After Trying For Over 3 Years, Will This 4-Bedroom Finally Sell? 1030 W. Roscoe in Lakeview

We last chattered about this 4-bedroom Victorian at 1030 W. Roscoe in Lakeview over 2 years ago, in March 2010.

See our March 2010 chatter here.

At that time, the house was listed for $599,000 and we chattered about whether it was a deal.

Yes- that is the El directly behind the house.

In 2010, most of you thought that the El was a deal breaker.

It came back on the market to try again at the beginning of March 2011 at the price of $499,900 and has been reduced another $100 since then.

If you recall, it was built in 1884 on a 25×100 lot.

3 of the 4 bedrooms are on the second floor with the fourth bedroom on the main level.

The kitchen has maple cabinets and white appliances.

The basement is also finished.

The house has central air and a 2 car garage.

Is the market heating up enough to finally sell this house?

(We’ve seen other houses directly on the El line in, for instance, Lincoln Park, sell quickly.)

Ismael Perez at Exit Real Estate Partners now has the listing. See the pictures here (yes- some of them are very small. Sorry.)

1030 W. Roscoe: 4 bedrooms, 2.5 baths, no square footage listed, 2 car garage

  • Sold in January 1997 for $175,000
  • Sold in September 1997 for $245,000
  • Listed in December 2008 for $699,000
  • Reduced numerous times
  • Was listed in July 2011 for $549,000
  • Reduced
  • Was listed on March 2, 2012 for $499,900
  • Reduced
  • Currently listed at $499,800
  • Taxes of $9710
  • Central Air
  • Bedroom #1: 20×19 (second floor)
  • Bedroom #2: 17×13 (second floor)
  • Bedroom #3: 13×8 (second floor)
  • Bedroom #4: 10×12 (main floor)

29 Responses to “After Trying For Over 3 Years, Will This 4-Bedroom Finally Sell? 1030 W. Roscoe in Lakeview”

  1. !. It’s really hard to tell what condition it’s in due to the mini-photos. Step it up REALTOR! I remember a video from before so I looked it up: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OqVDjNoCCBM Unless there have been some updates, it looks like it needs work-there is some terrible wallpaper border, the basement is from the 70’s. Also some layout issues with the front room, and odd angles in the master upstairs.
    2. I don’t mind the el, I know I’m in the minority. It is behind the garage it looks like (?) so may not be such a big deal, although not far from a curve in the tracks so may be screaching here. The gorgeous rowhome on Bissell we were considering (2130) was much closer to the el and had trains running constantly on both tracks, sold for $620K, so this should be much less. Not sure if $120K less does it or not, because obviously this one does not compare.
    3. There was a mugging here the other day, fyi. On Newport. Although there are muggings everywhere lately… just pointing it out.
    4. Nettlehorst- thats a plus!
    5. That $100 price drop should really garner some interest! Come on…

    And sorry, off topic, but can anyone recommend someone for cabinet refacing? We would rather go off personal experience that blindly searching the web. Thanks!

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  2. 1997 price speaks volumes. This is likely an aging boomer who contributed little to society and saved little, praying for some RE appreciation to be the capstone of their near existent retirement fund.

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  3. Err near nonexistent 😀

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  4. “Ismael Perez, Exit Real Estate…”

    Please do. You’ve had a year to get some decent photos up.

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  5. “There was a mugging here the other day, fyi. On Newport. Although there are muggings everywhere lately… just pointing it out.”

    Really? What time of the day?

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  6. For me, the el would be a deal breaker at any price. I wouldn’t mind the metra or freight trains but the horrible screech of the el is too much.

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  7. The El isn’t a big deal here. Brown Line is less frequent, and quieter than Red Line.

    Proximity to Wrigley may be the issue for many buyers. Clark St. here can look like a bad frat party on a Saturday night.

    Close to Penny’s Noodles. Love that! My guess closing price is $450-465k.

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  8. 499k and a train in your back yard and i think it bends south 2000-1000 feet away too. so a train on both sides?

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  9. Why was it so popular during the 50’s and 60’s to plant those nasty evergreen trees in the front yard? Sure, pine trees will grow in this climate but this is former prairie land, not the northwoods. you can always tell the house of an old timer by the nasty evergreen tree in the front; or, the asphalt roll siding.

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  10. http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/chi-chicago-crime-lake-view-mugging,0,1499761.story

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  11. short lot and the L combined….400k is a more realistic price. and at that price it would be an okay buy to rent it out.

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  12. also, those taxes appear to not have been appealed there a few grand high.

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  13. SoPoCo Lurker on April 3rd, 2012 at 9:21 am

    http://www.chicagonewsreport.com/2012/04/cops-thief-covers-womans-eyes-during.html

    Yeah Sabrina. The weather is getting nice and the element is returning to the north side.

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  14. I don’t mind pine trees.

    I don’t understand the asphalt roll siding. I always imagine people who use that to have just given up on life and don’t care about their neighborhood.

