Buying a 1 bed condo in the heart of River North area. Good idea?

[Zaba]

Originally Posted by chet everett

The short answer is that for anyone that fears having to pony up huge jumps in assessments ought to give some serious attention to the overall finances of the condo HOA and also get as much as info as possible about the status of owner-occupied units vs those rented out...

While there are some circumstances where one can do well buying a condo, the degree to which previous "distressed sales" leaves the whole complex with an undesirable mix of "quick buck" type landlords is a huge negative.

This has become nightmarrish in Florida.
Apartment conversion to condo in the boom years that went bust, huge developments with tiny occupancy rates that went bust...

You are so right about people needing to understand just what they're buying into when they get that 'affordable' condo in an otherwise great neighborhood, or, just ask anyone who has endured a $30,000 special assessment, due in 6 months...

[chet everett]

Originally Posted by Zaba

This has become nightmarrish in Florida.
Apartment conversion to condo in the boom years that went bust, huge developments with tiny occupancy rates that went bust...

You are so right about people needing to understand just what they're buying into when they get that 'affordable' condo in an otherwise great neighborhood, or, just ask anyone who has endured a $30,000 special assessment, due in 6 months...

More than a few of my older friends that thought they were "real estste geniuses" for finding some "bargain priced ocean front condo" in some part of FL have gone through EXACTLY what you describe -- cheapskate HOA board ran the place into the ground and then the "bad news" hits that there are serious issues with everything from non-hurricane complient windows, to worn out HVAC units, to end-of-useful life roofing and patios. Yellow tape across all the balcony units restricting access is not a selling feature...

Now I hope that developers in Chicago did not "pay off" inspectors to "look the other way" and I doubt too many newer condos in this area are on the verge of collapse, but the lessons of FL still apply with regard to these "rent to anybody" condo stacks -- such uses seriously hurt the value for folks that want a quiet place to call home.

[snoylekim]

Good larger developments will do a reserve study, which is a long-term capital budgeting exercise that will plan year over year what expenses will be required to maintain or replace common elements and systems. The Condo management companies here all offer this service; it's not a big expense for an association and it's money well spent . Any potential purchaser in Chicago should ask whether such a study has been done , and whether they can inspect it. I believe the Illinois 22-1 disclosures require disclosure of past special assessments, and any in-progress or committed capital spending . We're in a little better shape here than some other locales .