Following the Market Down in Edgewater Glen: 1275 W. Victoria
Single family home prices on the north side shot up over the last 10 years including this 1908 vintage 2-story home at 1275 W. Victoria in Edgewater Glen.
It has been on the market for 11 months and has now been reduced $80,000.
The home has all hardwood floors, a 3-year “new” garage and 2-bathrooms.
It is missing central air, however.
What do homebuyers expect for their half a million dollars in today’s market?
Tom Rice at Keller Williams Lincoln Square has the listing. See all the pictures here.
1275 W. Victoria: 3 bedrooms, 2 baths, no square footage listed, 2 car garage
- Sold in October 1993 for $169,500
- Originally listed in June 2008 for $609,900
- Reduced several times
- Currently listed for $529,900
- Taxes of $5599
- No Central Air- window units
- Partially finished basement
- Bedroom #1: 12×12
- Bedroom #2: 13×8
- Bedroom #3: 11×9
Nice place but whoever lives in it doesnt know how to decorate.
Pretty good price for a nice house in a pretty nice area. Someone’s gonna get a deal here.
Not nice, a. But they should have removed some of the “clutter” before the photos.
Neighborhood school seems okay. The small-ish bedrooms is the biggest issue I see, based on the listing. Anyone have naything to say (good or bad) about the immediate neighborhood?
You should be able to put in central a/c for ~$15k or less.
might be a little rough being that close to Senn HS.
I rode my bike up to check this place out a couple of weeks ago. The street is not as nice as I thought it would be. There are several houses that look like they’re going to fall down any minute. The house was fine, but it’s probably the nicest house on the block, which I think is a bad thing to buy into. It’s also next to a really ugly stretch of Broadway. It’s close to the biggest, nicest beach in the city, but it’s not a pleasant walk to get there. I was pretty excited by the listing on this one, thought it was exactly what I was looking for. But I can’t see myself living right there.
I really need to find out who is able to install an AC system in a vintage house for $15k or less as I have been paying MUCH more than that on houses I have rehabbed in the past. If it does not have some sort of duct system that can be used, you are forced to tear up walls and ceilings in order to install them.
Otherwise, nice house!
“as I have been paying MUCH more than that on houses I have rehabbed in the past”
As you are well aware, WL, there’s what it *can* be done for and what it costs to have the job done really well.
Plus, this house has an attic and a “partially finished” basement, so you *should* have less disruptive options for duct-locating.
“As you are well aware, WL, there’s what it *can* be done for and what it costs to have the job done really well.
Plus, this house has an attic and a “partially finished” basement, so you *should* have less disruptive options for duct-locating.”
It can be done for close to zero as well
How do you get $15M?
I wonder if being 2 blocks from Lake Michigan, one could get away with no A/C?
“It can be done for close to zero as well”
Before I answer your question, I’d like to know where you get free airhandlers and compressors and nearly free ductwork? Never mind labor.
As to where I get $15k, it’a a ballpark from having installed a dual-unit system in a house with hotwater heat. Yeah, one unit, easy less than $10k. But “Close to Zero”? C’mon.
Let’s clear up a few misconceptions:
“..it’s probably the nicest house on the block”
Apparently you didn’t actually look at any of the other houses on the block. There are two new construction homes on the same block which are significantly nicer, for example. A good 50% of the homes on directly adjacent blocks are nicer (some significantly so).
“It’s also next to a really ugly stretch of Broadway.”
This stretch of Broadway, Hollywood to Granville, is a pretty “industrial” looking stretch. Some decent amenities on this stretch, though….several nice restaurants, Cheetah Gym, and the Broadway Armory field house. Great access to public transportation – several bus routes, Bryn Mawr and Thorndale stations are almost equi-distant. It’s also a 5 minute walk to the Clark retail corridor in Andersonville.
“But I can’t see myself living right there.”
It’s somewhat of a mixed neighborhood; sandwiched in between the somewhat ritzy Lakewood-Balmoral section to the south, the very family-oriented neighborhood stretching north of Ridge to Devon, and the semi-ghetto portions of the Kenmore and Winthrop corridors.
Senn isn’t really a problem. The inclusion of the Rickover Naval Academy has improved things and it’s museum-quality building exterior and park-like campus is pretty neat to have so close by.
It definitely is a neighborhood that is in a generational transition phase. You can tell a good number of older folks stayed in the area and have recently passed on, or will likely do so soon, so the re-development bug of the real estate boom didn’t completely raze the area. There are some really nice homes and some stock still available for teardown or extensive renovation.
