Over Two Years Later and Still Waiting for a Buyer: 919 W. Wisconsin in Lincoln Park

We last chattered about this 3-bedroom fee simple townhouse at 919 W. Wisconsin in Lincoln Park almost exactly a year ago.

See our prior chatter and pictures here.

It has actually been on the market since October 2007.

The property has now been reduced by $315,000.

The house has unique outdoor space with multiple decks and a greenhouse.

It also has central air and parking.

Chaz Walters at Sudler Sotheby’s now has the listing.

See the property website here (warning- music!)

919 W. Wisconsin: 3 bedrooms, 2.5 baths, 3254 square feet, 1 car garage

  • I couldn’t find a prior sales price
  • Originally listed in October 2007 for $1.25 million
  • Reduced several times
  • Was listed in December 2008 at $999,970
  • Reduced several times
  • Currently listed for $935,000
  • Assessment of $218
  • Taxes of $5640
  • Central Air
  • Greenhouse
  • Multiple decks – including a walkway that leads over the walled in garden

38 Responses to “Over Two Years Later and Still Waiting for a Buyer: 919 W. Wisconsin in Lincoln Park”

  1. Bet this would have sold for $950+ if they’d listed it under $1mm in 07.

    Oh, and look, it “magically” shrank by 846 SF. Wonder how that happened?

    0
    0
  2. Torn on this one. It’s got a lot of character, but it also needs a lot of updating. (Parquet floors? Really?) Plus the “semi-finished” basement space is not entirely appealing. I’d go $700k.

    0
    0
  3. this place is weird. there is an entrance in front. (on burling i think) that has nothing to do with the unit.

    0
    0
  4. sorry, on bissell

    0
    0
  5. The entrance to this property is on Wisconsin. The Bissell entrance is to the second unit of this two-unit condo. Remember: this is not a single-family home.

    0
    0
  6. wtf

    0
    0
  7. yeah. its’ wacky. the front unit cant be that deep, makes me wonder why they split them up that way.

    0
    0
  8. It is lovely.

    0
    0
  9. Don’t get me wrong, there are things that I like about this place — the outdoor space is awesome. However, if that is a “full finished basement” then my garage and storage closet are similarly “finished.” I was just reading a blog about this place and the person attended an open house — at 5’2″, there were places downstairs where he head nearly hit the ceiling.

    These pictures are lovely, but I am afraid they might be a bit optimistic. Look at the ones taken here: http://www.chicagonow.com/blogs/rent-or-buy/2009/11/post.html

    There are some finishes in this place that I wouldn’t put in a $200K garden apartment (track lighting, hollywood bathroom lights, that backsplash and “tile” in the kitchen). This one has a ways to drop in my opinion.

    0
    0
  10. Jon said

    “There are some finishes in this place that I wouldn’t put in a $200K garden apartment (track lighting, hollywood bathroom lights, that backsplash and “tile” in the kitchen). This one has a ways to drop in my opinion.”

    What materialistic pigs we all are.

    0
    0
  11. “yeah. its’ wacky. the front unit cant be that deep, makes me wonder why they split them up that way.”

    Also, there are two single-space garage doors visible in one of the photos at the far left (east) end of the building (which would be near the corner of Wisconsin and Fremont, at the alley running parallel with Fremont.) There may be additional garage space accessible from the alley. I think one of the single-space garages belongs to the Bissell unit.

    0
    0
  12. And then Dollface said (about me disguised with “we” presumably):
    “What materialistic pigs we all are.”

    Speak for yourself. There’s nothing materialistic about criticizing the design choices of someone trying to score about a million bucks on their place. Also, I’d have to know the context in which you use materialistic because there are some aspects of materialism that I am 100% in favor of. I work hard, I like nice things, if buying them makes me materialistic then so be it. Does it make me a pig? No. So STFU.

    0
    0
  13. Without an actual paint color on the walls and some serious help from an interior decorator, I think it will sit unsold for a very long time.

    0
    0
  14. “What materialistic pigs we all are.”

    You can add “assholes” to that statement.

    This place is tacky, weird, and looks like an autistic person lived here.

    0
    0
  15. Oh my god, the floors are hideous. I hate parquet almost as much as I hate built-ins.

    That being said, rip out the floors and this place could be AWESOME.

    0
    0
  16. “That being said, rip out the floors and this place could be AWESOME.”

    You’re a fan of the “open” floorplan aren’t you…

    0
    0
  17. My place has cheap track lighting and hollywood bathroom 🙁

    Nothing that $500 can’t fix though…

    0
    0
  18. Not a fan of this place at all. The part I *really* like is the aggressive price reductions lately. What a clever Realtor(TM)!

