Real Estate in your city

[Steely Dan]

Originally Posted by twister244

Officially under contract on a $469k condo in Logan Square in Chicago.... Same condo would easily have been $600k or more in Denver.....

Awesome!

Tell us more - size? Beds/baths? Building type? Vintage/new construction/rehab? etc.

[sentinel]

Originally Posted by twister244

Officially under contract on a $469k condo in Logan Square in Chicago.... Same condo would easily have been $600k or more in Denver.....

Nice, congrats!

I'm putting my house on the market next month, wish me luck

[twister244]

Originally Posted by Steely Dan

Awesome!

Tell us more - size? Beds/baths? Building type? Vintage/new construction/rehab? etc.

It's a 2-bed/2-bath new construction on Fullerton right by Western. Top floor with a westward facing view. There's a lot next door which will probably get developed on pretty soon, but I'm far enough back that whatever goes up there, my sky views won't be intruded on too bad.

I wanted to stick closer to the North Side, but I'm just too picky with condos....

I hate creaky old buildings, and I'm not willing to pay $1k/month in HOAs to be in a highrise. So.... This was my concession. Not the perfect location, but definitely not a bad location at all. I love Logan Sq. This past Summer was the first time being exposed to the area, and I was super impressed.

[lio45]

Just made an offer on a Quebec City triplex... 200 years old brick building, 3 stories... seems like prices in my home province are still reasonable (~$150k US) compared to the rest of the continent.

We're the most anti-landlord jurisdiction on the continent, probably not a coincidence we have lowish prices. Florida real estate is soooo convenient to manage in comparison. You can evict people down there

[JManc]

We spent about $100k on remodeling/ upgrading our house over the past year so unless our resale doubles, we are not going anywhere for a loooong time.

[Steely Dan]

Originally Posted by twister244

It's a 2-bed/2-bath new construction on Fullerton right by Western. Top floor with a westward facing view. There's a lot next door which will probably get developed on pretty soon, but I'm far enough back that whatever goes up there, my sky views won't be intruded on too bad.

I wanted to stick closer to the North Side, but I'm just too picky with condos....

I hate creaky old buildings, and I'm not willing to pay $1k/month in HOAs to be in a highrise. So.... This was my concession. Not the perfect location, but definitely not a bad location at all. I love Logan Sq. This past Summer was the first time being exposed to the area, and I was super impressed.

Sounds awesome, congrats!

The location is fine, though Fullerton & Western makes me shed a year for Quenchers, which closed several years ago. It was one of chicago's original beer bars. 20+ years ago in my early drinking career, Quenchers was a regular spot In my rotation for its unbelievable (at the time) beer selection (this was back before the craft beer supernova).

I think it's now medical offices or some other such boring ass shit.

Still though, it's not like Logan has a shortage of watering holes, I just miss Quenchers. It was the perfect combination of shitloads of beer without any hint of the pretentious snootiness that is sometimes severed up alongside the beer at other beer bars.

[sentinel]

Originally Posted by JManc

We spent about $100k on remodeling/ upgrading our house over the past year so unless our resale doubles, we are not going anywhere for a loooong time.

Yeah I spent the same amount remodeling my house 2-3 years ago...I wasn't exactly looking to flip it, but the current housing crunch has convinced me otherwise, as I now expect to nearly double that investment when I sell it.

[mrnyc]

can't get the people out of our new condo yet. we are going to lose our mortgage lock rate. or have to pay. ugh. buying is no fun.

[twister244]

Originally Posted by mrnyc

can't get the people out of our new condo yet. we are going to lose our mortgage lock rate. or have to pay. ugh. buying is no fun.

What i've noticed is buying is fun when it's new construction. I bought my condo i'm renting out in Denver new, and it's so stress free. Plus, you get to point out every single little thing that needs to be fixed by the developer. Not saying new construction doesn't come with it's risks, but I love it.

[mrnyc]

Originally Posted by twister244

What i've noticed is buying is fun when it's new construction. I bought my condo i'm renting out in Denver new, and it's so stress free. Plus, you get to point out every single little thing that needs to be fixed by the developer. Not saying new construction doesn't come with it's risks, but I love it.

ha you got that right.

ours is almost new, but not new enough!

[C.]

Originally Posted by lio45

Just made an offer on a Quebec City triplex... 200 years old brick building, 3 stories... seems like prices in my home province are still reasonable (~$150k US) compared to the rest of the continent.

We're the most anti-landlord jurisdiction on the continent, probably not a coincidence we have lowish prices. Florida real estate is soooo convenient to manage in comparison. You can evict people down there

150k for a three storey building? Nice.

[Crawford]

We plan on putting our home on the market in the spring, and trading from a two bedroom to a three bedroom. Looking in same neighborhood, same schools, just larger unit. Haven't put much money into the apartment, but we bought new, and it's only eight years old.

