quality product in a area that wast high quality tastes/standards.
“So you think that paying carrying costs on a short(ish) term depreciating asset (and being a landlord to boot) for some uncertain amount of time until maybe this house is worth more is a good play?”
Absolutely – in certain cases/situations, it is the ONLY smart thing to do. Why reduce your price 100k when your carrying costs (after renting) are only a few hundred a month at most. Typically, if you rent out a place you can’t sell you will be +/- 2-8k/year. Even if you lose 8k/year and wait 10 years, you will lose 80k (as opposed to reducing 100k right now). In 10 years, I would be willing to bet that the house WILL be worth AT LEAST what they are asking now.
Groove- keep posting. I enjoy your thoughts and you have provided many laughs!
Yeah, everything’s just fine. 10% unemployment; 17% underemployment; lowest number of new homes built, ever. Lowest resale volume in 11 years (i.e. since they started keeping records in 1999); record deficit spending in the trillions, failed stimulus.
Everything is great if you close your eyes and ignore all the bad news!
But once you open your eyes, it totally sucks!
That is of course, unless you live in a condo high up in river north or if you live isolated in the north shore from the rest of the unwashed masses. But out of sight, out of mind.
The village is burning and the peasants are rioting and the crops have all rotted in the fields; but in the castle, behind the moat and the 12 foot walls, they’re still serving pheasant and grouse and all is well.
Can someone please give HD a big hug….. Also can someone please give him a job outside of the wonderful world of foreclosures. I worry he’s going to jump out his office window.
“The village is burning and the peasants are rioting and the crops have all rotted in the fields; but in the castle, behind the moat and the 12 foot walls, they’re still serving pheasant and grouse and all is well.”
How is this any different than at any other point in our history? Lol. Rich were getting richer in the 80s too!
“but in the castle, behind the moat and the 12 foot walls, they’re still serving pheasant and grouse and all is well.”
Weren’t there a few castleish cribs featured here on CC before? I seem to remember a few places with some stone turrets. Always good for a laugh.
ah yes HD the old “barbarians are at the gates” speech you like to give…. good stuff
Thankfully I live in the green zone 🙂
“I worry he’s going to jump out his office window”
Valasko, dont worry about HD it the way he is wired, worry about the boarder line guy/gal that has to work/hang out with HD. HD is like the “motivator” on WipeOut throwing your azz off the ledge.
No one is serving phesant and grouse at “The Castle on the Kennedy” Maybe some gin and juice but that place is a long way from finished. Has that place hit foreclosure status yet?
“(Atherton, CA – look it up)”
Even if there were anything to look up, which there isn’t, Atherton, CA real estate has absolutely zero bearing on any market in Chicago, luxury or otherwise. You might as well be selling homes in China.
“Groove- keep posting. I enjoy your thoughts and you have provided many laughs!”
i will be back just waiting for the current cycle here to shift.
HD is not what he seems. He probably has a house in Barrington and this is his alter ego (which he has intimated before). My take is his broken record posts are really his inner sad voice regretting that he lost his butt in the RE meltdown.
yes, because where is the value in listening to other people who do not share the same views to which you subscribe? Aren’t you the one who consistently promotes diversity on this site (beware of all-white ‘hoods)? Its ok to take your ball and go home……..for awhile….but please come back when you’ve thought this all through.
“Groove: Welcome back!”
only for this thread. once the Clio show dissipates i should be back.
“Aren’t you the one who consistently promotes diversity on this site (beware of all-white ‘hoods)?”
close but its “too many white people in one place scares me”.
and its not the difference in “view” it how said person conducts himself. i would also love if its view stuck to stuff it knows. and kept hush on things outside its realm.
back to the prop here its good the builder/owner took away a eyesore but over-built for the area. hey if you waited this long whats a few more years and price cuts?
“other people who do not share the same views to which you subscribe?”
I doubt that is the issue (if by views we mean views on the RE market).
Ok, I can understand that. But are you also saying that you’re just fine with some of the other regular posters who berate, insult, curse and flame others who don’t share their point of view? I’ve seen some UGLY,NASTY things posted on this site that get nary a comment….. just sayin’!
“close but its “too many white people in one place scares me”.
and its not the difference in “view” it how said person conducts himself.”
OT:
One of my mini-land baron clients stopped by today with a copy of a satisfaction of a mortgage. I said, “Mr. Client, how did you get this? I thought this property, along with the other half a dozen you own, are all in foreclosure?” He said “tank got tired of paying the taxes and dealing with the City building code violations and they gave the property to me.”