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  15. No ideas on the kitchen cabinets? Anyone?

    And it was 9pm Sunday, a few blocks from here.

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  16. Living with the L behind you when you’re just out of college and renting an apartment is one thing; paying $500,000 for it as an adult is another. I wouldn’t want to buy such a property not only because of the noise, but because it would be so difficult to sell. Too many people feel like I do and wouldn’t even consider such a property. Let selling it be someone else’s problem, I say.

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  17. “Living with the L behind you”

    and its on the side of you toooooooooooooo

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  18. “it would be so difficult to sell. Too many people feel like I do and wouldn’t even consider such a property. Let selling it be someone else’s problem, I say.”

    That is exactly what our realtor said to talk us out of the Bissell house.

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  19. How does anybody accept a real estate agent providing such shit photos? How does a real estate agent not feel ashamed for doing their job so poorly? I mean, what’s their commission on the sale of this house… something like $7500, at the minimum? And they can’t be bothered to provide decent photos for the online listings? It’s times like this I think I could get into the field and make a fortune simply by doing the little things to actually help market a home.

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  20. Talking about how difficult it would be to sell with the el reminds me of this home….

    http://cribchatter.com/?p=12890

    It was a nicer home in a better location in my mind and went for about this price. If these owners want to sell that fast, get new pictures and list at $399 maybe?

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  21. Have’t we seen a couple of houses on the El sell near ask? Ie. 2722 N Wilton? http://cribchatter.com/?p=12890

    That sold in a few months at a whopping 1.5% off asking price. It’s all a function of pricing it right, IMO.

    I think it’s humourous that a guy in Highland Park (Dan #2) can’t possibly imagine living at the this Roscoe property. You don’t even live in the same County, so clearly this property/city isn’t for you. LOL

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  22. TB,

    There are a lot of properties in the city I can imagine living in, just not this one. I may live in the burbs now, but I haven’t always and probably won’t forever. Remember, I grew up in the city and probably lived there longer than most of the people on this site.

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  23. Pine trees are nice as they are green all year and can actually help energy costs as they are windbreakers.

    This:

    “The El isn’t a big deal here. Brown Line is less frequent, and quieter than Red Line.”

    Has never been my experience. As groove mentions, the Brown Line has to make turns, it squeals and is just nasty to my ears when it does so.

    But hey, it’s a loud neighborhood. I briefly lived as a kid on Clark right off of Roscoe, it was pretty fun. That’s good if you’re young and restless, not so if you’re a light sleeper.

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  24. Why evergreens? Big Duh!
    The majority of Chicago’s inhabitants are members of Christian churches. In case you haven’t heard, Christians like to put rows of little electric lights on evergreen plants inside their homes and outside on their lawns during December.
    So a house with evergreens might be especially attractive to a buyer of this persuasion.
    But hey – if you want to remove the evergreens or leave them bare while displaying a menorah or Buddah in your window – that’s ok, this is America

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  25. The evergreens tend to look out of place and neglected. that’s all I’m saying. They don’t match the house.

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  26. With the rampant crime it’s worthless. $100K and put some bars on the windows and secure access to the garage. Sure. These prices are over with peeps. Sold for $245K and asking $699K basically 10 years later? Please. Has the neighborhood improved dramatically? I wasn’t here in 1997. Amenities added to justify price increases like that? An oceanfront view added? I didn’t think so either. A new Jamba Juice and Walmart don’t count.

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  27. And P.S. quit complaining about the realtor. That Exit Realty is some low commission, minimal effort internet “broker”. Check ’em out. You get what you pay for. The seller obviously isn’t that motivated or soooo underwater they have no other option.

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  28. I lived next door at 1028 W. Roscoe for 3 years from 1993-1996 and the neighborhood is really no different. The joints at Clark/Roscoe/Sheffield have changed a bit but it’s all the same Lakeview crappola, really.

    And I do agree that this place would be a tough pill to swallow at that price being right next to the L. Or anywhere else, really. We looked at a very nice place at 2124 Eastwood that sold for $520. I might have been OK with it since the finishes were about 1000% nicer than this dump but the L was still a deal killer. It was pretty annoying waking up in summer with windows open to the L screeching around that turn and I didn’t want to deal with it for what would probably be 10-15 years at least.

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  29. My guess is that both bad original pricing and lack of staging played a part. Lots of homeowners believe that their home is worth what it was 10 years ago. Don’t know of the condition of the house, but I’ll bet less than $5000 work would have resulted in a sale. Remove wallpaper, paint, get rid of clutter–it works. Do the math. The right staging is always win-win.

    T.S….Cabinet refacing? If you want new doors for old cabinets, I’d highly recommend Kitchen Tune-Up on Diversey. They offer great products, are honest, and exacting in their work. They may also refurbish cabinets, but if not, please contact me for other names. amy@naturalorderstaging.com

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