A 3-Bedroom Townhouse with No Assessments in Lakeview for $625K: 820 W. Wolfram
This 3-bedroom townhouse at 820 W. Wolfram in Lakeview came on the market in February 2024.
Built in 1979, the complex has 6 townhouses and outdoor parking. What is unique is that there are no assessments.
The listing says this townhouse has “full masonry” and has been “abundantly updated.”
It has hardwood floors throughout.
The first floor has the kitchen, dining room and living room with exposed brick, a stylish wood beamed ceiling and a wood burning fireplace.
The kitchen has custom wood cabinets, quartz counter tops, a breakfast bar, and “newer” Samsung stainless steel appliances.
The second floor has one bedroom, a full bath, the washer/dryer, and a family room. On the current floor plan it is closed off and is called a “bedroom” but in the prior 2020 listing, it is shown as open space and doesn’t have a wall or door.
The listing calls it a “bonus” area with a fourth bedroom or office.
The third floor has the primary bedroom, a second bedroom and a full bathroom.
The listing says the bathrooms have been “newly renovated” with marble tile and walk-in-shower.
The townhouse has skylights and a fenced brick patio off the main living area on the first floor.
It has the features buyers look for including central air and one parking space.
This townhouse is in south Lakeview and is near shops, restaurants, Trader Joe’s, Dom’s Market, numerous bus lines and the Brown Line stop at Diversey.
Listed at $625,000, is this townhouse a good option for those who want levels?
John Burks at @properties Christie’s has the listing. See the pictures and floor plan here.
You can also go to the Open Houses on Saturday, February 17 from 10 AM to 12 PM and on Sunday, February 18 from 10 AM to 12 PM.
Unit #C: 3 bedrooms, 2 baths, no square footage listed, townhouse
- Sold in March 2000 for $279,000 (per Zillow)
- Sold in October 2020 for $559,000 (per Zillow)
- Currently listed for $625,000
- No assessments
- Taxes of $11,723
- Central Air
- Washer/dryer
- 1 parking space
- Wood burning fireplace
- Bedroom #1: 12×11 (third floor)
- Bedroom #2: 13×12 (second floor)
- Bedroom #3: 12×11 (third floor)
- Family room: 15×9 (second floor)
- Kitchen: 10×8 (main floor)
- Dining room: 9×8 (main floor)
- Living room: 15×14 (main floor)
- Terrace: 18×9 (main floor)
How is this not a 4Br?
Looks to be 1250sf on 3 levels. Is there anyone alive that likes 40osf floor plates?
Zero cub appeal
Not changing the kitchen tile is/was a big mistake
I “Get” removing the kitchen uppers, but man there is a serious lack of storage
Bathroom updates are pretty marginal
Pricing reeks of we need to break even and cant lose money
I think I’d want to kick my own ass coming home to this every day
Tax parcels are all messed up here–they look to all be incorrect.
Another unit (F) has been a repeat CC feature:
https://cribchatter.com/seamless-indoor-outdoor-living-townhouse-returns-820-w-wolfram-in-lakeview/
“Zero cub appeal”
Nah..worse than that: curb repel.
Oct-20 price was an overpay, but probably about right after 3 years of inflation and current market scarcity. $599 gets it done (as another overpay).
“ $599 gets it done (as another overpay)”
No way. This will be under contract by Tuesday and sell for ask or over.
“ How is this not a 4Br?”
No closet in the front bedroom on the second floor. The space was previously a family room that wasn’t doored off.
“No closet in the front bedroom on the second floor. The space was previously a family room that wasn’t doored off.”
Thanks – Space is called a bedroom in the plan and I’ve seen worse called a Br.
If this goes over ask, I’d be shocked and not in a good way
“If this goes over ask, I’d be shocked and not in a good way”
This place has its flaws for sure. But there are no other move in ready 3-4 bedrooms priced this low in the 60657 area code. The multiple level living works well for couples that WFH, especially if they have kids.
“there are no other move in ready 3-4 bedrooms priced this low in the 60657 [zip] code”
How is this not move in ready:
https://www.redfin.com/IL/Chicago/609-W-Stratford-Pl-60657/unit-6A/home/13376586
You meant just 4+ beds?
