California Living in Lakeview: A 2/2 at 2846 N. Southport
This top floor 2-bedroom at 2846 N. Southport in Lakeview came on the market in early May.
This building has 6 units and is a rare mid-rise building with an elevator.
After the last couple of winters, it also has a much-sought after attached garage.
This listing describes the unit as “California chic in Chicago” because it is now painted all white.
The unit sold just 5 months ago and at that time it had dark walnut built-in bookcases and maple cabinets in the kitchen.
You can still see those pictures here.
Both are now white, along with almost everything else in the unit.
The kitchen appears to have the same dark granite counter tops as before and still has stainless steel appliances, however.
The listing says there is a “brand new master bath.”
The other bathroom now has a white vanity.
It’s also in the Burley school district, which the listing puts in all caps: BURLEY SCHOOL DISTRICT.
This unit was under contract within 10 days of listing but has now come back on the market at the same price.
Is the school district really that important for this property?
Are parents now buying $570,000 2-bedroom condos in the city instead of moving directly to the suburban home?
Elizabeth Kucich at @Properties has the listing. See the pictures here.
Unit #3S: 2 bedrooms, 2 baths, 1670 square feet
- Sold in April 2002 for $487,500
- Sold in January 2015 for $532,000
- Originally listed in early May 2015 for $570,000
- Under contract
- Re-activated in late May 2015 at $570,000
- Assessments of $361 a month
- Taxes of $5393
- Central Air
- Washer/Dryer in the unit
- Attached garage parking included
- Bedroom #1: 16×15
- Bedroom #2: 13×11
OMG – BURLEY SCHOOL DISTRICT?! TAKE MY MONEY!
In all seriousness, it’s a really nice place. Fair taxes and assessments. The white modern look would look even better with darker floors (dare I say, “espresso”) – or is that too “2013”?
I’m going to time how long it takes before someone here says it’s too far from the el.
This place is nice. I wonder why the seller is selling after owning for just a few months. If it’s a flipper, by the time the person gets done paying various taxes and fees, the profit won’t be that much. Is there something wrong with the building?
The assessments actually seem too low. How much does it cost per year to maintain an elevator?
If there’s nothing wrong with the building and elevators cost less to maintain that I think, then I think this is a good deal.
Looks like a half a million dollars for a pile of exposed cinder blocks to me…
The sales history says it was part of a multi property sale in January.
Oh you found a flip!
I doubt this is a flip. They put some money into the place by painting all the cabinetry and built-ins as well as updating the bathrooms. The return, after the updates and transaction costs doesn’t really justify a flip.
“some money into the place by painting all the cabinetry and built-ins”
Anyone have an estimate (guess) on what that would cost to have done *well*??
oh, also, let’s ignore transaction costs other than transfer tax–after the painting and the bit of work in the bathroom, they’re pretty much just at break-even on this, right? So, assuming a flat-fee/agent-owned situation, they’re losing the buyer-agent commission at a minimum, right?
I would say school districts matter, but most families are looking for a 3 bed.
The Elevator maintenance is between 150 – 200 per month for oil and lube job. Depending on how old the building is you would bump it up to a full service monthly contract which tacks on an extra 50-75 bucks a month.
The assessments seem fair to me.
This is about a 10min walk to the el, which for myself and most is about the max distance you want to be, so this place just squeaks in.
It does appear that they painted everything white and put new hardware on the cabinets, hopefully they did a good job… They kept the cabinets in the master bath and painted those white too.
In the end $570 for a 2 bedroom in Burley seems a little steep to me.
Whereabouts in California does living in this unit resemble?
Sweet built-ins though.
I think the decorating is supposed to give off a Malibu, CA vibe…
249 minutes, Elliot.
anyone have any opinions on what built-ins like these would cost?
almost $600k for a 2/2 in Lakeview does seem steep; though, i suppose that is positive for my unit….
“anyone have any opinions on what built-ins like these would cost?”
Just the single wall in the living room?
Could vary *greatly* based on the wood used. If you’re just going to paint white, no reason to use anything fancy.
Think that the case goods that make that up (two tall cases on the sides, the two cabinets on the bottom and the two small cases on the top) should be available for under $5k, then you have the labor to make it all look right as a unit, and build up the center section for the tv. I’d think you should be able to find someone good to do it all for under $10k.
