Did Staging or the Price Sell This Garden 1-Bedroom? 3659 N. Damen in North Center
We last chattered about this 1-bedroom garden unit at 3659 N. Damen in North Center in March 2011.
See our prior chatter here.
If you recall, the listing said it was professionally staged and it was one of the few properties where the furniture was included with the property.
Given that the building was renovated into condos in the 2006-2007 period, the kitchen had the finishes of that era with cherry cabinets, stainless steel appliances and granite counter tops.
There was a washer/dryer in the unit but no central air (window units only.)
While the unit was a garden apartment, the listing said it had full-sized windows and was only 2 feet below grade.
This 1-bedroom just sold for the asking price at $99,000.
Was it the price (under $100k) or the “free” furniture that made the sale?
Edward Schwind at Century 21 S.G.R. had the listing. You can see the pictures here to check out the staging.
Unit #G: 1 bedroom, 1 bath, no square footage listed
- I couldn’t find a prior sales price- I don’t think it ever sold from the developer
- Was listed in March 2011 for $99,000
- Sold in May 2011 for $99,000
- Assessments of $265 a month (includes heat)
- Taxes of $511
- No central air- window units only
- In-unit washer/dryer
- No parking
- Furniture included
- Bedroom: 9×8
- Living room: 16×14
- Dining room: 10×10
- Kitchen: 10×8
Someone was asking at what point does it make more sense to buy rather than rent a one bedroom? This is it. Furnished, under 100k, and only about $744 a month all in. That’s a sweet deal.
*Assuming you’re sticking around the area and don’t foresee moving.
seems reasonable under red g’s assumptions. but I wonder how many peeps stick around in 1 bedroom garden apts. lived in a 2bdr garden for a summer once. was glad to get out before winter set in
This is in Bell right? STEAL!!!
While in grad school and a couple years after, I lived in a real shithole garden unit in Lincoln Park that was dirt cheap but had a great location off fullerton – and i stayed there for three years!! i would have killed for somewhere this nice. Assuming you can come up with the down payment, you can do a lot worse than this place.
Interestingly enough there is a unit on the second floor in the same building (3657) also a 1/1 that is a short sale at 199,900. Good luck with that….
“This is in Bell right? STEAL!!!”
Nope. South of Waveland, so it’s Audubon (or maybe Hamilton?).
I hate garden units, but those taxes are crazy low.
“I hate garden units, but those taxes are crazy low.”
Won’t be that low for long.
“This is in Bell right? STEAL!!!”
Nope. South of Waveland, so it’s Audubon (or maybe Hamilton?).
I thought it was South of waveland only when east of Damen–West of Damen–(to Western?) the boundries go to Addision.
Could be wrong though
“Won’t be that low for long.”–Unfunded pensions=high property taxes for everyone.
“I thought it was South of waveland only when east of Damen–West of Damen–(to Western?) the boundries go to Addision.
Could be wrong though”
Trust me; you’re wrong.
Also, this is east of Damen.
“Unfunded pensions=high property taxes for everyone.”
Well, that, too, but this isn’t assessed based on a sale; even with a HO exemption, taxes should be ~$1200+ based on $99k sale.
I think those taxes were based on an empty occupancy. They’ll probably double. The staging made it easy to rent out. Maybe an invesotr bought this thinking it’s totally turn-key.
Could you rent this out for $1000 per month? If so an all cash ivestor could get a 5-7% return after assessments and higher taxes.
If someone wants to live there, fine. But what I did with a 1/1 that I couldn’t sell is furnish it and rent it furnished to out of towners as a hotel alternative. It works out great. This place is close to the brown line and that is what out of towners want–close to public trans. I’ll sell my 1/1 in 2030, when the economy picks up.
“Trust me; you’re wrong.”
To fully explain–Bell southern boundary is middle of Waveland from Lincoln to Leavitt, then middle of Leavitt south to Cornelia, then middle of Cornelia to Western.
AH–you’re right thanks- This unti is a half block fro the edge for the south boundry on Damen. West of Levitt the south Boundry is Addision–West of Bell the Boundry is Cornellia. Great School!
i lived in a garden unit for a little over a year and couldnt stand it… good luck to the buyer
http://www.redfin.com/IL/Chicago/3555-N-Oakley-Ave-60618/home/12774304
You could get this one inside Bell Boundary for 80k (125,000 off the 06 price)
“West of Levitt the south Boundry is Addision–West of Bell the Boundry is Cornellia.”
Crap, forgot about that jog.
“This unti is a half block fro the edge for the south boundry on Damen”
Only if based on location in the building–the building is on the SE corner of Damen and Waveland.
I’ve been wondering if more folks were doing this – isn’t that a lot of work, though? What do you do, just advertise on Craig’s List?
“But what I did with a 1/1 that I couldn’t sell is furnish it and rent it furnished to out of towners as a hotel alternative. It works out great. This place is close to the brown line and that is what out of towners want–close to public trans. I’ll sell my 1/1 in 2030, when the economy picks up.”
“This is in Bell right? STEAL!!!”
Nope. South of Waveland, so it’s Audubon (or maybe Hamilton?).
