Andersonville 2-Bedroom Duplex With 27 Windows Reduces Again: 1654 W. Berwyn
We have chattered about this 2-bedroom duplex up at 1654 W. Berwyn in Andersonville several times over the past six months.
See our June 2011 chatter here.
It has reduced another $15,900 and is now listed at $330,000.
In June, some of you thought it would sell around $325,000 but others thought a number under $300,000 would get the sale done.
In June 2011, Unit #2W in the building sold for $342,000.
If you recall, it has a split floor plan with the first floor consisting of the living room, dining room, kitchen and power room.
The second floor, or the duplex up, has the 2 bedrooms and 2 full baths.
The listing says the unit has 3 exposures, north, south and west, and 27 windows in which to soak up the sunshine.
The kitchen has stainless steel appliances and granite counter tops.
It also has a 6×5 laundry room, central air and heated garage parking.
How low will this go?
George Just at @Properties still has the listing. See the pictures here.
Unit #1WA: 2 bedrooms, 2.5 baths, 1600 square feet, duplex up
- Sold in January 2000 for $269,000
- Sold in March 2004 for $347,500
- Sold in December 2007 for $401,000
- Originally listed in February 2011 for $399,000
- Reduced
- Was listed in June 2011 at $345,900
- Reduced
- Currently listed at $330,000 (parking included)
- Assessments of $200 a month
- Taxes of $4336
- Central Air
- Washer/Dryer in the unit
- Bedroom #1: 18×13 (second floor)
- Bedroom #2: 14×11 (second floor)
- Laundry room: 6×5
Just so this one doesn’t go without any comments posted.
I like the looks of this. I’d like it better at 299. But I bet it goes closer to the ask.
This one is a real mystery to me. Absolutely kick ass A’ville location a good amount of space for a condo.
I really thought in between the insults, the gripping and the krazy talk, someone would have answered:
General question for the chatarati: would two properties, SFH, condos or whatever, be sufficient comps for one another if they are 1.6 miles apart? Discuss.
“This one is a real mystery to me. Absolutely kick ass A’ville location a good amount of space for a condo.”
Russ- you said that in the last thread too. I too am surprised that this hasn’t sold yet. Andersonville is a hot neighborhood. This has all the things that buyers look for (including the garage parking space.) It lives more like a townhouse than a condo (with the bedrooms on the other floor.)
I don’t get it.
“would two properties, SFH, condos or whatever, be sufficient comps for one another if they are 1.6 miles apart? Discuss.”
Are you talking about properties in the city of Chicago?
“General question for the chatarati: would two properties, SFH, condos or whatever, be sufficient comps for one another if they are 1.6 miles apart? Discuss.”
Highly unlikely in the city or the inner ring suburbs, unless no other sufficient comps within closer proximity available. Then again, 1.6 miles might be considered too far even in absence of closer comps and would probably be ignored. It’s too hard to say with the information you’ve presented.
I think the lack of comments on this property is telling as to why it hasn’t moved…it’s boring.
I do have two specific properties the city (Portage and Jefferson Park) in mind though I phrased the question for general discusssion.
Upon further thought, I suppose 1 mile might be too far, let alone more.
Wow…no snarking about the school district yet?
My own problem with the place is the rather awkward CTA situation – you’d either have to take the Clark bus all the way downtown or hop the Foster bus to Sheridan, then walk to the Berwyn L station.
Or drive to the Ravenswood Metra station on Lawrence, to the Ogilvie station downtown.
The thing about comps is that they are not perfect and they are difficult to ascertain in a falling market. Selling a property these days is akin to winning the lottery. Even pricing it ‘right’ according to the comps doesn’t work more than half the time. “Why should the similar condo/house down the street sell for $300,000 but why won’t my larger and updated house sell at $299,000?
The answer to that question is usually the FHA buyer is a discriminating buyer and there aren’t that many buyers out there currently. The FHA buy will always overpay because price is of little concern – how much a month is the only concern. They apparently don’t think your home is worth as much per month, for whatever reasons, so it won’t sell.
it’s absolutely ridiculous how slow it is out there and how many properties are for sale that languish….so slowly, so slowly, and that stupid “must close within 10% of final listing price or else it’s a lowball” rule….so stupid….
