$40K Drama Price Reduction on the 3-Bedroom SFH at 1911 W. Berenice in North Center
We’ve been chattering about this 3-bedroom single family home at 1911 W. Berenice in North Center since November 2011.
See our last chatter in May 2011 here.
It recently did a drama price reduction of $40,000 and has now been reduced $96,000 to $449,000.
In May, some of you thought this had to go under $400,000 just because of the new beer garden next door at the Big Bricks. One of the Redfin agents said the living room looks directly on the beer garden.
If you recall, the house was built in 1896 on a standard Chicago lot of 25×125.
It has 1704 square feet on two levels. There is apparently an unfinished basement.
All 3 bedrooms are on the second level. The house also has an “updated” kitchen with white cabinets and stainless steel appliances. The listing also says there is a new 2-car garage.
The gate in the picture above is for the property next door.
It’s in the Bell school district.
When will price trump the location for this property?
Kevin Sullivan at Coldwell Banker still has the listing. See the pictures here.
Or you can see it in person at the Open House on Saturday June 16 from 11- 1 pm.
1911 W. Berenice: 3 bedrooms, 1.5 baths, 1704 square feet, 2 car garage
- Sold before 1991 (no price listed)
- Sold in December 2004 for $525,500
- Was listed on November 1, 2011 for $545,000
- Reduced
- Was listed in February 2012 at $515,000
- Reduced
- Was listed in May 2012 at $489,000
- Reduced
- Currently listed at $449,000
- Taxes of $8618
- Space pak air conditioning
- Bedroom #1: 16×14 (second floor)
- Bedroom #2: 12×9 (second floor)
- Bedroom #3: 17×8 (second floor)
“When will price trump the location for this property?”
Not yet.
One of the things one can see while sitting at a picnic table drinking beer is that the chimney is in horrile shape. Another is that several of those siding shingles–which would need to be tested for asbestos–are starting to fall of.
One might be able to get over 2k/mo in rent for it, but you wouldnt even sniff 3k, which I think is the least you would need in rent to justify over $400k for a long term rental here, unless the taxes go down a lot, or the condition is much better than it appears from the outside.
I feel like it’s going to be a slow day on CC; this is the 3rd or 4th time we’ve discussed this property.
Wouldn’t you rather be away from the office and on a lake this gorgeous Friday afternoon?
http://keefelistings.com/KEEFE/homes/1147476-1090_Lagrange_Dr-Lake_Geneva-WI-53147-2257
for $1.6MM, I expect 2 boatlifts
I prefer Michigan.
http://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/900-Monroe-Blvd_South-Haven_MI_49090_M43034-50448?source=web
“I feel like it’s going to be a slow day on CC; this is the 3rd or 4th time we’ve discussed this property.”
There is nothing of interest on the market right now. Absolutely nothing. So yeah- it’s “slow.” It’s “slow” every single day.
That’s what happens when there’s no inventory.
By the way- there will only be two posts today because most people have “summer Fridays” anyway and the third post gets little interest. So I’m just going to do two on Fridays for the rest of the summer.
I think this is interesting
http://www.redfin.com/IL/Chicago/3647-N-Kedvale-Ave-60641/home/13457879
how does it compare to that Monticello property i listed the other day?
Feature summer homes on Fridays !!!!! 1
The kedvale home is the same and will sell in the mid 400s. I like that property a lot but our of my price range especially since visitor is the only realistic elementary school option.
The Open House is conveniently scheduled before the beer garden is open. Nice.
Tear it down and put in a small park. This place is depressing.
better yet, tear it down and expand the beer garden. or do what 90 Mile Cafe did on Armitage and use it as a food staging area. how much of as bribe would that permitting take, one wonders…
“The Open House is conveniently scheduled before the beer garden is open. Nice.”
Are they going to open for lunch sometime? Is there some zoning or permit issue, or just a biz decision?
Or if you can’t tear it down, turn it into a couple of rental apartments, because as a single family in this condition and at this location, you’d have to be crazy to buy it.
By the way, Sabrina, you haven’t done a Hancock unit in a while. There are two good looking units available there: 8704 and 8011. I’d like to see what others think of these.
If you expand the beer garden, then the people next door to this house get screwed. Turning this into two rental apartments would be a good option.
I love the summer house idea on Fridays.
HD – I ran by that place last weekend – I think you can do better for $1.7, even on the lake (although not necessarily at the moment).
What does Sabrina have against adjectives?
This crapshack again?
*let the price fall to 399k, wait till the beer garden goes into full swing, wait for the right wind pattern start remodeling on that side and let the dust piss off all customers.
*buy it at 350k, but before work a deal with owners to pay and get permit approval to build a 10 foot fence
*buy it for 350k hire a few people to spread rats and roaches in the establishment, have a few friends call 311.
*buy it for 350k go to the south/west side pay the mob beating kids to come over and smack around the patrons
*buy it for 350k toss dan/helmethoffer a few bucks give him a microphone and have him sit on the fence and talk
*buy it for 350k tell bob its dollar beer night there
*buy it for 350k irrc with the zoning make it a two flat and slumlord it
*buy it for 350k make icarus live there untill he creates the wiki
*buy it for 350k so we only have to see this shytehole one more time on Cribchatter.
