Will Third Time Be the Charm? 907 S. Miller in Tri-Taylor
This 3-bedroom duplex at 907 S. Miller in the Tri-Taylor neighborhood has been on and off the market for nearly 3 years.
Currently, it is off the market (again)- but you can find it on Craigslist.
For the third year in a row- it will be re-listed on the MLS in the spring.
Alex Till at Baird and Warner has the listing. See the Craigslist ad here.
Unit #1: 3 bedrooms, 2.5 baths, 2100 square feet, duplex
- Sold in March 2004 for $380,000
- Originally listed in May 2007 for $450,000
- Withdrawn
- Re-listed in April 2008 for $429,900
- Cancelled in December 2008 at $419,900
- Currently listed on Craigslist for $419,900 (parking included)
- Assessments of $120 a month
Odd kitchen.
I give some credit to the valiant developers and pioneers moving into this neighborhood – good proximity to downtown and Medical Center. But street crime is still a major problem. And of course, it’s not near anywhere else desirable. The penalty to condo value should be much higher – this is an area where the bubble inflation reached absurd levels. This should probably be valued somewhere in the $300K range. Some credit for new construction, major penalty for location.
Editor’s Note: Comment removed
That’s Carmen Galullucci territory! I lived there when i was in college and law school and loved it. Nithin’ better thatn an I-Bar Burger or a couple beers at Joe’s.
Excuse my spelling….
Am I missing something here? This property appears to be in the Taylor Street/Little Italy neighborhood, not Tri-Taylor. Tri-Taylor is west of the Illinois Medical District and west of Damen. This property is just west of UIC, about two blocks west of Halsted. It is close to downtown, Roosevelt Road shopping, etc. The price may be a bit high, but it doesn’t seem too out of line for comparable properties in the Taylor Street area.
Well they obviously didn’t think the layout of the kitchen very well. Who wants the dishwasher behind you while doing dishes?
Anybody else just hear Barney Frank (aside, man is that guy crazy)?
Does it sound like this new bill will allow smaller geographic areas for determining conforming loan limits? Does this mean that parts of Chicago might be able to get the conforming limit above $417k?
BARNEY FRANK IS INSANE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I CAN’T BELIEVE THAT PEOPLE LISTEN TO THIS GUY!!!!
“Does it sound like this new bill will allow smaller geographic areas for determining conforming loan limits? Does this mean that parts of Chicago might be able to get the conforming limit above $417k?”
That would make a fair amount of sense, so I won’t believe that it will get implemented until it *does* get implemented.
300 maybe.
“BARNEY FRANK IS INSANE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I CAN’T BELIEVE THAT PEOPLE LISTEN TO THIS GUY!!!!”
Maybe if he moved to Schaumburg, it would be better?
ANON — ?? Huh? I didn’t get it.
“Well they obviously didn’t think the layout of the kitchen very well. Who wants the dishwasher behind you while doing dishes?”
It appears to be about the size of a master bathroom as well… maybe this was supposed to be a SFH + 1 unit?
Unless its a policy reversal, no. They have tiptoed into trying to raise the conforming loan limits to disastrous effect. It was up to 730k in high cost areas in the continental US in 2007 but they then lowered it to 625k, or up to 625k but depending on the county you live in.
Anyway they’ve always been tied to the median home prices in an area and Chicagoland has a median home price much lower than 417k.
It might not be a bad idea though to floor the conforming loan limit at 417k. That is if median prices drop the limit does not drop to reflect this.
“Does this mean that parts of Chicago might be able to get the conforming limit above $417k?”
I should probably know this but what is the conforming loan limit?
Its the difference between loans that can be bought and packaged into securities by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Any loan limit above this is referred to as Jumbo. The secondary market for jumbo loans is much smaller than conforming loans as Fannie & Freddie don’t get involved.
Jumbos used to carry only slightly higher interest rates (~.5%) but since the credit crisis started they are significantly higher, like 2% higher.
Jason–
A jab based on something said in the 711 Melrose thread; not directed at you.
Also, the conforming loan limit is the largest loan that Fannie/Freddie will buy.
Oh right. I knew that…. Little out of it today….
“Jumbos used to carry only slightly higher interest rates (~.5%) but since the credit crisis started they are significantly higher, like 2% higher.”
That was during the bubble. Current jumbo terms/requirements are now more similar to how they uses to be pre-bubble.
Everything old is new again.
I had a friend who lived around here in the late 60’s and she thought it was fairly expensive (I think she was talking three-flats specifically) back then and as well as now. I’ll double-check though.
Interesting, this place isn’t one of his “featured listings”. Sonies, do you know if he was an Estate Agent in the UK too? They are seriously scummy and make ours look like snow white.
The conforming limit of $417k is what is killing some of the market here in Chicago. We have a lot of condos & single family homes that require jumbo financing in the “green zone” as someone called it, but statistically we aren’t a high cost area so we didn’t get the higher conforming limits like some other major cities even though our cost of living is just as expensive if you want to live in a decent area of the city.
