2 Years Later, Luxury New Construction 5-Bedroom SFH Reduces Again: 3251 N. Lakewood
We last chattered about this new construction 5-bedroom single family home at 3251 N. Lakewood in Lakeview in December 2010.
See our prior chatter here.
In December, many of you loved Jennifer Ames’ pictures of the property but thought it was overpriced above $2 million.
Since that last chatter, it has been reduced another $130,000 and is now listed under $2 million at $1.995 million.
The brick and limestone house was built in 2009 on a standard 25×125 Chicago lot.
The listing says it has an extra wide 20 foot interior.
4 bedrooms are on the second floor with the 5th in the lower level.
It has luxury finishes including millwork, moldings and a mahogany library.
The house has a 2-tiered deck and a 2-car garage.
Will this new price finally make the sale?
Jennifer Ames at Coldwell Banker still has the listing. See the pictures here.
Or you can see it in person at the Open House on Sunday July 10 from 1-3 PM.
3251 N. Lakewood: 5 bedrooms, 4.5 baths, 5200 square feet, 2 car garage
- Sold in March 2006 for $695,000 (the prior house which was torn down)
- Originally listed in April 2009 for $2.38 million
- Reduced several times
- Was listed in December 2010 for $2.125 million
- Reduced
- Currently listed for $1.995 million
- Taxes of $6040
- Central Air
- Bedroom #1: 20×15 (second floor)
- Bedroom #2: 14×11 (second floor)
- Bedroom #3: 11×14 (second floor)
- Bedroom #4: 11×10 (second floor)
- Bedroom #5: 11×14 (lower level)
pictures all look airbrushed
Although the exterior is a dime a dozen, the interior is actually quite lovely. I like how you come in a floor below the living room.
Negatives: Too close to Belmont. I’d like to be closer to Addison if I’m living in the Southport corridor. Price seems a bit high, but definitely could go for over $1.5 million.
I think the 2006 purchase price ($700k for the standard lot) is outrageous for this neighborhood.
This builder is going to take a brazilian haircut. Regardless of the quality of the new construction, who has $2M to buy a house in the Southport neighborhood?
Major eff-up by the developer. Both for the 2006 peak bubble tear-down purchase, and the subsequent overbuild for the neighborhood.
agree with comments above – seems overdone for the area, but the builder probably doesn’t have a lot of room to move on this. A bit south and it would fit in nicely on Lill, west of Sheffield – maybe like this one which is that area, albeit on Racine:
http://www.redfin.com/IL/Chicago/2447-N-Racine-Ave-60614/home/13360118
But there’s no grass for the kiddies! No lawn for the doggies!
This developer needs to get a real job and stop speculating in real estate. It’s 2011 not 2006 anymore.
Are the photos all HDRed? Somewhat tastefully, I guess.
Looks like a 1.575M mortgage.
other then the master bath, all of the other bathrooms look really cheap, especially for a 2M house.
“This builder is going to take a brazilian haircut. Regardless of the quality of the new construction, who has $2M to buy a house in the Southport neighborhood?”
Havent you seen the stock market this week?! The bull market is back bitchez! The wealth effect is gonna convince everyone to own a home! Weeeeeeeeeee
“agree with comments above – seems overdone for the area”
Really? If it sells at current ask before year end, it will not be the most expensive sale of 2011 in the immediate area:
http://www.redfin.com/IL/Chicago/3309-N-Lakewood-Ave-60657/unit-1ST/home/13381639
I don’t think anyone saying it doesn’t fit in has been on Lakewood b/t Belmont and Byron in the past ~7 years.
I do agree that it would be better closer to Addison, than Belmont.
Which isn’t to say I like it, it just isn’t absurd for the location.
agree with Marco…the bathrooms seem fairly cheap. so 2mm doesn’t buy you frameless shower doors?
does anyone else think the realtor is doing a run dmc rap pose circa 1990 in the photo. what’s with the arm cross?!
bingo trudi!
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/1/1f/Rundmc_2.jpg
“does anyone else think the realtor is doing a run dmc rap pose circa 1990 in the photo. what’s with the arm cross?!”
Trudi, when you sell enough million dollar homes to be considered one of the top 100 realtors in the country (says WSJ), then you can comment on her pose. I think Jenny is doing just fine with whatever it is she is doing.
“Trudi, when you sell enough million dollar homes to be considered one of the top 100 realtors in the country (says WSJ), then you can comment on her pose.”
