What It Takes to Sell Quickly: 5812 N. Magnolia
There are some lovely vintage properties in the Edgewater and Andersonville neighborhoods.
5812 N. Magnolia in the Magnolia Glen neighborhood of Edgewater is one of those properties.
It was built in 1912, has a dining room and a sunroom, as well as parking and outdoor space.
I doubt we’ll be talking about how long this unit stayed on the market because it is under contract after only 30 days on the market.
Some properties are obviously still selling quickly.
Unit #2: 3 bedrooms, 1.5 baths, dining room, sun room, 1550 square feet
- I couldn’t find a prior sales price- but it looks like the building was converted in 2005
- Currently listed for $429,900 (parking included)
- Assessments of $145 a month
- Taxes of $3970
- Central air
- @Properties has the listing
I am still trying to learn the neighborhoods of Chicago, but does Edgewater extend north of Hollywood Avenue? My other question is regarding this neighborhood itself. There is some great architecture up there, but I have a friend who bought near this listing who has a deeded outdoor parking space out back near the alley and has had his car broken into twice already, as well as a problem one night walking his dog. I think if he had a chance to rewind the clock, he would have stayed in his smaller unit in Lincoln Park.
as well as a problem one night walking his dog.
What kind of “problem?
The neighborhood is called Edgewater Glen, and I lived on this block ten years ago for five years, and still have friends living near by. It’s not family-oriented Lakewood-Balmoral, but ok for “young urban professionals” who can endure a certain amount of street activity. Senn is just west of this location, and the kids riding in on the El walk thru (litter & yell) twice daily. Also, despite significant gentrification and condo-ization, there are still a number of neglected properties and street muggings.
This unit is not a bargain for the neighborhood.
That place is gorgeous.
For me, the biggest problems is that it doesn’t have two full baths.
Well, It is three bedroom. And it is huge. There are alot of us YUPS living up there. The hood is getting better. And I am telling you, you just ignore those people or walk right past them and look mean and they leave you alone! 😉
“what kind of problem”.
O.K. The first problem was solved by his not leaving anything inside the car at night. Even an empty cd case, or sweater.
The second problem was some young guys who followed him yelling at him, calling him names, and becoming more threatening and throwing a bottle and rocks. (They thought he was gay, which is news to his girlfriend) The dog is a golden retreiver, which make great pets, but bad watch dogs. The dog thought they wanted to play when things were thrown.
I am not saying the neighborhood is more dangerous than most, but he never had any problems in Lincoln Park, nor have I.
I live in Lincoln Park and am thinking very seriously about moving to Edgewater. The “douchebag factor” in Lincoln Park has become intolerable, and Edgewater gets my vote for the coolest neighborhood in Chicago. Beautiful buildings (although still-ongoing condo construction on Broadway is worrisome); a great mix of people agewise; two Cheetah gyms; more, better, and cheaper ethnic restaurants than LP; mostly uncrowded beaches; Asian produce markets; the Red Line “L.” The express bus on Sheridan/Lake Shore gets a person down to the Loop in, like, 19 minutes. The neighborhood is also mostly very safe; the little bit of dope-slinging seems to mainly be confined to the Winthrop-Kenmore corridor. Hurry up, my current lease, run out!
Lincoln Park would be much more livable if they could just put a dome over DePaul to keep the monkeys in.
Edgewater is an awesome neighborhood for many reasons, but as the posts above have insinuated, it definitely varies pretty widely block-by-block in terms of safety, demographics, etc. So it’s worth investigating pretty thoroughly before investing a good deal of money in a property.
I would NEVER pay over 400K for a place in Edgewater without two full baths. I can’t imagine why anyone would when you have so many options at this price point in safer neighborhoods around the city. I’m just your typical skinny, white gay guy with glasses and I’m a magnet for trouble whenever a group of punk kids see me on the train or pass me on the street which is why I refuse to pay 400 grand to live in a neighborhood like Edgewater. As much as I’d like to do my gay duty and fix up a dump in a “transitional” ‘hood, I refuse to live in an area where I have to be nervous about walking my dog or walking home from the train late at night. It sucks to hear about kids harassing other people, but it’s also a bit of a relief to know that it’s not just me. I’ll take LP douchebags over punk kids who want to mug you and/or beat the crap out of you any day. This is why my next place is going to be in the heart of boystown. At least there I know some big leather daddies will come to my defense if someone tries to gay bash me on Halsted.
I may be making this up, but Edgewater as a whole seems very gay friendly. I mean, Andersonville? Hollywood Beach? I think a gay guy is just as likely to be picked on by the cargo-shorts-and-backwards-baseball-cap set that dominates Lincoln Park as he is by some random moron in Edgewater.
The listing here may be overpriced, but Edgewater does seem to have a stock of homes that haven’t had the charm and interest rehabbed out of them…
Mitch – the Big Ten frat network in LP needs the dome, especially when compared to the DePaul “monkeys.” 😉
How does this sale compare to other 2/2s or 3/1.5s? Seems like a pretty decent price for the sellers.
