“Bring Flashlight” to See This Cash Only North Center 2-Bedroom: 4245 N. Lincoln

This 2-bedroom unit at 4245 N. Lincoln in North Center is bank owned.

Built in 2007, 2 out of 4 of the units are currently on the market and both are bank owned.

The listing for Unit #4 says a contractor with experience is needed.

The unit has been striped of its interior. There is just the interior walls. The kitchen and baths are, presumably, missing. There is no kitchen in the pictures.

The listing says the exterior of the building is finished but that there are “violations.”

In the prior listing for the unit it has all the new construction bells and whistles, including cherry cabinets, stainless steel appliances and granite counter tops in the kitchen.

Today, there are only daylight showings and the listing says to “bring flashlight.”

It is also being sold for cash only.

Alana Golubic at Coldwell Banker has the listing. See the pictures here.

Unit #4: 2 bedrooms, 2 baths, 1300 square feet

  • Sold in October 2007 for $499,000
  • Lis pendens filed in August 2008
  • Bank owned in June 2009
  • Listed in July 2010 for $133,900
  • Currently listed for $133,900
  • Assessments aren’t listed
  • Taxes of $7800
  • Central Air
  • Parking included

25 Responses to ““Bring Flashlight” to See This Cash Only North Center 2-Bedroom: 4245 N. Lincoln”

  1. what the hell happened? As an investor, I wouldn’t touch this property with a 10 foot pole (I suppose that means it will be under contract in a couple of minutes as most of you will do everything opposite of what I say!!!).

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  2. due diligence on August 9th, 2010 at 1:19 pm

    oh my…brush up on your lien laws before checking this place out.

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  3. RILF

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  4. No Clio — right there with you on this one. At what point will the sellers of this type of disaster have to resort to Detroit tactics and sell it for $1.00 to anyone willing to make it inhabitable?

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  5. Matt the Coffeeman on August 9th, 2010 at 1:28 pm

    “Each unit owned separately”

    So, no association or condo fees, but an exterior structure with code violations. Sounds like a disaster.

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  6. some more pix of the building from the vacant building database:

    https://ipiweb.cityofchicago.org/VBR/BuildingInfo.aspx?AddressID=212519

    Includes (partial?) list of code violations.

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  7. So if the building was never completed, and the pics on both sites show no where near habitable – why are only 2 of 4 units for sale? Wouldn’t it make more sense to try to do this as an all in one building sale? I’m way out of my league on this type of property but cash only for a portion of a wreck seems odd.

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  8. “The unit has been striped of its interior”

    Bummer, I was hoping to see pics of the walls painted in stripes

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  9. well, apparently the “unit has NOT FINISHED” so it perhaps will it repaint itself???

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  10. will repaint itself, that is

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  11. so much to scream about with this, so little time.

    obviously the unit & building itself are completely FUBAR. but then making matters worse are the taxes (say what!), and that horrific excuse for a back yard “patio” – so the parking is apparently under the building, meaning that entire back area is a total waste as people will be using it to access the parking spots.

    can’t wait to hear Bob’s take on this.

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  12. “the parking is apparently under the building, meaning that entire back area is a total waste as people will be using it to access the parking spots.”

    Some of it was definitely intended to be used as parking. No way there’s more than 2 inside spaces.

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  13. Those code violations are minor, sounds like a drug and gang housing case.

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  14. “Those code violations are minor, sounds like a drug and gang housing case.”

    Um, no. It’s on the same block as the alderman’s office. Maybe they used the same tactics that would be used for a drug/gang house, but that ain’t the problem here.

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  15. My take on this is its obviously going into foreclosure. If a rehabber can get the building for under 300k, it might make sense. Its not near that price yet. The reno is probably going to cost 150k minimum is my guess for all four units.

    ““Each unit owned separately” So, no association or condo fees, but an exterior structure with code violations. Sounds like a disaster.”

    Exactamundo. All owners need to be flushed out so the developer could get the whole building. So this thing will sit as the other owned units slowly bleed cash until the owners throw in the towel.

    Also I can’t figure out why its advertised as two baths–where are they? Oh & lol @ Sonies.

