“Completely Renovated” 2-Bedroom Lakeview Loft Reduces Again: 3201 N. Seminary

This 2-bedroom duplex up loft in the Lakeview Lofts at 3201 N. Seminary in Lakeview came on the market in July 2018.

We chattered about it last year when it first came on the market and again in January 2019 when it was still listed and had only been reduced $4,100.

If you recall, this loft was completely renovated. Many of you liked the changes that were made but we debated the renovation and what value the improvements brought to the property.

See our prior chatter here.

As a reminder, the Lakeview Lofts were converted into condos in 1992, making them among the older of the loft conversions.

It has 20 units and parking (the listing doesn’t say it’s a garage, just that it’s “onsite.” I think it’s in an adjacent outdoor lot.)

This loft has authentic loft features including 34 foot ceilings, exposed brick walls and timber ceilings and oversized windows.

The listing says the loft has been “completely renovated” and that includes putting in a new kitchen with white cabinets, quartz counter tops, professional grade appliances and a wine fridge along with an island.

The staircase also has been renovated and has a new banister.

The second floor has the two bedrooms and laundry room. One of the bathrooms has a “newly renovated” Grohe bathroom with heated floors.

There is a common rooftop deck.

The loft has all the finishes buyers are looking for including central air, washer/dryer in the unit and the onsite parking.

At 1400 square feet, this loft sold with it’s older 1990s/2000s finishes in 2015 for $395,000.

Originally listed in July 2018 for $579,000 it has now been reduced to $539,000.

Near the Belmont El station and restuarants/bars/Wrigley Field, why isn’t this selling in a market with limited inventory and a hot spring buying season?

Hadley Rue at Dream Town now has the listing. See the pictures here.

Or go to the Open House on Saturday, Apr 20 from 11 to 1 pm.

Unit #209: 2 bedrooms, 2 baths, duplex up, 1400 square feet

  • Sold in September 1992 for $150,000
  • Sold in September 2002 for $325,000
  • Sold in June 2005 for $398,000
  • Sold in March 2010 for $400,000
  • Sold in February 2015 for $395,000
  • Was listed in July 2018 for $579,000 (onsite parking included)
  • Reduced
  • Currently listed at $539,000 (onsite parking included)
  • Assessments are still $318 a month (includes exterior maintenance, lawn care, scavenger, snow removal)
  • Taxes are still $7118
  • Central Air
  • Washer/dryer in the unit
  • Wood burning fireplace
  • Bedroom #1: 14×12 (second floor)
  • Bedroom #2: 12×11 (second floor)
  • Laundry room: 7×10 (second floor)

8 Responses to ““Completely Renovated” 2-Bedroom Lakeview Loft Reduces Again: 3201 N. Seminary”

  1. I wonder what the original listing price was in July of last year? I like the place, but not that location right on Belmont. The “statement wallpaper” in every room could get tiring, but easy to change.

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  2. Ahh getting sick of this place. After the 8th re-list, one would think that if you really wanted to sell it, you’d lower the damn price.

    Zonamiss – according to zillow it was originally listed at 579k. The fact that they are listing it for less AFTER the renovations shows that they had it overpriced all along.

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  3. Generally I like it but the lack of outdoor living space and the fact that the occupant of the second bed has to go downstairs if they need to relieve themselves in the middle of the night (or they can just wake up the occupants of the master bed)make this a 1BR + Den (also because there is no proper space for a home office as noted, the desk is in the other bedroom).

    I feel like for the price this is a toss up with the house on Cleaver from two days ago. This unit is likely quieter and guests would definitely be more comfortable here. This one has better access to rail transit but otherwise I find several locational attributes to be actually quite similar. A 2/2 condo for over half a million in this location is pretty “crack pipe” when you step back. Think of it this way – – if there are 20 units in the building, would you pay $10MM for the building? Probably not, right?

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  4. Also a good lesson here. It is great to renovate your home but unless your business is fixing up homes and selling them, you have to realize you are upgrading for yourself and the likelihood of monetizing every penny you spend is pretty slim. These folks need to adjust their thinking and start pricing to sell, not to recoup what they spent AND make money on top.

    At this price point there are just so many options and now that the place has been on the market for so long, a prospective buyer will have to realize that if they attempt to sell for this price, they too will be looking at a protracted marketing period.

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  5. the owners are going to have to take a small loss on this one… no doubt about it

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  6. “the occupant of the second bed has to go downstairs if they need to relieve themselves in the middle of the night (or they can just wake up the occupants of the master bed)”

    2d floor bath opens on to the hallway.

    I understand why the listing includes a pic of the belmont side of the building, but this unit faces north and east, on to the alley.

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  7. “Originally listed in July 2018 for $579,000” stated right in the post….sorry, I don’t know how I completely slipped over reading it.

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  8. “the likelihood of monetizing every penny you spend is pretty slim”

    My attitude is that money spent upgrading a unit before a sale is for the purpose of increasing desirability and shortening the sale time. You have to decide what that’s worth, because many improvements will probably not increase the market price at all.

    If it had a bathroom before, and now it’s got a better bathroom, it’s not a big thing. The potential buyers aren’t going to appreciate the change because they never saw the “before” bathroom.

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