Two years ago this property, in the Pullman area, was worth a couple hundred grand. Today it’s worth next to nothing so the bank just released their mortgage and gave up. Recorded the satisfaction and everything. I have the documents. A TBTF bank too.
Amazing. These are interesting times we live in.
He said “tank got tired of paying the taxes and dealing with the City building code violations and they gave the property to me.
How do I get the city out to put up some ficticious building code violations on my place. Maybe “Mr Client” and I have the same banker and they would give up on my loan. That would be pretty cool……
Chalk up another win for the idiot, lazy, and deadbeat team while I go to work and pay off my loans on time in full each month. Ugggh!
I don’t think you want to live in Pullman or even historic Pullman. The property is a liability.
“Chalk up another win for the idiot, lazy, and deadbeat team while I go to work and pay off my loans on time in full each month. Ugggh!”
So, back to this property…
Yes, it’s brick, yes it’s new, but it’s not all that primo, either. The finishes are nothing special. Look at the Bedroom dimensions. Not a one wider than 10 feet. That’s a huge FAIL in my book for this price, no matter what the location.
And, I’m really curious about who did this, what it cost and so-forth, but there’s ZERO info at the Recorder of Deeds, other than a Quit Claim deed from 2008. Was the developer using all his own cash? Maybe that’s why they’re in no hurry to sell, because they owe no one? Doubtful, but weirder stuff has happened, I suppose.
Finally, the photos are not very interesting or very good, and make for an uninteresting and negative listing viewing experience.
“A TBTF bank too.”
Well there ya go. If there are no consequences for unsound (aka uneconomic) business practices what makes you think there is any incentive to minimize or eliminate them?
Remember TBTF banks don’t operate in the same capitalist world as the rest of us. They’re more or less government entities with insane pay scales.
“But are you also saying that you’re just fine with some of the other regular posters who berate…..”
sparky the diff is the pandering to the ego of the “it” in question. unlike the “nasty” posting (which i ignore) it has taken over each and every sabrina posting.
It may not make sense to you or anyone else why i am taking this route, thats ok, it my decision and i am 100% cool with it 🙂
btw, the “it” has spewed so many inconsistencies here just to inflate its ego. spewed air from the back end stating its fact, when the “it” really has no knowledge about that certain thing.
oh groovey, the only way we get past it is more people posting and ignoring. w/o you, that’s harder.
“oh groovey, the only way we get past it is more people posting and ignoring. w/o you, that’s harder.”
Valid point, and i shall take this concept and use it. Cant start fully until friday, moving last of the stuff today, and cleaning crew in tomorrow.
“Valid point, and i shall take this concept and use it.”
I’ll follow your lead on this point, my friend.
The difference is between a structural and cyclical recession. The only growth is from stimulus spending and as the “green shoots” numbers get revised downwards it becomes clearer that there is no recovery. The debt fueled boom is over and everything is deflating. I’m of the deflationist camp, and think the odds of a depression are great. There is more wealth to be lost before this is over. Leaving deposits in the bank earning zero interest isn’t generating wealth, but at this point its more important to preserve it. Currency devaluation becomes a concern, but so far the fed can’t print enough money to make up for the destruction of wealth through foreclosures and bankruptcies. The only plan they seem to have is to buy up more bad mortgages from the banks, in hopes that will get them to lower their lending standards again.
My best advice is to be as debt free as possible with some money in the bank for the rainy day.
“There will always be people who spout nonsense about how this recession is worse than any other, etc. but those are the same people that say that their generation had it worse than any others (ie chronic complainers)”
“It may not make sense to you or anyone else why i am taking this route, thats ok, it my decision and i am 100% cool with it ”
yeah – so am I….
Fun thread. Everything from Chinese construction economics to wacky tank(bank) ‘nanies.
Am I the only person that thinks both Groove and Clio are fake internet personalities created by the same person? It’s the shared hatred of Bucktown (of all hoods) that made me make that connection.
“My best advice is to be as debt free as possible with some money in the bank for the rainy day. ”
Sound advice for any economic climate, but especially so in these times.
besides being on the main drag.much better deals around there. good to see you back groove.
One of the biggest problems with this area, as well as much of the Northwest Side, is the awkward situation regarding public transportation. Young people buying houses and condos in the central city generally want easy access to the L, even if they don’t use it every day. In order to get downtown from Addison/Austin you have to take a bus to an L or Metra station which adds to the time and general hassle of getting to and from work. Awkward enough in the good weather; a real downer in winter.