We Love Terraces: Eschew High Rise Living at 3700 N. Lake Shore Drive
Not every address on the north side of Lake Shore Drive is a high rise. We’ve chattered before about several million dollar homes and condos in small boutique buildings.
Then there is this 2-bedroom duplex with its own private terrace at 3700 N. Lake Shore Drive.
Built in 1980, the complex consists of 52 units.
The listing says Unit #111 has updated baths and a “refreshed kitchen.” And you have your own 15×8 terrace.
Is this a townhouse alternative?
Ellen Webber at @Properties has the listing. See more pictures and a virtual tour here.
Unit #111: 2 bedrooms, 2.5 baths, 1600 square feet
- Sold in October 1999 for $237,500
- Sold in August 2003 for $342,000
- Currently listed for $399,000 plus $20,000 for heated garage parking
- Assessments of $488 a month
- Taxes of $3686
- Central Air
- Wine fridge
Right next to a hospital. Hope you like ambulance noise.
a – what hospital is that?
my guess is $385 w/ parking selling in April
I like this unit. I’m pleasantly surprised that it has 2 normal sized BR and a good layout. I’d definitely put a bid in (even w/ the “updated” kitchen) if I could get it for $325 w/ parking.
I like this unit too. If I was going to go the condo route it would be something like this. I predict at or near ask and it sells within 90 days.
are those new cabinets with a 40 year old ugly as sin design?
Odd, I looked this unit up an hour ago on Google Maps and it placed it right next to St. Joesephs Hospital. Weird.
I guess it isnt next to a hospital.
Anyways, its on the first floor, so the “terrace” is just a roped off area opening up to what I’m guessing is the common area and/or pool. Its not going to feel very “private” or like you own it at all. The cabinets are horrible. Its right along the lake which is a plus and close to Wrigley.
But..it does fall in/around Boystown and I notice real estate values always go for much less than other nearby blocks.
ChiGuy, seriously, you could probably get it for that. Why not go see it and put in an offer (lower than the one you want) and negotiate to the price point you are looking at?
To get a sense of where things are headed please look at the 1999 price. The 2003 price, with its $105,000 premium over ’99, is a classic example of bubble pricing. Listed today at $419,000 (w/parking), this seller (the same bubbly ’03 buyer) is obviously still exhibiting outward signs of bubblemaniaitis. The above suggested $385,000 selling price in April is a continued symptom of bubble pricing – suggesting that an ’06ish, ’07ish price would be appropriate, which it is not. This seller, who vastly overpaid in 2003, should be entitled to very little if any apprecation.
a: Only hospital that’s even close to this address is the Thorek hospital and that’s roughly 4 blocks away. I’d expect more noise from LSD or even Wrigley in the summers.
btw I actually like this place, but I don’t let emotions get in the way of price! This seller obviously did!
Hmmm…sorry about the late post on the hospital there…just realized it wasn’t submitted…pls. disregard.
Now that is a condo worth considering. Good size, nicely updated. But how did the seller in 2003 pay $342?! What’s included in that assessment?
is this a 2.5 bath? the listing says so, but virtual states as 2.0
HD- of course the homedebtor isn’t entitled to any appreciation, but realistically I think someone will snap it up around that 385 mark. Remember what Joe Zekas told us? Pay no attention to previous sales price.
homedelete,
It may be a bit harsh on this current Seller to say he “vastly overpaid” in 2003. Assuming that person needed a place to live and wanted to own real estate, the only choice was to buy at the then-current market, or sit on his hands. He would have had to wait until now to get a fair price (presumably it will come from the current high asking), to buy at what would be a relatively small % appreciation for each year from 1999. Just as they say all real estate is “local” (re: location), we are all learning that all real estate is temporal, meaning timing is everything in determining what is a good price and whether or not someone did pay or is paying too much. Timing will either make geniuses or asses of us all!
By the way, everyone seems to like this unit, but what about the noise from LSD?
I’m thinking this unit would be pretty quiet, since LSD is blocked by the shorter of the two buildings in the complex…
I am not a fan of this place, it is too generic to me. The terrance is nice I guess. Just not my cup of tea.
The ’03 seller made about $2,282.60 per month for 46 months – JUST FOR LIVING THERE. $2,282.60 per month probably covered his taxes, assessments, principal and interest – making his stay there FREE. If you don’t think the ’03 buyer had a bubble mentality by paying $105,000 appreciation for four years (which is over 10% a year) then you’re drinking kool-aid. Only a realtor would tell you to disregard the prior sales price – that’s totally absurd.
This unit might sell for $385 and then the next comp will sell for $365 and the next comp will sell for $345 all the way back to the 1999 price. But wait, are LSD properties different?
homedelete,
Joe Zekas told me to disregard the prior sale price and he’s not a realtor. Instead he’s a marketer who sells advertising space to new developers.
HD:
If you’re intending to hold out for ’99 nominal prices,* you’ll either wait a really long time or have to get lucky with a distrssed sale or real, major economic calamity.
*yeah, I know this isn’t the sort of place you’d buy anyway
homedelete,
What should an ’03 buyer have done in order to find a place to live? Move out to exurbia in order to get a deal? I submit he and other buyers had no choice, as all who now plan to sell into this market are victims of bad timing.
“I submit he and other buyers had no choice”
But the ’03 buyer is trying for 3.8%/year appreciation on a purchase price that (as you seem to recongnize) was somewhat optimisitc/inflated. If they’re sooooooo stuck and unfortunate, then why don’t they just cut their losses?
