East Randolph Street – Call Kristine 312-933-1894

Observations and insights into real estate happenings along E. Randolph St. in downtown Chicago

East Randolph Street, Chicago

Just closed foreclosure one bedroom at the 222 Columbus Dr – unit 2807

October 6th, 2009 · Uncategorized

This one bedroom has just closed yesterday, with the listing price of $199,000 and the closing price of $195,ooo. This price is about $100,000 lower than the people paid in 2007. I have showed this unit to a potential buyer, the unit looks nice, although it is a foreclosure, it has maintained very well, even cleaned it very well. This one bedroom has around 700 square feet, with new kitchen and new bathroom, washer and dryer in the unit. This buyer really got a good deal!

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Just closed foreclosure at the Parkshore, unit 709

September 26th, 2009 · Uncategorized

I just noticed that this sale is just closed and the sale price is unbelievable low, $270,ooo, I think the reason for the price is so low, must be it is a cash deal and the they could close faster. As the asking price is $267,400. I know there are offers higher than the sold price but I think the bank just want to get the cash and the deal done. This is a one bedroom with a large den unit facing the north with lots of lake view. Welcome to the parkshore, you got a good deal!

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Just reduced new construction one bedroom for rent at the 8 E Randolph 2107

September 25th, 2009 · Uncategorized

This is a large one bedroom unit with around 834 square feet with a large balcony, lots of closet spaces, price has dropped to $1,600 per month. Great location in a great building. Very easy access to the stores, shops, trains, restauratants and theaters. Great new kitchen, new bath, washer and dryer in the unit! Detailed pictures and MLS info will be available upon request!

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Latest Sales in New Eastside and Lakeshore East

September 24th, 2009 · Uncategorized

• SEP 9, 2009 · 155 N Harbor Drive, Unit: 3307 · $343,000
• SEP 4, 2009 · 400 E Randolph Street, Unit: 2616 · $171,000
• SEP 1, 2009 · 155 N Harbor Drive, Unit: 3012 · $980,000
• AUG 31, 2009 · 420 E Waterside Drive, Unit: 2602 · $320,000
• AUG 28, 2009 · 400 E Randolph Street, Unit: 2502 · $187,000
• AUG 27, 2009 · 360 E Randolph Street, Unit: 603 · $358,000

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Work on the playgroud at the Daley Bicentennial Plaza

September 15th, 2009 · Uncategorized

Yesterday the playground has been circled out and no kids can play there. I heard there are two different says about the playgroud, one says that it was only cutting the trees, the other one says that it is not going to open until next year.

This is our major neighborhood park, hopefully they would put out some signs to let us know what is going on.  Any comments or thoughts will be appreciated.

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Joffery Ballet at the 10 E Randolph

September 15th, 2009 · Uncategorized

We have registered class for both of our daughters for Sat morning. Elizabeth has around 5 other classmates registered in the same class. They were so happy to get to dance together, our little one get to attend the class the first time, she has enjoyed it very much too. The teachers are very professional and the students are very good at paying attention to their teachers. I am sure this is a great choice for the girls!

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Just listed cheapest one bedroom for rent at the 8 E Randolph Unit 2107

September 15th, 2009 · Uncategorized

Joffery Tower is a new building which used to be called Momo. It is at the best location in downtown Chicago, it is one block to EL, theater district, shopping centers and restaurant.

This building has just finished. This large one bedroom unit has around 834 square feet, a spacious balcony over looking at the Chicago beautiful sky line. It has the best kitchen which includes

  • Kitchenaide stainless steel appliance package includes:
  • • Refrigerator with ice maker
    • Multi-cycle dishwasher
    • Microwave with integral exhaust hood
    • Self-cleaning gas oven/range with sealed burners

Marble bathroom, wood floor in the living room. New washer dryer in the unit, this unit is so new and nobody has ever lived in it. MLS details and pictures will be available upon request!

Building features 24 hour doorman, large gym, storage unit is included in the unit.

Rent includes internet, cable, heat and air.

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2012 – What Effect Will the End of the World Have on Real Estate?

