Is a 4-Bedroom SFH in Lakeview for Under $900,000 a Unicorn? 2828 N. Racine
This 4-bedroom single family home at 2828 N. Racine in Lakeview came on the market in August 2020.
Built in 1987 it is on a smaller than standard Chicago lot measuring 81x25x92x27 and has a 1-car garage.
The first level has a family room, the fourth bedroom and a full bathroom.
The second level has the kitchen/dining room and living room along with a wood burning fireplace in the living room.
The kitchen has white cabinets, granite counter tops and stainless steel appliances. It is open concept to the living room but the island does not have seating (see the pictures to see why.)
The house has the preferred buyer layout with the majority of the bedrooms on one floor as 3 of the 4 bedrooms are on the third floor.
The master suite has an en suite bathroom while there is a second full bathroom for the other two bedrooms.
There’s a double tiered deck off the living room.
The listing also says all three full baths have been gut rehabbed.
The house has central air and the listing says a second HVAC was installed for the top floor.
The listing says its in the Agassiz school district. It’s also within walking distance to shops and restaurants of both Lincoln Park and Lakeview.
At $899,900, it’s a rare single family home listed under $900,000 in this neighborhood.
Is this a good starter home for those who don’t want to do a townhouse or duplex down?
John Campas at Dream Town has the listing. See the pictures and floor plan here.
2828 N. Racine: 4 bedrooms, 3.5 baths, 2850 square feet
- Sold in March 1988 for $365,000
- Sold in July 2006 for $750,000
- Sold in July 2012 for $665,000
- Originally listed in August 2020 for $899,900
- Taxes of $14,034
- Central Air
- 1-car garage
- Wood burning fireplace
- Bedroom #1: 20×18 (third floor)
- Bedroom #2: 17×9 (third floor)
- Bedroom #3: 17×9 (third floor)
- Bedroom #4: 18×12 (main floor)
- Living room: 20×18 (second floor)
- Dining room: 18×12 (second floor)
- Kitchen: 12×11 (second floor)
- Family room: 19×18 (main floor)
- Laundry room: 4×5 (main floor)
- Deck: 20×10
The 2 bedrooms aren’t 17’ deep and are a significant issue, unless you’re a bit of a gambler and figure you can sell when the oldest kid is in the 10yo range
The full gut rehab bathrooms look like they were pulled from a Hampton Inn.
A nice enough SFH in a very good area that doesn’t require a mid six figure income… this will sell soon.
“The 2 bedrooms aren’t 17’ deep”
17′ from the door to the furthest corner near the window. So effectively about 12′, right?
The smallest of our kids’ bedrooms (and my office for the past several months and foreseeable future) is about 12′ (at the most) from the door to the opposite wall (so effectively about 8′ at the doorway). Room for a full/queen bed, bookcase, kid dresser and kid desk. It’s pretty cramped (maybe 20 sq ft of floor space that’s not covered by furniture?), but works.
How useful is a passthrough from the kitchen to the dining room with the cooktop under it?
Nice first house for a young family. But how many young families really want to put down roots in Chicago at this time?
My advice to parents of young children is not to waste money on a desk for their rooms. My two kids never ever worked on their room desks. They just used them to pile things on. They’re 20 and 17 now and I still can’t see the desk surfaces beneath all the junk.
My older one did his schoolwork at the dining room table or at Starbucks with his friends. My younger one works in the living room or in my upstairs office.
Not saying my experience is universal, only wanted to warn before people waste money.
“ My older one did his schoolwork at the dining room table or at Starbucks with his friends. My younger one works in the living room or in my upstairs office.”
I think that was before. With Covid & remote learning, theres a high likelihood of a new normal. A family of 4 working/schooling from home is going to struggle without dedicated work spaces for all and for most that means the kids working from their bedroom
YMMV
“But how many young families really want to put down roots in Chicago at this time?”
Um…plenty?
“I think that was before. With Covid & remote learning, theres a high likelihood of a new normal. A family of 4 working/schooling from home is going to struggle without dedicated work spaces for all and for most that means the kids working from their bedroom”
Absolutely. Kids having their own rooms and desks in those rooms is crucial, and having a separate room (or even two) for an adult office should be more valuable to home buyers than kitchen finishes or views.
“17? from the door to the furthest corner near the window. So effectively about 12?, right?”
12′ is a good “real” number The Measuring tool on the floorplan says 16′ – from the wall Vee to the hallway
Maybe you build a loft for the bed and throw a desk under the loft
“Maybe you build a loft for the bed and throw a desk under the loft”
Room layout makes that tough–only place to put it is directly in from the door. Walking in to the end of the loft is not-great.
“My older one did his schoolwork at the dining room table or at Starbucks with his friends. My younger one works in the living room or in my upstairs office.”
“I think that was before. With Covid & remote learning, theres a high likelihood of a new normal. A family of 4 working/schooling from home is going to struggle without dedicated work spaces for all and for most that means the kids working from their bedroom”
We have 3 (1 kid). Kid uses the dining room like Dan2’s. Once remote learning started, still used dining room. Wife used kitchen or our bedroom, I used downstairs. We may need to change that (including cleaning piles of stuff off desk in kid’s room) when school starts back up.
This seems appropriate to leave here. At first glance I thought the home in the below link was a tear-down (the street facing facade needs some HELP. But for $750K it actually strikes me as unicorn-esque. Maybe the schools aren’t that great for this one (I don’t know as I don’t have kids) but a SFH with nearly 3K SF, two car garage and private outdoor space for $750K in a trendy hood?
https://www.redfin.com/IL/Chicago/1461-W-Cortez-St-60642/home/14109089?utm_source=myredfin&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=instant_listings_update&riftinfo=ZXY9ZW1haWwmbD0yOTU3OTI4JnA9bGlzdGluZ191cGRhdGVzX2luc3RhbnRfMTUmYT1jbGljayZzPXNhdmVkX3NlYXJjaCZ0PWltYWdlJmVtYWlsX2lkPTI5NTc5MjhfMTU5NzM1MTc1M18yJnVwZGF0ZV90eXBlPTEmc2F2ZWRfc2VhcmNoX2lkPTMxMTMwMTU5Jmxpc3RpbmdfaWQ9MTIyODQ5NzY0JnByb3BlcnR5X2lkPTE0MTA5MDg5JnBvc2l0aW9uX251bWJlcj0w
OK…maybe not 3K SF but a lot. Way more than 3/3 duplex down condos that sell for the same amount and come with only one parking spot.