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  16. What a sickening waste of capital and physical resources, all the abandoned, foreclosed properties that have been stripped, or vandalized, everywhere. Do you have any idea how much of this there is all over the city? Not to say the country.

    That kitchen looks like somebody stripped it out with a sledge hammer. Was this unit foreclosed previously? Because it looks like there was a lot of deliberate vandalism here.

    Most foreclosure “victims” leave their places more or less intact, but I have seen many that have been stripped to the studs and often filthy and vandalized. Many of these battered properties are “upper bracket.” Or the place deteriorated from sheer neglect after being vacated- the banks don’t know how to manage these properties. Pipes freeze and burst, the power is often left on, or squatters break in and leave filth and damage.

    And there are usually a lot of legal and financial issues along with the deteriorated condition of the unit. Assessment arrears, for example, or oftentimes the developer was foreclosed and left behind tens of thousands of dollars in unpaid utility bills. There is a place in Rogers Park, a tiny two bed with the kitchen stripped out of it, for $26,000, and two signs taped to the door of the buildings from the Water Dept (owed about $6700) and Nicor Gas (about $10,300). Shutoff notices and low-grade tenants in basement apartments.

    This mess will never really be cured. Lots of people are going to be stuck with some very big bills for stuff they weren’t really responsible for. Don’t be one of those people.

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  17. Homedelete, I’m disappointed in you. I thought for sure you would be all over the history of the former owner of this unit (the one who bought it in 2007.)

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  18. “Or the place deteriorated from sheer neglect after being vacated- the banks don’t know how to manage these properties. Pipes freeze and burst, the power is often left on, or squatters break in and leave filth and damage. ”

    Maybe if they can’t properly manage their risk or cover these losses they shouldn’t be in the mortgage business?

    Lets be real: the banks definitely ARE capable of managing these properties. There is just no motivation there for them to do so. This is because most of the time the bank is just servicing the MBS and doesn’t actually hold the loan on its books–the loan has been sold off to unsuspecting investors, or more likely, the Federal Government (FNM/FRE).

    If you don’t own the equity in the house and you’re just servicing the loan then WTF do you care? Thats like a bank teller during a robbery: easy decision to make as the money is not theirs. Precisely why you have hilarious incidents where people can just rob banks with just a threatening note.

    Until the owners of the underlying equity get closer in the process to what is going on on the ground I don’t think things can be resolved. And our government seems dead-set on making sure the owners of the underlying equity don’t lose a single cent, so there is no motivation to manage and preserve the properties.

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  19. Awww Snap. What a waste.

    Nice location.

    My guess is those cabinets, toilets and everything else salvageable is now in a crate making its way across the ocean to Poland or Romania where the builder who built this will be rebuilding in Eastern Europe

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  20. Sorry Sabrina, I was negligent! It’s been a busy two days around here (although it probably doesn’t seem like that from my postings).

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  21. Looks like the apartment/building was tagged, that unsecured door probably led to a lot of vandalism.

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  22. There is only so much a bank can do in recovering any portion of their money in these foreclosed places. 80% + (in NYC) of the foreclosed and abandoned properties are vandalized first by the wronged (in their mind) owner followed by homeless/mental patients, gangs and even those dogs setting it up as a meth lab.
    It would seem logical for the banks to start weighing their options to recover some of their lost $$$. One of these options would be to just start flattening these places and leaving a clean slate of land to go back on the market.
    This option would address a few of the social problems that face inner city ‘hoods….crime, meth labs, squatters and the violence it brings, etc. It would also produce jobs now (for the demo work) and later for reconstruction and all it entails.

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  23. “It would seem logical for the banks to start weighing their options to recover some of their lost $$$. One of these options would be to just start flattening these places and leaving a clean slate of land to go back on the market.

    This option would address a few of the social problems that face inner city ‘hoods….crime, meth labs, squatters and the violence it brings, etc. It would also produce jobs now (for the demo work) and later for reconstruction and all it entails.”

    Look into the “deconstruction” program ongoing in Baltimore–I think you’d find it interesting. Tho, I think most of those properties are reclaimed by B’more for back taxes, rather than being bank REO.

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  24. Sold for 80k!!!!

    For contrast, Unit #3 sold in 2007 for a whopping 489k.

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  25. “Sold for 80k!!!!”

    Congratulations!!

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