Are Distress Sales on the Rise in Lincoln Park? A 2-Bedroom at 2029 N. Racine

This 2-bedroom at 2029 N. Racine in Lincoln Park has been on the market over two and a half years.

It is now a short sale and is listed $25,500 under the 2000 purchase price.

At 1600 square feet, it has a separate dining room with pocket doors. It also has 11 foot ceilings and a bay window.

The kitchen has white cabinets and appliances.

The unit has some of the features buyers look for such as central air and in-unit washer/dryer but there is no parking.

According to the November sales data that G provided in the October market conditions thread, distress sales were on the rise in Lincoln Park for the month.

Lincoln Park November condo/th sales:
1988 70
1989 64
1990 44
1991 54
1992 69
1993 100
1994 68
1995 76
1996 65
1997 67
1998 85
1999 76
2000 83
2001 75
2002 70
2003 83
2004 94
2005 123
2006 91
2007 64
2008 30
2009 59 10% (short/REO sales)
2010 38 11% (short/REO sales)
2011 46 17% (short/REO sales)

Is this a trend that is worrisome for those who believe the market has bottomed?

What price will it take to finally sell this property?

Terry Smith at Prudential American Heritage has the listing. See the pictures here.

Unit #2A: 2 bedrooms, 1 bath, 1600 square feet

  • Sold in May 1990 for $147,000
  • Sold in June 1991 for $162,000
  • Sold in April 1996 for $177,000
  • Sold in August 2000 for $270,000
  • Sold in April 2003 for $324,500
  • Sold in April 2008 for $360,000
  • Originally listed in April 2009 for $369,900
  • Reduced many, many times
  • Now is a “short sale” at $244,500
  • Assessmentes of $281 a month
  • Taxes of $4654
  • Central Air
  • Washer/Dryer in the unit
  • No parking
  • Bedroom #1: 11×10
  • Bedroom #2: 11×11 

64 Responses to “Are Distress Sales on the Rise in Lincoln Park? A 2-Bedroom at 2029 N. Racine”

  1. Looks like a rental to me. Ya this trend is exactly what the bears are expecting. I will buy in 24 months for the first time. Can’t wait!

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  2. Want to hijack this thread if possible: A friend of mine wants to purchase a condo/home sometime in the next 6 months. He has 100,00-150,000 to spend. He is willing to consider city and near in suburbs. Where should he buy? And should he buy a small house or condo? (Please don’t advise not to purchase. This is not an option.)

    To get the ball rolling, I’ve suggested 1) house (no association fees) 2) in a suburb like Lagrange Park (they have some mid century ranches at this price with LTHS schools ) or Berwyn or in Galewood. Thoughts?

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  3. “$100,000-$150,000 to spend” what does that mean? purchase price? down payment?

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  4. “He has 100,00-150,000 to spend.”

    With that much to put towards a downpayment, he should have plenty of options.

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  5. This should be the poster child of the real estate bubble.

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  6. It means, unfortunately, purchase price. ANY suggestions at this price point?

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  7. the 90 & 96 prices + cpi ~=~ $255k.

    So, seems about right, esp given the so-so kitchen and (single) bath.

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  8. “It means, unfortunately, purchase price. ANY suggestions at this price point?”

    No. And BTW, that means your friend doesn’t have “$100,000-150,000 to spend.”
    Just make sure he doesn’t go on Househunters. I hate the episodes where the fools have a huge checklist of things they need and no money.

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  9. “It means, unfortunately, purchase price. ANY suggestions at this price point?”

    At the high end of the range, could maybe get a low end place in Oriole Park, though you’d have high school issue. I have v casual acquaintances (aging hipster types) in LG Park, with a not quite school age kid. They seem ok with the area and I believe plan on sending the kid to public school, so I’d assume the elementary is at least passable. LTHS is decent, but FWIW they’d be the poors there.

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  10. If he can only afford that much home, he should just rent.

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  11. He should move to a townhome Des Plaines or Schaumburg; or possibly the southwest side of Chicago. There aren’t many safe places with liveable SFH for $150,000.

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  12. wow nice kitchen in this place…. perfect for hot pocket preperation… LMAO!

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  13. you can buy a 4/2.5 in Yorkville these days for 150k!

    http://www.redfin.com/homes-for-sale#!lat=41.67725860996301&long=-88.4090535421753&market=chicago&sf=1,2,3,4&uipt=2,1&v=6&zoomLevel=15

    lol cranston…

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  14. “He has 100,00-150,000 to spend. He is willing to consider city and near in suburbs. Where should he buy? (Please don’t advise not to purchase. This is not an option.) ”

    Why is renting “not an option”? Renting was MEANT for someone in your friend’s situation. At that price point, you can rent something MUCH nicer than buying.