This is depressing. The owners of Big Bricks should definitely walk over with an envelope of cash and offer their condolences.
This will do it. Under contract within 2 weeks and should close somewhere around 425. You heard it here first. The bath is goofy and location is a problem, but the first floor is nice and those issues are priced in at 425k. Somebody will take a chance. They might live to regret it, but somebody will take a shot for a SFH in Bell.
“somebody will take a shot for a SFH in Bell.”
There are three SFHs in Bell for sale for 365, 360 and 315 (west of western) and a two flat for $325 (short sale, no parking, backs up to Lincoln) so this is nowhere close to the cheapest, locationally challenged, Bell sfh option. I would probably pick this over the others at the same price. But the other four are all brick, and $75k+ cheaper.
I agree the beer garden next door is not ideal but is not a deal killer at this price and for some people less of a concern than others. The problem is when you start to renovate it how much can you put into it? Do to the garden when you go to resell you will have to be the lowest priced, remodeled/newer construction, sfh in the area if you have a chance of selling it. And really nice small homes in this area are selling around 600k-650k, so it does not leave alot of wiggle room when you see just how much work this home needs.
My guess is $325k. There are way too many things stacked against this house for it to command a premium.
Groove your best yet. Funny $hit man
On Topic I’d toss the keys back to the bank
This property would look much better if it were purple or green with shades of pink and blue. And then replace the awful shake siding with real shake siding.
Looks nice to me. A 2nd full bath would make this a steal.
“*buy it for 350k tell bob its dollar beer night there”
Its dolla beer nite there???? Tonite?? I would like Dan’s microphone too when he is done with it. I would like to give the new owners a piece of my mind about the value of a dollar, and four hundred thousand of them and disclose their over-leveraged status to all in attendance at Bricks.
A LITTLE BIT ABOUT US,
The folks behind Lincoln Park’s famed Bricks Pizza bring you a new upscale casual restaurant in North Center. It honors the city’s culinary heritage – beer, pizza, smoked pork – while pushing the Chicago culinary experience forward.
Twenty beers on tap. Bricks Pizza. A massive Oyler smoking pit. Two floors of seating. One of the city’s best patios.
It’s not like any other pizza place. It’s not like any other barbecue joint. Welcome to Big Bricks.
Oh Boy, these owners are screwed. Toss the keys back to the bank and let them deal with it
“This is depressing. The owners of Big Bricks should definitely walk over with an envelope of cash and offer their condolences.”
at minimum a few groupons and a pecan pie
I think its complete BS a Beer Garden would get approved so close to a Single Family.
“I think its complete BS a Beer Garden would get approved so close to a Single Family.”
It had been there for *years*. And, if outdoor seating should only be allowed where only where only commercial properties are adjacent, you’d have a lot less outdoor seating.
Didn’t Big Bricks buy the garage next to this house, knock it down, and expand the beer garden? They had to know that would kill the value of the adjacent house.
“Didn’t Big Bricks buy the garage next to this house, knock it down, and expand the beer garden? They had to know that would kill the value of the adjacent house.”
The lot included the building and garage, as far as I can tell.
Are you suggesting that, had they maintained the garage, with the beer garden behind it, would have *not* killed the value of this house?
If I was relaxing in my living room, I would rather have a brick garage as a buffer between me and the beer garden. More preferable than occupied picnic tables a few feet from my window, no? This house was screwed either way, but removing the garage was a death knell.
“If I was relaxing in my living room, I would rather have a brick garage as a buffer between me and the beer garden. More preferable than occupied picnic tables a few feet from my window, no? ”
How deep do you think that garage was? Have you been to the site, and seen the parking blocks, which closely resemble the depth of the garage, and on which there are no picnic tables?
So you’re saying the beer garden has always existed behind the garage, adjacent to the back of the home? I don’t feel bad for the home owners if the beer garden has always been there but I would still prefer the garage as a buffer to the front living room. And I’ve seen the corner of a picnic table over the old garage spot, some kind of code (moral) violation or something?
anon,
just saw it today, on sheridan two blocks north of hollywood they have a giant inflatable rat. thank me later.
“just saw it today, on sheridan two blocks north of hollywood they have a giant inflatable rat. thank me later.”
icarus, can you set up some kinda common use photo server to upload the rat photos?
“icarus, can you set up some kinda common use photo server to upload the rat photos?”
Yep. just google Picasa and you should be good to go.
“Yep. just google Picasa and you should be good to go.”
Is this one of your default IT responses? I want my request escalated. Maybe get a supervisor involved.
I was hoping *you* would set up something where we could easily and anonymously (as much as anything is really anonymous on the internet and CC) post photos. E.g., email photos to an address, which would then trigger an autopost.
@DZ, Mostly it’s not my area of expertise. I believe the easiest solution would be for Sabrina to allow picture attachments to the messages, which might be doable if she can add in a simple HTML editor. The drawback is some f-tard will try to bring down her site daily by posting viruses and porn. Also her site hosts may not be set up to provide that service at her level of SLA.
