Need Space? The Southport Townhouse: 3401 N. Janssen
Want to live in Southport but are priced out of the single family home market and need more space than the 2/1 condos that are available?
This townhouse at 3401 N. Janssen may be the solution.
It was extensively updated since the 2007 purchase with new Brazilian cherry floors in the living room, dining room, kitchen and fourth floor loft area, new stainless steel appliances in the kitchen, new granite counter tops, new carpet and some updates to the bathrooms.
It’s also an end unit with its own private deck and attached garage.
Sandy Black at Re/Max Signature North has the listing. See more pictures here.
Unit #A: 2 bedrooms, 2 baths, family room on lower level, loft on 4th floor, 1.5 attached garage
- Sold in July 2006 for $450,000
- Sold in February 2007 for $405,000
- Originally listed in March 2009 for $489,900
- Reduced
- Currently listed for $479,899
- Family room: 15×11
- Loft: 11×11
- Central Air
DO WANT…kind of. Great location but cramped-looking for a townhouse (maybe it’s just the pictures). The building appears pretty ugly inside and out, too.
So what is the July 2002 pricing on this?
2002 price: $275k
2009 knife-catcher price: $410k
2012 bottom dweller price: $260k
ive been in these places and they are super tiny. that couch you see is right next to the kitchen countertops
Sonies,
Not true-the couch is not right next to the kitchen.
There is room for a decent-sized dining room set between the couch and the kitchen counters. Check out the pics adn VT on redfin.com – the pics in the link didn’t work for me.
sonies-
photo shows countertop then a kitchen table, then presumably, the couch. maybe it was a different unit you looked at?
$400K but hopefully less
This place should sell for around 325-350k. No doubt in my mind it will sell for more. Why?
Yups. Some yup(s) will come along, and being the svelte urbane sophisto he/she/they think they are, they won’t be concerned with such things as school districts or practicality for family living. Nope such constraints only apply to mere mortals. Didn’t you hear that Southport is “hot”?
Then in a few years kids come along (how did that happen?!), then a few years later places like this are up on the MLS for 20% more than the owner paid (a fair return for being such an investor-genius) and they can move to the suburbs for grass for their brat.
Watching these predictable breeders is akin to watching bacterium respond to stimuli moreso than any sort of sentient creature actually thinking independently. Its rather funny to watch. If they actually believed in their fallibility or that the future doesn’t always mimic the past it might be possible to feel sorry for them. It never occurs to these F-tards that maybe if they didn’t burden themselves with a 400+k mortgage they could afford private school for little Jill and Johnny.
I looked at one of these years ago. I think the EL noise was an issue…
First, I live on this block, and Bob, mock all you want that it is a “hot” neighborhood, but it IS a gorgeous neighborhood, and there is a reason people want to live here. I chose to live here, I picked it over Lincoln Park, and I know many others who did as well.
Second, Sabrina, I come to your blog daily (and love many of the places you spotlight!), mostly because I can get decorating ideas from some of the gorgeous (yet out of my league) places, but I am going to stop reading the comments. While many of the comments may be intellegent, interesting and relevent to the property, I am sick of the numerous rude, immature and judgemental comments (Bob, above) directed at those attempting to buy/sell their properties. Maybe I am alone thinking this, but I feel many people who come to this site, want to discuss real estate trends and property details in Chicago, vice critize actual people, and insult them, on their personal life decicions.
Bob, you have issues…. What’s with all the hate towards yuppies?!
Jason R,
Its actually animus towards people that overpay for real estate without considering the intrinsic value of something and their life situation. I happen to be a yup myself but I like to think of myself as one who can actually think and plan ahead to future time periods. 480k for this is a bad joke. But theres no doubt in my mind some idiot will pay 450k+ for it.
I looked at a unit directly across the street (3402 N Jansen). EL noise was definitely a problem.
Bob,
Actually I think the Southport area has some of the better elementary public schools in the city, though I will be the first to admit I’m not up on the changing boundaries. Isn’t that school directly on Southport by the Music Box one of the top?
And you’ve espoused the view before that seems to say: Only purchase a SFH because at some point in the future you will reproduce, or buy only at rent level. You seem to discount the demand to own, to be able to modify and customize. Plenty of people should/could purchase a place (even this one that could be large enough for one maybe two kids) to sit for 5-6 years before moving on. They also could pay more than renting.
Maybe I’m wrong – perhaps society as a whole would be happier and more productive if we returned to a generation or two ago: rent for a long time and buy once, perhaps twice.
Once the dust from the current de-leveraging settles, this paradigm WILL become the norm again, except for the very wealthy.
“perhaps society as a whole would be happier and more productive if we returned to a generation or two ago: rent for a long time and buy once, perhaps twice.”
Blaine School doesn’t run this far south…stops at Cornelia. The other schools are getting better but not there yet…Blaine is the only one that parents consider east of Ashland. The other school that is highly regarded is over in Roscoe Village – Bell.
west of Ashland, babs?
“but I like to think of myself as one who can actually think”
Bob, I think the people you hate believe they can think & plan as well.
That being said, does this place not have a w/d? I’d agree w/Bob’s price point, maybe a little more due to the 1.5 garage.
Unit E is also for sale for $425k which the MLS claims is “NOW $40K LESS THAN LAST UNIT SOLD FOR IN COMPLEX!”. It’s also under contract. These sold for $470k in 2006! How ridiculous!