This neighborhood isn’t for everyone. Personally, I think it’s one of the best kept secrets in the city.
ChrisM,
I totally agree with you about this area of Edgewater. It is a pretty, leafy green pocket of the city. I esp. like how the streets are diagonal, so you lose the oppressive grid for a few blocks here.
The school is Peirce, which is becoming increasingly popular with parents in the know. Some family could be very happy here.
Also, It is only a few blocks away from my favorite pair of Walter Burley Griffen houses:
http://webapps.cityofchicago.org/LandmarksWeb/landmarkDetail.do?lanID=1312
Only a few blocks from Moody’s. Best outdoor beer garden and burgers combo in the city.
“The school is Peirce”
Not per the CPS School locater. The ‘hood school for all of Victoria St is Swift, on Winthrop. Part of the Peirce attendance area is north of this house (ie, walk *past* this house to get to Peirce), but kids living no Victoria cannot attend Peirce as-of-right.
“oppressive grid”
lol haven’t heard that one before!
“oppressive grid”
lord, talk about your weirdo comments… take away the grid and there ain’t a Chicago, period.
you may be confusing our flat terrain with the grid, I totally agree with that, we could use some hills.
“I wonder if being 2 blocks from Lake Michigan, one could get away with no A/C?”
Yes. I live 3 blocks from the lake, and hardly ever turn on my window units. Central AC system would have been an overkill.
I stand corrected on the school.
Crime has been going up in this little pocket lately, unfortunately. Historically this was a rough area and the downturn isn’t helping and open drug dealing is showing up, etc. Senn isn’t a problem right around the school (I lived across from it for years and had zero problems) – the Rickover kids are as bratty as the rest despite wishful thinking. A lot of obnoxious dimwits from Loyola are moving into this enclave now too and are very disruptive.
fg:
I live about a block and a half away from this house (for the past 5 years), and have absolutely no idea what you’re talking about.
I certainly haven’t noticed an increase in crime and the Rickover kids I’ve encountered have been way better behaved than their Senn counterparts. And when was this a historically rough area? It certainly wasn’t in the 40’s when it was an Irish neighborhood, and it never even came close to getting “rough” like the heart of Uptown did in the 60’s, 70’s, and 80’s. I am curious as to what your idea of “disruptive” is, as this is unarguably the quietest Chicago neighborhood I’ve lived in.
Folks seem to have some very strange conceptions about this area, presuming they know about it at all.
I live two blocks from here and have begun witnessing drug deals during daylight hours. You might want to pay more attention or walk more.
I’ve heard stories about the irish criminal class who lived here back in the 60’s and 70’s too.
The rickover brats are as bad as the rest of the senn brats, I’ve seen them aggressively loitering on the platforms at thorndale – in fact, risking their safety on the platform far more than the regular students do.
ChrisM — You’re a little defensive about the neighborhood. I didn’t say anything was wrong with it, I just said this house is not for me. I’m not at all concerned about it being in a “bad” neighborhood. I just don’t want to buy a house on a block where half the houses are in really bad shape. It’s either going to stay that way, or those houses will be torn down and replaced with ugly new construction. Either way, it’s not what I’m looking for. And the stretch of Broadway is really ugly. It makes that three block walk to the lake seem a lot longer. I’m sure whoever buys this house will be happy (and, in keeping on point with the purpose of this site, will end up with a pretty good deal). It just won’t be me.
As someone who was born and raised a block south of this house and now owns a condo two blocks due east on Winthrop, the neighborhood seems as nice as it’s ever been. Victoria is a pretty, quiet, one way street that doesn’t get much car traffic. The surrounding blocks are mostly single family homes. As you move further east you cross Kenmore and Winthrop, which are much better now than even a year or two ago in my opinion.
“It’s close to the biggest, nicest beach in the city, but it’s not a pleasant walk to get there.”
I agree that it’s a fantastic beach (no parking keeps the crowds away). Disagree about “not a pleasant walk to get there.” The walk east along Ardmore passes some nicely maintained buildings on either side of the street, a church, then 2 buildings that sit on the corner of Sheridan Rd. There’s nothing unpleasant about the walk at all.
I’ve seen this house. It is very cute, very well kept, and has a beautiful bay window out the back looking on to a gorgeous and rather large yard (the house is kind of close to the street so the back yard is bigger). The problem? No bathroom on the first floor and no place to put one. The second bathroom is a 60s/70s job in the basement.
The street and neighborhood are great, and Senn Park, which is just north of the school, is one of my favorites in the area.