Try this one:
https://www.redfin.com/IL/Chicago/3150-N-Lake-Shore-Dr-60657/unit-4F/home/13372036
Ok you called my bluff, it’s not the only 3-4 bed property at that price point in 60657. I don’t really think anything else on the market is comparable however.
For instance the Stratford property is comparable in size (if you only need 3 beds) but in a much less desirable location and lacks on-site parking. The LSD property has a $1500/mo HOA fees (plus $215 to rent parking), which results in a higher monthly payment north of $700. Both properties are elevator dependent, share lots of walls / ceilings / floors with neighbors, and lack outdoor space.
I’ll say this for the place -it’s not cookie cutter, and the interior is more attractive than the exterior, though that’s not saying much. Not a lot of natural light in this place, typical for the era. A decent bargain if you want to raise a family in this location, which is near everything but isn’t my favorite part of Lakeview.
kk:
“But there are no other move in ready 3-4 bedrooms priced this low in the 60657 area code.”
“Ok you called my bluff, it’s not the only 3-4 bed property at that price point in 60657. I don’t really think anything else on the market is comparable however.
”
To be fair to you an anon
KK: you are moving the goal posts. There are clearly other options on the market and as they are other options then for some they want that turn key high rise living and so on for the pros and cons of different properties.
Way way way way back in the day, I thought about buying in Dearborn Park 2.
Lots of nicely new done all red brick structures but with the same issue as this property. It was like. Here’s a living space. Climb a stair. Here’s another living space. Climb a stair. Great for the glutes. Feel like a hamster.
anon & JU and others
https://www.redfin.com/IL/Chicago/609-W-Stratford-Pl-60657/unit-6A/home/13376586
Why is the stove where it’s at. Is it some artifact of a weird building conversion or the structure is older that had servant quarters or …
It sucks from a cooking perspective. Otherwise I like the property –
KK – what’s wrong with the location?
“Why is the stove where it’s at. Is it some artifact of a weird building conversion or the structure is older that had servant quarters or”
Best Guess – Only spot they could vent the exhaust and proximity to gas line
I guess comments on wall unit HVAC are off limits now.
“Best Guess – Only spot they could vent the exhaust and proximity to gas line”
Agreed–the wall behind backs to common space; other locations would have been complicated.
“KK: you are moving the goal posts.”
Not really. Do a search of 4 bedroom properties in 60657 and you won’t find much in the $4,500/mo range with parking. If missing something, please let me know!
“KK – what’s wrong with the location?”
The featured property is in a great location, IMO. To be clear, I did mention that the “comp” link to a Stratford Place residence was in a worse location.
KK
I’ll leave the search to the specialist anon
Plus I’m much more familiar with 60614
I think I tend to be more aligned with anonny that I prefer
Being closer to the lake aka ELP
What is good about that neighborhood area near Halsted?
More shops? Again I honestly don’t know – my hood is old town
“Not really. Do a search of 4 bedroom properties in 60657 and you won’t find much in the $4,500/mo range with parking.”
Hmmm…
“4 beds with parking at HMAM”
is supposed to mean the same thing as
“move in ready 3-4 bedrooms priced this low”
You eliminated 3 bedrooms, added parking and changed from ask price to monthly cost.
That’s a classic goalpost relocation.
“ I’ll leave the search to the specialist”
“I’m much more familiar with 60614”
So you are interested in exploring / debating this topic but can’t be bothered to do a one minute search on the listings and Google maps? Or ever venture a block beyond the 60614 border (where this property is located)? Are you interested in learning and sharing educated opinions or just trolling at this point?
“ You eliminated 3 bedrooms, added parking and changed from ask price to monthly cost. That’s a classic goalpost relocation.”
Here we go, argument for the sake of argument. List price alone is just one component of a homeowner’s monthly housing budget consisting of P&I, taxes, HOA fees.
I’m not sure if you know anyone with a car, Anon, but parking is very important to most buyers.
Where are all of these move-in ready 3 bedrooms for the same monthly nugget that you speak of?
