Today may have been a very important day.

Dave the Real Estate Guy sent me an email on Friday after the disaster apartment, and told me that one of the places that I’d originally wanted to see, but had gone to contract, was back on the market. The buyer apparently wasn’t creditworthy. So I got to see the place today.

It is a wonderful niche of a neighborhood, near but not on two major roads with important bus routes, and a couple of blocks to the El. There are some very nice mansions around, and a park. YES green space! It is also located just ONE block from the lake.

SO, the building has 12 units and is in very good shape. It was built in 1912, and has all the charm, none of the rotted wood – not that I could see anyhow.

The apartment has two bedrooms, a living/dining room combo, 21X13. One of the walls inside the apartment, the one in the living room, is exposed brick. The kitchen is large enough, the porch is huge, and the bedrooms are very nice sized. The floors are hardwood, freshly redone. Central air, forced gas heat.

Having said that, the closets are an issue – there are enough of them, but they are in pretty bad shape. The place also needs a paint job.

I like it – a lot. But it is kind of 5k more than I think it is worth. I am going to have another look at it tomorrow – this time the seller’s agent will be there to answer questions.

As I was writing this, I got another message from Dave. He tells me this:

Here is the full listing for #3C, which shows Cumulative Market Time (CMT) for the unit (115 days). This is the fourth time listed, being cancelled three times. The last listing was for 46 days at $xxx,xxx. They brought it back up $5000, where it was listed at the first two times.

The building was converted in 1974. There was a special assessment that is over now, for facade work. The association currently has $10,000 in reserves and they plan to paint and carpet the hallways. That cost will be taken out of the reserve fund. I would like to see more in the reserves, as any major building cost would probably require a specialvassessment or loan. The windows are newer though, so that shouldn't be a issue.

I think the unit has been on the market so long is because the seller wants to get very close to his asking price. The listing agent indicated he's pretty firm in his price.

I'll follow-up with comparables in the area. Thanks,

Dave

So what does all of this mean for me? I don’t know if $10K is a lot for a reserve fund – I mean if they are painting and carpeting the whole building, isn’t that going to wipe it out? I wish I could have the place inspected BEFORE I made an offer.

Stay tuned.