Home is nearly paid off, but still a bit nervous about carrying two mortgages simultaneously, if we buy before we sell. Goes against my ultra-thrifty instincts. Yeah, I know it's dumb to pay a mortgage off so fast, but both my wife and I are super risk averse, probably to our detriment.

[jmecklenborg]

Originally Posted by Crawford

Home is nearly paid off, but still a bit nervous about carrying two mortgages simultaneously, if we buy before we sell. Goes against my ultra-thrifty instincts. Yeah, I know it's dumb to pay a mortgage off so fast, but both my wife and I are super risk averse, probably to our detriment.

I remember hearing about mortgage burning parties when I was a kid, back when mortgage rates were like 8-12%.

I now have two mortgages, both at 3.15%. It's almost comical how small the principal/interest payment is for each house, meaning my monthly budget wouldn't improve by much if I paid one of them off early. The smaller of the two loans has a monthly principal/interest payment of $498, which is like 3 pizza delivery shifts.

[JManc]

Originally Posted by jmecklenborg

I remember hearing about mortgage burning parties when I was a kid, back when mortgage rates were like 8-12%.

I now have two mortgages, both at 3.15%. It's almost comical how small the principal/interest payment is for each house, meaning my monthly budget wouldn't improve by much if I paid one of them off early. The smaller of the two loans has a monthly principal/interest payment of $498, which is like 3 pizza delivery shifts.

We have two houses; combined mortgages are roughly $1,500/ month.

[Crawford]

Originally Posted by jmecklenborg

I now have two mortgages, both at 3.15%. It's almost comical how small the principal/interest payment is for each house, meaning my monthly budget wouldn't improve by much if I paid one of them off early. The smaller of the two loans has a monthly principal/interest payment of $498, which is like 3 pizza delivery shifts.

Right, it makes no sense. I have a 15-year at 3.5%, and it would be much lower but never bothered to refi bc we knew we were selling shortly.

But my parents were born after WW2 in occupied Germany, in near starvation conditions, with grandparents impoverished in the 1930's, so I think it's hardwired into me. Debt is bad. In Germany most of my family only buys homes with cash, even today.

In German, Debt and Guilt are the same words. I would probably be the world's worst real estate investor.

[lio45]

Originally Posted by Crawford

We plan on putting our home on the market in the spring, and trading from a two bedroom to a three bedroom. Looking in same neighborhood, same schools, just larger unit. Haven't put much money into the apartment, but we bought new, and it's only eight years old.

Home is nearly paid off, but still a bit nervous about carrying two mortgages simultaneously, if we buy before we sell. Goes against my ultra-thrifty instincts. Yeah, I know it's dumb to pay a mortgage off so fast, but both my wife and I are super risk averse, probably to our detriment.

Originally Posted by Crawford

Right, it makes no sense. I have a 15-year at 3.5%, and it would be much lower but never bothered to refi bc we knew we were selling shortly.

But my parents were born after WW2 in occupied Germany, in near starvation conditions, with grandparents impoverished in the 1930's, so I think it's hardwired into me. Debt is bad. In Germany most of my family only buys homes with cash, even today.

In German, Debt and Guilt are the same words. I would probably be the world's worst real estate investor.

You're sure you're a banker? I find it weird you don't get the idea of leverage as a (really nice) investing tool.

[lio45]

Originally Posted by C.

150k for a three storey building? Nice.

Yeah, it is, but those deals are getting way more rare, everything's gone up sharply even here in Quebec. (Location says Vancouver, but I'm back home for the foreseeable future, I might go back to Van later this year.)

(I'm specifying because it's an entirely different real estate market over there; $150k wouldn't even be enough for the downpayment on a condo cupboard-under-the-stairs.)

[lio45]

Originally Posted by Crawford

Debt is bad.

Debt is how I built most of my net worth. It's not bad at all, when you know how to use it.

[Crawford]

Originally Posted by lio45

You're sure you're a banker? I find it weird you don't get the idea of leverage as a (really nice) investing tool.

I understand it, I just can't sleep well with RE debt.

I'm trying to get my wife to force us to put down the standard 20% or thereabouts for our next purchase. I can't fathom not putting down at least 50%. Also, a lot of buildings have really restrictive financing rules, so you often end up putting down half regardless.

But yeah, when I hear someone with real assets bought a home, and put down almost nothing, and it's not an investment property, it sounds insane. Debt is Guilt.

[lio45]

Originally Posted by Crawford

I understand it, I just can't sleep well with RE debt.

But if you know with absolute certainty that your RE asset(s) is worth more than your RE debt even in the worst case scenario, can't the logical part of your brain take over and allow you to sleep well?

I owe millions of dollars and see no reason whatsoever that fact would keep me up at night. It's not even on the list of my top 100 worries.

Now, if someone owed money to organized criminals AND weren't in a position to pay, sure, that's a very uncomfortable debt, and a dangerous one; that would keep anyone up at night, trying to think about solutions to the problem.

But RE debt? That's like the healthiest sort of debt there is.