KK says
“So you are interested in exploring / debating this topic but can’t be bothered to do a one minute search on the listings and Google maps?”
It’s more like, it’s much faster and easier to leave that sort of ask to anon tfo
that sort of thing is like dog on bone for he / she / they
KK says:
“I’m not sure if you know anyone with a car, Anon, but parking is very important to most buyers.”
FWIW our site admin has a different opinion
“No reason to have a car in this location. Where are you driving to? Walkable to everything: grocery stores, pharmacy, hospital, Wrigley and then multiple bus lines and subway to take you everywhere else.
If you must drive to Home Depot or Costco, can either Uber or take a zipcar.”
citation:
https://cribchatter.com/get-a-vintage-lakeview-2-bedroom-with-arched-windows-for-399900-823-w-oakdale/#comment-1243548
Or ever venture a block beyond the 60614 border
don’t get me started on bucktown…
I miss groove
have a nice Friday KK
“Where are all of these move-in ready 3 bedrooms for the same monthly nugget that you speak of?”
Inventory remains at record lows. This is cheap for a 3-bedroom in this location. There have to be hundreds of people looking at just this one property.
“You eliminated 3 bedrooms, added parking and changed from ask price to monthly cost.”
It DOES have parking. Those who are looking for that amenity won’t rent something else without it.
“FWIW our site admin has a different opinion”
Many young people do not even get their driver’s license these days. They just aren’t that into it. Add on the insane prices for buying a car now, even used, and many young people simply say “no.”
That doesn’t mean that NO ONE has a care. They clearly do. But with Uber, Lyft, Curb and other options, it’s not as necessary to have one in the dense city neighborhoods.
“It DOES have parking.”
The stated criteria were:
“move in ready 3-4 bedrooms priced this low”
then they changed.
“Where are all of these move-in ready 3 bedrooms for the same monthly nugget that you speak of?”
You claimed there were NONE that are “PRICED THIS LOW”.
You got called on it, moved the goal posts, got called on that, and then try to flip it into me claiming there are “all of these”.
No, I just showed the fallacy of your statement. And then that you wer arguing disingenuously. And now continue to.
“Many young people do not even get their driver’s license these days. They just aren’t that into it. Add on the insane prices for buying a car now, even used, and many young people simply say “no.”
That doesn’t mean that NO ONE has a care. They clearly do. But with Uber, Lyft, Curb and other options, it’s not as necessary to have one in the dense city neighborhoods.”
“Many young people”? Do you have a study or article to share in support of that? Only a tiny, almost immeasurably statistically small portion of young people come of age in the neighborhoods of the nation’s dense cities. Anecdotally, I know of four teens (two different families) who’ve grown up in NY, and yes, apparently none of them have any interest in learning to drive, but they’re in Manhattan, and have only ever seen their parents drive when leaving or away from the city. I know (well) one in SF and she and everyone she knows got their license. I’ve got one in my house turning 15 next week who’ll get her permit that day, as will pretty much every single kid her age she knows. People don’t just come out as fully formed post-college 20-somethings living in a dense city where they have little to no need for a car.
Under contract by Tuesday (Monday to be exact). You heard it here first.
““Many young people”? Do you have a study or article to share in support of that? Only a tiny, almost immeasurably statistically small portion of young people come of age in the neighborhoods of the nation’s dense cities. Anecdotally, I know of four teens (two different families) who’ve grown up in NY, and yes, apparently none of them have any interest in learning to drive, but they’re in Manhattan, and have only ever seen their parents drive when leaving or away from the city. I know (well) one in SF and she and everyone she knows got their license. I’ve got one in my house turning 15 next week who’ll get her permit that day, as will pretty much every single kid her age she knows. People don’t just come out as fully formed post-college 20-somethings living in a dense city where they have little to no need for a car.”
You’re pissing into the wind with the queen of N=1 is all you need to make blanket statements
It’s young people in the suburbs who don’t want to drive. But, yes, in the major cities too. None of them want to drive. If you had kids in high school you would know. Some don’t get their licenses until 18 or 19 years old. I know one that waited until 23. It’s not like it used to be where a car was freedom and drive-in movies.
It’s been a “thing” for a long time now. At least a decade.