OIP is FULL of all these $500k+ homes and none have sold; the far nw side like Edgebrook, Wildwood, Sag, have all these older homes in need of major updating for sale in the $400’s and $500’s and they just aren’t selling, yet the sellers won’t lower their price (or short sale like they should be doing)….
this mess is going ot go on for years although I suspect at some point in the future there will literally be a flood of short sale properties and the banks will allow them without recourse just to get these properties off their books as borrowers walk away en mass. I’m telling you I’ve had 4 walk away clients this week, that’s really unusual for me, these are people in formerly $300,000 properties just giving up hope and want to live free for 2 years to save an emergency fund and then rent.
I posted a link on another thread to the rumors that the Government is considering another bailout for homeowners…a rumor and political election move that I don’t want to debate.
One point that a commentor on the link mentioned was that reducing a person’s interest rate on a loan isn’t helpful if you cannot make your payment at all and most aren’t good enough to apply the saved money to their mortgage principal. Again, no need to go into long discussion.
What HD and that commentor have in common is the point that the current system doesn’t leave people with underwater mortgages much choice.
Stay Put, Short Sell, bring money to the table. AS IT SHOULD BE.
However, this does create the impasse that HD alludes to. Unless people who want to step up in home can roll in the difference between Current_Mortgage and Sale_Price, without compromising too much on the home the can step up into (i.e. no point unloading a $250K home if you can only step up to a $255K home) this situation is gonna take generations to dissipate.
“this situation is gonna take generations to dissipate.”
I don’t know about generations but definitely long enough for current owners to repay a good chunk of their principal so they can sell without having to bring money to the table. The other option I see as the mass walkaways start in earnest in 2014 is short sale without recourse and another backdoor bailout of the banks in the process. Anyone who wants to sell, can, they just have to short sale, without recourse. But the banks have streamline the short sale process and ferret out the fraud because it’s ripe for fraud.
“Or drive to the Ravenswood Metra station on Lawrence, to the Ogilvie station downtown.”
It’s a sub-20 minute walk.
And the Berwyn Red stop is a ~15 minute walk.
Would some type of principal reduction be possible and more practical instead of automatically refinancing everyone’s interest rate? Assuming the Government was gonna insist on doing something?
“Would some type of principal reduction be possible and more practical”
Bifurcation into a reduced rate first mortgage for the current value, with a balloon, no-payment, 2d, repayable only on a cashout refi or sale for more than X% over the face amount of the first mortgage (in other words, it disappears if the market value of the home doesn’t grow, but has to be repaid if it does). INclude some allowance for dcumented improvements to the property.
“It’s a sub-20 minute walk.
And the Berwyn Red stop is a ~15 minute walk.”
Exactly, it’s not far from the Berwyn stop by foot.
anon (tfo) I like that, as long as it can be written to reduce fraud. Perhaps when bifucation, you take current market value and that becomes the first mortgage?
One issue I could see would be it might create some hell with the whole inconsistent and everything that’s wrong with appraisers/appraisals.
Someone who the bank told didn’t qualify for a refi because they were (then) too underwater and now they suddenly appraise for too much for the proposed Bifucation…yet still cannot refi! I suppose there will always be a subset that isn’t happy.
anon(tfo) – you are describing HAMP, for the most part, where the banks engineer a payment to be 31% of a borrower’s gross income by adding the arrearages and late fees to the principal, reducing the interest rate to 2%, then extending the terms of the loan to 40 years, and then reducing the interest bearing portion of the principal, and making the balance a balloon payment.
The problem is that 5, 7, 10 years from now, the borrow is still underwater, has made no capital improvements to the property and then again walks away from the property, leading to another foreclosure.
The solution is mass amounts of expedited non-recourse short sales. But the borrowers’ credit gets messed up preventing them from homewonership for years. This way if borrowers want out, they can get out without a foreclosure and without having to lose their life savings (if any) in a deficiency.