Any pictures that are linkable have to live somewhere so your anonyminity would be known to that hosts.
“So you’re saying the beer garden has always existed behind the garage, adjacent to the back of the home?”
When it was Grizzley’s Lodge, there was a (poorly maintained) beer garden in that exact spot. Was operational in 2004, tho quite probably not when they looked at the house.
“I believe the easiest solution would be for Sabrina to allow picture attachments to the messages”
I was thinking *you* would create a picasa or whatev account, which would presumably come with an email address. Then setup something (I dunno what exactly, that’s where you come in) to post automatically when a photo came in, perhaps under a ccphoto account name, but with reference to the originating poster. And an option to put it in the proper thread.
Not conveneient for me to post to CC on the run, but easy to email a photo.
Isn’t imgur free and easy? Not sure if you can e-mail to it, I think that you have to do it through the web, but you could probably do that from a phone.
“Isn’t imgur free and easy?”
Sure, but I’d like an easy way (ie automatic as part of same email) to also get the photo posted on CC, maybe with commentary. That’s where icarus earns his keep.
I can do the first part, set up an email that you can send a picture to and have it post to a Picasa album.
I’m not sure how to automate the second part especially since the threads change so much.
Would be cool if you could pm people on crib chatter
Holy Balls its Under Contract
The buyers obviously must be patrons of the Beer Garden
“I’m not sure how to automate the second part especially since the threads change so much.”
Fair point. Maybe you need to write an app. Query CC for the most recent threads, or most recent with comments, then present that as a list to the user, allow them to input their CC name, and any comment. Take that info and post on CC.
iOS version first please.
“Holy Balls its Under Contract”
That really is crazy. I’m guessing it’s for one of the reasons on groove’s list.
“Holy Balls its Under Contract”
It’s a single family home in Bell!
Beer garden or not. 🙂
Have you seen how close that is to the Beer Garden?
I’d slit my wrists coming home to this every day
“It’s a single family home in Bell!”
As noted above, there are three cheaper SFHs in Bell on the market right now. Different location tradeoff, for sure, but also a lot lower asking prices.
Pending!
“As noted above, there are three cheaper SFHs in Bell on the market right now. Different location tradeoff, for sure, but also a lot lower asking prices.”
As you indicated- NOT the same location. Way far west. You’re not walking to restaurants/Trader Joes/clubs/the El etc. from those other locations.
Under K? looks like the seller with its $417,000 mortgage the seller might walk away with less than a $100,000 loss! Good bye downpayment!
Vindication! You haters can suck it! I am the best predictor of future real estate activity on all of cribchatter. It’s going on my tombstone, baby!
“It’s going on my tombstone, baby!”
Welcome to Senator Burris! Thanks for joining us!
Inside Information T?
“This will do it. Under contract within 2 weeks and should close somewhere around 425. You heard it here first. The bath is goofy and location is a problem, but the first floor is nice and those issues are priced in at 425k. Somebody will take a chance. They might live to regret it, but somebody will take a shot for a SFH in Bell.”
“As you indicated- NOT the same location. Way far west.”
But not next to a beer garden. Different tradeoff.
“You’re not walking to … clubs”
What’s the overlap of parents looking to be in Bell and looking to be in (short) walking distance of “clubs”?
Heh, no inside info, but I did go to an open house. The beer garden is what it is, but that’s reflected in the price. Even with the beer garden it’s a better location than those other three, IMO.
Heck, what’s the success rate for restaurants anyway? 50/50 odds that space will go back to just being used for parking.
“Heck, what’s the success rate for restaurants anyway? 50/50 odds that space will go back to just being used for parking.”
Nah. Almost no chance that it doesn’t remain a restaurant/bar, as it is already licensed, freshly built out and equiped, etc. Might not remain Big Bricks, true enough–could turn into something much, much worse to be next to.
Closed at $435k:
http://www.redfin.com/IL/Chicago/1911-W-Berenice-Ave-60613/home/13387036
either the greatest purchase ever or the worst due diligence put forth on spending $725,238 ever.
BTW somebody check my math
i took 3.75% over 30 off the full 435k. i think i may have goof’d 725k seems a bit high?
Crazy. I’m torn between whether that surprises me more or the place below, if it closes in the high $500s. Prob the place below.
http://www.redfin.com/IL/Chicago/2510-N-Fairfield-Ave-60647/home/13449866
@fo, you have to get an interview with the new owners and report back.
“BTW somebody check my math
i took 3.75% over 30 off the full 435k. i think i may have goof’d 725k seems a bit high?”
$725 is right, but wrong, too, as that’s then a jumbo. Gotta be $417 = $695 + $18 down for $713, as a max.
about $2650/month, including tax.
“@fo, you have to get an interview with the new owners and report back.”
I’ll knock on their dining room window the first time I’m in the beer garden and it looks like they might be home.
“$725 is right, but wrong, too, as that’s then a jumbo. Gotta be $417 = $695 + $18 down for $713, as a max.”
glad the math was right just got the concept wrong.
“I’ll knock on their dining room window the first time I’m in the beer garden and it looks like they might be home.”
cold man, just cold. But still had me spit my beer out as its funny, really funny cuz its so true.