Short Sale Alert: Big Space, Small Price in River West: 875 N. Milwaukee

This 3-bedroom duplex unit at 875 N. Milwaukee in River West is larger than many single family homes in this neighborhood.

At 2200 square feet, it has one bedroom on the main level and two bedrooms on the second floor.

The listing says it faces quieter Racine and has 2 decks.

The kitchen has granite counter tops and stainless steel appliances.

There is also a unique 22-foot atrium ceiling in the living area and master bedroom.

On and off the market since August 2008, the unit is now a short sale.

It is listed $20,000 under the 2003 purchase price.

Is this a steal?

Janis Northon at Prudential Rubloff has the listing. See the pictures here.

Unit #2-3E: 3 bedrooms, 2.5 baths, 2200 square feet, 1 car parking

  • Sold in October 2003 for $395,000
  • Originally listed in March 2008
  • Withdrawn
  • Listed in May 2010 for $474,900
  • Reduced several times
  • Currently listed as a “short sale” at $375,000
  • Assessment of $218 a month
  • Taxes of $8197
  • Central Air
  • Washer/Dryer in the unit
  • Bedroom #1: 23×12 (main level)
  • Bedroom #2: 16×12 (second level)
  • Bedroom #3: 19×12 (second level)

34 Responses to “Short Sale Alert: Big Space, Small Price in River West: 875 N. Milwaukee”

  1. Idiot agent (or agent’s assistant) mis-spelled the word “quiet” with “quite”

    one of my biggest pet peeves! FFS USE A SPELL CHECKER IF YOU SUCK THAT BAD AT SPELLING!

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  2. i like it from the pictures, but i think the building has horrible curb appeal and i am not so sure about being sandwiched between the highway and the train tracks. i would have to see the street view in person, not just on google maps.
    my gut reaction though is that it should move at that price. nice sized kitchen and bath – love the tall ceilings too.

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  3. Sonies – Spell checker wouldn’t catch quite as it is still a word, but I totally agree…..read what you write before you hit save!! How hard is that?

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  4. This seems like an AWESOME deal (if it is accepted by the bank!!! Although the area does not have a cozy/warm neighborhood feel, it is extremely convenient to get almost anywhere in the city/burbs – with a car (as it is right next to the Kennedy and the streets in that area are rarely crowded).

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  5. I’d buy it

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  6. Good value IMHO.

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  7. I saw this unit last week. The kitchen feels very small and cave-like. The bathrooms are small as well, two of which are up the stairs, so the only one on the main floor is through the master. Theres a ton of wasted space at the foyer too. On the other hand the bedrooms are all large and there’s good closet space. The building looks much better in person then in pictures. The price is good, but there were too many design flaws so it wasn’t right for us.

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  8. @whitecity
    -Try the ‘birds eye’ view on Bing. Its helpful to get a perspective of the building and surroundings.

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  9. Yikes, look at those taxes

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  10. I don’t like the high taxes but this is priced well and the assessments are in line. This should be under contract before the end of summer.

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  11. Location is kind of a no-man’s land, but it does have proximity to Blue Line, which is ok. Not sure I’d want to be huffing down car and train fumes all day.

    What it lacks in location it definitely makes up for in space and layout. Really nice looking place, price is pretty good. Taxes are killer but might be appealable.

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  12. some seriuos space for price, but to me i dont feel “connected” to the place. it vibes dullness or blandness i cant put my finger on it

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  13. The pottery barn look is getting really worn. I’d say that it is time for more places from IKEA, CB2, and for the high end DWR or Linge Roset (sp).

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  14. 375k is not a low price by any means though I do like all the Natty light (no pun intended).

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  15. I think this price is pretty low for the space, finishes, and the location isn’t terrible. I think they will get a lot of offers at this price…i just dont know if the banks will accept below $400.

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  16. That looks like a very good price to me. The area isn’t the best, but it’s very convenient.

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  17. I love this place with the exception that all of the square footage is in the bedrooms. I can understand the big master, but who cares if your kids (or roommates) have big bedrooms!!!

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  18. “who cares if your kids (or roommates) have big bedrooms!!!”

    Give them a place to keep their cra.., uh, I mean stuff.