The problem is that decent jumbo financing with rates in the 5’s requires 25% down at most of the lenders who are doing jumbos. Not too many 30 something young professionals who typically buy these places have that kind of cash laying around so their only choice is to find cheaper properties. The owners of the more expensive units are going to have to hope that they have the one unit that “speaks” to the increasingly shrinking market of those who meet the new jumbo guidelines or see the prices of their units continue to decline.
Street crime isn’t a big issue over here. In 2007, there were quite a few robberies along Taylor, though generally further west, closer to Loomis (a shorter walk from the ABLA homes), but AFAIK, the guys doing most of them are currently incarcerated and the rowhouses they occupied are currently boarded up and scheduled for demolition by the Illinois Medical District.
I’d worry more about car break-ins than anything else, but keep your car doors locked and don’t leave anything valuable in plain sight, simple rules you should follow regardless of where you park.
“keep your car doors locked”
That’s to keep the bums from sleeping in your backseat, not to stop break-ins.
Sonies,
I’m the agent you just smeared. If you’re the chap I’m thinking of, I remember you putting in your lowball offer. It was on a property you’d never been to, and, yes, I did present it to the sellers who told me to counter with the list price. Maybe it was a different property than the one I’m thinking of, but regardless I always present offers and communicate counter-offers based on how my clients instruct me. Often lower offers are countered with the list price as a message for ‘we’re interested but, come on, you’re not in a price area we can even discuss at the moment’. That attitude is changing fast as the market continues to freefall.
I do think real estate agents as a group deserve a lot of stick (and, I agree, even more so in the UK, nd) but your comments are over the top, insulting and unfair, especially when my name is there for all to see. Please withdraw them.
Any more info about agents in the UK? You’ve made me curious…
DRAMA! I’m getting popcorn now!
UK agents don’t take any tests, are unlicensed and typically aren’t burdened by any kind of university education. Most of them are shallow, flash wankers, and much more likely to say whatever they need to in order to get you to buy. That’s right – they are worse than their US counterparts, even ‘truly clueless major idiots’ like me.
Rachel, look up gazumping.
I didn’t know the tri-taylor district extended so far east. I thought the tri-taylor district was west of the U of IL medical campus.
Editor’s Note:
Please refrain from personally commenting on the agents. This is the first of these comments we’ve ever had on this site (other than general comments with posters saying ALL realtors and/or agents are [fill in the blank] etc.) They’re just doing their jobs.
We’re here to talk about the properties- not the agents.
I’m going to remove the nasty comments. Don’t let it happen again.
Thanks for your cooperation.
anon (tfo) on January 9th, 2009 at 3:43 pm
“keep your car doors locked”
That’s to keep the bums from sleeping in your backseat, not to stop break-ins.
I can’t say I’ve heard any calls of bums sleeping in the backseats of cars, though I have heard plenty of calls of suspicious person pulling door handles. Remember, your car just has to be harder to steal from than one down the street.
I forgot to add earlier that the biggest annoyance of living at this place would be noisy college students going to and from parties and the associated drunken jackassery, mostly at the beginning of Fall semester and the end of Spring semester.
dd, you’re correct this is too far East to be considered Tri-Taylor, which is the roughly triangular area formed by Harrison, Ogden, Roosevelt, and Western. This would be more accurately considered Little Italy or University Village.
Beju:
1. It was mostly a joke and 2. I was replying to a comment about car break-ins, not thefts.
By all means, the conforming loan limit must not be raised. Taxpayers do not need to be subsidizing these harmful efforts to preserve unaffordable housing.The sooner prices come down to what people can realistically afford, the sooner the market recovers. And this property is most likely a case of the average neighborhood resident not being able to afford this average home. Let’s face it, stainless, hardwood and granite do not constitute a luxury home.
“Let’s face it, stainless, hardwood and granite do not constitute a luxury home.”
If those are the only three materials used, sure it does. Not a home I’d want, but a luxury (as in m-w.com, def 3a–“something adding to pleasure or comfort but not absolutely necessary”) home nonetheless.
Little Italy has the same problem as Bronzeville. Problem #1 You cannot build/renovate next to the projects. 2. It’s a college town…who wants to pay 3k a month to listen to frat parties? Oh and there’s a concert arena 1.5 blocks away…noise..all the time 3. The remodel of that place is mediocre. If I can tell it’s poor quality from pictures, lord knows what would await me once I see it w my actual eyes. Thanks to American Invsco, there are quite a few reasonably priced foreclosures downtown. I would rather buy a foreclosure at 345 N LaSalle for 260, give it top quality facelift and live in a much better area
Lauren doesn’t know of which she speaks. I have lived a block away from this property for three years. It’s one of the safest areas in the city. It is a real neighborhood with residents who have lived here for generations. It’s close to downtown and the lake. It’s a fabulous place to live. As others have said it’s NOT Tri-Taylor. The problem with 907 S. Miller and some other condo buildings like it here is that it’s full of students whose wealthy parents have purchased the condos for junior/missy. They party hard and have no ownership interest. I’d hate to live in one of those places and would only buy it for rental purposes.