Is it even remotely possible to make your money back -- much less turn a profit -- in the housing market these days?
Maybe if you're a former Chicago Bull selling a Highland Park mansion.
B.J. Armstrong's six-bedroom, three-quarter-acre property is up for sale, and though Armstrong has already knocked $1.5 million off his original asking price of $2.95 million, he's still stands to make a hefty gain, reports Dennis Rodkin of Chicago magazine.
Armstrong played for the Bulls from 1989-1995, and was a member of the Bulls' first three championship-winning teams (1991-1993).
"Armstrong paid $1,599,000 for this house in 1994, when it was brand new," Rodkin writes. "If he were to receive his full asking price for the place, he would turn a 75 percent profit. As reported in Chicago’s annual house-price chart (in the magazine’s October 2008 issue), homes values in Highland Park have increased on average by 134.32 percent since 1994."
Of course, Michael Jordan might have had something to do with that.
In any case, if Armstrong has to sit on his house for awhile, he's still doing pretty well: he's the agent for number one pick (and South Side native) Derrick Rose.
