A New Peak Price for 2-Bedroom Lincoln Park Townhouses? 1814 N. Bissell
This 2-bedroom townhouse at 1814 N. Bissell in Lincoln Park recently came on the market.
If it looks familiar, it’s because we chattered about it twice in 2010 and 2011.
It was bank owned in June 2010 and sold for $19,720 under the 1999 sales price.
Five months later, it came back on the market as a gut rehab with a new kitchen and baths.
The kitchen has still has the same white cabinets, granite counter tops and stainless steel appliances as it did in 2010.
The bathrooms were renovated in 2010 with marble.
The floors are the popular dark stained wood floors.
There is a small outdoor space on the first floor (leading to a shared garage) along with a back deck off the master bedroom.
The two bedrooms are not on the same floor. The master bedroom is on the top floor and the second bedroom one floor down, on the third level.
Yes, that’s the El brown/purple line running directly behind the townhouse.
The original renovator tried to get $449,000 in 2010’s market but ended up selling for $425,000.
Some of you thought that the 2010-2011 buyer overpaid.
See our interesting chatter here about living on the El line, how 2011 was a “bubble” again and other topics.
The townhouse has come back on the market at a new peak price for this unit: at 29.2% higher than the 2011 purchase price at $549,000.
If some of you thought the 2011 price was a new bubble, what about now?
How high will prices on 2-bedroom Lincoln Park townhouses go in this hot market?
Emily Smart LeMire at Coldwell Banker has the listing. See the pictures here.
1814 N. Bissell: 2 bedrooms, 2 baths, 1 car parking, no square footage listed
- Sold in April 1989 for $182,500
- Sold in December 1999 for $239,720
- Lis pendens filed in April 2006
- Bank owned in May 2009
- Sold in June 2010 for $220,000
- Was listed in November 2010 for $449,900
- Sold in February 2011 for $425,000
- Currently listed for $549,000
- Assessments still $100 a month
- Taxes are now $7602 (they were $4405 in November 2010)
- Central Air
- Washer/Dryer in the unit
- Bedroom #1: 15×13 (third floor)
- Bedroom #2: 16×10 (second floor)
- Kitchen/living room on the main level
- Family room: 16×16 (lower level)
It’s not a bad looking place. Ultimately, I think it really depends on how noisy the el is running behind the place. However, I think you can find a fairly nice 2/2 or 3/2 at this price point on a good street without necessarily bumping up against the El.
Does anyone think that winter of 10-11 was a “peak price” time?
I think the El has been what kept prices low on this place throughout its history, and now they’re trying to pretend a rehab makes up for that. It doesn’t. The El presence is still a huge liability, and you can’t mask that by making the place prettier.
To wit, I believe the person pricing this place is living in a fantasy land. Why would someone pay this much more just a few years later with nothing new done to the place and the El line still behind it? And how many people with half a million to spend want just 2 bedrooms in a townhouse? Seems like townhouse buyers would be more family-oriented and need three bedrooms, or at least expect a discount if it’s only a 2 BR.
Finding a townhouse in any decent neighborhood under $500,000 is almost impossible. I live in a much less trendy neighborhood than Lincoln Park and there are no townhouses available for under $500,000. The El must be horrendous in this location for this place not to sell for at least $500,000.
“Why would someone pay this much more just a few years later with nothing new done to the place and the El line still behind it?”
It’s called supply and demand.
Ok – I can understand that – supply and demand. And this is a nice enough place. But there would seem to be a limited audience for a place like this.
“The El must be horrendous in this location for this place not to sell for at least $500,000.”
I lived around the corner from here. The El is worse here than some areas because it is right by a bend in the track. There ends up being more noise because of trains braking as they approach the bend and the screech of the wheels as the they go around.
“Why would someone pay this much more just a few years later with nothing new done to the place”
Listing says “Outstanding renovation w/ too many upgrades to list!”
This home will sell near this price. Properties, especially townhomes, are in short supply in Lincoln Park and nearby, so they sell fast, usually within a few days, and it is pushing prices up to surprising levels. If a home is updated, a new owner will have less to do and will pay for that. The “L” will always cause fewer buyers to be interested, hence prices are lower that elsewhere. Someone bought homes on this block and they will again.
“Listing says “Outstanding renovation w/ too many upgrades to list!””
The renovation was done by the renovator who bought the foreclosure in 2010.
“I live in a much less trendy neighborhood than Lincoln Park and there are no townhouses available for under $500,000.”
Oh boy- really? Do I have to do some posts to show you a townhouse under $500,000 in Lincoln Park? Sure- they’re not in East Lincoln Park but neither is this property in this post. And while there aren’t a TON of them, they CAN definitely be found.
This 2/2 on Wrightwood just came back on the market. Went under contract in one day in May, must have fallen through because it’s been re-listed. It faces Wrightwood which is the preferred view in this complex. There’s no El behind the building here. Listed at just $449,000. Only difference is outdoor parking spot versus shared garage of the one on Bissell.
https://www.redfin.com/IL/Chicago/1445-W-Wrightwood-Ave-60614/unit-A/home/13361014
“Only difference is outdoor parking spot versus shared garage of the one on Bissell.”
And that the Wrightwood one is too far to walk to the el.
“And that the Wrightwood one is too far to walk to the el.”
She didn’t say “it has to be within walking distance to the el.” She said that there were NO townhouses under half a million dollars in Lincoln Park and that even in her not prime neighborhood there were no cheap townhouses.
That is wrong, wrong, wrong.
I never said there were a TON of options. I never said they would be along the lakefront (either in LP, Lakeview or anywhere else). But they certainly DO exist.
Strangely enough I think we had this same “discussion” when this unit was first listed in 2010 for $450,000 with people saying there were no other townhouses selling that low in LP. I think I even linked to one of those Wrightwood townhouses that time too. There are also townhouses for around $400,000 on Hudson and those units on Altgeld (but those are near the Metra.)
“She didn’t say “it has to be within walking distance to the el.””
I didn’t say that she did. But it is another difference that is relevant to pricing. And something you harp on all the time.
I’m just surprised that there are townhouses in Lincoln Park for less than $500,000.