2-Bedroom Vintage Treasure with 2 WBFPs for $484,900 in East Lakeview: 523 W. Belmont
This 2-bedroom in a vintage walk-up at 523 W. Belmont in East Lakeview came on the market in October 2025.
Built in 1904, 523 W. Belmont has 6 units. There is no parking with the building.
It has a common courtyard with shared tables, a grill and a pond.
The listing calls this unit a “vintage treasure” with “classic charm.”
It has some of its vintage features including crown molding in the living room, 2 wood burning fireplaces, wood paneling and built-in cabinetry in the dining room.
There’s a bay window in the living room which flows into a den which could be closed off to become a third bedroom. It has a window.
The first of the wood burning fireplaces is in the living room.
There’s an entry foyer.
The kitchen is open to the dining room, which has wood paneling, the second wood burning fireplace and wood cabinetry.
The kitchen has white cabinets, stainless steel appliances and a peninsula which looks like you could have stools.
There’s a door in the kitchen which leads to a private deck overlooking the courtyard.
The listing says both bathrooms have been “tastefully updated.”
It has some of the features buyers look for including washer/dryer in the unit. It doesn’t have central air, but it has window units. There’s no parking.
This building is near the shops and restaurants on Broadway and Belmont and several bus lines. You can walk to Wrigley Field without being so close as to be annoyed by the people and noise.
Listed at $484,900, that’s $144,900 above the 2020 purchase price of $340,000.
Are we at a new price point for 2-bedroom condos in Lakeview?
Alex Tzallas at Re/Max 10 Lincoln Park has the listing. See the pictures here.
Unit #2E: 2 bedrooms, 1.5 baths, 1400 square feet
- Sold in May 1997 for $166,500
- Sold in December 2002 for $285,000
- Sold in March 2016 for $325,000
- Sold in August 2020 for $340,000
- Currently listed at $484,900
- Assessments of $662 a month (includes heat, exterior maintenance, scavenger)
- Taxes of $7748
- No central air but window units
- Washer/dryer in the unit
- No parking
- 2 wood burning fireplaces
- Bedroom #1: 12×12
- Bedroom #2: 12×12
- Den: 10×10
- Kitchen: 17×11
- Living room: 20×12
- Foyer: 12×6
- Dining room: 17×13
- Laundry room: 5×7
- Deck: 11×7
I hate when sellers/realators claim updates when done by the previous owners (the one bathroom is 8+ years old)
Nice place with lots of room. Price seems aspirational
Would be a lot nicer if the kitchen were coherently designed.
I understand and appreciate the ease and simplicity of the curtain in front of the laundry, but it sucks, especially in that prominent location.
“den makes an ideal home office or can easily serve as a third bedroom”
“easily”? No closet, 8′-wide open passage into the space…doesn’t sound like an “easy” BR conversion.
Both the bathrooms give me a headache. The poorly done tile replacement from the shower valve work makes it that much worse.
Replace the window a/c with spacepac or some minisplits would be a big improvement, too–not enough light coming in normally to give that much of it up with teh window units.
I totally agree. Spend the ~10k USD to do the Spacepac.
and at this price point maybe DIY and redo the bathroom tile. or heck just take out the tile around the tub and paint.
honest question: Do people really stay in places like this for more than a few years? I understand that young people or single people buy places like this thinking that they will live there forever or at least 10-15 years – but that never happens…..
these city places trade every couple of years – and idiots who buy them (like me) lose so much money
so why do people keep buying these small/smallish places? It would be so much smarter to rent…..
honest question: Do people really stay in places like this for more than a few years? I understand that young people or single people buy places like this thinking that they will live there forever or at least 10-15 years – but that never happens…..
these city places trade every couple of years – and people who buy them (like me) lose so much money
so why do people keep buying these small/smallish places? It would be so much smarter to rent…..
“so much smarter to rent”
This particular unit shows a 50% chance of making ~$100k (nominal) in 5 years of ownership.
If the ’02 buyer probably would have sold in 07, might have also been up $100k.
The anecdata plus marketing plus tax policy says “buying makes sense”.
A repeat of the GFC effect on housing may scare a lot of folks, of course.
“A repeat of the GFC effect on housing may scare a lot of folks, of course.”
We will all be dead when this happens again in Chicago. We aren’t building enough to meet demand.
In some other cities, home prices will come down but we will need a lot more foreclosures to get the 40% to 60% price declines we saw from 2008-2012. You need bank ownership to get those prices down.
“honest question: Do people really stay in places like this for more than a few years? I understand that young people or single people buy places like this thinking that they will live there forever or at least 10-15 years – but that never happens…..”
It depends. Having operated this site for 17 years, I have seen it all in terms of length of time people stay.
A 2/1 usually is about 5 years and then they want to move somewhere else. Over the last 20 years in Chicago, it has been tough to make money in the 5 year time period unless you were in certain neighborhoods like the West Loop.
But now, with inventories low, your odds are better at making money, even if just 5 years.
However, I would still tell people that they should expect to live there for 10 years.
“I hate when sellers/realators claim updates when done by the previous owners (the one bathroom is 8+ years old)”
Agreed JohnnyU. I feel like some agents just take the old listing and put it up again. Many listings are identical to the previous listing, even if it was 5 years before. It’s lazy.
I’m not saying that’s what this agent did, however. But they usually take the “renovated” or “updated” language from the last listing and put it into the new one.
But when does the “update” get old and is no longer an actual “update”? Is it 5 years? 10 years? I feel like you can only say it is “updated” if you did the work within the last 5 years.
“But now, with inventories low,”
…and with 25% aggregate inflation in the past 5 years…
“your odds are better at making money, even if just 5 years.”
If you didn’t overpay in 2020, you should be able to sell almost anything for a nominal dollar gain. But then you have to live someplace else that is also at least 25% more expensive than it was 5 years ago.
“when does the “update” get old and is no longer an actual “update””
When it was done by the prior owner, or ~5 years.
“If you didn’t overpay in 2020, you should be able to sell almost anything for a nominal dollar gain. But then you have to live someplace else that is also at least 25% more expensive than it was 5 years ago.”
Not if you’re leaving Chicago. Your money will go far in Austin, Seattle, Charlotte.
“Austin, Seattle, Charlotte”
Why do I have a Sesame Street song running through my head?
Can someone help me out?
“Not if you’re leaving Chicago. Your money will go far in Austin, Seattle, Charlotte.”
Your Chicago money isn’t going far at all in Seattle. In Seattle you pay an enormous premium to live among leftist white people and drug addicts (that follow leftist whites around because they know they will get more handouts).
“Your Chicago money isn’t going far at all in Seattle. In Seattle you pay an enormous premium to live among leftist white people and drug addicts (that follow leftist whites around because they know they will get more handouts).”
Seattle prices seem similar to Chicago. $800,000 for 2/2s. $1 million for even a smallish house. It’s not as expensive as San Francisco or Los Angeles. More inventory than Chicago. A lot more price reductions. If you bought in the last 3 years, you may be underwater depending on the neighborhood.
Still available, now at $474,900