Uhhh if I am reading correctly it is a one bedroom unit. Who cares what school district is it in. If you have kiddies where you think that junior is going to sleep.
Re bell boundaries, what about west of western? I’ve heard there were houses over there….
On the cps school locator, when you search for an address, after you click on the school it’s in, it will show you the boundary map for the school, which I’ve clipped and put in a file. Might be better ways of doing it, but this gives me a decent sized jpg to look at.
Do you really think a person with a school-aged kid would live in a 1BR, or are you figuring these kinds of cheap properties would be someone’s fake residence in order to enroll their kid/s at a certain school? $744/mo x 12 = $8,900/yr, which beats paying tuition at private/parochial school.
To Skeptic:
There are two risks to doing this. The first is that most condos associations require that leases are at least 12 months so you have to hope that your fellow condo owners either don’t know or turn a blind eye. The second risk is that the city of Chicago might come after you. Hotels in Wrigleyville started complaining to their alderman that they were competing mom and pops illegally running hotels and the city sent out a bunch of notices. And technically you should be paying the 17 percent hotel tax. The city has that trump card to play if need be.
“I’ve been wondering if more folks were doing this – isn’t that a lot of work, though? What do you do, just advertise on Craig’s List?”
There could be a divorce and one parent could just use the address.
“Uhhh if I am reading correctly it is a one bedroom unit. Who cares what school district is it in. If you have kiddies where you think that junior is going to sleep.”
“Do you really think a person with a school-aged kid would live in a 1BR, or are you figuring these kinds of cheap properties would be someone’s fake residence in order to enroll their kid/s at a certain school? $744/mo x 12 = $8,900/yr, which beats paying tuition at private/parochial school.”–Yes.
“Re bell boundaries, what about west of western? I’ve heard there were houses over there….”
IPR on the north, Addison (or Roscoe, doesn’t matter) on the South, River on the west.
“Who cares what school district is it in. If you have kiddies where you think that junior is going to sleep.”
the same way our kid sleeps, In bed with us!
Thanks, that’s what I was imagining as well. I asked as we are steps from the Belmont blue line, and we’re considering trying the bed-and-breakfast route after retirement as there appears to be a glut of O’Hare pilots/stewards, etc. who are always looking for alternatives to hotels.
“There are two risks to doing this. The first is that most condos associations require that leases are at least 12 months so you have to hope that your fellow condo owners either don’t know or turn a blind eye. The second risk is that the city of Chicago might come after you. Hotels in Wrigleyville started complaining to their alderman that they were competing mom and pops illegally running hotels and the city sent out a bunch of notices. And technically you should be paying the 17 percent hotel tax. The city has that trump card to play if need be.”
“There could be a divorce and one parent could just use the address. ”
More often than one might think.
When we try that the kid sleeps ok, but we never do!
“the same way our kid sleeps, In bed with us!”
Skeptic:
Yeah, I was considering this too. There’s a real need especially in Wrigleyville where tourists come for the cubs and parents come to visit depaul students and there are very few hotels in Loncoln Park or Lakeview. But a friend of mine got a prety threatening notice from his alderman after a new hotel went in near Wrigley Field. It scared the crap out of him and I guess that was the intent.
Airbnb and VRBO are two places to rent your place by the night. I know that the city is trying to stop this practice so you have to be a little discrete about it.
Let me clarify that I don’t rent by the night, I rent by the month..mainly to people that are coming here on a work assignment or once to grandparents that were coming in for 6 weeks to help with their new grandbaby. And yes, I do advertise on Craigslist and it works well. However, it is also true that it is risky and my condo association is large and often asks me for leases. I ignore them and they go away. So that is how I get around that. And to someone that wanted to rent to pilots around the blue line…my friend is a flight attendant and how it works is that a bunch of flight attendants and pilots rent a 4 bedroom near Ohare and they all “sign up” for a bedroom when they are in town. So maybe 10 people have keys and split the rent but not all 10 people need the apartment at once–in fact, my friend says that not all 4 bedrooms are every occupied at once–usually just 2 or 3.
“When we try that the kid sleeps ok, but we never do!”
we sleep just fine in a queen sized bed all three of us, a few months back he would kick me in the ribs but that didnt hurt till i woke up 🙂
we will move him to his bed for some “mommy daddy time” but by 3am he is climbing back in.
“by 3am he is climbing back in. ”
oh that is cute! I guess he has your friendly personality Groove and doesn’t want to be alone.
‘oh that is cute! I guess he has your friendly personality Groove and doesn’t want to be alone.”
its called lazy parenting, easier to just allow it than fight it (train/teach) a screaming kid to stay in his own bed. saves us 30-45 minutes at night fighting him back into his bed. so we sleep better.
btw little groove is a true boy he was climbing out of his crib at 19 months so we had to move him to a big boy bed way too early. I have a friend whos daughter still sleep in the crib at 29 months.
but our boy is cuddler so he alwasy needs one of us close at all times.
i used to go around with my pillow to my sisters and then my parents rooms to see if anyone wanted a sleepover… i was usually rejected though…lol…lil groove has got it better for sure : )
““Do you really think a person with a school-aged kid would live in a 1BR, or are you figuring these kinds of cheap properties would be someone’s fake residence in order to enroll their kid/s at a certain school? $744/mo x 12 = $8,900/yr, which beats paying tuition at private/parochial school.”–Yes.”