Is this really in “kick-ass” Andersonville? I think that’s a reach. Foster & Clark is Andersonville ground zero, this isn’t walking distance for many people at a 1/2 mile away, and west of Ashland is a pretty large psychological barrier in terms of the connection.
“This one is a real mystery to me. Absolutely kick ass A’ville location a good amount of space for a condo.”
“you are describing HAMP, for the most part”
Nope, because the balloon is only due if the house (need an appraisal on both ends, to prevent fraud) sells for a meaningful amount above the market value **at the time of bifurcation**. So, if today you have a $350k mortgage, but the house is only worth $250k, you get a new 1st for $250k, and a no-pay 2d for $100k. Then, if you want to sell in a year or 2 or 5 or 10, and the sale price then is no greater than $250k + X% (prolly a per year thing, possible with a floor of ~transaction costs, and a cap), the 2d just goes away. But, if there’s inflation, or whatever, and you can sell it (having made no improvements) for $500k, you have to repay the $100k + some interest. So, provided that market values do not significantly further *decrease*, they wouldn’t be under water–even if they can sell for only $250k + X% + $10k, they still would walk away with their paid-in equity from making payments on the new 1st, and there’s a (really bad) return on the 2d.
I know people who were trying (a couple years ago) to make something like this work on a private basis (with a shared appreciation component on the 2d), but couldn’t get around state mortgage/foreclosure law problems. If the Feds did it, they wouldn’t have similar problems, as they just legislate the enforceability and recourse.
“And the Berwyn Red stop is a ~15 minute walk.”
Exactly, it’s not far from the Berwyn stop by foot.”
thats far, what a shitty commute!
talk to me in January if you want to be spending 15×2 minutes outside in addition to your 45 minute long smelly EL ride to the loop, and yes thats if you don’t have to wait too long for a train
“Foster & Clark is Andersonville ground zero, this isn’t walking distance for many people at a 1/2 mile away”
Dude, when did *you* become anti-walking, to the point of exagerrating distances? It’s .3 miles from Foster and Clark, and .2 miles from Berwyn and Clark, which has a reasonable claim to epicenter, too.
Would Glenwood/Berwyn be too far from the epicenter, too? It’s *exactly* the same distance.
The crossing Ashland thing is a valid issue, tho.
“talk to me in January if you want to be spending 15×2 minutes outside in addition to your 45 minute long smelly EL ride to the loop, and yes thats if you don’t have to wait too long for a train”
Not to me. I do it all the time.
“thats far, what a shitty commute!”
Isn’t your walk about the same as that?
The bad part of that commute is the long-ish train ride, and the likelihood that you need to walk another ~half mile when you get off the train.
Icarus nobody is entitled to step up to anything. The property ladder ponzi scheme lost a few steps and now the ladder is broken sure. But people in America didn’t always move every 5-10 years.
Oh yeah and decreased mobility in the labor market due to current situation–absolutely. This is why owning SHOULD be cheaper than renting.
The govt cannot and should not help people with their housing issues. Mortgages are for adults, Icarus.
Thank Gawd we have the tea party to tell the WH no and I hope that continues after 2012 or else the housing downturn just keeps getting postponed due to these govt interventions.
“Isn’t your walk about the same as that?”
yes but i don’t have to deal with 1.5 hours a day of the god awful red line, and if its really cold i can hop on the nice clean heated bus for about a 5-10 min ride (156 buses come about every 3-5 mins during rush hour
“yes but i don’t have to deal with 1.5 hours a day of the god awful red line, and if its really cold i can hop on the nice clean heated bus for about a 5-10 min ride ”
Right, so it’s not the walk, it’s the train trip that’s less than desireable. But you said “thats far” to the 15 minute walk, not to the train ride, which no one was discussing. So, I’m dubbing you a hobbit, too, since groove took his ball and left.
but I don’t “have” to walk anon, my actual walking would be about 5 mins (to the bus, or I guess, the El too)
@Bob, I’m not saying anyone is entitled to anything, except to be treated with respect and fairness unless they do something to forfeit that. 😀
What I’m saying is that like it or not, the politicans are gonna do something because it’s an election year and that’s what they do.
