5 Years Later, This East Village 2-Bedroom Tries Again: 823 N. Winchester

823 n winchester approved

This top-floor 2-bedroom at 823 N. Winchester in the East Village just came on the market.

For those long time readers, this unit may look familiar because we last chattered about it in 2010.

See our 2010 chatter here.

The building was built in 1908 and this unit still has many of its vintage features.

It has original built-in hutches, a stained glass window and original moldings.

It also has a skylight and unique exposed brick.

The kitchen has maple cabinets, granite counter tops and stainless steel appliances.

The unit has the features buyers look for including central air, washer/dryer in the unit and garage parking.

It also has a deck off the back and a 10×9 walk in closet, which is rare in a vintage unit.

In 2010, it was originally listed at $350,000 but never found a buyer.

Five years later, it has come back on the market at the price of just $315,000.

Will the improved market and a lower price equal a quick sale this time around?

Ron Knoll at @Properties has the listing again. See the pictures here.

Unit #3: 2 bedrooms, 1 bath, no square footage listed

  • Sold in October 2003 for $272,000
  • Originally listed in April 2010 for $350,000
  • Withdrawn in December 2011
  • Currently listed at $315,000
  • Assessments of $104 a month (they were also $104 a month in 2010)
  • Taxes now $4362 (they were $3372 in 2010)
  • Central Air
  • Washer/Dryer in the unit
  • Garage Parking included
  • Bedroom #1: 15×11
  • Bedroom #2: 11×8

41 Responses to “5 Years Later, This East Village 2-Bedroom Tries Again: 823 N. Winchester”

  1. Another good job report. Everything is humming.

    Mortgage rates are rising with the 10-year at 2015 highs but still near historic lows and lower than a year ago.

    Perfect housing market conditions.

    If you want to sell, no better time than right now.

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  2. “If you want to sell, no better time than right now.”

    That’s what you said last year.

    Let me ask you this: If it is a great time to sell, doesn’t that make it a terrible time to buy?

    Or if its a great time to buy, isn’t it a terrible time to sell?

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  3. “If you want to sell, no better time than right now.”
    With a good employment number, wouldn’t it be better to hold and sell next year?

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  4. It’s a good time to sell if you’re ready to list at a reasonable price, instead of listing at 30% over fair market value, then having your realtor de-list and re-list every day for two months, or throw in whopping $500 price cuts every week to manipulate search result parameters.

    I digress and exaggerate, but that BS has got to stop. Seems like every realtor is doing it.

    This property is nice, although a good chunk of square footage is wasted on the walk in closet. Would much rather have a reasonable sized closet and a larger living room or less cramped 2nd bedroom.

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  5. I can’t fathom living in a place with only one bathroom. What if one of the toilets breaks? One of my toilets broke recently and I can’t imagine what I would have done if I didn’t have that second toilet.

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  6. “One of my toilets broke recently and I can’t imagine what I would have done if I didn’t have that second toilet.”

    Oh, I dunno. Get it fixed? Do you have 2 refrigerators too?

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  7. When you’ve got to go, you’ve got to go…

    When you’re hungry, you can order food.

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  8. The older I get the more I agree with Jenny’s essential 1:1 person/bedroom to toilet ratio. I’m sick of sharing a bathroom. I basically see 2/1’s like this (where the 2nd bedroom can barely fit a queen bed), as oversized 1bedrooms + den. When you’re done living with roommates, this is what they are in a practical sense.

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  9. “One of my toilets broke recently and I can’t imagine what I would have done if I didn’t have that second toilet.”

    Its a toilet. There’s not much to it, fix it. If all else fails, remove it and s**t in the hole.

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  10. How often do toilets break? Also worst case you check into a hotel room for a day.
    I cannot see this being a major issue at all.

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  11. BTW, I find a broken furnace in such a cold weather a much bigger hassle. Do you buy homes with two furnaces too?

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  12. OT: but worth reading

    “Unlike the booming rental market, it’s early innings in the condo cycle. Belgravia Group president and CEO Alan Lev”

    https://www.bisnow.com/chicago/news/multifamily/alan-levs-condo-market-outlook-43633

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  13. Well i’d trust the opinion of a guy who is actually ponying up his own shell company’s dough to make things happen around town

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  14. The need to use a toilet is a desperate and sudden need sometimes. Let’s say you have food poisoning and the toilet breaks, then what? If the furnace goes out, it’s not as desperate of a situation. You can go to a friend’s house or check into a hotel. Doing those things takes time…time you don’t have if your toilet breaks and you have food poisoning!

    I guess I don’t understand why anyone would buy a one bathroom home unless it was dirt cheap.

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  15. …and one of my toilets broke recently. Something in the tank broke. Frankly, I’m freaked out at dealing with anything toilet related so I had a friend come over and tell me what was wrong and fix it.

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  16. Laura Louzader on March 6th, 2015 at 3:48 pm

    Toilet issues freak me out, too. That is the bad thing about a one bath condo, and why I have 3 reliable repair concierges I can call to run over here when something happens.

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  17. “repair concierges”?

    lmao! OK…

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  18. My wife and I share a single toilet. It hasn’t really been an issue.

    What is the intersection of the chances that your toilet breaks while you have explosive diarrhea? Sure toilets break; sure diarrhea happens; but how likely is it that they will happen at the same time?

    Toilets are actually fairly simple devices. You can replace the entire internals workings of a toilet for <$30 in less than an hour. Also, they work on gravity, so even if your toilet stops flushing you can dump a bucket of water in the toilet to flush. Clogging is the only real show stopper.

