This 2-Bedroom SFH at 1722 W. Wellington in Lakeview Finally Sells After 2 Years On the Market

We’ve chattered about the 2-bedroom single family home at 1722 W. Wellington in Lakeview several times over the last 2 years.

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In February of 2011, I asked if 2011 would finally be the year the house would sell.

We now know the answer was “yes.”

See our February 2011 chatter here.

By that time, it had been reduced about $150,000 from its original April 2009 list price and was $35,000 under the 2004 purchase price.

It finally recently sold for $530,000– which was around the price several of you had guessed it would sell at when we first chattered about it in 2009.

That was also $80,000 under the 2004 purchase price.

If you recall, the house was somewhat unusual in that it had an 1880 vintage facade but inside it had been updated with a contemporary interior including timber beamed ceilings and slate floors in both bathrooms.

It also had an updated kitchen with stainless steel appliances and calacatta marble counter tops on an oversized kitchen island.

Over the prior 2 years, the house also saw some changes such as replacing the sprial staircase (which many of you thought in 2009 was impractical, especially with children) with a conventional one.

The house, on a 25×125 lot, had a deck, a 2-car garage and central air.

Did the buyer get a deal?

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Monique Crossan at Koenig & Strey Real Living had the listing.

1722 W. Wellington: 2 bedrooms, 2 baths, 2100 square feet, 2 car garage, backyard

  • Sold in May 1994 for $84,000
  • Sold in February 1995 for $113,000
  • Sold in July 1998 for $310,000
  • Sold in June 2004 for $610,000
  • Was listed in April 2009 for $724,900
  • Reduced
  • Was listed in June 2009 for $699,500
  • Withdrawn
  • Was listed in July 2010 for $624,000
  • Reduced
  • Was listed in February 2011 for $575,000
  • Sold in May 2011 for $530,000
  • Taxes of $9724
  • Central Air
  • Skylights
  • Bedroom #1: 17×12 (second floor)
  • Bedroom #2: 19×14 (second floor)
  • Office: 10×13 (second floor)

70 Responses to “This 2-Bedroom SFH at 1722 W. Wellington in Lakeview Finally Sells After 2 Years On the Market”

  1. “It finally recently sold for $530,000- which was around the price several of you had guessed it would sell at when we first chattered about it in 2009.”

    Bob’s the winner, having said $520k.

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  2. 2100 sq. feet is pretty big…i wonder if there was an easy way to convert into three bedrooms that sealed the deal for the buyer.

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  3. just saw it has an office…suppose they could use that as a third bed if they had to…

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  4. It has all the features you could want and the finishes are good. Congrats to the buyer. Should be a good investment 5 years down the road.

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  5. Homes are not investments! They are places to live.

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  6. i don't comment often on June 6th, 2011 at 8:27 am

    “Red G. on June 6th, 2011 at 8:17 am
    2100 sq. feet is pretty big…i wonder if there was an easy way to convert into three bedrooms that sealed the deal for the buyer.

    IIRC the footprint of the home itself is roughly 50″ x 18″—2100 sq ft is a bit of a stretch.

    Nevertheless considering the townhomes across the street have comps in the low $500’s, either this home is underpriced or the townhomes are overpriced.

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  7. nice place, nice price. although personally i would want better access to public trans

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  8. “just saw it has an office…suppose they could use that as a third bed if they had to…”

    Think they’d need (really want) to do a dormer, as it’s open space on the 2d floor landing.

    “IIRC the footprint of the home itself is roughly 50? x 18?—2100 sq ft is a bit of a stretch.”

    Little bigger than that. A prior owner (the one who did most of the work) chimed in on one of the priors and called it ~2200.

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  9. Question for the group – how does this compare with 3729 N Hermitage?

    http://www.redfin.com/IL/Chicago/3729-N-Hermitage-Ave-60613/home/13388649

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  10. “how does this compare with 3729 N Hermitage?”

    Hermitage house has a basement, no garage, 3d bedroom on main floor, smaller kitchen, is a bit more “traditional”. Good comp, in most ways.

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  11. “Question for the group – how does this compare with 3729 N Hermitage?”

    We went and saw this house. Bathroom situation upstairs makes no sense. Lofted foyer looks unsafe for children. Unfinished basement. Street parking only. 475k, maybe. Nice finishes on first and second level but not sure who this house fits.

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  12. “nice place, nice price. although personally i would want better access to public trans”

    1/4 mile to Belmont or Diversey buses, 1/2 mile to Paulina Brown Line. This isn’t that bad transit wise.