Boi, when you do enough of [whatever Trudi does] to be considered [something or other good], then you can comment on her comments. Until then, I think her comment was spot on.
Well I won’t sell any homes, or be on WSJ top 100 realtor list…. but I think Trudi is correct, if you look closely Jenny is clearly throwing out the Latin Kings hand signal with her left hand.
I don’t have boobs, am I not qualified to talk about the way they look? (I like em perky! also big, and real)
dare to dream
“if you look closely Jenny is clearly throwing out the Latin Kings hand signal with her left hand”
I think it’s more like skull and bones (anon would correct about timing of female membership but he just had to leave the room).
Also, everybody who hasn’t [done whatever of note] better just shut their mouths about [whatever a doer of whatever of note] might be doing that’s basically unrelated to the [whatever of note] that [the doer] has done.
does this fall under generic ad hominem or is there a more suitable designation?
Boi….as they say in Boystown….”WERK!” she’s definitely working the pose and I guess it ‘works’ for her 🙂
“I think it’s more like skull and bones (anon would correct about timing of female membership but he just had to leave the room).”
I was thinking deep-seated resentment about not being a Whiffenpoof, but you may be right.
“I was thinking deep-seated resentment about not being a Whiffenpoof, but you may be right.”
Per her bio, she was in aurelian, and while she was not in whim n rhythm, she was in yale dancers. So none of this is *that* far off.
There’s no way I’d want to be closer to Addison if I were on Lakewood. You guys are way off. The block immediately to the north has numerous new homes in the $1.5-2.0M range that have sold in the past few years, and the dead-end street Henderson has many great homes as well. Unless you are concerned with getting into Blaine (Cornelia Ave is the border). I would go the private school route if I were spending this kind of money most likely. I think it ends up selling for at least $1.85M.
I live in the area and saw a house on the south side of the 1300 block of Henderson with some major construction going on. This was built in Summer 2009, and then they bought the next door house and tore it down for their kids to have a yard. Now it looks like they are either fixing major construciton defects, or possibly adding on? Anyone know what’s up?
This part of Belmont is far enough west to be away from the wildlings and white walkers. There’s a reason the Southport stop and beyond is so yuppified.
It’s almost 2 blocks north of Belmont at this point. I guess I’d prefer to be on the next 2 blocks north or on Henderson, but close enough.
There is another one on the north side of the 1300 block of Melrose that is for sale that was just built. Not sure on the price on that one, but it’s got to be at least $1.9M.
“It’s almost 2 blocks north of Belmont ”
Only if ‘block’ is defined solely by crossing a street. There is also a metal plating biz directly across the alley.
And 1314 Melrose is $2.5mm.
“does anyone else think the realtor is doing a run dmc rap pose circa 1990 in the photo. what’s with the arm cross?!”
Ha, she’s totally doing a run dmc pose! lol Great call.
Definitely a sign of a real estate bubble when the realtors are posing like gangsta rappers. Looks like she’s also blinged out with a gold rolex and tahitian pearls. When she’s working a deal, does she’s end conversations with “holla at me”.
Here this caddy demonstrates a run dmc pose in front of Michael Jordan’s car.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nOZdptLht1Q&feature=related
So Bob, what is the north wall that keeps the wildings and white walkers away?
Love that show…
Is this a fair comp? http://www.redfin.com/IL/Chicago/2664-N-Greenview-Ave-60614/home/18954108, IF this goes to the bank as so many were suggesting in the other thread…
Sorry, bad link with the comma above, http://www.redfin.com/IL/Chicago/2664-N-Greenview-Ave-60614/home/18954108
WARNING… builders firebox.
I remember reading a review by Roger Ebert that said he could tell how good a movie will be by the end of first reel. That’s how I feel about inexpensive easy to install dime a dozen fire boxes in expensive homes; you can sum up the overall quality of a house just by looking at the fireplace. If he cut corners there, imagine all the cut corners you *can’t* see.
