4000+ Square Feet 5-Bedroom Duplex Down Still Available 3 Months Later: 416 W. Briar In Lakeview
We last chattered about this 5-bedroom duplex down at 416 W. Briar in Lakeview in August 2012.
See our prior chatter here.
Back then, the price had recently been raised to $494,000.
Several of you thought, given the square footage, that that price wasn’t that bad of deal.
But it hasn’t yet sold and now has a new listing agent.
The price has also been reduced to $449,000 plus $30,000 for 3 parking spaces (the prior listing only had 2 tandem spaces.)
If you recall, the four unit building was built in 1918 on an oversized 50×125 lot.
The old listing said it had 4200 square feet in total space with 3200 square feet on the first floor and a 1000 square feet on the lower level. The new listing just says 4000+.
An internal staircase connects the two floors but the lower level has a kitchen and a living room along with one bedroom and one bath.
That leaves 4 bedrooms and 2 baths on the main floor.
The unit appears to have some of its vintage features including a beamed ceiling on the first floor.
The main kitchen has white cabinets and appliances.
The old listing said “Needs work throughout.” The notes from a Redfin agent also basically says the same thing.
There is no central air (window units only) but there is in-unit washer/dryer.
This is a lot of square feet for the price.
Is the reason why the property is still on the market the fact that buyers want “new”?
Eric Rojas at Kale Realty now has the listing. See the pictures on his blog here.
Unit #1: 5 bedrooms, 3 baths, 4000+ square feet, duplex down, 2 car parking
- Sold in May 1995 for $179,500
- Originally listed in June 2012 for $450,000
- Raised
- Was listed in August 2012 at $494,000
- Reduced
- Currently listed at $449,000 (plus $30,000 for the parking)
- Assessments now $617 a month (they were $792 a month in August 2012)
- Taxes now $9739 (they were $8956 in August 2012)
- No Central Air – window units only
- Washer/Dryer in the unit
- Bedroom #1: 13×16 (main floor)
- Bedroom #2: 13×17 (main floor)
- Bedroom #3: 12×13 (main floor)
- Bedroom #4: 9×12 (main floor)
- Bedroom #5: 18×10 (lower level)
I am really, really surprised that this huge, beautiful place has not sold for close to the ask price, especially in such a desirable neighborhood as E Lakeview. It must have some very expensive problems to languish on the market for so long at this price.
“Is the reason why the property is still on the market the fact that buyers want “new”?
Eric Rojas at Kale Realty now has the listing.”
It’s gotta be Eric’s fault. After all, when your place sells, these super realtors take credit for selling it faster and higher than other agents, so it’s only fair they get blamed when a property lingers on the market.
One of those expensive problems is the HOA. It drives down the prices when its high because people are scared of it.
Given the size, the HOA seems pretty reasonable. There must be some extremely expensive issues, as Laura mentioned. I’m still kind of surprised that a contractor hasn’t bought it and done the work, given the space, location and school district.
I agree with all the above, I am very surprised this hasn’t sold at this price.
Convert to SFH?
“Given the size, the HOA seems pretty reasonable. There must be some extremely expensive issues, as Laura mentioned. I’m still kind of surprised that a contractor hasn’t bought it and done the work, given the space, location and school district.”
I’m surprised this hasn’t sold too. It just must not be cheap enough to justify all of the renovations.
I’d be really interested to know how one defines “needs a gut rehab.” Does this mean the unit is not livable as-is? Or is it just someone’s idea of ugly, and someone who planned to stay there in perpetuity could take their time fixing it up as a hobby for years?
I don’t normally like duplex downs or being on the first floor, but if I had to pick one by location, price and looks, this would be the one.
Convert to SFH? Seems unrealistic. You’d have about 10,000 SF. Who would need that much room?
Juni,
Eric Rojas answers your questions in this sponsored video walk-through of the property:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qTy6aJLtj7E
… and for those of us at work today who can’t watch a video, what does it say?
… and for those of us at work today who can’t watch a video, what does it say?
The assessments seem reasonable for the space, especially if they include heat. Listen, 1600 sq ft 20s vintage condos, like my beloved 6334 N Sheridan, have higher assessments than that, about $680 last I heard. Even my friend’s 1200 sq ft Rogers Park 2-2 has an assessment that high.
So there must be something else lurking within. How’s the plumbing? DOES IT FLOOD? Or is there seepage into the lower level, or a sewer issue, or is the foundation threatened?
Assessments include heat, so they are perhaps too low. Is there a special pending for tuck-pointing or some similarly expensive “must do”?
The assessments are almost too low to build any kind of reserve for places this size.
There are many red flags signaling a real, intractable problem here.
“I’d be really interested to know how one defines “needs a gut rehab.” Does this mean the unit is not livable as-is? Or is it just someone’s idea of ugly, and someone who planned to stay there in perpetuity could take their time fixing it up as a hobby for years?”
It would be an awesome place for a do-it-yourself type person to move in as-is and then improve over time. That lower unit with the kitchen would make a good mother-in-law unit for those who don’t want to put people in old folks homes, or for those who want live in baby sitters. 3 parking spots…this place is interesting. Some enterprising person could buy it and rent out a few rooms for some years, and maybe cover the costs. Obviously you have to see all real estate in person, but to even analyze this one rudimentarily/back-of-envelope a site visit is probably necessary.
Original windows alert!
Lots of “origal” features like the windows and walls. Probably old wiring, radiator heat (notice the old garden style cieling unit in the basement) so when you figure in the cost, the HOA and the amount of dolalrs you would need to strip this palce down, a SFH in some other part of the northside looks more appealing I would guess
Nothing wrong with radiator heat if the boiler is reasonably efficient.
My guess is this place needs tuckpointing and/or a new roof. With only 4 units in such a large structure the cost per unit for major maintenance of this kind will be expensive.
For all – this is a great unit I live in the building. This unit is gut-rehab; new walls, ceilings, plumbing and wiring. Floors are great but need re-finishing. If you pull the radiators and install central heat your assessments will go down, but only after repairing the boiler for the remaining units on the steam system. Also not it’s only two parking spots deeded to the unit. not three.
I *think* that this was listed as “under contract” on Rojas’ blog a while ago. Serious issues upon inspection? Looks like quite the project — I like the space, location, and parking, but would need a lot more cash to deal with it.
Yep — I checked and here’s the post from Rojas’ blog on 10/10/12:
“Under Contract under 3 weeks: Huge East Lakeview home offers dream space
Our client recently received and executed offer on 416 W Briar Place #1 – one of the more rare properties we’ve seen in this great East Lakview [sic] location. The asking price of our listing is $449,000 plus $30,000 for a large deeded space for 3 car parking. The sale is contingent on several standard conditions.”
Several standard conditions… sounds like a home inspection for one.
They’ve tried to keep a lot of pricing/history off the Redfin site, but I found the old Zillow listing:
http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/416-W-Briar-Pl-P1-Chicago-IL-60657/3719784_zpid/
current Zestimate $857,177
The floorplan in the old Zillow listing is interesting and shows some differences to the current listing. It states the main level is 2600 sf and the lower level 1400 sf., vs. 3200 + 1000. The lower level configuration seems to be subject to interpretation…. the current listing claims one bedroom, Rojas mentions two bedrooms and one or more “storage areas” in the YoChicago video, and the floorplan says three bedrooms. The floorplan also indicates that the lower level has a half bath in addition to the full bath. Perhaps some of the lower level rooms are currently too trashed to call living space.