Yes, there are a lot of gays in Edgewater. And yes, there are plenty of meathead guys in Lincoln Park who might call me a fag or tell me to go back to Lakeview if they think it’ll make their friends laugh. But there’s a difference in some straight frat guys saying something from their car and then speeding off and some pack of thug kids who wouldn’t think twice about beating the crap out of a guy they think is gay just because he has the nerve to be walking around at night in “their” neighborhood. At least in LP or Lakeview, there aren’t as many problems with gangs of kids loitering and looking for trouble and feeling that this is “their” block or “their” corner and that there aren’t enough yuppies around to stop them from doing whatever they want. I’m not saying I’d never move to Edgewater. I have several friends who live up there and I don’t feel like it’s a war zone or that gay guys are getting lynched daily. I’m just saying I’d never pay close to Lincoln Park prices for real estate in Edgewater. And that goes for any other neighborhood that isn’t Lincoln Park, River North, or Lakeview. An extra 100 square feet or a 5% discount on the price per square foot on a condo isn’t worth it to me.
That’s why we are all now allowed to carry a gun….
Also to note: the local elementary school (Granville/El) is very crowded and not good. I noticed that this unit had kid-sized furniture. I bet the owners are selling their large and truly beautiful condo because they can’t stomach the $12,000/year tuition/child for the local Montessori school. That’s why we sold and moved away, despite a backbreaking renovation we did ourselves. No decent public school, nor playing outdoors unsupervised for the kiddies until they’ve graduated high school. (Besides not being a suitable family neighborhood, it also had few retail choices beyond Dominicks back then – slightly improved now.) Edgewater is a fine example of how Mayor Daley’s administration has failed to serve Chicago’s middle-class constituency who wants to stay in the city but can’t afford the high cost of private school tuition for K-12. Not everyone can win the magnet school lottery…and funny, none of our friends did either!
That is a beautiful house. Too bad the surrounding ghetto would make it an unappealing option for many people, which is why Edgewater houses will NEVER command Lincoln Park prices in any rational real estate market.
Edgewater isn’t a ghetto.
Not sure how Mayor Daley is responsible for anyone’s subjective evaluation of the neighborhood.
M–there is no elementary school named “granville.”
John 2 — perhaps he means a school at the Granville El stop. Hayt and Swift are both 2-3 blocks from there, and are neighborhood schools.
GEEZ!! LEave Mayor Daley out of it and take responsibility for yourselves!
Sorry, just tired of people blaming the Mayor for everything that is wrong in the world.
“blaming the Mayor for everything that is wrong in the world”
Nah, just the continuation of corruption in Chicago and the mess in Cook County government. And everything that springs up from that turgid pool.
Oh, and the situation in Zimbabwe. We can totally blame the Mayor for that, too.
John 2 – this unit’s assigned public school is located on Granville next to the El tracks, as I noted.
M…sorry I figured your “El” was short for “elementary” (school). too many years at CPS has rotted my brain.
M…and, to be accurate, there is no school located at the granville el stop…several blocks away in either direction, but nowhere “at” the el stop. i would recommend a stop at “standees” for a late-night snack at the granville el stop. also, if your into adventure, a beer or two at the “granville anvil” could fit the bill.
Is the Anvil really an adventure? I guess it depends on your point of view.
“it depends on your point of view”
If by “point of view” you mean whether you’d prefer to take a man or woman home with you after a night at the Anvil, then I would say yes.
I have a feeling that connections are necessary to win the lottery for magnet schools. I have a few cards myself that I’ll show when the time is right but I have no guarantee that they’ll work. I guess you could say I have a three of a kind but I don’t know who else has a flush or a full boat, if you know what I mean.
“I have a feeling that connections are necessary to win the lottery for magnet schools.”
Not true, at least at the elementary level. Also hasn’t been true at the HS level, but demand has gone way, way up, so may be becoming true.
Chicago ain’t Lake Webegon, so not every kid is above-average, and the magnet schools aren’t meant for the “typical” kid–which most kids are, notwithstanding what their parents believe, and thus most kids just aren’t going to get in.
But, this is Chicago, so having connections no doubt helps.
Writing from Edgewater, yeah, the prices for a lot of these places are way too high. A friend bought in Edgewater Glen across from Senn a few years back, the area isn’t as bad as some might believe – but I find it depressing for some reason. South of Bryn Mawr (Lakewood-Balmoral) is much better if one likes the areas west of Broadway.
For a real hoot in Edgewater Glen check out the new condos at the corner of Ridge and Glenlake at the stop light. Wow, the lowest floors have balconies only about four or five feet above the sidewalk and traffic! One can only imagine the trash that’ll be tossed up on them by passing street urchins – or worse yet – the ones that will hop on up for an uninvited visit!
The new Disney 2 magnet school has 50% of the slots reserved for neighborhood kids. This is Chicago and being somebody’s somebody helps tremendously. I’d love to see how ‘neighborhood’ is defined and see if the 50% holds true.
“I’d love to see how ‘neighborhood’ is defined and see if the 50% holds true.”
The “Neighborhood” can be found on the CPS GIS. The 50% generally holds, unless there are a LOT of younger sibs of non-neighborhood admitees. It really isn’t as hard as you think, no matter what you’re told, at least at the elementary level. But, yes, having a chinaman is always better.
My oops. I should have said school was located at the Thorndale el stop intersection.