5 Months Later This 3-Bedroom East Lincoln Park Vintage Rowhouse Reduces: 474 W. Deming
We last chattered about this 3-bedroom vintage rowhouse at 474 W. Deming in East Lincoln Park in July 2012.
See our prior chatter here.
Listed at $949,000, some of you thought that the two outdoor parking spaces were a detriment to a sale at that price.
A price under $900,000 seemed the more common guess of a sales price.
But 5 months later the rowhouse is still available.
The price was only just reduced this week however, down to $924,500.
If you recall, the rowhouse is just a block from Lincoln Park and also just steps away from the shops and restaurants on Clark.
Built in 1884 on a 20×74 lot, it still has some of its vintage features such as stained glass, the original wood staircase and crown molding.
Yet it also has central air, a lower level family room and 2-deeded parking spaces directly behind the rowhouse.
All 3 bedrooms are on the second floor along with 2 baths.
With inventory being low, does this rowhouse have a better chance of selling in the winter than it did in the summer?
Mario Greco at Prudential Rubloff still has the listing. See the pictures here.
474 W. Deming: 3 bedrooms, 3.5 baths, no square footage listed, 2 deeded parking spaces behind the rowhouse
- Sold in January 1993 for $266,000
- Sold in April 1995 for $307,500
- Sold in February 2001 for $640,000
- Currently listed at $949,000
- Taxes of $14,852
- Central Air
- Bedroom #1: 18×17 (second floor)
- Bedroom #2: 19×13 (second floor)
- Bedroom #3: 12×11 (second floor)
- Family room: 30×19 (lower level)
I love this house. Wish we could afford it:(
There is a lot to like here. So much so that I could learn to live without a garage (it helps that there are two spaces; plus, were we to buy this place, it would likely be related gaining admission to P or L, in which case we’ll likely never own a car that demands to be housed indoors; the only issues would be a cold car in winter and whether the deeded spaces are secure from break-ins/vandalism).
I had been a bit luke warm as to this precise location (a little close to a bustling stretch of Clark and almost directly across from a medical facility), but hey, it is east of Clark, and I also think that the completion of 2550 N. Lakeview, and the eventual completion of a handful of multi-mm SFHs between 2550 and this RH, will have greatly enhanced the vibe at this precise spot.
Russ: Say this place can close in the low-to-mid-$800’s. Is 10% down doable?
Mario Greco: I don’t suppose your client here is looking to downsize? If so, tell them to consider buying our two bed in the mid-$400’s, subject to you smoothing some things out commission-wise between the two properties. Alternatively (again, likely subject to our gaining admission to P or L), see if these folks will sit tight for 6 (or 18) months, then see if you can sell our place in the upper-$400’s (which we’d want if there’s a full commission coming out of the closing).
Oh well, just spit-balling here.
Nice place, good location. One of the better family options I’ve seen for under $1 mln in ELP, though I’d worry about my cars being vandalized.
anonny – good idea but not for these folks
anonny ever the dreamer. just come to grips with realty and sub-divide that bedroom or better yet just move to the burbs already. I know plenty like you champagne tastes with a beer budget. You also need to come to grips with the realty that your current place is underwater.
Oh well enough I kinda sound like Bob, while I was going more for the motherly advice angle.
“I was going more for the motherly advice angle”
Looks like he’s reaching for that holy grail of a SFR! C’mon over to the hoi polloi side anonny, the water’s fine! It even has a rumpus room for tee-vee watchin’!!
Agreed! Anonny’s wish list is pure comedy: to pay less than this place will sell for, sell his place for more than it is probably worth (to an unwilling buyer), negotiate the commission, put very little down, and all on his timetable. Hilarious.
“Alternatively (again, likely subject to our gaining admission to P or L), see if these folks will sit tight for 6 (or 18) months”.
There is unicorn criteria and then there is unrealistic grasp on reality
“Anonny’s wish list is pure comedy: to pay less than this place will sell for, sell his place for more than it is probably worth (to an unwilling buyer), negotiate the commission, put very little down, and all on his timetable. Hilarious.”
Hmm, how much are garage-less vintage 3+ beds going for in Alcott right now? In other words, while I’ve ballparked a closing of low to mid $800’s, you clearly, and quite uncomedically, have a different closing price in mind? I’m sure these sellers, who paid $640k a dozen years ago, along with all the other prospective $900k+ buyers out there looking to park their MDX’s and Audi’s outside, would be eternally in your debt for any bits of humorless wisdom you’d be willing to share.
What’s it going to take for folks to understand that putting down at least 20% is not always the best approach? Another historic downturn that wipes out everybody’s equity? Please, tell me more about how people in 2006 should have put 20, and not 10 or even 5, percent down. After that, please tell me why I should tie up any more than necessary on any place in which I’m not absolutely sure to spend 20+ years. I just want to better understand why I’ll have less money to invest, to save for an emergency, or to put towards a second home in 10 years.
“You also need to come to grips with the realty that your current place is underwater.”
Not entirely sure where that’s coming from. Do you think everyone has been selling their condo for less than they owe? Let alone less than they paid? Or are you for some reason hitching your own happiness wagon to the notion that some family in LP would owe more on their unit than it’s worth? I sure hope you’ve got other irons in the fire. Understanding, of course, that anything can and might happen or go wrong, I’m relatively confident that we could sell our place in a month, without so much as picking up all the kids’ toys, let along staging and heaven forbid installing the obligatory granite I’ve been considering, and still walk away from a closing with something. With a little effort, and hopefully not much cost, my confidence level increases as to walking with roughly $50k in a year and a half. (Ew…sorry, there I go again, planning things according to my own “timetable”!).
Pure “anonny in wonderland”. All I can do is wish you luck!
I would expect that payments of 20% or larger are highly negatively correlated with foreclosures and short sales.
Nonny, you seem a little tense. Late night at the office?
“Do you think everyone has been selling their condo for less than they owe? Let alone less than they paid?”
These are two very different questions that people often get confused. Let’s take them separately.
1. Selling for less than they owe:
It all depends on when they bought it. In the boom years, very few people put down any money, let alone 10% or 20%. They’ve been paying it down for 8 or 9 years however. So some principal has been paid. But with Chicago now down between 20% and 50% since the boom prices- it’s likely that they may sell for less than they owe.
BUT- if you bought after the boom – say in 2009/2010- you likely put more money down and may not yet have to sell for less than you owe.
2. Selling for less than you paid:
This is the much more common scenario- even for those who just bought a year or two ago. Prices have been dropping for the last 5 years. Anyone who bought in that time period will still likely lose money (even though they may still sell for more than they actually owe.) The money is still lost.
I have yet to see many properties that even breakeven- let alone sell for more. We’ve highlighted a few on this blog that have managed to sell for more. When realtors fees and transfer taxes were taken out, however, the sellers still only managed to break even and some still took a loss.
I still think we are several years away from properties selling for enough above what sellers paid that they actually MAKE money. Remember, you have to clear 7% or 8% in appreciation in order to just break even.
So if you bought in 2010 for $600,000 (putting down $100,000) and you sell in 2013 for $630,000- you will still lose money (but you are not selling for less than you owe.)
Where is the refrigerator? This doesn’t look
Like a 1 million $$ kitchen to me.
anonny: at that price point you should really check out River Forest too, for comparison sake. Great family town with tree-lined blocks of beautifully-maintained housing stock, excellent schools, subway/Metra/expressway to downtown, decent shopping and entertainment venues, etc. No I’m not a realtor, just a picky customer.