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  19. the metal sculpture on the top front of the place was freaking me out a little.not thats it’s ugly or anything….and it would be nice if you had guests who wanted to park their helicopter.

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  20. Wow, no crib picture? Someone pinch me.

    Taxes are high… what schools in that area demand that? Curious to see what the ‘parking’ is too.

    Otherwise, nice place for a decent price.

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  21. “Taxes are high… what schools in that area demand that?”

    No variation in school-related taxes within city of Chicago–someone point out the one exception, if I missed something.

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  22. Overall, it seems to be a nice place..kitchen especially.
    Great to see bedrooms that are not 10X8 or some other ridiculous size. With 3bdrms, one could be used as a media room (mstr) and the others for sleeping. At 2200 sq ft, this is a good value.
    I found it weird, in a good way (for someone) that there are so many ‘unique’ buildings on both Milwaukee and Ashland. Now if the low rent businesses would improve the look of their storefronts, the sales of units listed would greatly improve.
    I was really impressed with this one building in particular on Ashland near Milwaukee. There was a unit that seemed to be three story open plan…very modern, but like the other places we saw on these two streets, they were the exception to the rule and stood out like sore thumbs.
    I am all for all types of urban living, but I do appreciate it when business owners take a little more pride in the appearance of their storefronts. These two areas do have a lot of potential..just clean it up!!

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  23. A couple of other points:
    Since short sales are very difficult to capture without actually upping your bid to near asking price (before resorting to short sale pricing) why are so many of them featured here on CC? I placed bids on three short sales and only recently received word on them…almost a year after moving out of Chicago. For a person residing in the city, it is not fair to feature them here as the chances of actually obtaining one of them is VERY slim.
    Secondly….PLEASE owners do stay away from IKEA!! Nothing but throw away junk. I have come across cabs from Home Depot/Lowes that are of higher quality and appearance than their trash. We just took on a small project in Brooklyn where the wife was adamant about using nothing but cabs from IKEA. It took over a week of persuading them to go with another cab manufacturer. While they might do for a temp fix, I have seen too many crappy items to even consider using them….even for college rental units.

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  24. I agree that Ikea quality does stink. What I like is the more modern design appeal!

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  25. Westloop,

    bro ikea is pimptacular, but only the low end stuff. and when you are taking kitchens, we almost went with it until i saw some of the “quality connections” that would provide the support. to me it just didnt seem if i needed to stand on the counter to replace a light or clean (assuming i am to lazy to get the ladder) that the joints would hold my weight.

    but like i always say you can mix bottom end ikea and target stuff with higher end to get a great look and saving cash.

    but i have no daily use experience with the kitchens so maybe someone else has?

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  26. Theres nothing wrong with ikea stuff, just use a little extra gorilla glue on some connection areas and they are pretty solid… (hell I just spent $700 on a crapton of cabinets, bookshelves and dressers and they look really nice!) better than buying harlem or HOBO furniture for the same price. Yeah it would be nice to be able to afford solid wood furniture from wherever but its just too costly sometimes for something modern

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  27. “Is this a steal?”

    Whoever got this place for $326K DEFINITELY stole it.
    http://www.redfin.com/IL/Chicago/875-N-Milwaukee-Ave-60642/unit-2-3E/home/12696730

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  28. sounds real. Look at the price spiral down. Something is not that great about the place if they had to reduce it so many times to get it off their hands, but yup theoretically sounds like a steal.

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  29. that is a good deal, perhaps sold to a relative?

    I have a friend at chicago and racine and the area while gritty is nice

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  30. Wow nice deal. I’m jealous, although the train fumes would have made this a no-go for me.

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  31. the Dan Ryan is closer than the train tracks… I didn’t even know there were tracks near here, I would say they are a non issue

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  32. Did you guys notice that it was a short sale? I just saw that.

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  33. “Whoever got this place for $326K DEFINITELY stole it.”

    Or maybe you’re anchored to bubble pricing which we’re increasingly getting away from.

    Everyone on here that said you’d buy it at short sale ask of 375k, one quick question: why didn’t you?

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  34. Nice looking place, overlooking the highway. Too close even for me.

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