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  15. “If he can only afford that much home, he should just rent.”
    “Renting was MEANT for someone in your friend’s situation. At that price point, you can rent something MUCH nicer than buying.”

    Sincere question. Why is renting better at that price point?

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  16. endora, how many BRs is she/he looking for? He can for sure find 2BR condos in the city for that price.

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  17. You all make good points about the renting / buying distinction. But, this person really wants to buy (for a variety of reasons) and has set what is (from my knowledge of his situation) a reasonable purchase price, one that–on his steady salary–should allow him to pay taxes and unexpected expenses. He would like to know, given this situation, are there any viable options?

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  18. MiuMiu,

    1-2 bedrooms. Do you think a condo is better deal for him? Where would you suggest? Edgewater? Bronzeville?

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  19. “1-2 bedrooms.”

    The range from 1 bed to a SFH is awfully large, as is geographic range from edgewater to bronzeville to lg park. What’s important to him? Schools, amenities, commute, etc.?

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  20. This is really silly to be talking about the friend of an anonymous poster’s situation who wants to live in a 1 bedroom condo or a single family home in a crappy part of the city or a poor suburb. Seriously. Let me ask my mom’s hairdresser whether she has a suggestion because she was in the same situation after her divorce in 2002.

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  21. Yorkville! OUCH.

    Just look at some of the previous sale amounts. like 50% drop in some cases.
    And, from everything I’ve heard about the town, there’s an influx of, um, “ne’er-do-wells” creating havoc and bringing down the averages at the public schools there. It is not pretty in Yorkville right now.

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  22. I have some in-laws that live in that very subdivision and they bought for I think about 225k maybe more, and would be lucky to get 150k right now (but you get so much more for your money!) They are not planning on moving or selling (although they should) and they can barely afford to heat the house… we told them not to buy there but did it anyway, they didn’t want to slum it in warrenville with all the bad element moving in (and home equity and an affordable payment)!

    Tons of empty lots everywhere there, no trees at all, and they also got a nice surprise 10k tax bill because the city built all this infrastructure (roads, sewers, school, pool, playground, etc.) and since not even half the lots sold, the few remaining residends that live there are screwed with oak park esque taxes.

    I really feel bad for them

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  23. “This is really silly to be talking about the friend of an anonymous poster’s situation who wants to live in a 1 bedroom condo or a single family home in a crappy part of the city or a poor suburb. Seriously. ”

    yeah its like househunters but dumber

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  24. The reason it would be better for this person to rent is because their income must be at a level where they are dispensable. I know it is hard to hear, but you could be laid off at any point in this environment, and in that case you don’t want to have a mortgage to pay. God forbid you get laid off, you move to a smaller apartment.

    I know big salaried guys can get laid off too, but they would have at least built up a nest egg you would hope, by that point and have severance etc.

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  25. If someone can only afford to spend a max of $150,000 for a house and doesn’t want assessments either, NW Indiana would probably be their best bet. Nowhere in NE Illinois can you get a livable SFH in a non-ghetto neighborhood for $100,000. Indiana taxes are also about 1/3rd of what they are anywhere in Illinois.

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  26. Yorkville is nice if you like living in a small town. that’s not chicago by any stretch of the imagination. It never considered itself Chicago. it was the county seat of kendall county for many years; and probably until the building of the interstate it was a full days travel just to get there by vehicle and a couple days travel by horse and buggy. Only because of the housing boom did it become engulfed into teh chicago housing region.

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  27. What? I bought a SFH home in Albany Park earlier this year for far under 150,000. The house is in great shape, the neighborhood is safe and it’s close to the train. I’m now paying less then what I was paying in rent for a place 4 times bigger.

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  28. “until the building of the interstate it was a full days travel just to get there ”

    Yorkville was right off US-32 as early as 1928:

    http://www.idaillinois.org/cdm/compoundobject/collection/isl9/id/26/rec/8

    I doubt it was a full day’s travel, 30+ years before the interstate highway.

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  29. Also the worst part of living in yorkville (and commuting downtown) is that metra (or the city) built the Yorkville train station but it remains unused due to some stupid contract dispute

    So you have a brand new abandoned train station that gets no service, so instead you take a bus from the yorkville station, to aurora and then catch the metra there… all in all it takes 1:20 to get from Y-ville to the loop.

    Imagine that twice a day…. pass!

    (and i do realize that not everyone works in the loop, but what a waste of resources!)

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  30. This unit sucks for alot of reasons. It does look like a bad rental (as noted above).

