Following the Market Down: 4841 N. Leavitt in Lincoln Square
This 4-bedroom single family Victorian farmhouse at 4841 N. Leavitt in Lincoln Square is finally under contract after 9 months on the market.
That was only after being reduced $150,000.
It is also now listed at the same price it sold for in July 2004.
The listing says it has newer mechanicals, roof, kitchen and bathrooms. It also has some vintage built-ins as well as hardwood floors.
The listing doesn’t mention a basement, so I’m assuming it doesn’t have one.
Regina Correa Cartright at Prairie Shore Properties has the listing. See the pictures here.
4841 N. Leavitt: 4 bedrooms, 2.5 baths, no square footage listed, 2.5 car garage
- Sold in June 1997 for $185,000
- Sold in July 2004 for $549,000
- Originally listed in September 2008 for $699,000
- Reduced several times
- Currently listed for $549,000
- Under contract
- Taxes of $6023
- Central Air
- Living room: 14×10
- Kitchen: 14×9
- Dining room: 13×12
- Sunroom: 11×8
- Bedroom #1: 13×10
- Bedroom #2: 11×10
- Bedroom #3: 10×8
- Bedroom #4: 10×8
From the Redfin listing it states an unfinished basement and unfinished atic. Looks like a lot of space-at least from the pictures. If someone was looking for a lot of space, finishing off the attic and/or asement could add significant square footage.
Considering that if heard from this site that we are at CS 2002 price level this seems over-priced.
Classic knife catcher.
Wow, it was reduced $150K…this must be the bargain of a lifetime.
NOT.
I predict this place, in current condition, will be worth no more than $450K 2 years from now.
Lincoln Square: where the whitebreads who feel too old for Lakeview go to be around other people their same age range who think just like they do and can all baa together like good lil’ sheep.
Honestly its not a bad hood, I just hate hseep. But they hate it too when they get sheared, so baa, baa away.
This house is under contract now. I’ve been in it a few times with different buyers. It’s a good location in Lincoln Square and it actually had a lot of potential, there was a lot of space and some nice vintage detailing. BUT, it needed quite a bit of work. The floor plan upstairs was pretty messed up with lots of little rooms and only 1 small bathroom and the kitchen had less counterspace than I have in my 1 bedroom apartment. There was an unfinished basement with decent ceiling heights that smelled very mildewy, they just used it for laundry and storage. I think they had a water seepage problem too.
If someone came in and bought it for 500-525k and threw 125-150k into it it would be a pretty nice house and you wouldn’t be too far above what the neighborhood could handle, but the buyers who are willing to do that these days are few and far between. Both my buyers were ok with doing some work to a house, but this one was too much.
“Honestly its not a bad hood, I just hate hseep.”
Wait, don’t you live in LV (ish) along with all the other non-hipster white professional single folk?
“Wait, don’t you live in LV (ish) along with all the other non-hipster white professional single folk?”
Yes and yes. There are (relatively fewer, if any) good bar deals up in LS, but quite a few good bars. Excuse me for a little jealousy. ‘sides, at least the el line near me is 24/7.
Also LS is a bit older, LV tends to attract a bit of the service sector crowd too. In fact more service sector folks than LS I’d bet.
Bob’s comment: snarky and boring.
jc’s comment: interesting and informative.
Lucky sellers to be under contract, somewhere near their purchase price. House looks nicely decorated (paint color choices) but only lightly renovated to a Home Depot caliber. Room sizes are very small, and without a gut rehab not an easy fix.
I’m not convinced that this neighborhood will be able to sustain its gentrifying process towards “high-end residential”. Original neighborhood was blue-collar, filled with tradesmen and their families, of mostly closely spaced modest wood frame houses and two-flats/three-flats, and not as nice as south of Irving Park in St Ben’s neighborhood.
The neighborhood is a cheaper less accessible yupster alternative to LP or LV. I don’t think it was ever meant to support high-end residential but it will continue to attract younger couples and 30’s somethings without the means to buy further south and closer to the loop.
nice neighborhood for families. except the schools aren’t so good. not sure which one this goes to, but it’s not conley (coonly?)
Nice commentary jc, but don’t you agree that most unfinished basements used as laundry rooms with sump pumps always have that damp, old moldy smell? I know many of the places I have seen that have unfin basements where they do not employ the continual use of a strong dehumidifier, there is always going to be a mildewy smell even without any leakage issues?
A few acquiantances have unfinished basements and they do not use dehumidifiers to remove stale damp air, one of my crew included. While we plan on building out his basement this fall, I know his house does not have leakage at all, but they all have that old funky smell. Once dehum’er is used that smell seems to disappear. I bought him a large heavy duty one a few weeks ago while at his place for the weekend and his wife is saying that smell and damp feeling is disappearing.
