Get a 3/2 With Parking For Under $320,000 in Ravenswood: 1716 W. Leland
This 3-bedroom at 1716 W. Leland in the Ravenswood neighborhood of Uptown has beeen on and off the market since March 2010.
Rehabbed in 2006, this first floor unit in an 11-unit greystone building has hardwood floors throughout.
The eat-in kitchen has granite counter tops and stainless steel appliances.
The master suite has a marble bath.
The unit has the amenities that buyers look for including central air, washer/dryer in the unit and tandem parking which the listing says has room for 4 cars.
You are also just a few minutes to the Brown line stop or the Ravenswood Metra stop.
This unit is listed 20% under its 2006 price.
Is this a deal for a 3-bedroom unit with parking in this neighborhood?
Mark Baetzel at @Properties has the listing. See more pictures here.
Unit #1F: 3 bedrooms, 2 baths, no square footage listed
- Sold in January 2006 for $395,000
- Originally listed in March 2010 for $399,900
- Withdrawn in March 2011
- Re-listed in October 2011 for $335,000
- Reduced
- Currently listed for $315,000 (includes tandem parking which fits 4 cars)
- Assessments of $351 a month (includes heat)
- Taxes of $6645
- Central Air
- Washer/Dryer in the unit
- Bedroom #1: 18×16
- Bedroom #2: 14×12
- Bedroom #3: 12×10
That is some seriously negative curb appeal, but the unit seems decent. Should move at about 300k, I would like being walking distance to the metra here.
This building belongs in the slums.
Wow. Did they actually plan such an ugly building?
What’s so bad about the curb appeal? Is it just the stairs? I think some people would actually see that as a selling point. Especially an out of towner who wants to fee like real city folk.
I like the unit, but as usual pretty clueless on the price.
“Did they actually plan such an ugly building?”
“What’s so bad about the curb appeal? Is it just the stairs?”
…Uh No. This was probably originally a very beautiful building. Unfortunately there was this thing called urban decay where property values on buildings like this fell through the floor. Owners could no longer justify the cost of maintaining a cornice on a building like this since their rents were so low. Sadly this usually resulted in the owner taking the easy/cheap way out and removing large chunks of the buildings ornament- especially around the top of the building called the Cornice. A building that was designed to have a cornice, but then loses it, looks like absolute trash. The balance is totally thrown off.
This building is also marred by the fire escapes. Quite frankly I’m not sure what they are doing there. They’re often added to buildings so that every unit has 2 exit points to meet code. However, this appears to be a basic 6 flat, which means the front entry and rear porches should suffice. My only guess is that at one point this building was chopped up into 12 or more units, which means that those fire escapes had to be added after the fact in order to meet code. It seems hard to believe that the condo developer would not have thought it wise to remove them later however. Who knows.
Anyway, this is how once beautiful buildings turned into piles of trash. Sadly its a story told all over the city time and time again. If you want to fix these buildings, you have to do them right. It seems like a lot of corners were cut here. I would NEVER buy into a building that gave that impression like this one does.
Andy:
from the post: ” this first floor unit in an 11-unit greystone building ”
So, to have two exits, neede to be retained.
Sabrina, does this condo building have those elevators you speak of?
I don’t think it’s that bad, the facade is missing s few shutters, and the trees will continue to grow. Rehab looks nice, room sizes a little smallish. Price seems OK, esp. with interest rates as low as they are. RE Taxes should be appealed asap!
Is that the front of the building? I thought it was the back! Fail.
Everyone has been knocking black appliances lately, but I think this kitchen is an example of one that would benefit from black appliances. Do that, put in some crown molding, and add on some shutters and I think you can easily flip this for a 20% return. With 3 bedrooms think of the cash flow! As Robert Kiyosaki says, “If you’re gonna go broke, go broke big.”
I know this building (not this unit). It’s very clean, well kept, and quiet inside.
Obviously it’s missing the original cornice. The intermittent shutters don’t help it at all, and the landscaping is sup-par. It was an elegant building, long ago. And, it’s decent in person today. I think Andy’s assessment is accurate.
Final thought – the internal common areas are very pretty.
“As Robert Kiyosaki says, “If you’re gonna go broke, go broke big.”