“Whereabouts in California does living in this unit resemble?”
Irvine. Or possibly Bakersfield.
Buyers are tripping over themselves when it comes to buying property. I thought we would never see a second housing bubble but I admit it, I was wrong. Chicago is going through a second building boom and before the condos are even finished they are sold out. It is great to see that despite the negativity Chicago receives that people are still moving in and the right kind of people too. The educated and higher earning demographic.
Checking in – see if this works
Actually, elevators in newer mid-rise buildings and even some 3-flats are not all that “rare.”. I think developers have started installing them to get ADA-compatible credits.
“I thought we would never see a second housing bubble but I admit it, I was wrong. ”
I waited 5 years for someone to realize what I was saying back then was true…..I hope all the nay-sayers who thought housing in chicago was dead for good realize that the right type of property in the right area will always be a great long term investment. People’s memories are short – in a couple of years, people won’t even remember the housing bust during 2007-2012.
“Whereabouts in California does living in this unit resemble?”
I think if you drink enough Malibu Rum while living here you might believe you are in California
California living? What a joke. Where in California would one have to walk 10 minutes through snow in below-zero temps to get to the train to go to work every day?
But seriously, why would someone pay this much to live in this unit at this location? Not worth it.
Ok 5 months later and $38K raise in value. Hmmmm, I’d say that it is not gonna happen. The paint job and updated tile trim work should have been done under 15K at the absolute most. Nothing else strikes me as changed. And that seems like a real stretch price for this space.
The real question is if needed will the appraisal be favorable or problematic. I’d speculate that it is problematic because of a former comp on the EXACT unit from less than six months ago. And the fact that there were no significant changes other than cosmetic updates. That gets my vote as to why it returned to the market in such short order.
Then again it may comp and close just fine. Sranger things have happened.
“Whereabouts in California does living in this unit resemble?”
I would say from Newport Beach all the way north up to Mendocino. You would also see this white washed look even in Napa County- though the “Tuscany” look is also popular there.
This white washed look would be most popular along the beach communities though.
“I waited 5 years for someone to realize what I was saying back then was true…..I hope all the nay-sayers who thought housing in chicago was dead for good realize that the right type of property in the right area will always be a great long term investment. People’s memories are short – in a couple of years, people won’t even remember the housing bust during 2007-2012.”
What is happening in the nation’s housing market has NOTHING to do with the “right property” in the “right location” and everything to do with the Fed’s policies.
Because if it was about location, Avondale wouldn’t be the hottest neighborhood in the city this spring for sales. Nor would it have a median sales price of $429,000.
http://www.chicagobusiness.com/realestate/20150602/CRED0701/150609980/home-sales-are-popping-in-these-10-neighborhoods
“Chicago is going through a second building boom and before the condos are even finished they are sold out.”
Not really. New construction is really low citywide. Maybe you weren’t around during Bubble 1.0.
The only new construction is really in luxury apartments. 6,000+ of those are going up but that’s nothing compared to what they built during the condo boom.
Yeah, I don’t get hyping the school at all on a unit like this. Sure, maybe there’s that divorced parent with one kid. But the vast majority of people interested will be couples who are either pre-kids or with a baby/toddler. Along comes #2 before the first one’s in kindergarten and they need to upgrade to a bigger house. And it’s not likely to help on the resale down the road either because such a unit really has an attraction to such a narrow demographic.
Looks a tad smaller than 1670 sf. Lack of the 3rd bedroom hurts the unit, because with an elevator, heated parking and 3 bds, this could be a SF alternative, because SFs are all over $1 million in this prime GZ area.
Buyer will be some single girl from a fancy Midwestern suburb somewhere (North Shore, Carmel, IN, Whitefish Bay, etc.) subsidized by the parents. But the unit will be a good/safe investment anyway, like clio says. The girl will live here until she’s engaged, and she’s not going to be marrying a hipster, it’ll be a lawyer or consultant, no doubt.
How did I miss this post? I don’t like most newer construction, but I like this place a great deal- very nice architecture and appointments (though I’d have that cheap-o gas range out of there before I moved in), and the neighborhood is great.
The assessment of $370 is not bad for an elevator building, though it will rise over time as the place ages and needs more attention. An elevator building is just more expensive to run, but you really appreciate it as you age.