Park Kingsbury, lofts in River North
Posted 2/21/2008 by Joe ZekasAfter a brief look at the model at Kingsbury Park Residences, I sat with Sharon Rizzo of Rizzo Realty Group to talk about what some view as a "glut" of new construction in Chicago. Sharon's a real estate veteran who has overseen the sales program for many of Chicago's large condo developments.
Rather than looking at "the market" as a whole I examine what I consider a more realistic scenario. The buyer who wants a newly-renovated timber loft building in the quieter part of River North close to Erie Park currently has only option: the 40-unit Park Kingsbury. If that buyer wants a corner 2-bedroom 2-bath with a view of the park, the options narrow to 2 or 3 units. And, since the building won't have indoor parking for every unit, that buyer has to act while it's still available.
As my hypothetical buyer suffers analysis paralysis, waiting for the market to bottom and the "glut" to shrink, the odds that s/he'll get what s/he wants diminish.
Comments
2/22/08
Eric Rojas said:
When looking for specific types of properties in specific areas for certain pricepoints… options get very narrow quickly.
One of my clients just lost out on the best priced, largest one bedroom condo with one and a half baths, garage parking on the border of the UIC and Pilsen neigborhoods.
We viewed the place after looking at many one and two bedrooms in the West Loop and Little Italy for under $300K. Nothing was great… every place had a fatal flaw.
We saw this particular unit on Halsted and knew it was a rare exeption that had everything she wanted in a newer construction building. It was overpriced, but I argued an offer will bring that into line.
We waited a week and came back… then a few more days to make an offer.
BAM! Another offer came in the same day and we lost to the better bid. Now we wait. There is nothing else in the West Loop/Little Italy area she wants to live that compares to the place we lost. The seller will get over $25K more than she paid for it three years ago.
The only other one we felt was a great deal (a huge two bed plus den in West Loop for under $300K!) sold in a week before she could make a move.
I have a dozen examples of this and what my clints are going through. On one hand they hear all the bad national market news. On the other, they lose properties they actual love in multiple offers or by never offering.
If you buy with your heart… things seem to turn out okay. I have bought places that felt right for us without a second thought and life goes on.
Dmac said:
Joe Kennedy (who made a fortune right before the stock market crash) said it best about trying to time any type of market, whether it's stocks, bonds (or real estate) - "only a fool sells at the top." You could make the same conclusion regarding attempts to time a market bottom as well.
Carter said:
however, Joe Kennedy made a fortune as he had a LOT to do with causing the bubble that led to the crash in the first place.
Old Joe was one of the pioneers of insider trading, having small cliques run up a price then dumping stock simultaneously, etc. He got appointed to head the SEC as it was assumed his experience would enable him to know how to stop such things (which weren't technically illegal at the time).
So, I don't know if that advice is necessarily good for we mere mortals, I'd take anything that huckster said with a grain of salt.
Dmac said:
Well, of course Joe's bona fides are always open to debate - but most "mere mortals" will fail if they try too hard to time a market's bottom.