On a different note, Architect I do respect your input and analysis of homes featured here, as I have stated before but you have alluded on a number of threads that you think HD products are not all that great and classify homes using their products as, well, ‘not all that’.
While I have never used any of their offerings on any of the homes I have renovated, I have assisted members of my crew in their own home renovations and they chose to do so. I have to say, in looking at and comparing their products with higher end HI store offerings, they are not all that bad. I think like everything else, you do get what you pay for, but if you do some research and chose wisely, you can save a good deal of $$$ and get some good product at the same time. I noticed many things they offer you can get at other HI stores for up to triple the prices that HD offers. I don’t understand your statements in this respect. I strongly believe that somewhat experienced DIYers who are doing their own improvements it is a safe and viable way to complete their renovations and to save a good deal of cash at the same time. Just an observation.
“except the schools aren’t so good. not sure which one this goes to, but it’s not conley (coonly?)”
Coonley. And it’s about a mile from Coonley, which attendance area ends south of Welles Park (Montrose)–but is in the next attendance area north of Coonley.
The attendance area Elem is McPherson. The test scores have been going up, but it’s 85% low-income, so it just isn’t going to be a strong school right now. The attendance area is also huge–running (in places–it’s not nearly square) from Western/Lincoln to Ashland and Montrose to almost Foster.
“you have alluded on a number of threads that you think HD products are not all that great and classify homes using their products as, well, ‘not all that’.”
WL:
I think it’s a shorthand. And the implication I take from it is “whatever is on sale this week” from HD, Menards, Lowes, the-back-of-someones-truck. Of course you can get nice stuff from any of those sources, but if you buy the cheapest (or second cheapest) you get apartment-grade finishes.
Westloopelo, I have not found all unfinished basements to be damp and mildewy smelling. Have had a few clients purchase bungalows in the Portage Park neighborhood and none of those unfinished basements had the water infiltration smell. Seepage can be corrected, but it just adds another cost to the home renovation.
Thanks for the explaination anon(tfo)…that makes sense. It always draws my attention to the negative when I see supposedly discounted items discounted even further. Makes me think that if they are priced that low there just has to be some serious defects in their manufacture.
Hi Westloopelo,
using a dehumidifier in a damp bsmnt. can help in some way. however what it is doing is increasing the humidity difference between the damp soil and the basement space; this will draw MORE humidity into the basement because the dampness drive will always be from damp to dry just like temperature drive is from hot to cold. You should also take into account the energy use of the dehumidifier which is essentially an unvented air conditioner.
The best way to improve a damp basement is to make sure the gutters and downspouts are doing their job correctly; make sure the grading around the home is taking rain and snow melt away from the foundation; seal the sump and ejector pump covers; caulk or patch all cracks and openings in the slab and foundation walls; use good natural ventilation to get the proper air changes in the basement; keep the foundation walls clean and painted with a vapor permeable (latex) paint.
There a lot of comfortable and clean unfinished basements in older homes. I refer to them as “Polish” basements since that ethnic group seems to take particularly good care of the basement spaces in their homes.
Right about all the facts you mentioned there Daniel, thanks for clarifying the info I learned early on in dealing with damp and musty smelling basements.
One of our crew is an ex-home inspector and he knows a ton about this subject…and about nearly every aspect of home construction, deficiencies and repair. I am extremely fortunate to have him on my crew as his vast knowledge has saved me a ton of time and $$$$.
Re: my crew member and his basement…after going through and doing a thorough inspection, we found no problems with his home or basement at all. It is just that there are no windows or any sort of ventilation to clear out that smell. They live very close to a large body of water and the area in back of their place is basically a swamp.
That mildew smell is present throughout the house, but is very heavy in the basement. Using the extra strength dehumidifier is used minimally only to remove the odor and that is about all. I think because of the location and the humidity levels present, no matter what we do they will always have that smell even if no standing water or leakage is present.
Funny and very true about the “Polish basements” as I have found this is the case in my rehabs as well. One of the last places we rehabbed in W NY was hand crafted by a single Polish craftsman and is immaculate in both the conditon (built in 1963) and the construction.
Sad the construction industry does not build new homes like this one any longer. The attention to every detail, every nail is incredible. The inspector/crew member spent about 4 hours just trying to find a fault…any fault, only to come up empty handed. Other than replacing windows, bath and kitchen app/fixtures and flooring, nothing extra was required.
How I wish every rehab would be this simple!
Sold for $525K