Oh, what’s that you say? They updated the place and they’re just trying to get **that** money out, too? Well, if that’s true, that’s not bad timing, it’s bad judgment. Bad judgment is always punished when the market is flat or trending down.
And don’t forget the “greater fool” theory. If this LSD buyer in ’03 stood his ground, some other mope would have been there, and this current seller would have been left at momma’s house. Someone else would have paid what was the going price, albeit a high and outrageous price.
First and foremost, the obvious thing is to in a crazy bubble market is to rent and avoid the bubble mania entirely. Only those who drank the kool-aid didn’t see the bubble coming. Nobody in their right mind would believe that 10% appreciation is ‘normal’ for some random 2/2.
Furthermore, to say they had ‘no choice’ is to take no blame for one’s own predicament. This buyer signed the paperwork for this unit and knowingly paid 10% appreciation a year to the previous owner. This buyer is the only person responsible for paying that price. Then the buyer waits until the bubble has clearly burst in 2008 to resell and again wants hefty appreciation? This isn’t timing, this is bubblicious. There are plenty of properties shown so far which are below the 2004 price and there’s nothing wrong with them. This property is no different.
“desteve on January 20th, 2009 at 4:24 pm
homedelete,
What should an ‘03 buyer have done in order to find a place to live? Move out to exurbia in order to get a deal? I submit he and other buyers had no choice, as all who now plan to sell into this market are victims of bad timing.”
I concur with anon(tfo)’s description of this: bad judgment. They participated in the mania and now they’re a day late and a dollar short. Good luck to them.
anon:
“Bad judgment is always punished when the market is flat or trending down.”
Yes! It looks like great judgment, the self-congratulatory kind, but only when the market is strong.
I think the seller should reduce sharply if he wants to get out now, but where you and I may differ is whether he was really the dope you are making him out to be for buying into the market in ’03 at the then current prices.
desteve:
“whether he was really the dope you are making him out to be”
Not me, pal, not me. HD’s all over their dopiness, but not me.
They overpaid, no doubt, but probably not by *that* much. And they’ve been there 5.5 years, so they’re not just flipping. However, they appear to have spent several thousand “updating” the place. And, in this market, their asking price is based on fantasy. Now, the ask could just be a negotiating position, but they’re 10% high and I don’t get the feeling that 10% off is generally accepted–yet.
So, I vote for dopes now, perhaps a bit too optimistic at purchase.
If this place sells for anywhere close to its 1999 price, then God knows what’s going to happen to Edgewater 2=2s in 80-year-old buildings with similar square footage, that are listed at, say, $264K.
If you posters are right, I’ll perhaps wait another year, or two, to spring for that place.
I live here in one of the rear townhouses.
It is a unique complex, a fantastic location and a very comfortable place to live.
My set of units is set around two large landscaped yards in the front and a large yard behind a boutique LSD 3 flat in the back where we have a large private, walled patio big enough for a big table and chairs and a chaise lounge ++.
It is so quiet and pastoral I could be living in the country.
When I have friends over they can’t believe I”m right on LSD.
With parking, this place is overpriced. But I really like it, it’s exactly what my husband & I are looking for, and if I could get the price down to 350 I might actually buy something like this.
No kidding you’re on LSD!
“It is so quiet and pastoral I could be living in the country.
When I have friends over they can’t believe I”m right on LSD.”
anon(tfo):
“Now, the ask could just be a negotiating position, but they’re 10% high and I don’t get the feeling that 10% off is generally accepted–yet.”
Is ~5% still the so-called norm? In the suburbs, where I live, it appears that the only houses selling are those where the prices drop about 20% or more from ’06,’07 pricing, and then they finally sell for ~5% off list. You would think people would have more sense in their initial pricing when bringing the property to market. Do you think it’s because realtors are urging the higher initial list prices in order to secure listings, or what?
desteve:
That’s my impression, but I’m not on the front lines, so maybe one of our agent friends can add some insight.
There are agents out there who will ‘buy’ the listing with an over the top price. 30-60 days later they’ll persuade the sellers to drop the price when they have poor activity. I think a more common scenario is the seller who ‘needs’ to net a certain number to avoid losing money (or a short sale). If he has an agent who is unable or unwilling to convince him to list at a realistic price the listing will languish until he gets real (or real lucky).
If we look at all Lincoln Park condos/townhomes closed this year (all 10 of them) – we have an average sale of $401k against an average final list of $419k – around the 5% mark. Average market time was 177 days. By the way, 91 new condo/th listings have hit the LP market in the same period.
Lakeview had 34 closings at average $363k on a $376k list, closer to 4% with MT of 130 days. 210 new listings came on the market.
We are going to see condo inventory sky rocket over the next three months.
My impression is that people are setting their prices where they will not be underwater on the transaction. They also take into consideration their god-given right to appreciation and refusal to admit to being a bagholder.
art, just in time for the Spring Thud!
G – I don’t think NAR would like that term! With the end of winter unit sales will naturally increase over the recent record lows (although sale prices clearly won’t) so it will be spun as the beginning of a recovery. I wish NAR and agents in general would be honest about the situation we’re in. The sooner everyone recognises it, the sooner the market will adjust to where it needs to be.
Hey art, why don’t you stop by yochicago and tell Joe Zekas that on his blog. He might go bananas and ban you. He’s not a big fan of “the truth” and “honesty”.