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  13. most GZers don’t take into account bus lines… as they are for the poor and unattractive

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  14. “1/4 mile to Belmont or Diversey buses, 1/2 mile to Paulina Brown Line. This isn’t that bad transit wise.”

    “most GZers don’t take into account bus lines… as they are for the poor and unattractive”

    I love the buses. And these buses (77 and 76) take you basically nowhere. Paulina is close enough for an occasional trip, but I wouldn’t want to make that walk every day and in poor weather. It’s doable from here, but I wouldn’t call it convenient. I don’t think public trans is a top priority for someone buying here though, so it probably wasn’t a sticking point for the buyers. Maybe my wife and I are in the minority of people who don’t have and never want a car in the city.

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  15. As a 30 year+ user of the CTA, I think it’s more a question of timing/reliability.

    Yes, if you live on the lakefront you have good bus options downtown, but for the rest of us the bus is a time sink. Then there’s that damned bunching issue, where you’ll see 3 Belmont buses go by and another won’t come for 10+ minutes.

    We lived a bit west of here at Damen for years, and I can’t overexaggerate how sick and tired my wife got having to take the Belmont bus east to the red line.

    “most GZers don’t take into account bus lines… as they are for the poor and unattractive”

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  16. “And these buses (77 and 76) take you basically nowhere. ”

    How dare you call the Brickyard “basically nowhere”. You don’t want to make Groove cry, do you?

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  17. “Buses are for jerks and lesbians” – Homer Simpson

    If you put 20% down and you have a conforming loan I think the demand will be there for a turnkey home in a good hood. If this buyer were forced to sell in a few years for whatever reason I don’t see this reselling for less than $500k. Congrats to the buyer imo.

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  18. bustracker is the greatest invention the CTA has come up with in a loooong time, probably saves people hundreds of thousands of hours weekly of pointless standing around time and sickness avoidance in the winter

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  19. “bustracker is the greatest invention the CTA has come up with in a loooong time, probably saves people hundreds of thousands of hours weekly of pointless standing around time and sickness avoidance in the winter”

    i completely agree… although now that i have gotten so used to not waiting for buses, i loathe the idea of needing to transfer buses and being stuck waiting for the second bus. so yes, you could walk 5 mins to belmont, wait 2-3 mins for bus (need some buffer time as we know how the tracker can “skip” 3 mins at a time), ride east to the EL or the 151, then get stuck waiting 5-10 mins for a bus/train, then have a normal commute downtown. that extra 20 minutes of “walk, wait a little, ride, wait some more” bugs the crap outta me

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  20. “1/2 mile to Paulina Brown Line. This isn’t that bad transit wise.”
    “Paulina is close enough for an occasional trip, but I wouldn’t want to make that walk every day and in poor weather.”

    Geezous,F-ing Christ, a half mile is going to kill you? In addition to what Sabrina said on the other thread — readers here on Crib Chatter can’t see beyond it just needing some TLC — apparently they want all their properties closer to the EL but not too closer so the noise doesn’t interrupt their great parties in their gourmet kitchens.

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  21. “Geezous,F-ing Christ, a half mile is going to kill you?”

    Icarus–it’s a well-established CC fact that 1/2 mile takes ~25-30 minutes to walk, unless you are pre-/early-pregnancy miumiu who could–at a leisurely pace–cover 1/2 in sub-3 minutes.

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  22. ““And these buses (77 and 76) take you basically nowhere. ”

    How dare you call the Brickyard “basically nowhere”. You don’t want to make Groove cry, do you?”

    you guys jest but are missing out, at the end of the diversy line there is a sleeper Italian restaurant that is no frills just daaaamn good eats.

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  23. exactly DC and that’s why when we purchased, we placed a premium on having no transfers in order to get to work (& walkability to work was ideal)

    We lived fairly close to this house, and would take the 11 bus to the fullerton rail stop and hop on the red or brown line, or take the 11 bus all the way downtown some days because at least you have a seat and don’t have to wait outside sometimes for forever to get smashed on the train like a sardene in a can.

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  24. “Geezous,F-ing Christ, a half mile is going to kill you?”

    No. It also wouldn’t kill me to walk the entire 4 miles to work. But I don’t.

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  25. “Bob’s the winner, having said $520k.”

    525k–yeah minor differences but could be the difference between an eagle and a birdie.

    They got a deal and it’s a very nice neighborhood. But as noted it is not convenient to get downtown from here.

