We Love Lincoln Park Townhouses Under $500K: 2325 N. Wayne
We’ve chattered about a bunch of these townhouses on N. Wayne in Lincoln Park before.
One of them, a 2400 square foot 3-bedroom at 2349 N. Wayne, is still on the market. That 3-bedroom townhouse has since been reduced $34,100.
See our July 2008 chatter here.
The townhouse at 2325 N. Wayne was recently reduced by $50,000 to $499,000. It sold in 2005 for $558,000.
It has 2 bedrooms plus a den and hardwood floors in both bedrooms.
Sheila Starr at Baird and Warner has the listing. See the pictures here.
Are these N. Wayne townhouses a “deal” for the space and location?
2325 N. Wayne: 2 bedrooms, den, 3 baths, 1 car garage, 2000 square feet
- Sold in August 2005 for $558,000
- Originally listed in October 2008 for $549,000
- Reduced
- Currently listed for $499,000
- Assessments of $250 a month
- Taxes of $5524
Knowing the location and seeing the interior spaces, I would say $499K is pretty reasonable.
I’d offer at least 15% less to start, though.
Good deal. Dump 50-100k in remods and you have a slick townhouse with lowish taxes and assesments
Given my nervousness about condo reserves and what happens when vast swaths of the owners cannot pay their assessments, townhomes are looking better and better to me. If the HOA goes broke, I can shovel my own walk and mow my own patch of lawn. But I can’t pay the entire electric and water bill for a 250-unit highrise (nor would I want to pay it for a 3-unit greystone).
Reading up on the history of my own building, for instance: during the Great Depression, one of our residents was an heiress of the Hershey fortune. She paid all of the bills for our co-op for years when no one else could. I doubt any of the condos downtown (like the Vetro!) will have such a benefactor should this economy get a lot worse.
I’d really prefer to stay east of the western border of Oz Park, and $250/mo for townhouse assessments seems slightly high, but I think I’ll take a look at this place. If it gets down to the low to mid $400’s, it might be hard to resist (even though I should).
In a large condo building, would the bill paying owners be legally justified in shutting off the shared utilities of deadbeats?
The HOA can forclose you faster than banks can, (in 2 months even) so if you aren’t paying your assessments you will get nailed quickly and you’ll lose your home before the bank kicks you out for not paying your mortgage.
Sonies you are correct. They can evict your ass for being 2 days late. You get 60 days to cure before they run to the sheriff. ANd you have to pay their attorneys fees which can be significant.
Although it’s physically a townhouse I’m guessing that with the $250 assessment this place is legally structured as a condo, with an HOA. I’d rather own a fee-simple townhome than deal with any type of condo HOA large or small — but there don’t seem to be many of these around.
Last time I looked at townhomes in general I thought they were underappreciated. They look like a better deal for the space than these so-called penthouse units in a 3 unit building.
Speaking of Oz Park — any opinions about the Oz Park Gardens townhomes on Larrabee? A couple of units here are on the market now. Not a lot of character, but they seem like a lot of space for the money in a great location.
This place has character. I think a little bit of updating will take it a long way. Hopefully someone will soon enjoy it 🙂
The problem with townhouses are stairs, stairs, and more stairs. This property has three levels and not a single picture of a stair case. And the more dubiously constructed townhomes have paper thin walls too so you can hear both neighbors on all three levels. I spent a few of my younger years in a townhome, and hopefully I’ll never have do it again unless I’m an end unit with concrete walls in between units.
I live in a University Village townhome – new construction about 5 years ago – and do not hear my neighbors. With 3000 square feet, there are 3 floors, but that would be typical of any 3000 sq. ft. home in this city.
“The problem with townhouses are stairs, stairs, and more stairs.”
With the obesity problem in Chicago they should remove elevators from all the buildings!
Lazy bastard 🙂
Only in America would stairs be an issue. Maybe homes should come with two refridgerators – one in the kitchen and one in the master bedroom? we could park the car in the living room to avoid the walk to the garage too.
with regard to hearing neighbors, i think it depends on your neighbor. i used to live below a woman the size of eva longoria but you would think it was Big Foot. she moved out and two frat guys moved in – didnt hear a thing!
JPS – the “Oz Park on Larrabee” townhouses have a reputation for cheap construction, and they’re relatively old (’60s era). They are priced relatively low, so it may be worth your while to view several units. Be sure to get a high-quality inspection, however, before you commit to buy.
Architect — thanks for the info, I figured there must be some downside given how inexpensive they are for the size/location.
Do you know if the HOA is any good, i.e. keeps up with infrastructure and commons maintenance?
Architect – On the topic of the Oz park gardens, I’m considering one of the condos on Larrabee. What prompted you to suggest that the quality of construction is relatively cheap? Did you have a bad experience?
I would really appreciate your thoughts.
Thanks!!