And if you want to get rich, sell books and tapes!! Even Trump understands this, he didn’t make a dime on his foray into Chicago real estate. He made more money being on TV shows, and licensing his name out to developers who went bust instead of Trump. Did Bill Rancic waste him time in the real estate biz? Hell no!! He took the Kiyosaki/Trump route and went on TV instead.
matthewlesko: just kidding there…..seriously, did Kiyosaki give you any profitable info, that was really unique? If so, please share it.
Besides being ugly, the exterior doesn’t look like it’s being well cared for… missing shutters… broken parapet above the door… then, there’s the staircase. It looks trashy on the front of the building. They should have installed it on the back back. Driving past this place, I would assume it was a run down tenement.
ugly ugly ugly
“ugly ugly ugly”
You’re only saying that because the shudders are missing on the top right unit.
I went to a Kiyosaki event this year for kicks however did not last long as the free event is just a rah rah pep talk to sign you up to come to their paid classes. While those might have some value they totally oversell the potential of the classes to students, push how valuable the information is, and how it will change lives. The presenter was a bit over the top for my tastes. He also contradicted himself at one point and would not answer questions.
Most of the crowd did not look like they would be able to part with the $99 they charge for the class. I was impressed with how many ran back to sign up and gave them cash…
“…did Kiyosaki give you any profitable info, that was really unique? If so, please share it.”
Focusing on passive residual cash flow. Kiyosaki isn’t the only one to preach / teach it, but I like his style. Some people love him, some don’t. I love him!
Another thought… Kiyosaki takes complicated finance and makes it simple. He puts things in layman’s terms / presents info in a way that is easy to understand. Just because some of us (life myself) aren’t as bright as the rest doesn’t mean we should be poor does it? I think Kiyosaki can identify with those who struggle with difficult financial concepts.
Matthew – I’m glad to hear that you are benefitting from his teachings. While I also can appreciate that breaking things down to simple “laymans terms” is a great way to teach real estate investing is not for everyone.
You are beginning to sound like a shill for the program. Perhaps an employee or independent contractor. When is the next Chicago meeting?
JP3:
The real Matt Lesko once wrote:
“A degree of lying—you know, white lies—seems to be inherent in all languages and all forms of communication. It’s really not lying; it’s more a matter of not presenting the downside of a situation.”
–Introduction to “Free Money to Pay Your Bills.”
Had to look up the Matt Lesko name. Now I get it thanks HD.
The matthewlesko is not his real name or alias. I think that this poster should stick with Woodstock, Cary and other places out there in BFE where he has experience and read more about the Green Zone comments before professing his knowledge on CC.
I wish I worked for Kiyosaki, but frankly I don’t think they’d hire me! I dunno when the next meeting is. I have been to one seminar and I thought that was sufficient. Everything else can be learned in the books.
“Everything else can be learned in the books.”
…which are available free at the public library. He managed to get his books sold to libraries too, good for him.
Those iron fire-escapes remind you of the checkered past of the neighborhood location. Aside from the marble countertop in bathroom, this is a nice rental-quality apartment reconstruction. Condo developer was too cheap to restore the building facade when the conversion first occurred, and now the street view is pretty sad-sack. This association needs to repair/restore facade to protect its condo values from further steep depreciation. Looks uninviting, and certainly not welcoming to a $300,000 purchaser.
“And if you want to get rich, sell books and tapes!! Even Trump understands this, he didn’t make a dime on his foray into Chicago real estate. He made more money being on TV shows, and licensing his name out to developers who went bust instead of Trump. Did Bill Rancic waste him time in the real estate biz? Hell no!! He took the Kiyosaki/Trump route and went on TV instead.”
Ha! ha! So true.
Although, Bill and his wife HAVE dabbled in real estate. They flipped a foreclosure in the Gold Coast (that we chattered about) and also a house in Hinsdale that they made quite a bit of money on. Their real estate ventures have been profitable, it seems. But, yes, their main source of income comes from being on tv.
What struck me is the toilet is placed so weird…it’s not tucked away but the center of attention…and also wanted to report the my friend dated Bill Rancic in his single days and he was horrible…horrible…really quite the cad….not sure how he changed to be such a supportive husband that he appears to be….
“He was horrible…horrible…really quite the cad.”
Hate to point out the obvious but maybe it was partly your friend’s fault or the lack of chemistry that they had together. No telling why things like that happen but it did not work out for a reason. Hopefully she found someone who was a better fit.
For the record at one time he had office space in my building and seemed to be a genuinely good person.