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  26. “Geezous,F-ing Christ, a half mile is going to kill you?”

    I love how in the late spring/summer/early fall everyone tends to minimize distance in Chicago. Yet in winter this can seem like miles.

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  27. “Question for the group – how does this compare with 3729 N Hermitage?”

    “We went and saw this house. Bathroom situation upstairs makes no sense. Lofted foyer looks unsafe for children. Unfinished basement. Street parking only. 475k, maybe. Nice finishes on first and second level but not sure who this house fits.”

    475…that’s a long way from the current $619k. Is this being overly pessimistic or do other people agree?

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  28. “475…that’s a long way from the current $619k. Is this being overly pessimistic or do other people agree”

    619 is a tough financing spot, and the layout is a little odd. The lack of garage will also turn off some, even tho its a 10k issue. That said, I’d be quite surprised by a sub 500k price.

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  29. “you guys jest but are missing out, at the end of the diversy line there is a sleeper Italian restaurant that is no frills just daaaamn good eats.”

    Groove seems to know a good place to eat everywhere. if there were a feature property in Siberia, I bet Groove could make a recommendation 😀

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  30. But how long did the 11 Lincoln take you on the way back during rush hour? I bike down Lincoln from Belmont to Armitage and vv periodically, and those 6-way intersections back up like gangbusters on my way home at 5:00 – 5:30.

    Frustration with the gridlock in this area, as much as I love it, is what drove us west to the Blue line, not the housing costs.

    “We lived fairly close to this house, and would take the 11 bus to the fullerton rail stop and hop on the red or brown line, or take the 11 bus all the way downtown some days because at least you have a seat and don’t have to wait outside sometimes for forever to get smashed on the train like a sardene in a can.”

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  31. “But how long did the 11 Lincoln take you on the way back during rush hour?”

    anywhere from 30-45 minutes to get to wellington/lincoln from the loop. you have a seat at least, and at times the 10 minute walk from the el + 15 minute wait on the platform, the bus was the better option

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  32. “Groove seems to know a good place to eat everywhere. if there were a feature property in Siberia, I bet Groove could make a recommendation”

    Where’s that neighborhood? Is that near Hegewisch?

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  33. “and at times the 10 minute walk from the el + 15 minute wait on the platform, the bus was the better option”

    You aren’t going to be able to explain to the SWPLs on here the bus is anywhere near comparable to the el. Remember these SWPL transplants couldn’t be caught admitting to their friends back home in Iowa City or Glen Ellyn that they take the _bus_ to work! The _bus_ is for small town proles!

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  34. I like the bus just fine, but I don’t think this is comparing apples to apples, as don’t forget you’ve got a 10 minute walk from Wellington/Lincoln/Southport to this address.

    And you can use train tracker just like you can use bus tracker – except that in my experience the bus tracker is only as good as the gridlock allows, those ETA’s can vary every few minutes for the same bus.

    go to http://www.transitchicago.com/travel_information/trip_planner.aspx

    and pick start places that are more-or-less equidistant from the train and bus, Loop to this location.

    the train trumps the bus, which is of course what you’d expect as it doesn’t need to stop at lights, doesn’t get stuck behind old ladies driving 12 miles an hour, etc.

    Living right by a bus stop is great, and I fully agree bus tracker is a huge, huge deal for bus riders, I love it. But it’s not the same as easy access to a train line, trains go fast, buses go slow.

    “anywhere from 30-45 minutes to get to wellington/lincoln from the loop. you have a seat at least, and at times the 10 minute walk from the el + 15 minute wait on the platform, the bus was the better option”

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  35. well I wasn’t saying that for this particular house that the bus was the better option. If I lived in this house, i’d walk to the paulina brown line stop if I needed to go to the loop.

    Just saying that taking a bus to transfer to a train totally blows and shouldn’t really be considered as a viable daily commute option

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  36. “If I lived in this house, i’d walk to the paulina brown line stop if I needed to go to the loop.”

    0.6 miles. That’s gotta suck in February or monsoon season. Surprised noone on any of the threads has mentioned Millie’s or Hamlin Park.

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  37. .6 miles = 10-15 minute walk if you’re slow… if you can’t walk that even on the coldest day of the year you suck and need to move. There’s these amazing things called winter clothes and scarves and hats and gloves that keep you shielded from the elements

    Most people have it a lot worse walking from union station or ogilvie

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  38. “.6 miles = 10-15 minute walk if you’re slow”

    That’s real-world slow, not CC slow, wherein .6 miles is a 35 minute walk.