    Multiple people with stuff flying out of both ends is a much bigger deal than a toilet that stops working.

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  19. “and why I have 3 reliable repair concierges I can call to run over here when something happens.”

    Do you have a plumber on retainer?

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  20. Why do so many people ruin these beautiful old homes by exposing the brick?

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  21. The East Village is my favorite neighborhood – just stay West of Avenue B.

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  22. Contingent already. Things seem to be moving fairly quickly this spring…

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  23. gringozecarioca on March 8th, 2015 at 2:31 pm

    ” Let’s say you have food poisoning and the toilet breaks, then what?”

    Timely subject since I am recovering from food poisoning from 2 days ago. The ways stuff was coming out, horrible as it might sound, the shower was probably the safest place. At one point I crawled into the shower because I was sweating so badly I thought I was about to faint.
    How the hell does days of food liquify so fast??

    ..and if you can’t fix a damn toilet!!! not exactly a rube goldberg device.

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  24. Laura Louzader on March 8th, 2015 at 7:11 pm

    I don’t keep them on retainer, that’s why I have 3 good guys I can call. If one’s out of town or something, another can come running if something crops up on Sunday afternoon. They are all three competent and very reasonable for small plumbing and electrical repairs.

    I have compiled an entire list of people to do jobs large and small, from clogged plumbing to roof tear-offs- people with good reps and decent rates.

    Needless to say, I am EXTREMELY careful how I treat my plumbing. Nothing goes down a drain around here that doesn’t absolutely have to. I have found that it is a good idea to have all your drains “snaked” as a matter of course every year or so.

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  25. Laura Louzader on March 8th, 2015 at 7:14 pm

    Can add that I don’t understand why so many people replace the durable, reliable old Sloan valve type appliances in fine old vintage apartments with cheap junk tank commodes. I never ever had a problem with a Sloan valve installation, but the new tank commodes are horrible.

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  26. This property is now marked as contingent on Redfin.

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  27. “With a good employment number, wouldn’t it be better to hold and sell next year?”

    Depends on what the mortgage rates are going to be, right? They are already back to 4%.

    All the experts predicted the rates would go even LOWER this year (to a record low) so that probably means they’re going to higher instead.

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  28. “Let me ask you this: If it is a great time to sell, doesn’t that make it a terrible time to buy?”

    Normally, yes, because that would be the 2013 market.

    But, alas, so far in 2015 prices aren’t rising.

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  29. “But, alas, so far in 2015 prices aren’t rising”

    It’s still early, but the stuff I am looking at is higher than last year.

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  30. “I don’t understand why so many people replace the durable, reliable old Sloan valve type appliances in fine old vintage apartments with cheap junk tank commodes”

    Because fixing everything in a tank is something I could teach you to do in about an hour?? Turns a “need a plumber” thing into easy DIY.

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  31. I hope you are feeling better Gringo!

    What does everyone think of the open bathroom concept? I find this trend horrifying: http://therealdeal.com/blog/2014/08/17/open-concept-homes-for-millionaires-who-dislike-privacy/

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  32. Jenny, indeed that is the most horrifying thing I have seen in a long time.

    lol who the fuck would want a home like that, even if you’re a single person, you have someone over for a one night stand or something and… just ewww

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  33. Those bathrooms are clearly just master suites and there are other fully enclosed bathrooms elsewhere in the house. If you are married and already use the bathroom in front of your significant other, this is no big deal. I agree that this concept is horrifying outside of that context.

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  34. *if* those bathrooms had the toilet in a ‘closet’, then all would be fine.

    I think the bathtub in the middle of the room is weird, but not so weird.

    But the toilet facing the bedroom (thru a glass wall or just open) is too weird, *and* wth do you do about the ventilation? Are you really going to try to turn over the air volume of the entire space with an exhaust fan(s)??

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  35. I wonder how prisoners handle having to use the toilet in front of another person in such close quarters.

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  36. I remember going to Fort McCoy as a kid and they had open crappers there. Like 8 or so in one room with no walls. Was not a fun weekend thats for sure lol!

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  37. gringozecarioca on March 9th, 2015 at 10:07 pm

    “I hope you are feeling better Gringo!”

    Thanks Jenny… Much better…. and welcome back!

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  38. I don’t mind the bath tub. We had that in a few hotels and I liked soaking in and reading a book and talking to my significant other occasionally. But the toilet out in the open is dreadful to me.
    We once stayed in Yotel in an airport terminal and I went out to the public bathroom instead of using the one in the room which was behind a glass door.
    I think some folks are not sensitive and don’t mind going in front of others in which case it is ok. Actually less hang ups one has, the better. I hope in my old age my vanity would diminish 🙂 I don’t even like putting on my clothes in front of others as I look silly in some angles.

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  39. Norman Bates Mother on March 10th, 2015 at 1:05 pm

    WTF, “repair concierges?” Whilst though waits for the fixing of le toilette, dost thou cramp and groan, or drop a dignified duece for the cleaning concierge to remove?

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  40. “If you are married and already use the bathroom in front of your significant other, this is no big deal.”

    Um, WHAT?! Talk about married people just letting it all go!

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  41. When it comes to evacuating in front of my girlfriend, the rule to which I abide is:

    If it’s yellow, I’m mellow. If it’s brown, get the hell out of town.

    (Gotta love real estate blogs, right folks?)

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