We had this discussion about a year ago now, but I effin hate fireplaces. I think they are a useless feature which gets used barely if ever. Besides the fire hazard, a wood fireplace brings nasty products of combustion into the air that you breath. A gas fireplace is better, but its still a waste of energy.
jc –
If you want to use that home as a comp then 3251 is definitely worth 1.8+
At first glance, I thought that I had seen this house about 2 years ago, but based on the layout I definitely have not. I’m still trying to puzzle out the layout, but I guess that the grand staircase is right when you come in and the back of the first level is the location for that basement-style bedroom. There are a few streets where there are a lot of these properties with three stories near grade and no basement. I’m just not sure how I feel about that approach without a little more thinking about livability. As a note, this “this first level slightly below grade with no basement style,” but it’s not really that indistinguishable from the dreaded “sewerage” level approach to 3 flats and SFHs set at street level. There are pluses and minuses to both. Tell me, for the average cribchatter virtual homeshopper, when does the number of feet switch over from “slightly below grade and wonderful, it’s a benefit” to “OH MY GOD the mold and the crime and you’re living in a dungeon”? I make that right around 3 feet for most of you.
Don’t know the builder, but I’d like to see the actual firebox install and the finishes in general and learn about their rep before getting too worked up about a bunch of assumptions about build quality.
Photos look processed but good. You guys complain about all the bad photography on here and now there’s someone who has taken great pictures and maybe overdriven some of the levels a little bit, but these are still pictures of a property for this purpose.
Bedrooms are slightly small, neighborhood and school are top-notch. I think that unless there’s a hidden nasty this would have sold a while ago, and will sell now, for $1.68 million or so. It’s still just a bit overpriced. There are a lot of places like this in Lakeview available these days, so you really need to find a buyer who cares enough about that layout or that part of Burley or something like that to want to be in this house instead of that place next to Art of Pizza or the Racine property, both of which might be had for someone in the same price range right around this property (after adjusting for a Burley premium for the Racine property).
Also, taxes are going up to like $26k on this property when it sells, I bet.
Also, to me, “Sold before print.” means money was left on the table by the seller, as I usually attribute that to underpricing, and I usually would blame the agent for that. But I think that most agents consider it to = “look how good I am at sellling.” What gives?
Hmmmm…”sold before print” couldn’t mean a confluence of factors (i.e. place that shows well, possibly price according to the market, or got lucky with the right buyer at the right time….etc.?) Does 365+ days on the market = a better agent? Please explain.
Seems about perfect to me. I love it. Quality costs money. Deal with it. Who expects this to sell for a song?hahahahah
“Also, to me, “Sold before print.” means money was left on the table by the seller, as I usually attribute that to underpricing, and I usually would blame the agent for that. But I think that most agents consider it to = “look how good I am at sellling.” What gives?”
Sometimes it’s done to correct an MLS error. For an example, I was the buyer’s agent for a property that closed but the listing had expired, so it was never updated in the MLS. I contacted the agent about it later and they relisted the property and immediately marked it as closed and put “Sold before print” in the remarks.
Sold before print means only one thing: the market is HOT.
The fact that there’s an industrial building immediately behind this property makes it hard to justify the $2 mln price. I’m not sure, but I’m guessing a “plating and tiling” factory makes quite a bit of noise, and there’s probably a lot of truck traffic going in and out. I’m sure that for $2 mln, I could find a property with a better neighbor.
Many of you may not remember, but there used to be a railroad line that went through here. It was mostly on Lakewood itself (you can still see the tracks south of Belmont), but north of Belmont it veered northeast and angled toward Wrigley Field, which it used to pass by just on the west. When I was a kid in the 70s, there were still crossing lights on most of the streets here where the tracks went through, but I don’t recall any trains north of Belmont (the line was used once in a while south of Belmont). Anyway, that explains the light industry in this area.
Check out this article, to get the blood flowing
http://www.cnbc.com/id/43624123
says that for those that kept paying their underwater mortgages, the banks are now reducing the amount of principle that they owe. And the lady doesnt even live in the property, she has it as an investment. wonder if she can now sell it and take the profit. great stuff, just great
I’ve seen plenty of loan modifications in my life and I’ve never, and I repeat never, seen a modification that reduces principal balance. Never.
I’ve seen ‘principal balance deferment’ which is where the bank agrees to take a small or medium sized portion of the principal balance (which includes late fees, interest and missed payments capitalized onto the balance) and put that portion into deferment, which effectively makes it a balloon payment at the end of the new mortgage term. For example, one case I saw was a guy who bought a house for $190,000 on the west side in 2006. He went into default, the bank gave him a modification. The bank added the late fees/interest/missed payments to teh $190,000 he owed for a new principal balance of ~$220,000. As of today, he pays P&I only on $130,000 of the $220,000; the $130,000 is amortized over 40 years and he owes a balloon payment of ~$90,000. If he tries to sell the house, he has to pay off the $90,000.00.