So I just wanted to see if the brain trusts here had any thoughts or suggestions. Just a little mental masterbation if you will.
Oh and by the way, being an adult doesn’t mean you’re automatically smart or right. After all, pediphiles are adults too Bob.
“but I don’t “have” to walk anon, my actual walking would be about 5 mins (to the bus, or I guess, the El too)”
H.o.b.b.i.t.
Whether the bus or the el, I don’t think I’d want to be walking more than 5 minutes from home, then 5 minutes to work. For the Metra, I suppose a 10 or 15 minute walk from home would be fine, then a 10 or 15 minute walk to work.
“For the Metra, I suppose a 10 or 15 minute walk from home would be fine, then a 10 or 15 minute walk to work.”
This place is a ~15 minute walk from the Metra, if you are a bona fide city commuting-walker, rather than a hobbit.
I have a 36″ inseam, I am no hobbit!
And Bob, I ate at Hamburger mary’s once (don’t ask why) and it was actually pretty good food
“This place is a ~15 minute walk from the Metra, if you are a bona fide city commuting-walker, rather than a hobbit.”
*I should add that my willingness to walk farther to and from the Metra would be in contemplation of living in Evanston or a northshore burb. In the city, I can’t imagine living more than a few blocks north of Belmont. And it should come as no surprise that I don’t plan to live far enough west to ever be an el rider.*
Your plan helps some with the moral hazard component that makes any bailout unpalatable. It would be nice if, when the 2nd “goes away” the banks & investors take a hit instead of taxpayers. How about the moral hazard be Fannie & Freddie bondholders getting haircuts? Oh, right, that may shake the faith of our financial system, systemic risk and all that. And what would happen to housing without government support? Armageddon!
“the 2d just goes away.”
Tft:
You left out men under 5’9″. Round them up, too.
bob: “People like me slowly die out? I got news for ya boss the progressives are about to lose their hold on the indoctrination, err education system.”
Independent of who might control the education system, you are on the wrong side of history, Bob. Unless you social conservatives can somehow manage to completely shield your younglings from society at large, they WILL be exposed to people different than themselves and they will be more tolerant to those people than their dipshit parents. Every study, poll and survey on the matter confirms this trend.
You will lose this one, you sad little man. Get used to it.
And thus ends the thread.
Thanks Godwins law!
“Exposure to people different than oneself helps foster increased tolerance?”
bob’s right… divorces are WAY up
“History is only some sort of humanistic progression to dumb fvcks like you.”
We’ll see, won’t we. Prediction: gay marriage at the federal level in our lifetime and all polling indicating increased tolerance of LGBT in our lifetime.
And actually, if you look at the last 10000 or more years of human history, mankind has made a slow but steady progression from small, isolated groups of people constantly at war with one another and oppressing subgroups to a more global, scientific oriented society with increasing tolerance of those subgroups. We aren’t perfect, and might never be, but the trend is obvious. Even to a dumb fuck like me.
“if you look at the last 10000 or more years of human history, mankind has made a slow but steady progression from small, isolated groups of people constantly at war with one another and oppressing subgroups to a more global, scientific oriented society with increasing tolerance of those subgroups”
Tft, you smokin my stuff?
I lived like two doors down from this place. It is a great street and location. I actually preferred being west of Ashland as the streets were quieter and the street parking was much easier. A lot less congestion than on the east side of the neighborhood.
The commute was very easy. Walk along a tree lined street to the El. Oh the horror of a 10 minute walk to the train. The location relative to the shopping is pretty much at the epicenter of the neighborhood shopping.
I guess the beauty of the neighborhood is that it still is really a secret in terms of value/amenities relative to the rest of the city.
Love this place but it’s just not a 10 minute walk to the Berwyn stop. I live a block and a half south of the Berwyn stop and it takes me about 10 to talk to Clark/Foster and I walk fast.
The commute from this place to the loop would suck. And really thank god for express buses, i can’t imagine taking the red line from Berwyn to the loop everyday with all those slow zones.
ze: “Tft, you smokin my stuff?”