    It’s only about 20 minutes walking (a little under 1 mile) to the Wellington stop. I’d have a hard time not deciding to do that instead on any half decent day, as it’s only a couple more minutes than staying on the train to Paulina + the shorter walk.

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  39. Yeah Wellington stop makes more sense.

    It’s not the long walk in isolation to Paulina, Sonies, it’s that once you get there you’ve got:

    Southport, Belmont, Wellington, Diversey, Fullerton, Armitage, Sedgwick, Chicago then Merch Mart before the loop.

    That combined with that walk makes it a crappy commute. I’d bet the Wellington walk makes for a faster commute (there are lots of idiots at Belmont causing it to be a slow stop).

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  40. maybe you get a seat at paulina vs wellinton?

    miu miu walks .6 miles in under 2 minutes (while nursing the baby)

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  41. “maybe you get a seat at paulina vs wellinton?”

    Twice as many rush hour trains at Wellington!

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  42. “maybe you get a seat at paulina vs wellinton?”

    Yeah but factor that with the idiots at Belmont AND the fact that often the train waits for the Red line transferees. Yeah you’ve got that potential problem at Fullerton, too, bu I’d rather have that potential delay at one stop vs. two.

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  43. Guess we better watch what we say….

    Real Estate blogger sued

    http://www.irvinehousingblog.com/blog/comments/oc-realtors-seek-to-silence-free-speech-by-accusing-irvinerenter-of-lying/

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  44. “Real Estate blogger sued”

    Complaint lodged with the Realtor Assn against a non-member is hardly something to be afraid of.

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  45. “Complaint lodged with the Realtor Assn against a non-member is hardly something to be afraid of.”

    Yeah, that was the subject of the email sent to me. I admit I barely skimmed the article….

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  46. I didn’t read through the whole post either but the lede is priceless:

    >

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  47. The Orange County Association of realtors has accused IrvineRenter of “knowingly telling lies about competitors.” They demand I appear in front of their grievance committee for disciplinary action.

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  48. “I didn’t read through the whole post either but the lede is priceless:”

    He’s so long winded, he makes Westloopelo seem succinct. But he does use paragraph breaks.

    IR does have a broker’s license, but apparently isn’t a member of the Realtor Ass’n, so … Funny!

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  49. Cold I can deal with. Hot & humid, I melt. I’d rather be jammed in with people wearing coats than skin to sweaty skin in the summer.

    “.6 miles = 10-15 minute walk if you’re slow… if you can’t walk that even on the coldest day of the year you suck and need to move. There’s these amazing things called winter clothes and scarves and hats and gloves that keep you shielded from the elements”

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  50. 05/16/2011 MORTGAGE $397,500.00

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  51. “05/16/2011 MORTGAGE $397,500.00”

    25% down!!

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  52. ps: assuming they qualified, I don’t understand *not* taking the extra $20k and maxing out your ~4.5% money. I’d take that marginal liquidity at that pricing, every day.

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  53. “Icarus–it’s a well-established CC fact that 1/2 mile takes ~25-30 minutes to walk, unless you are pre-/early-pregnancy miumiu who could–at a leisurely pace–cover 1/2 in sub-3 minutes.”

    lol…btw, walked with a stroller (definitely slower than my normal pace) from Roosevelt to Border’s on state street in 20 minutes. This time I timed it to make sure I don’t BS : )

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  54. “Cold I can deal with. Hot & humid, I melt. I’d rather be jammed in with people wearing coats than skin to sweaty skin in the summer.”

    Actually one thing I love about this country is that people use deodorants and don’t stink on average. If you cross the pond you’d see what I mean : )

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  55. “lol…btw, walked with a stroller (definitely slower than my normal pace) from Roosevelt to Border’s on state street in 20 minutes. This time I timed it to make sure I don’t BS : )”

    A little over a mile in about 20 is right on.

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  56. danny (lower case D) on July 1st, 2011 at 11:21 am

    miumiu: “If you cross the pond you’d see what I mean : )”

    A few years ago, I took the TGV train in France, and had the misfortune to sit next to Monsieur Fromage. Then I took the AVE in Spain, and had the misfortune to sit next to Senior Cebolla.

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  57. remember with a stroller though anon and I was stopping at all lights as opposed to my occasional j walking : )

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  58. “remember with a stroller though anon ”

    I sometimes walk *faster* with a stroller.

    And I meant “right on” for what I consider “normal” city walking speed.