Thanks for the update KK. I was going to crib on another property in Lakeview but I knew it probably would go under contract over the long holiday weekend and it did. Inventory remains at record lows.
Crain’s is reporting that there are more people out looking to buy right now than any year back to 2019 and they blame it on the weather. The weather is good so buyers are out looking “early.”
“If you had kids in high school you would know.”
Well it’s not my middle schooler who’s getting a driver’s permit next week. I’ll conduct an unscientific poll targeting parents of teens living in the Chicago burbs and will report back.
sabrina says:
“It’s young people in the suburbs who don’t want to drive. But, yes, in the major cities too. None of them want to drive.”
emphasis on WAAAAANT
tl;dr
“It makes sense if you look at the cost of owning a car and insuring a teen driver,” Ralph said. “It’s so expensive that it doesn’t make sense.” Unable to buy a car themselves, teens relied on family and friends to chauffeur them — which limited their mobility. If they had more money, or if driving was cheaper, such young people would have been behind the wheel.
cite
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-03-01/is-gen-z-really-done-with-driving-cars-don-t-bet-on-it?embedded-checkout=true
– –
“The proportion of young Americans who drive has plummeted — and no one knows why,” a 2014 New Republic headline declared. “Why aren’t younger Americans driving anymore?,” asked the Washington Post in 2013, offering explanations including the rising cost of driving, the ascent of social media, and a desire to live in multimodal cities. Contemporaneous stories also noted the liberating potential of then-novel ride-hailing apps and carshare services. An editorial in USA Today offered a blunt assessment: “Millennials reject car culture.”
Well, maybe.
In the early 2010s, Kelcie Ralph was enrolled in an urban planning Ph.D. program at UCLA (she is now a planning professor at Rutgers). Ralph kept hearing about how her generation was turning its back on cars, and she was skeptical. “At the time pretty much all my friends and family were living in Alaska or Montana,” she recently told me. “I realized that narrative didn’t square up with a single person I knew.”
Ralph decided to write her dissertation about the driving trends of young Americans. Her conclusion: Their much-hyped rejection of cars was largely a mirage. Overall, young people were driving less and waiting to get a driver’s license compared to previous generations — but the bulk of that shift was not happening among the urban dwellers and middle-class youths who featured prominently in media coverage
“The steepest declines in driving between 2001 and 2009 were among young people with low incomes who lived with their families,” Ralph said. “It was primarily low-income teens in suburban and rural areas who were driving less.”
Most of these young people were not opting to forgo driving because of environmental convictions or a principled rejection of car culture — they just couldn’t afford it.
“It makes sense if you look at the cost of owning a car and insuring a teen driver,” Ralph said. “It’s so expensive that it doesn’t make sense.” Unable to buy a car themselves, teens relied on family and friends to chauffeur them — which limited their mobility. If they had more money, or if driving was cheaper, such young people would have been behind the wheel.
Indeed, as that cohort aged — and their incomes rose, and they started having children — it turned out that they weren’t so anti-driving after all. “The notion that Millennials are spurning cars across the board is clearly oversimplified,” CityLab noted in 2014, looking at auto commuting patterns across US metros. That same year, American Millennials began buying so many cars that they were grabbing market share from every other generation. “They’re heading to the dealership, just like their parents,” Derek Thompson admitted in a 2015 article in The Atlantic, three years after he and a coauthor asserted that Millennials would “almost certainly be a less-driving [generation].”
I now challenge (not really) anon(tfo) if indeed there are less 3-4 car garages made out of siding vs 1 car garages “da poorz” made of out siding or maybe I am missing the forest for the trees and it’s really more like no garage
“less 3-4 car garages made out of siding vs 1 car garages”
??
where that assertion made?
sorry that came out wrong.
I meant challenge not in that you made that assertion
but
in that is it possible that siding is for the POORZ also is applicable to garage structures
Closed over ask at $700,750
“Closed over ask at $700,750”
Thanks for the update David.
$75,000 over ask. Wow. I guess this answered the question as to whether there was multiple bids or not.
The market, in some neighborhoods and for some price points, is red hot. Just not enough inventory.