As we can see from the cliff diving of prices, I encourage every buyer in this complex to run, run, run for the exit as soon as possible. You will have grandchildren before the ’06 prices return to these units.
We were going to look at this one… but when we found it’s right by the el (it didn’t seem so close when we mapped it), we kept driving.
Might have to go back, though, if we keep getting full-price counters after putting in an offer for a home…!
I could not agree with you more Ellen!
When I first moved to Chicago I spent a ton of time reading this and all the other RE sites for info on neighborhoods, home styles and other reasons…and actually still do. What became apparent rather quickly was that more than a few posters choose to pick apart buyers and sellers, while I think becoming imaginary buyers/sellers themselves and projecting their own negative characteristics upon the real b/s ers.
On the other side, you have the resident economic geniuses who preach their financial outlook analysis of how and where the current economic situation is going…actually this is the entertaining part of the forum and doesn’t get to me as much as the doom and gloom group.
“While many of the comments may be intellegent, interesting and relevent to the property, I am sick of the numerous rude, immature and judgemental comments (Bob, above) directed at those attempting to buy/sell their properties. Maybe I am alone thinking this, but I feel many people who come to this site, want to discuss real estate trends and property details in Chicago, vice critize actual people, and insult them, on their personal life decicions.”
That subject aside, I think this is one property that is going to be negatively impacted because of very poor staging and extremely poor photos. A seller has only a brief amount of time to make that first impression and in this case, they were sleeping during that time. I think in order to obtain a RE license everyone should be required to have design/decorating and photography courses under their belt. While this unit does have a number of positives going for it, they are not brought to the surface for consideration.
And Bob, you need to realize that a good portion of buyers, esp first timers do not have nor do they plan on ever having children. Your comments regarding this overlooks one significant segment of the home buying population (esp in urban settings) and that is the many stable gay couples who usually have the higher education, income and savings to be able to buy what they want, when they want regardless of the price.
Generalizations never do anyone any good!
G, add another market saviour to your list:
14. the many stable gay couples who usually have the higher education, income and savings to be able to buy what they want, when they want regardless of the price.
westloopelo,
There is no doubt in my mind due to the media trying to change societal paradigms there are plenty of gays on TV. Heck even in/around certain neighborhoods. However, generally speaking, they aren’t nearly as common a demographic as Deborah Messing would have us believe. For neighborhoods like East LV I’ll give you they’re a significant demographic, but not for many others.
Much, much more common is the straight couple that gets married, think they’re never gonna have kids then Miss Professional’s clock starts ticking and she starts the baby nag routine. A few years later they got a kid but also a big ol’ mortgage so they can’t afford to send their brat to private school.
LOL Bob…Will & Grace is SO ten years ago!
I think I see the point you are trying to make, but you need to look beyond just one gay hood to see that segment of the market is alive and well…even for the ‘breeding/adopting’ gays who flee from boystown to the suburbs. They (we) do make an impact in the market.
Also so ten years ago is the belief that gays congregate exclusively in one neighborhood. Low rent paying gays perhaps, but not the upper income gay couples who settle down and are able to live where they chose.
Heck, it sounds like we are speaking of heteros now doesn’t it….mission accomplished!
Ellen–reading some of the regular commentors here is akin to watching FOX news or tuning in to Rush on the radio. You can only take the wretched underbelly of humanity in small doses and infrequently. I skip over those commentors here who are in desperate need of some form of attention and love in their lives and get it by making everyone else out to be stupid and/or hoping people lose their shirts while the truth (often)is that they are too afraid to enter the home-ownership market themselves.
Too afraid to enter the home-ownership market?
How about too wise to flush my hard earned money down the depreciation toilet?
“while the truth (often)is that they are too afraid to enter the home-ownership market themselves.”
You got it John 2. You’ll need a BUNCH of anxiety meds to try to lure me into the home loanership market these days. In fact enough to be comotose.
“The other school that is highly regarded is over in Roscoe Village – Bell.”
Not Roscoe Village, north of RV. Almost entirely north of Addison, tho the Bell attendance area picks up a couple single blocks south of Addison and west of Leavitt (iirc–maybe slightly further east).
RV wishes it had Bell, but Audubon is quickly turning. I expect Coonley will as well.
Bob-you must have been absent the day “comatose” was on the spelling list in your elementary school. maybe absent the day realistic percentages of folks who are gay/lesbian were discussed in high school as well.
[Removed by the Editor]
Please keep it on topic about real estate. Thank you.
I total agree that some of the individuals who regularly post comments on these forums need to be reined in. A couple weeks ago I posted my first (and now only) question and was immediately attacked for being a “New York wanna-be”. I swore I’d never post on this site again (and stopped visiting it altogether for a while) but since the topic of rudeness came up, I thought I’d share my feelings too. Sabrina, maybe a note to stating that personal attacks should be kept to a minimum would be helpful?
Steve H. has been gone a few months which I estimate has reduced the number of personal attacks by over half.
I delete the personal attacks (or most of them) – especially the name calling (you know who you are.)
It HAS gotten better in recent months but maybe that’s because you’re all agreeing with each other about market conditions- I don’t know.
It’s a shame Steve H. is no longer with us. Lincoln Park is just starting to get interesting. I’d like his insight.