Vintage Exterior but Modern Interior Reduces $25K: 1722 W. Wellington
This house at 1722 W. Wellington in Lakeview elicited much chatter when it was last featured in April.
Read our prior chatter here.
It has since been reduced $25,400.
The completely renovated modern interior includes a spiral staircase and skylights.
Catherine Brennan at Sudler Sothebys has the listing. See the listing and other pictures here.
1722 W. Wellington: 2 bedrooms, 2 baths, 2750 square feet, 2 car garage, backyard
- Sold in May 1994 for $84,000
- Sold in February 1995 for $113,000
- Sold in July 1998 for $310,000
- Sold in June 2004 for $610,000
- Was listed in April 2009 for $724,900
- Reduced
- Currently listed for $699,500
- Taxes of $8210
- Central Air
- Skylights
- Bedroom #1: 18×12
- Bedroom #2: 18×13
- Office: 10×13
I still say this has to drop to low $600’s to see any action. Regardless of how nicely it is done it’s still only 2 BRs.
If you buy a 2/2 cottage for 610k and want to spend a lot of money on upgrades and finishes please don’t expect a positive return on your investment.
The purchaser in 2004 was the goat. Everyone involved in the transactions from 1994-2004 basically made outsized returns based on land speculation as well as the bubble. Imagine getting a 30+% rate of return just for splurging on the highest end finishes possible. Thats what the bubble did.
Unfortunately for the seller they really should’ve been more hesitant at buying this place for 610k back in 2004 unless they really planned on living here long term. I know hindsight is 20/20 right?
So now the purchaser is going to have to live with that hefty mortgage obligation they signed up for, oh the horror.
The updated interior still doesn’t get me past the exterior of the house. The seller will be hard-pressed to get a buyer in this price range that is willing to settle for just 2 bedrooms.
Nice place, but won’t move until it gets around $600k imho. Maybe even less.
I think the place looks over-priced, but I was kind of surprised that the ZEstimate is $862k
http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/1722-W-Wellington-Ave-Chicago-IL-60657/3731369_zpid/
$254 or so a SF. Does seem like a lot of space for a 2/2.
Also, does Lakeview go past Ashland? In my mind it never did. How far west does Lakeview extend?
the bathroom is the worst/most depressing looking bathroom I have ever laid eyes on. Looks like something out of a horror movie from the 80’s.
“How far west does Lakeview extend?”
Ravenswood train line, officially. A lot of the Ashland-Damen area, north of the river up to at least Irving has a tweener/transitional ‘hood feel. Sort of neither here nor there, but also both at the same time.
I could see someone buying this and saying they live in Lincoln Park. Because, hey, why not.
The pictures could be better, or at least provide a floor plan. The listing says there is an office that is 10 X 13, which is definitely large enough to be a third bedroom if someone wants to spend $1000 to add a closet. At 3 bedrooms, the price is a lot better, IMO.
How come if this is a Sudler Sotheby listing – why does it come up on the Coldwell Banker site? This seems to happen a lot on this cribchatter…someone here working for CB? Just curious as to why many of these properties are displayed on CB’s site when they belong to another firm?
“The pictures could be better, or at least provide a floor plan. The listing says there is an office that is 10 X 13, which is definitely large enough to be a third bedroom if someone wants to spend $1000 to add a closet. At 3 bedrooms, the price is a lot better, IMO.”
Judging by how the roof slopes, I would guess that the floor of the office is 10 x 13, but with much less usable space. Also, to be defined a room, you need a natural light source, so you would have likely have to lower a wall or install a window.
“The listing says there is an office that is 10 X 13”
I don’t know why, but I had the impression that the office was semi-open space on the 2d floor. Like a big landing area. Maybe I’m mixing up houses, tho.
Considering the 2004 sale price equates to 22% annual appreciation from the 1994 sale price a decade prior, it really makes me wonder 1) what the hell were they thinking and 2) what kind of financing they used in 2004.
Talk to someone financially unsophisticated and they would have no idea 22% annualized gains are outsized and way beyond the market mean. Coincidentally no and low down payment loans tend to attract a lot of financially unsophisticated people.
What, I cant believe there is a ZEstimate out there that is in no way based in reality, cant be
Zillow = giant turd of a website
From seeing the sharp rise in the yield curve and current mortgage rates, I can’t help but think this doesn’t bode well for RE valuations.
APR’s on a 30yr fixed a whole 100bps higher than they were a month ago. Crash here we come (or rather continue)..
anon (tfo)
I don’t know why, but I had the impression that the office was semi-open space on the 2d floor. Like a big landing area. Maybe I’m mixing up houses, tho.
I believe that you are correct.
“How come if this is a Sudler Sotheby listing – why does it come up on the Coldwell Banker site? This seems to happen a lot on this cribchatter…someone here working for CB? Just curious as to why many of these properties are displayed on CB’s site when they belong to another firm?”
That is a good question.
Several of the major Chicago realtors require you to register at their website to access just about any listings. The big offenders of that are Sudler Sotheby’s and @Properties.
(On certain occasions, the agent from one of these will send me a separate link directly to the property- which I’m always glad to use- that goes to their own website.)
So I cannot link to those sites because most of the people who read these posts either 1) aren’t registered and 2) don’t want to register.
I link to Coldwell Banker a lot because I just find it to be the easiest to see the pictures. I’ll also use Rubloff or Redfin- both of which I find to also be very user friendly and good websites. Neither requires you to register to see most of the listings. (MLS rules require you to register at a site if you want to see 100% of the listings.)
Price it in the $500s and it will sell tomorrow. At the current price, it will just sit there.