How can schools/city crack down on the fake residence thing? Could someone just build a building in Lincoln district with 200 12×12 microstudios and sell them for $50K-ish for this purpose? Obviously they couldn’t advertise that as the purpose but some people would figure it out. I’ve been wanting to see some microstudios in this city anyway
tfo, did you get boundaries wrong the day after a mistake in moped laws? miumiu’s Wikipedia comparison seems to have you off your game
“How can schools/city crack down on the fake residence thing? ”
Supposed to be actual residence. Some districts (see this: http://www.k12newsnetwork.com/2011/02/go-listen-to-it-kelley-williams-bolar-speaks-to-npr-about-school-residency-fraud/) will send inspectors to confirm that the listed address is the actual residence of the family.
“tfo, did you get boundaries wrong the day after a mistake in moped laws? ”
Seems so.
I’d also think that if you were a poor(er) single parent who cared about your kids education, you might get a small and perhaps dumpy place in a good school district. Wouldn’t necessarily buy a place (and not this place as it’s not in bell), maybe you’d rent, but that would be something to think about. Maybe there are better options for the money in the burbs (not sure), but you might have job constraints or something for which you’d want to be close to or in the city. Don’t know how long the 1 bd thing would work out, but it’s a strategy.
“Don’t know how long the 1 bd thing would work out, but it’s a strategy.”
Not to get into this, again, but people in NYC do it all the time. And *not* always seeking the absolute cheapest option.
DC, that microstudio is brilliant. They could even do that on the first several floors of a highrise as most people who choose to live in highrises are interested in higher floors.
“How can schools/city crack down on the fake residence thing? ”
I don’t think it is that big of a deal (widespread) plus other parents rat out people pretty often I’m sure.
“How can schools/city crack down on the fake residence thing? Could someone just build a building in Lincoln district with 200 12×12 microstudios and sell them for $50K-ish for this purpose? Obviously they couldn’t advertise that as the purpose but some people would figure it out. I’ve been wanting to see some microstudios in this city anyway”
For a school like Lincoln that no longer takes any out of boundary kids except for those that test into the IB program starting in 6th grade, it would become apparently really quickly who is using a microstudio address as a cover, when parents start giving out their Ukrainian Village “real home” address for playdates. The school code requires that the child enroll in the school for the place that serves as their “residence”, meaning they have to sleep there much/most of the time. If a 200-unit building were producing 100 faux enrollees in an already crowded school, it would be noticed, and principals have absolute power to take steps against it.
“They could even do that on the first several floors of a highrise as most people who choose to live in highrises are interested in higher floors.”
Now your thinking! LOL
“I don’t think it is that big of a deal (widespread) plus other parents rat out people pretty often I’m sure.”
in edgebrook there is a block of apartment buildings that the one bedrooms get rented just for the address. it is widely know at the school, the landlord, and the neighbors that what is taking place
“For a school like Lincoln that no longer takes any out of boundary kids”
Doesn’t look like their class size is maxed out, how do they pull that off? Other, much fuller, schools have a few out of boundary kids who get in through persistent parents.
Regarding play dates in Ukranian Village, who would be stupid enough to tell real addresses if you are faking an address to get into a good school? Certainly, if you are going to start living a lie, you have to take it to the 9nth degree, kind of like the witness protection program. You can’t just move to Arizona and then tell everyone there that you ratted out a gangster and now you are Mr. Smith. The whole point of lying is living the lie. So, if you are going to buy a basement one bedroom in Lincoln, you have to have your play dates there, not in your modern UK village place. And once a real Lincoln parent sees your narly apartment, the kid will never be back for future playdates so no worries.
“And once a real Lincoln parent sees your narly apartment, the kid will never be back for future playdates so no worries.”–:)
“And once a real Lincoln parent sees your narly apartment, the kid will never be back for future playdates so no worries.”
Families within in the Lincoln district live in a huge variety of homes, from huge mansions to tiny apartments, and it’s all good. That’s the nature of having diverse housing stock in a densely built part of the city.
When I was in 3rd grade my mom enrolled me in Hanson Park elementary school because it was close to her office. I was registered with a fake address which of course I was only told once and didn’t memorize. Never came up until Boy Scout Day when they tried to recruit members and I couldn’t remember my address.
I played the we-just-moved card though my teacher probably saw right through it.
I knew a family that lived in a 2-bed apartment in a Gold Coast hi-rise whose monthly rent was apx. equal to a mortgage payment on a typical North Side house. But they did it this way so that the kids could get into Ogden School, dad had a shorter commute to work and Mom was within walking distance of maxing out her Bloomies and Nordstrom charge cards.
“I played the we-just-moved card though my teacher probably saw right through it.”
teachers did care back then because the class size was well below 35 kids.
Another anomaly to me in Chicago real estate is the premium paid for other than garden units vs. garden. Sure we get bad flash floods every few years or so but does that make a place 2x the PPSF?