    Units like this may go “no bid” with so few buyers in the market. I suspect that buyers today will pick the cream of the crop and dreck like this will sell at shockingly low prices. That doesn’t mean that all properties will sell at shockingly low prices. But the real turds will, Green Zone or not.

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  31. “The reason it would be better for this person to rent is because their income must be at a level where they are dispensable.”

    Really depends on the person. Who knows, someone could have a secure job (or could reliably replace job if fired) and a decent financial cushion sufficient to afford the $125K home. Is renting a better idea then?

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  32. Endora, what exactly is your friend looking for in terms of neighborhood?

    How long do they intend to stay?

    Kids?

    Way too open ended.

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  33. “I doubt it was a full day’s travel, 30+ years before the interstate highway.”

    What about in medieval times, when HD was a serf? Or in D&D world, with the challenges to safe travel that poses?

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  34. “Really depends on the person. Who knows”

    are you seriously suggesting that not all people who know someone who posts on the cc are similarly situated to all other people who someone who posts on the cc might actually know?

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  35. Yes

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  36. US-32 may or may not have been dirt or wood planks.

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  37. I was not a serf, I was landed vassel in northumbria to a powerful king in the Heptarchy. jeez, get your 8th century anglo-saxon history right.

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  38. Few citizens of yorkville work downtown. I’d say they probably work off the i-88 corridor or oak brook, etc.

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  39. “are you seriously suggesting that not all people who know someone who posts on the cc are similarly situated to all other people who someone who posts on the cc might actually know?”

    Wait, I know that clio thinks that all renters are poors, and all poors are renters, so they are all similarly situated.

    Thought there might be non-clioesque reasons. I could conceive of other reasons beyond income and job security why it might make more sense to rent at lower incomes (some relatively fixed costs of homeownership, tax reasons), but don’t have much of a view on it, and just wondering, per usual.

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  40. dont forget all the dragons and ogres on west of western stretch to yorkville

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  41. “US-32 may or may not have been dirt or wood planks”

    Are you that lazy about all your suppositions?

    Linky (again): http://www.idaillinois.org/cdm/compoundobject/collection/isl9/id/26/rec/8

    Map sez that 32 from Chicago to Yorkville in 1928 is a “Paved Road: Concrete, brick, etc”

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  42. “Few citizens of yorkville work downtown. ”

    you’d be surprised, there are way more than just a few

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  43. I’m just wrong on everything today, so i’m going to just stop posting.

    and anon(tfo), lazy isn’t the word, pre-occupied is. I have work to do, bills to pay, I help make the world go round. I haven’t the energy or time to research old maps.

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  44. Yorkville sounds like a good place for the witness protection program.

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  45. just like my blue heaven

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  46. Well-constructed solid brick bungalows are now very inexpensively priced in Berwyn, well below replacement cost and often nicely renovated too. Plenty of choices at $150,000. Berwyn is a safe blue-collar suburb trending towards predominantly Hispanic householders but has had a municipally-sponsored hipster/gay target marketing strategy for several years. (Still see billboard in Boystown.) Very close to Oak Park, and has strong Cermak Road retail strip in both Cicero and Berwyn, plus Freddies (a favorite restaurant-carryout joint).

    Have spent a fair amount of time in Cicero too during past three years; feels very safe too, though you’re aware of overwhelmingly blue-collar Hispanic ambience. Homes and yards well-kept. Area is served by Blue Line, Pink Line in Cicero, and Metra stop near Riverside. A progressive white-collar homebuyer here could have a great alternative inexpensive lifestyle (compared to “Green Zone”) and send kids to private school – which a number of parents do. I’d do Berwyn and Cicero, rather than underserved and boring southwest side of Chicago.

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  47. DZ,

    Someone with that level on income will typically put their whole life savings on the line for a down payment. These days a residential purchase is risky (let’s face it). A drop of 15 or 20% and that person has lost his entire life savings, and then has to rent with absolutely no room for job loss etc.

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  48. Getting back to the posted unit, for me it’s a poster-child for the flipside of Lincoln Park/DePaul: which has a large number of banal rental-caliber units better directed at college students than condo buyers. Looking at realtor pictures, you see rental caliber kitchen with bad layout, old appliances, laminate counters, and cheap cabinets, rental caliber bathroom (only one) with cheapest toilet and pedestal sink, and everywhere white-white walls. Given noted bedroom sizes, 1600 SF area count seems wrong. “No parking” is a problem too for a condo buyer (but not necessarily a renter). This unit will find itself in foreclosure, because it won’t sell for more than $200,000.

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  49. “I haven’t the energy or time to research old maps.”

    You don’t have the energy to click a link?

    Hie thee to a doctor, my friend! You evince an ill humor!! I’d expect a thorough leeching might serve thee well.