Sabrina – Thanks for the update. I actually avoid cruising through @properties listings due to the registration requirement.
Still a wood-frame two-bedrm cottage on a narrow lot, albeit with seemingly nice finishes and stylish staging. SF total may include a finished basement, because house appears to small in photos to contain that much above-grade living space. I agree, this house needs to be priced below 2004 price to sell.
“SF total may include a finished basement”
Didn’t someone in the last post say that there was only a crawlspace?
You can put all the makeup and lipstick you want on this pig at the end of the day its still a 700k cottage in a non-prime, waaaaay west part of Lakeview.
I am glad the consummate overkill rehabber is stuck with that 610k mortgage, honestly. While they (or a previous owner) did a great job on the rehab, they’re going to learn the hard way in normal times even exceptional rehabs aren’t worth hundreds of thousands of dollars. Enjoy the mortgage.
“I am glad the consummate overkill rehabber is stuck with that 610k mortgage, honestly. While they (or a previous owner) did a great job on the rehab”
Per a post in the prior thread, much/most of the re-hab (less the kitchen) was done by the prior, prior owner, who sold for $310k. So, more than “overkill rehabbers”, they seem to be land speculators.
And it’s a $610k cottage until someone pays more than that. Because if asking price makes it “true”, I’ll list my house for $10mm, so that you can complain about how absurd a $10mm North Center house is.
“they seem to be land speculators.”
Well they better start digging for oil..
The ’04 sale price did fit the trend line for quirky SFHs in the west LV/south North Center area, tho. Houses of about this size were selling in the high-400s in ’01; given where condo prices wnet from 01 to 06, $610 wasn’t absurd–but it’s the sort of pricing that *should* have kept people out of the market.
I think that–in a world where loop 1 brs are “reasonable” at ~$190k (see 20 N State comments, today), this place is “reasonable” back in the mid- to high- $400s that it would have sold for in 2001–even with the expensive kitchen reno.
If the SF is accurate I could see it going for 525k. Remember we’re still in a tale of two markets: conforming loan limits capped at 417k with 20% down or 10% down with second mortgage, and everything beyond 463-525k.
I’m not sure many sellers realize what a hard barrier that 525k number is. A lot of people who could afford properties above 525k are just going to rent or downsize given the extra financing costs.
Then again maybe with the recent rise in interest rates the spreads between jumbos and conformings will finally shrink now that our taxpayer dollars aren’t being used as a wealth transfer by the fed to people with conforming loans.
“If the SF is accurate I could see it going for 525k.”
Yeah, but that’s a big barrier. Just checked the prior; jc posted: “House doesn’t have a basement, listed as “partial/crawl” for basement. No way is it 2750 sq ft on 2 levels.”
2250 seems much more likely–and 500 sf of basement space is probably “worth” $50-75k, no?
Well they owe 550k and given they used the house as ATM strategy I’d bet they can’t bring 75k to closing. So I bet it doesn’t sell. Instead it’ll just go off the market and they can live here another five years.
Seem that these ‘land speculators’ will need to learn a new term: short sale
Older (1950 or older) Chicago houses almost always have a basement; additions to older homes often have crawl spaces to save on foundation costs. I still think the “partial basement” has been included in the SF calculations. House footprint seems too small to contain noted SF in two stories alone.
“House footprint seems too small to contain noted SF in two stories alone”
House footprint **IS** too small to contain 2750 on two floor, esp with 2d floor limited by pitched roof.
“Older (1950 or older) Chicago houses almost always have a basement”
Older *frame* houses, sure. We both know of plenty of brick houses that do not have basements. I’ve been in more than a couple.
Who the hell is gonna buy this when you can get a similarly sized foreclosure cottage at Racine and Diversey for 550k?
Epic fail.
“Bob on June 9th, 2009 at 10:30 am
You can put all the makeup and lipstick you want on this pig at the end of the day its still a 700k cottage in a non-prime, waaaaay west part of Lakeview.
I am glad the consummate overkill rehabber is stuck with that 610k mortgage, honestly. While they (or a previous owner) did a great job on the rehab, they’re going to learn the hard way in normal times even exceptional rehabs aren’t worth hundreds of thousands of dollars. Enjoy the mortgage.”
One word for you “Bob”…
Karma
Opinions are one thing, ill wishes are another. I wonder if you had ever considered a family member of friend of yours in this situation. Being likened to a “goat” and/or a “pig”, nonetheless. I truly hope you never find yourself in any situation where you have made a less than prudent decision based on inflated values and soon to burst housing bubble. However, in the event that you do, I hope you remember how mean spirited you once were to someone who, my guess, has been in the very same predicament.
Yeah well Andrew karma got the best of this person because had they not been so eager to lever up on real estate, and thousands like them, perhaps our country would not be as bad off as it is today. I bet they weren’t even the least bit hesitant.
My generation (x) has it rough enough for the excesses of the baby boomers but the millenials are really paying the price. It probably never crossed this owners mind twice that things might not turn out optimally, just as stock market speculators in the 1920s.
“I truly hope you never find yourself in any situation where you have made a less than prudent decision based on inflated values and soon to burst housing bubble.”
I’ve already lost a substantial sum before in the event called 9/11. I look back and laugh at my losses now as I’ve learned to move on. Trust me I’ve made less than prudent decisions–just not on the magnitude of this.
Also this is still listed but cut to 624k.
Ask price cut to 575k on 2/14/2011. Getting warmer..
Bob: we’ve already chattered about this price cut two weeks ago.
Check out the post.
http://cribchatter.com/?p=10015