September 13th, 2009 · Uncategorized

My husband started to put up this web site blog – it looks a lot like ERandolph.com!

http://www.2012-theend.com

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Wisconsin Dells – Wildness waterpark

September 9th, 2009 · Uncategorized

We went to the Wildness Territory waterparks the last two days and we had lots of fun there. While driving back we were already talking about going there again. There are 4 indoor water parks and 4 outdoor waterparks. We arrived on Monday and did not know that was the last day that the outdoor water parks were open. But even though we only spent around 3 hours outside, everyone got some sun burn. We have never went to any water parks before, so the kids are really loved it — there are so many slides and different things. You can come down from a big raft in the tube, I do not like that one so much as it makes me a little bit dizzy but I do enjoy all the water slides. They have a huge game area too. We spent $20 and played for an hour plus the kids got some toys with the points.  The dry play area is 6 times bigger than the pump it up in Chicago – they can really be lost there. But they are so brave to climb on all of them to the top and then slide all the way down. The only thing if I had a complaint would be the food, there are not many choices, ends up our little one mainly had french fries for a few days:-)

But we would definitely go back there.

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Bristol Renaissance Faire, Kenosha, WI, 2009

September 9th, 2009 · Uncategorized

Our annual event is going to the Britol Renaissance Faire . So we went this last Sunday, we did lots of activities, including the pony ride, the mud show ( which my daughter mentioned it many times, she does not like it as it is yucky, but she did remembered it as I still could not believe that these people did it!), the high jump, the rock climbing ( I am very happy to see that my older daughter could finish it, she gets to do it twice and ring the bell once. Lots of people are amazed that she could do it, 18 foot climb, not very easy for a 4 year old), the face paint ( very professional and very fast, lots of glitters), the camel ride, the jousting show, meet with the queen and be knighted ( My older daughter mentioned that she is going to obey me as that’s what the queen said, very useful info), the gold maze ( we have collected 6 gold coin due to the guy just tossed some while we were in there), the acrobatic show, eat a big turkey leg. We were there a whole day from morning till they close. We had lots of fun, it’s about 1 hour drive, be sure to bring lots of cash!

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1 bedroom facing south at the Buckingham building sold for $358,000

September 2nd, 2009 · Uncategorized

Just noticed that the 1 bedroom facing south at the Buckingham building sold for $358K. This unit has great views to the millennium park and the grand park, view to the harbor too. The living room has wood floor, nice open kitchen has granite counter tops, new appliances. The only thing you need to do it the bathroom need some work, it is nice and clean but since there are nobody lived there, they have carpet on the floor. The building is a full amenity building, offers 24 hour doorman, gym, roof top indoor pool. Current for sale in the building has 1 bedroom, 2 bedrooms and 3 bedrooms, price ranging from $446K to $1,650K. I would be happy to send you all the details.

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2016 report hits Chicago on lack of guarantees

September 2nd, 2009 · Uncategorized

We are all hope that Chicago could get the Olympic games in 2016, but today there are some criticism in an IOC report assessing their technical merits. With all the other three cities backed by their federal government, Chicago is the only one has to support itself with all the funding. As while signing the report, Chicago has not secured the required funding. For people who live here we all hope that Chicago could get the approval for Olympics.

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222 Columbus Dr, the Park Millennium

September 2nd, 2009 · Uncategorized

222 Columbus Dr with the building name of Park Millennium was a rental building. The building was built in 2002 and converted to condo right after it. There were 80% renters in the building in the beginning. Then as owners started to occupy in the building, the ratio is getting better, but when we checked recently it is still 53% renter to owner occupancy rate. Since the Fannie/Freddie/FHA/VA guidelines is that renter to owner occupancy rate is no more than 50%, it is very hard for investors to get a loan in this building. Almost impossible since every big lenders has to follow the guidelines. Therefore maybe some very small banks could offer a loan to investors. Then the investors can only buy the units with cash only choices. I noticed the price is very good in the building but the catch is you have to pay all in cash which not so many people could afford to do. If you want to buy owner occupied, then you could find a lender who would be willing to finance you but you have to put down more than 25%. But still there are some good buys in there. There are studio, 1 bedroom, 2 bedrooms and 3 bedrooms units ranging between $199k to $1,090K. Let me know if you are interested in it.