Not true? Dunno…by most measures, I think we’ve clearly improved as a society. Though I’m certainly not arguing we’re perfect…
The red line takes 30 minutes from Berwyn to Monroe. I do it 5 days a week.
Bob won the thread when goodwin’s law was invoked.
How does one win a thread? Is there a raffle I’m unaware of?
This is only .3 miles from Foster and Clark? I’m sure you’re right, just having trouble seeing that, I suppose Ashland really isn’t very west of Clark at this point.
but just to be clear, I’d have not a care in the world with this walk, I just notice a lot of people here seem to equate more than a 5 minute walk with the sky falling.
“Dude, when did *you* become anti-walking, to the point of exagerrating distances? It’s .3 miles from Foster and Clark, and .2 miles from Berwyn and Clark, which has a reasonable claim to epicenter, too.
Would Glenwood/Berwyn be too far from the epicenter, too? It’s *exactly* the same distance.
The crossing Ashland thing is a valid issue, tho.”
Ashland and Clark are one block apart in Aville.
“I just notice a lot of people here seem to equate more than a 5 minute walk with the sky falling.”
And most of them have trouble walking a full Chicago block (ie a furlong, 1/8 mile) in less than 5 minutes.
“Ashland and Clark are one block apart in Aville”
One **short** block.
So true.
But I still will never see anything past a block west and east of Clark as Andersonville, it’s an ethnic designation, like Greektown – once you get west of Ashland you are far more likely to encounter a store selling Swedish fish than you are an actual Swede.
All of my 3rd, 4th generation+ Swedish friends grew up in Bowmanville.
“And most of them have trouble walking a full Chicago block (ie a furlong, 1/8 mile) in less than 5 minutes.
“Ashland and Clark are one block apart in Aville”
One **short** block.”
oh, Bob is just upset that his census tract isn’t going Republican any time soon.
Ugh. I would much rather be around transgender people than people who hate transgender people. I don’t understand why other people care if a stranger wants to change gender. I have two transgender friends and don’t see how they are different than anyone else except for their gender issue. It’s sad. No one would choose to be born as the wrong gender.
“No one would choose to be born as the wrong gender.”
Except Bob.
“cuz delayed adulthood is soon(sp) much fun”
yep!
“And most of them have trouble walking… a furlong, (1/8 mile) in less than 5 minutes.”
By the beach, I do a block in 10, breezing. Maybe I need blinders?
And jumpin threads.. I think that on the weekends they return to kickback jerseys, they should also return clotheslining, ground CAN cause fumbles, hitting the receiver, stick-um, and no calling penalties for a late hit on the QB non-sense. Maybe add in, overtime will be held in the rollerball arena.
Who cares and how is this relevant to me? You overgeneralize and it makes you feel better even though it’s not the truth, big guy.
“Your profession is what it is. A lot of people end up in lawskewl for lack of direction or options and lets be honest BFA degrees don’t really provide the wages the SWPLs need for their minimum standard of living.”
Cause Bob’s a bitch.
ze:
Or maybe go to old skool rules for OT.
Wow, what a rough crowd. While you were slamming each other, no one seems to have noticed this place just sold.
“Bob is a bitch.”
Definitely more self assured of his rediculous opinions, now that he is working. But yet, at the same time, tamer in a more corporate – neutered sense.
I kinda like new – happy -gay- but still hateful and ill wishing- Bob
“Or maybe go to old skool rules for OT.”
Go all out and bring forward the goalposts (yes, plural) That predates me, and I would love to see some good goal post run-ins on the highlight reels. I feel cheated.
HD.. Ha! You didn’t think Working Bob would sell you out the second he had a good month in the Boiler Room, for the fulfillment of his innermost desires, for dual handblown-venetian glass, master bathroom, sink bowls?
2 good months, and the first person to show him a link without Snadeiro cabinets will get pissed on, by his highness.
“I would love to see some good goal post run-ins on the highlight reels”
The use of them by reccivers as picks would be *awesome*. The rule would have to include that they are in play, so a pass off a post would be a live ball.