    Dec 02, 2009 Price Changed $935,000 — MRED #07283652
    Nov 24, 2009 Price Changed $936,000 — MRED #07283652
    Oct 22, 2009 Price Changed $937,000 — MRED #07283652
    Oct 05, 2009 Price Changed $938,000 — MRED #07283652
    Sep 17, 2009 Price Changed $939,000 — MRED #07283652
    Sep 10, 2009 Price Changed $997,000 — MRED #07283652
    Sep 03, 2009 Price Changed $998,000 — MRED #07283652
    Aug 27, 2009 Price Changed $999,000 — MRED #07283652
    Jul 28, 2009 Listed $1,000,000 — MRED #07283652

    0
    0
  19. “My place has cheap track lighting and hollywood bathroom”

    Like this place, but UNLIKE this place it’s probably not on the market for $935K. That was my point – that just as you don’t pimp a garden apartment, you don’t put these things in a [formerly] million dollar listing. But for that common sense approach, I get called a materialist pig [by someone going by the name of Dollface…so there’s that].

    0
    0
  20. @Jon

    Chill out. I believe Dollface said that “we” are all materialistic, not just you. It wasn’t a slam at you, it was just a bit of sarcasm that must have missed it’s point.

    0
    0
  21. Duly chilled. My point was really that it’s not materialistic to insist on million dollar finishes with a [almost] million dollar place. Thanks for interpreting the sarcasm I didn’t see.

    0
    0
  22. “Does it make me a pig? No. So STFU.”

    Dollface likely became a socialist or critical of greed when she realized she wasn’t going to sell her condo and that the entire RE ponzi scheme she was counting on for merely signing her name on a mortgage document wasn’t going to come to fruition.

    Don’t worry about people sidelined by this RE bust: you need to see their stripes before the downturn to truly appreciate their point of view 😀

    0
    0
  23. #
    Bob on December 7th, 2009 at 6:11 pm

    “Does it make me a pig? No. So STFU.”

    Dollface likely became a socialist or critical of greed when she realized she wasn’t going to sell her condo and that the entire RE ponzi scheme she was counting on for merely signing her name on a mortgage document wasn’t going to come to fruition.

    Don’t worry about people sidelined by this RE bust: you need to see their stripes before the downturn to truly appreciate their point of view 😀

    Dear sweet Bob,
    Socialist? You have no idea. I bought in 2002. And I bought a place to live in. I don’t play in the big leagues. Does that make me your bogeyman RE speculator? I thought not.

    0
    0
  24. all of this misplaced anger. why don’t you direct where it ought to be….Chaz

    0
    0
  25. why don’t you direct where it ought to be….Chaz

    Please correct me if I am wrong, but I vaguely remember a billboard of his — “It takes a hot man to sell hot property.” Seriously, if I am wrong, let me know, but I don’t think I made that up.

    0
    0
  26. The vast majority of Chicago condos have track lighting. From the highest of the high end to the lowest of the low.

    0
    0
  27. OMG, what a terrible website.

    0
    0
  28. i think it was: “it takes a lot of cheese to make a cheeseball.”

    0
    0
  29. “all of this misplaced anger. why don’t you direct where it ought to be….Chaz”

    i think it was: “it takes a lot of cheese to make a cheeseball.”

    so funny, chaz jokes have been in style since 1993.

    and I knew when dollface posted her emo rant that Bob would reply with an insult. then they probably got a room at the ohio house that’s the way their love goes.

    0
    0
  30. ““It takes a hot man to sell hot property.” Seriously, if I am wrong, let me know, but I don’t think I made that up.”

    Rings a bell for me, too. The one that really sticks for me is “Selling real estate takes Chaz”.

    And the whole Hot Property brokerage was an obvious double entendre; I’m just not sure if they were in on the joke, or taking it seriously.

    0
    0
  31. I’ve been waiting for this place to show up on CC for a while. I knew it was only a matter of time. My wife and I love the location and the bones of this place aren’t bad, but we thought it would require a TON of work, thereby making the asking price completely unrealistic. The exterior of the building is nice looking. There are two units on the lot, this one represents about 60% of the association. This unit comes with a right of first refusal on the purchase of the other unit and the owner said the owner of the other unit would likely be selling in the next year or two (grain of salt). There is a curb cut on Wisconsin for two garage spots, one for each unit. There is storage above the entire garage that is about 4 feet high and belongs entirely to this unit. A few interesting notes from our visit to the open house:

    1. The owner is very emotionally invested in the buildling – I think he said he’s been there for 30 years and may have been involved in the initial construction. He insisted on walking us through the space and made our whole visit very uncomfortable. He doesn’t realize that all he is doing is encouraging people to get out of there as fast as possible. Where is the realtor telling the owner to go to Starbucks during the open houses? We visited about 2 months ago and we still makes jokes about our visit.