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Rental units has to be very clean before showing

September 2nd, 2009 · Uncategorized

I have some showings of the rental units either as a listing agent or as a selling agent. One thing I noticed is that the unit has to be in very clean condition in order to attract the renters. As the renters do not want to do anything other than move in, they are not as the buyers, buyers might want to change something of the unit so you do not need to spend much on remodeling the unit. But I do see big difference for the cleaned unit or the still need work unit. So the idea is that if you can get your unit cleaned before put it on the market, better do a good job.

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Showing for 1+den at the Parkshore – 195 N Harbor Dr

August 20th, 2009 · Uncategorized

This is a foreclosure unit, with 1 bedroom plus a den, total square feet is 1,140.  It is overlooking the Navy Pier, the lake and north shore line.  Although it is a foreclosure, there is no damages in the unit, actually it is pretty clean. All the appliances looks good too! The listing price is $267,ooo. Other similar units in the building  were sold for $440,ooo or above in the last 2 years, there is no current year sale in this tier so far.

Jason Shapiro has the listing, see more pictures and virtual tour here .

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Two showings on Sat, unit 4007 at the parkshore and unit 5305 at the Aqua

August 16th, 2009 · Uncategorized

Today I was very excited as I am going to see Aqua, although I was looking at it building up, I have never got a chance to go inside to take a look yet. My client wants to take a look at a studio.  Since the condo is not yet finished, the sales person showed us a rental model and then she has mentioned the differences between the rental unit and the condo, which is the view is better at the condo unit, the finishes is better, all bamboo floor through out, but there is no balcony.

Then we had a whole tour of the amenities in the building, there are so many things, I feel that I was in a maze. But my client does not want to move forward with this unit since it is quite small, the asking price is $319,000 which is even higher than the unit 4007 at the parkshore, which is a one bedroom unit.

As for the unit 4007, their thought is there are lots of small details need to be touched up. I mentioned that we can get those places fixed, but now this made me think that we may need to fixed these small things to make the place show better.

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Showing of unit 4007 at the Park Shore

August 16th, 2009 · Uncategorized

I had a showing of 4007 at the park shore, this is a one bedroom unit that I have at the Park Shore. The buyers showed lots of interest in this building, they like all the amenities and the views from the gym and the roof top. The only thing they did not like is the view from this unit, since this unit is facing west, it is looking at the new lake shore east park, which is a very nice park with dogs’ park and kids’ playground. You can see a little bit lake from the unit too. But these buyers like to have a unit over looking at the lake, I mentioned to them of the two bedrooms for sale in the building, such as unit 2501, unit 2701 and unit 3009. Since the view is better and it is bigger, the price go up a lot too. They are starting from $445,000 comparing to this one bedroom starting from $269,ooo. So I told them if they want to live in the building this is a great choice, they do like the lay out a lot of the unit. So let’s see if they would come back for a second showing!

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Air and Water show at the Park Shore – 195 N Harbor

August 16th, 2009 · Uncategorized

We have seen the air and water show both days this past weekend. It was great fun to see the planes flying so close to the building. Actually we noticed that the planes are not as close to the buildings as last year. We had some friends coming to swim and then watch the show, then we went downstairs to have barbecue, it’s good we went down at 4:30pm, we got to use one of the grills, but there were no tables left, thanks to a gentleman that we get to borrow his table while he was waiting for his friends. My friends brought fish, home made dumplings (which the kids love the best), salad and water melon, we marinated lots of chicken and ribs and sausages. The kids are having fun playing on the tennis court and we were enjoying the beautiful scenery and the delicious food. After dinner, we all went to the Daley kids’ park to play, the weather was perfect, we were chatting of the nice life, the kids’ were running hard and playing hard. It was a nice weekend! We are so happy to have good friends to visit with!

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