Given that this story above was originally a NYT article, which is not well regarded as far as their ‘man on the street’ financial stories, I highly doubt she sold her house ‘at a profit’ after she received an unsolicited loan modification.
Maybe I’m wrong, maybe the banks really are letting borrowers have their cake, and eat it too, but until one of these new loan mods rolls across my desk, I don’t believe it.
Thanks HD, yeah Ive never heard of anyone getting the principle reduced either, but still interesting enough…well let us know if you do see one.
I think I read somewhere that the total number of principal reductions nationwide via HAMP was like 5,000.
http://blogs.wsj.com/developments/2011/07/01/little-help-from-government-for-underwater-homeowners/
Basically HAMP says that banks can reduce principal balances but aren’t required to. Hey genius that is the government: banks could reduce principle balances before HAMP, too. But noone is going to voluntarily forgive debt.
It appears the banks are reducing principal balance on the Option ARMs even if the borrowers are not in default. I’m sure they are looking at automated valuation models and determined that if someone is dramatically underwater it is better to just go ahead and modify the loan instead of dragging it out. As soon as someone has a life event (divorce, job relocation, etc) being 25-50% underwater, they will default strategically.
I don’t think there is anyway for banks to escape the moral hazard.
Check out this article, to get the blood flowing
http://www.cnbc.com/id/43624123
So people who did the right thing and only bite off as much as they can chew aren’t getting any relief while those who spun the wheel and gambled with ARMS get the best of all worlds.
thanks for F-ing up my Fourth!
Icarus don’t confuse option ARMs with general ARMs. They are a small subset of ARMs and they aren’t called financial WMDs for nothing. Not a fan of either but vanilla ARMs were designed to transfer interest rate risk & option ARMs were designed for fraud.
The comments are scathing to that article- because after she had the mortgage reduced by 50% she went and sold the unit at a small profit.
“I used to say every day, ‘Why doesn’t anyone get rewarded for doing the right thing and paying their bills on time?’ ” said Ms. Giosmas, who is an acupuncturist and real estate investor. “And I got rewarded.”
the comments are scathing because people are jealous. The selfless reduce pricipal for the good of the people crowd seem to only like if they too are personally benefiting.
Article had too much info missing to draw more than assumptions. I bet she did the exact correct thing selling and dropping the new loan. I doubt the bank did this as big a loser as it appears on surface.
I’ve always been fascinated by cribchatterers’ willingness to wax philosophic on topics they know little/nothing about. I lived on this block for 9 years and have been inside this house. Here are a few facts some might find interesting:
1. The developer has built more than a dozen high-end homes in the area. (JJJ, the house may look familiar because it’s very similar to 3311 N. Lakewood, another GVP home that sold in 2009 for $2.1M.) The interior is beautifully finished with lots and lots of custom millwork. The developer did not overbuild for the neighborhood, they just got caught in the middle of the project when the bubble burst.
2. The developer negotiated several hard-to-get zoning variances, which make this house very unusual. For example, while the house is on a standard 25×125 lot, it is built literally lot-line to lot-line and, therefore, is significantly wider inside than most houses on standard lots (especially newly-constructed houses). The size of the third floor is closer to a home zoned R4 than R3.5. The garage is also attached, unusual in itself, but especially unusual for a house that is not on a corner-lot.
3. The business across the alley is much more of a blessing than a curse. The noise it generates is minimal. They plow the alley every morning after it snows and invite neighbors to use their parking spots on the weekends. There are some trucks, but they enter from Melrose and use the loading docks, so they never block the alley. I’d much rather live across the alley from this business than cheap rental properties.
4. As for proximity to Addison vs. Belmont, a few blocks north of here is (a) underneath the el tracks and (b) in the less-desirable (though supposedly up-and-coming) Hamilton school district. (And, yes, lots of people who live in $2M homes send their kids to public school!) This location is an easy walk to Wrigley, but you don’t get overwhelmed with Cubs traffic every game day.
I don’t know what this house will eventually sell for, but it drives me nuts when people freely denigrate properties based on made-up “facts.”
“Here are a few facts some might find interesting”
A very well written comment.
Whoops, should have posted here instead – this place finally sold for $1.89 million. However, that price may not reflect the market as much as it reflects a young person with some money to spend.
I know this is an old chatter thread but I wanted to second Robocops comments. Living around this plating and tinning company is a dream. They are excellent neighbors who take great care of the neighborhood. I cannot even begin to imagine how congested this particular block would be if that factory were not there.