Crib Chatter

In 2010, foreclosures were expected to be one of the biggest stories of the housing market. Instead, in many neighborhoods, it was short sales which really dominated the Chicago housing market landscape. For example, this 1-bedroom unit at 2700 N. Halsted in Lincoln Park has been on the market 16 months and is now a short sale. Built […]

This 3-bedroom unit at 1742 N. North Park in Old Town just came on the market. It is bank owned. The 8-unit vintage building was converted into condos in 2007. It looks like this unit never sold from the developer. Two of the three bedrooms are on the main level with the third on the […]

This 1-bedroom at 160 E. Illinois, or Avenue East, in Streeterville recently came on the market. It is bank owned and is listed for $200,600, or about 41%, under the 2007 purchase price. From the pictures, it appears that the kitchen is intact but it has white appliances alongside granite counter tops. The listing says there […]

I get at least one e-mail a week from people with tips on properties that were bought from the bank, have been “renovated” (with various different definitions of this word), and are now being resold. This is different from a “flip” which means that there was nothing done to the property from one sale to the next. […]

I missed the sale on this 3-bedroom vintage rowhouse at 822 W. Windsor in Uptown. We chattered about it a couple of times. See our July 2010 chatter here. It had been reduced in July 2010. The rowhouse finally sold in October 2010 for $79,000 under its January 2010 list price. It had many of […]

This 3 bedroom duplex down at 848 W. Roscoe in Lakeview has been on and off the market since September 2008. In that time, it has been reduced $138,100. Built in 2003, two of the three bedrooms are on the main floor with the third in the lower level. It also has a 18×17 family […]

This 4-bedroom single family home at 3826 N. Racine in Lakeview just came on the market. It is listed for $320,000 which is also $40,000 under the 2002 purchase price. The listing says it is in the Blaine school district. It is also just a short stroll to Wrigley Field. Built in 1897, it is […]

This 1-bedroom loft at 843 W. Adams, the Olympia Lofts, in the West Loop has been on and off the market since October 2009. Since that time it has been reduced $130,000. It is now listed $104,500 under the 2004 purchase price. The loft has 14 foot ceilings, exposed brick and concrete ceilings. It has many attributes buyers […]

We’ve chattered about this 4000 square foot church now being used as a single family home at 2558 W. Cortez in West Town several times. See our August 2010 chatter here. It is still available and has been reduced again. It is now listed for $270,100 under the original June 2009 listing price. It has […]

The Illinois Association of Realtors is out with the November sales data. As predicted, sales continue to be challenging. In the city of Chicago, year-to-date total home sales (single-family and condominiums) remain up 0.1 percent January through November 2010 with 17,645 sales compared to 17,631 home sales for the same period in 2009; November home […]