    2. There’s really nice ceiling height on the first and second floors (except the kitchen) and the primary rooms are sized well. As noted by a prior poster, the ceiling height in the basement is maybe 5.5 feet and lower in some places. The owner claimed that a nanny had lived down there for a while – I find that hard to believe or incredibly cruel! I wonder if you could dig it out, if not, the space can really only be used for storage.

    2. The place hasn’t been updated – ever. All the bathrooms need to be completely renovated and the master bath needs to be reconfigured and expanded. The finishes in the kitchen are very dated. The owner claimed that all the finishes in the kitchen were chosen for their soft characteristics because they own VERY expensive stemware (he told us the brand, but it meant nothing to either of us) and they wanted to minimize the chance of breaking a piece. He claimed the kitchen flooring was imported from Italy – it looked like linoleum to me. The hardwood floors all need to be replaced as do most light fixtures. Lastly, this place needs some color – even tan would be better than the stark white.

    3. Depsite being escorted by the owner for a good 10 minutes, I didn’t get a sense as to why they were selling. I’m not sure how motivated they are as evidenced by the small price reductions over the last 12 months.

    4. We didn’t notice any train noise while inside, but I’m sure you’ll hear it loud and clear on the deck.

    My guess is low to mid 800’s, if at all. The owner has so far deomonstrated that they aren’t very motivated. I think you could end up with a $1MM townhome, but you need to spend at least $200K before you get there.

    0
    0
  32. The owner sounds like my father when he sold my grandmother’s place. Walked everyone around and told them stories about every last little item. Good thing it was 2006 and the place sold fast, above list.

    Speaking of selling, I heard a story of a seller buying a second-hand crib and putting it into the 2nd br so as to use newborn as a reason for sale (had no children and was not even married). Urban myth? Hilarious if true.

    0
    0
  33. The parquet is interesting actually. Normally, I hate parquet, but this one fits the character of the space if you get what I mean. It’s not your mother’s parquet. The worst problem is the train and the fact that a smoker has lived her for 30 years. You’ll never get that smell out.

    0
    0
  34. Anon: Unlike many properties in the MLS, this one actually shows the laser size and a site/floor plan on the property website that documents both size measurements.

    Louie, Jon: Just to clarify, the Open House of the Week blog at http://www.chicagonow.com/blogs/rent-or-buy/2009/11/post.html
    referred to one short doorway in the basement. Otherwise it’s big, warm, dry and just look at those great beams. It’s also apparently untaxed according to the MLS.

    Anonymous & Marko: Reading might help your understanding and ability to afford something above a Paris Hilton bathroom or Disco-Decor like parquet, Limoges or the art for this gallery of non-UV day light and studio directional lighting.

    CribChatter & JMM: Thanks for pointing out the 23% …and counting…price reductions on this KEY Award winner. An owner who docs, doubles the LP price discount and stays with the market may make this the deal of the year.

    0
    0
  35. “The listing for this fee simple townhouse/rowhouse at 919 W. Wisconsin in Lincoln Park says “Carpe Diem.””

    They should change it to carpe (insert whatever is the latin word for quarter year).

    I like the place and unlike most others on here the finishes don’t bother me. Things like the outdoor spaces rank much higher in my opinion.

    What I don’t like about this place is the price. For 930k I can get a SFH in the neighborhood. 700k is more like it for this place.

    0
    0
  36. “Anonymous & Marko: Reading might help your understanding and ability to afford something above a Paris Hilton bathroom or Disco-Decor like parquet, Limoges or the art for this gallery of non-UV day light and studio directional lighting.”

    Bwhahaha! Sorry ACT but its clear that either you’re a decimated broker or a decimated owner. Sorry your finances are in the tank but if I were a betting man I’d bet from your snide remark that those things are closer to the rest of the CC audience in terms of affordability than you.

    In fact I might pick one of them up as a human buglight of sorts to keep the likes of your kind away.

    0
    0
  37. Lets play count the square footages:

    http://www.919westwisconsinstreet.com/0.0_Floorplan.jpg

    399sf – lower level main
    225sf – lower level extra room
    630sf – main level main area
    252sf – main level living room
    630sf – upper level main area
    84sf – upper level sunroom

    Total 2,220sf. Ask is at $421/sf. I like outdoor space too but what kills this is at this pricepoint: not large square footage, no SFH, only 3.5 baths and only one parking space. I hope they have fun cleaning up the bird crap off their expansive deck too because they will be lucky to get near ask on this anytime soon and might decide to stay put.

    0
    0
  38. “Anon: Unlike many properties in the MLS, this one actually shows the laser size and a site/floor plan on the property website that documents both size measurements.”

    It documents 4100 SF?

    Oh, right, “total living area”. What’s the “total living area” on a day like today? And why do SFHs not get to count their yard, but condos can count whatever the *&^% they want to?

    0
    0

Leave a Reply