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  50. Thanks everyone for their posts/suggestions!

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  51. keep in mind that the ‘th’ in olde english was today’s ‘y’ so thou is really you. Thou art an XXXX, etc.

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  52. I *really* don’t proof my dumb jokes.

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  53. “If someone can only afford to spend a max of $150,000 for a house and doesn’t want assessments either, NW Indiana would probably be their best bet. Nowhere in NE Illinois can you get a livable SFH in a non-ghetto neighborhood for $100,000. Indiana taxes are also about 1/3rd of what they are anywhere in Illinois.”

    That is 100% completely wrong. Really- you all need to get out more. There are plenty of bungalows for sale in Berwyn (as Architect also pointed out). There are 200 properties listed for $150k and under. Sure- some may need work. But many have intact kitchens and baths. Good bones – with hardwood floors, garages etc.

    Berwyn is on the rise (as I’ve been trying to tell people). The housing stock is solid there and it has several train stops which get you downtown in like 8 minutes.

    This is from a review from the Tribune’s food critic, Phil Vettel on the new restaurant Autre Monde:

    “To corrupt an old saying, the good Lord never closes a condo without opening a bungalow.

    Berwyn is on the rise. The financial crisis has turned the near west suburb into a hot spot of affordable housing, and young couples and families are crowding in. Area stores stock T-shirts proclaiming, “Ich bin ein Berwyner,” and not all the sales are ironic.”

    http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2011-08-11/features/ct-dining-0811-vettel-autre-monde-20110811_1_berwyn-tuttaposto-dining

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  54. Oak Park, Berwyn….Sabrina, you are starting to sound like a suburbanite! 😉

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  55. I’ll move to Berwyn when you do Sabrina.

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  56. “I’ll move to Berwyn when you do Sabrina.”

    Ha! ha! Touche HD.

    There are better odds that we both end up on the same block in Chicago in our properties priced at 1987 prices than both of us moving to Berwyn. BUT- Berwyn does offer a lot of bang for the buck right now.

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  57. Berwyn is a fine place to live (I have many friends who bought there that were priced out of Oak Park) but you can find $150k homes in OP now too. They may not be perfect homes, but serviceable and have better schools/less of the “Berwyn” stigma. Here is one….

    http://www.redfin.com/IL/Oak-Park/1176-S-Cuyler-Ave-60304/home/13250228

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  58. Anyone remember Son of Svengoolie?

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BudQ9YWx0X8

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  59. Son of Svengoolie dropped the “Son of” many years ago, and is still on the air on WCIU on weekends, showing bad horror flicks. And still doing the “BERWWYYYNNNN????” schtick.

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  60. Endora – If your friend is willing to endure the trial-by-fire known as “the short sale route, s/he may end up with a nice home at a reasonable price. Sabrina willing, I (a professional Realtor) would like to discuss this further with you in private.

    P.S. Why the snark on Berwyn schools? I thought ALL suburban schools are “better” than ALL Chicago schools – at least that’s the mythology.

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  61. “Berwyn is a fine place to live (I have many friends who bought there that were priced out of Oak Park) but you can find $150k homes in OP now too.”

    Wow- so you CAN get an OP house for under $150k. Thanks for the link. But this location blows. I’d rather be in the nicer parts of Berwyn near the Metra for the same or less money. The house you linked to is just one block north of Berwyn and pretty far east. Buyers should look in Forest Park as well. You might be able to get a house and/or townhouse there.

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  62. I lived in this building (north half, 2033 N. Racine) in the mid-70s after college when it was rental. Landlord and his wife lived across the hall and kept the building up pretty well. Awful ugly exterior rehab job with stucco was done before I lived there. The neighborhood at the time was dicey. Druggies hung on Armitage and Latino gangs ruled Racine. Solly’s drive-in on corner was great. The building should have stayed rental imo. Many of the units (including the two bedroom I rented) were formerly large units that were cut up in the 40s. Rooms are small and oddly configured in many cases. This is NOT a typical Lincoln Park/Sheffield property. Location is good; building is crap.

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  63. “Solly’s drive-in on corner was great”

    That sure brings back memories. I worked at Clybourn and Cortland in the late ’70s when it was all factories around there and used to frequent Solly’s for lunch. A good Chicago dog rolled up with a bunch of fries was like $1.50…..sigh.

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  64. I dont know…this is a very desirable central LP location. A 2 block walk to the Armitage el, all the great shopping on Armitage, and North Ave is also easily accessible. Isnt that the first thing to consider? Obviously the interior needs work but that appears to be reflected in the price. Most 2 beds in the vicinty are asking close to $300.

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