Tom McCarey

Unknown,

As you point out, there is a surfeit of availability in the south Loop. As such most consumers are viewing listings as generic - meaning that one is just as good as any other. Even if your place featured Subzero and Wolf the mass of consumers would view your listing through this prism. Having said this the only way to gain differentiation toward transacting is via pricing. So if you want to sell it you need to price it appropriately. The best thing to do is to identify a proficient south Loop real estate professional to assist you to establish right-pricing and then set in place an aggressive marketing program to help you to sell this loft.

Best of luck with the rest of this journey.

Tom McCarey
The Real Estate Lounge Chicago - Yesterday, 11:28

Simona,
I have listings in these areas and several have gone under contract recently. I don't know if Trulia removes listings from public consideration once they are under contract, but this is the likeliest explanation. I don't think many sellers are pulling homes from the market at this point. Your hypothesis would be more plausible closer to Thanksgiving when the prospect of transacting is reduced due to the holidays.

I urge you to identify a real estate professional to assist you with sifting through listings in these areas to identify the top residences that meet your criteria and to assist with touring the homes to determine positives and negatives toward the purchase of your home.

Best of luck.

Tom McCarey
The Real Estate Lounge Chicago with @ properties chicago - Tue Jul 22 2008, 10:16

Dahi,

The last lot my builders purchased was 25x123 and upzoned to R3.5. We purchased it for $630k 2 years ago and built a home that sold earlier this year for more than $1.5MM. Other lots have since been made available in the $650-$700k range with some sellers overvaluing their land in the mid $700s. This is land between Ashland - Damen, from North - Armitage. You may find land for less north of Armitage but your cost reduction is gained at the expense of having the expressway in your backyard. You gain a bit of mitigation west of Damen but these tend to be short lots on streets like Cortland and Homer. And north of Armitage you dwell at a lesser price point as far as sale and resale goes. There are a number of additional costs such as plans and permits and the fact that construction loans clip you at a higher rate than standard purchase loans. The other factor to consider is that long before you arrived on the scene in Bucktown there have been builders and their representatives delving deep for fair value land purchases - while your objective of finding a lot upon which to build will not be impossible it will be difficult as these earlier arrivals are much more conversant with what's available and typically have the latitude to pull the trigger on a cash basis with quick close capabilities.

Tom McCarey
The Real Estate Lounge Chicago with @ properties chicago - Tue Jul 22 2008, 07:04

DC,

On the basis of your search criteria I have identified one solid contender in your price range. By increasing your purchase price roughly $30k an additional five or so studios come up within 2.5 miles of Northwestern in solid buildings. By solid I mean that these buildings have solid finances and strong management - critical considerations as you prepare to find a home in Chicago. Several other caveats to consider as you prepare to jump feet first in your transition to law school and a new setting are:

1) all condos have a monthly fee or assessment - the type of building you desire, likely a mid or highrise relatively proximate to Northwestern's downtown campus, will have fees that range from $200 through the mid $300s and will typically include heat, air, water, common maintenance and insurance, possibly cable and perhaps a doorstaff and/or workout room

2) not all buildings are equal - as you seek a new home you will want to be cognizant (or be represented by a real estate professional who can edify you) of what makes a good building good and a not-so-good building just that - typically it comes down to finances and management

3) is your purchase financing in order - the chief stumbling block in this market relates to how lenders are constricting loan supply - this is moot should you be engaging in a cash purchase

4) given the specificity of your question be sure to select a real estate professional who is able to steer your search, find, and negotiation with authority and knowledge

Best of luck with your search. Chicago is a wonderful city - I hope you come to love it as much as I do.

Tom McCarey
The Real Estate Lounge Chicago with @ properties - Sun Jul 20 2008, 11:42

Mark,

Appraisals are a very mixed bag at this point. More often than not I and my realtor colleagues are finding appraisals to be inaccurate and shy of listed and/or selling price. By saying this I am not saying that all appraisals are wrong. But what I am saying is that as the lending industry continues to constrict and the pendulum has swung toward greater difficulty for qualified individuals to receive funding that appraisers have to live with rules that often has them trying to capture value on the basis of things sold in a three-four month window within a four-five block radius. The slow-down in the market has made this a very tight window in which value has tended to skew downward. On the other hand the window whereby realtors are pricing units tends to not be so constricted. Some may argue that this method is as inaccurate as the appraisals I am skewering. My response is that a reasonable cma by a realtor bearing in mind absorption rate and inventory will result in fair value pricing. And even though buyers are agreeing to pay fair value I am experiencing and witnessing too many instances where appraisals are marching to the beat of their own drum (at less than agreed price). I will further argue that by temporizing the market in this manner banks and lenders are threatening to damage the market on this side of the mortgage meltdown in much the same way that some of them inspired the housing debacle in the first place.

I will get off the soap box now.

Tom McCarey
The Real Estate Lounge Chicago - Wed Jul 16 2008, 20:21