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  59. “I sometimes walk *faster* with a stroller.”

    I sometimes walk faster with a wife with a stroller.

    “assuming they qualified, I don’t understand *not* taking the extra $20k and maxing out your ~4.5% money. I’d take that marginal liquidity at that pricing, every day.”

    Not sure it’s that clear cut. Understand the rationale behind your view but a 4.5% (albeit effectively pre tax) rate of return is not bad either. Depends on a lot of factors I think.

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  60. Also meant to say risk free rate of return.

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  61. “Not sure it’s that clear cut. Understand the rationale behind your view but a 4.5% (albeit effectively pre tax) rate of return is not bad either. Depends on a lot of factors I think.”

    But three months (or 6 or twelve) from now, you can get that 4.5% going forward, but you can’t get the additional credit as easily. Walking into a new house, I’d want to maintain higher liquidity through the shakeout period, but that’s me.

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  62. gringozecarioca on July 1st, 2011 at 12:14 pm

    “I’d want to maintain higher liquidity through the shakeout period, but that’s me.”

    you have company on that one.

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  63. “But three months (or 6 or twelve) from now, you can get that 4.5% going forward, but you can’t get the additional credit as easily. Walking into a new house, I’d want to maintain higher liquidity through the shakeout period, but that’s me.”

    Fair enough. But suppose you didn’t need the liquidity for house or other reasons and were just thinking about it as an investment decision. I don’t think it’s clear cut either way then. I will note that it’s not truly risk free (depending on how you define) as there are risk such as a big increase in inflation and you will have forgone opportunity to borrow at that rate. The fact that rates are so low now is definitely a big reason to take more of the loan.

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  64. “The fact that rates are so low now is definitely a big reason to take more of the loan.”

    Which you know was my point. Think it’s obvious that, were you talking about anything like Ze’s MiL’s cc rate, you take the smallest amount you can.

    You can always pre-pay, but you can’t always re-borrow.

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  65. “Which you know was my point.”

    Yes, but I also sincerely don’t think the decision is clear cut for everyone (or almost everyone) even given rates as they are today.

    “Think it’s obvious that, were you talking about anything like Ze’s MiL’s cc rate, you take the smallest amount you can.”

    Ok, but I don’t think we are at the opposite end of the spectrum. But of more interest, how in the world do you end up at the ZeMil rate? Is that anywhere remotely close to the going card rate there?

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  66. “But of more interest, ”

    Heh. G.O.

    “how in the world do you end up at the ZeMil rate? Is that anywhere remotely close to the going card rate there?”

    Inflation! Imagine what cc rates would have been in Weimar Germany (or Zimbabwe). Interest would have been accruing hourly. And vendors would have charged several multiples of list price for any charged item to cover the decay before payment from the cc issuer.

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  67. “Inflation! Imagine what cc rates would have been in Weimar Germany (or Zimbabwe). Interest would have been accruing hourly. And vendors would have charged several multiples of list price for any charged item to cover the decay before payment from the cc issuer.”

    (I know you’re partly kidding.) Yes, inflation has perhaps been a touch high in brazil in the past but not crazy at the moment. Are there restrictions on adjusting the rate upwards as needed? Or is this ZeMiL specific factors?

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  68. “Are there restrictions on adjusting the rate upwards as needed? Or is this ZeMiL specific factors?”

    Those are Qs for Ze, but it seems that the rates just have been high historically. It is likely a reasonable guess that there is some restriction on adjusting the rate on outstanding debt, and so the banks just keep the rate quite high to protect against a sudden shift.

    I do note this:

    “From 1980 until 2010, the average inflation rate in Brazil was 445.98 percent reaching an historical high of 6821.31 percent in April of 1990 and a record low of 1.65 percent in December of 1998”

    and that 13%/month is darn close to that 30 year average.

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  69. gringozecarioca on July 1st, 2011 at 1:13 pm

    No her rate is standard, probably same as mine. I never had a revolving credit balance in my life so I don’t pay attention to these things.

    My takeaway was how much less i rate sensitive people *might be* as compared to what we assume. As in Foreign Central banks raise rates, obviously here, who cares since it is already that high.

    The banks are rolling in cash here. We have almost the same inflation as you except in property values which soared but seems to be flattening finally.

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  70. gringozecarioca on July 1st, 2011 at 1:16 pm

    I’m looking at it now… Rotating credit.. 13.58% a month 360% a year and two other fees making annual 403%.

    CRAZY!!

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