Oooohhh, Bob said “Triple Double” on one of his posts – see above.
As in “Triple Salchow followed by a double Lutz?”
Yep, sounds like he just might be that kinda guy, looking forward to Figure Skating Season 2011-12.
(Kidding – many if not most male fs stars are of the straight persuasion.)
In terms of just sheer pleasure of owning and return as well. Maybe the best purchase of anything ever in the history of purchasing anything ever. An AFL team in the 60’s. Al Davis paid 186k in ’66. That’s awesome!
LOL.. even 5% y/o/y on a home only gets you to 1.7mil on 186k. Let’s not forget… one incurred expenses… the other has been a cash cow…
precisa ficar bem diversifacado!
Bob needs a late night at sidetracks. “whoa, i went lookin’ for durkin’s, but I found Roscoe!”
I thought Dan had been banned from CC?
And although Russ has repeatedly professed his love for the “quiet” side of A’ville, it doesn’t appear the market agrees. Places W of Clark/Ashland command less money.
That’s a good thing for those who share Russ’ preferences, since the rest of A’ville might reasonably be deemed the most overvalued neighborhood in Chicago right now. If it’s a secret, it’s gotta be the worst-kept one in history.
Families note that SW A’ville is in Trumbull (not Peirce), which hasn’t had nearly the same success in attracting middle-class students.
“An AFL team in the 60’s. Al Davis paid 186k in ‘66.”
I think that was only for 10% of the team. Still, not a bad ROI.
“I think that was only for 10% of the team. Still, not a bad ROI.”
Appears I stand corrected. That’s what I deserve for pulling my numbers from the rag below.
http://www.forbes.com/lists/2011/30/nfl-valuations-11_Oakland-Raiders_300874.html
“That’s a good thing for those who share Russ’ preferences, since the rest of A’ville might reasonably be deemed the most overvalued neighborhood in Chicago right now. If it’s a secret, it’s gotta be the worst-kept one in history.”
No joke. Andersonville is awesome but places go fast and for top dollar (at least the SFHs and 2-4 unit buildings) if east of Clark.
So what are the best kept secrets from a value perspective in Chicago? I guess pointing them out on Crib Chatter would not be a good way to keep it a secret.
The “enclave” between Foster/Bowmanville and Damen/Western has a charming mix of single-family homes, townhouses, condos and apartments. The small commercial strip along Damen has some neighborhood bars/eateries, antique shops and light industry. A kind of “village in the city.”
“So what are the best kept secrets from a value perspective in Chicago? I guess pointing them out on Crib Chatter would not be a good way to keep it a secret.”
Everyone is always looking for the “next” hot neighborhood. But how do you do that in the midst of a housing bust of historic proportions?
Why not just buy in the “old” hot neighborhoods for the same price or less?
But I understand that those who are STILL priced out of, say, Andersonville, but want to live somewhere similar to it are looking for another neighborhood in which to do so. But without a housing boom and with foreclosures and short sales in the other more desireable neighborhoods- it means that not as many buyers have a reason to go to “new” neighborhoods and try and gentrify them anymore.
But if I had to make a guess on an “up and coming” neighborhood- I would say it would be Avondale. It has a lot of good starter home housing stock at decent prices and transportation options.
“Wow, what a rough crowd. While you were slamming each other, no one seems to have noticed this place just sold.”
Nope. #2W sold in July- NOT this unit.
“Nope. #2W sold in July- NOT this unit.”
Maybe not, but it was delisted yesterday.
Cancelled, not Contingent, tho
Isn’t this the one where the seller pretty much cooked his own goose by saying the neighbors were a tool, or something to that effect?
The walk to the horrid Red Line wouldn’t be that bad in the Winter IF sidewalks were shoveled by the lazy home/condo owners and landlords along Berwyn. Most people walk in the street, especially around that constant flood and/or ice rink right about Berwyn/Glenwood near the home that needs it’s sidewalk replaced or at least leveled (can we say cheap mud-jacking?). Their constant use of that electric pump to send Lake Berwyn elsewhere is beyond comical.