Get a Condo in the Lakewood Balmoral Historic District: 5203 N. Magnolia in Andersonville
This 2-bedroom at 5203 N. Magnolia in Andersonville has been on the market since June 2011.
The listing describes it as being located in the Lakewood Balmoral Historic District- which is made up predominantly of single family homes.
Built in the arts and crafts style, the property still has many of its vintage features including crown moldings and built-ins.
The unit has a unique carved fireplace in the living room as well as stained glass.
There are built-in cabinets with period glass doors in the dining room.
The kitchen has a mixture of black and white appliances and 42 inch cabinets.
The unit has central air but there is no mention of a washer/dryer (is it in the building?).
There is no parking.
With a list price under $250,000, is this a good condo for someone looking for a unique starter home?
Maureen Murnane at @Properties has the listing. See the pictures here.
Unit #2N: 2 bedrooms, 1.5 baths, 1250 square feet
- Sold in March 1993 for $124,000
- Originally listed in June 2011 for $249,000
- Currently still listed for $249,000
- Assessments of $234 a month
- Taxes of $3065
- Central Air
- Washer/Dryer in the building???
- No parking
- Bedroom #1: 19×10
- Bedroom #2: 10×10
- Sunroom: 9×8
I’ve always noticed this building. It looks like a brick buliding that was stucco’d over. Makes me wonder what condition the masonry was in.
Really like the built-ins in the dining room and around the fireplace. Location is sub-optimal Aville. Taxes and assesments area bad, probably goes around 220-235.
Having known someone who currently lives in this building, I can say that at this price that is a steal. There is a W/D in the basement common area. The other unit owners are very friendly and look out for each other. The lack of parking is rough, but the proximity to the RED line is great.
The masonry is in good shape and I know they just replaced the entire roof a few years ago.
I like this place! The assessments don’t seem to bad to me for a small vintage association either. I certainly would hope the seller could get 230k for it, but I don’t know much about places this size in Andersonville, I was always looking at larger places.
Kitchen seems small, dark and dated. I don’t like the layout of the place. Where do you put your tv? On top of the fireplace I assume. I do like the built-ins. However, with those assessments you can find something farther south for a good price.
Seems like nothing is included in those assessments.
No pictures of the bathrooms always makes me leery.
Anyone know if the exterior is real stucco, or Dryvit (EIFS)? If it’s the latter I’d be very leery.
Did anyone else see this?
http://www.thefiscaltimes.com/Articles/2011/06/30/10-Ridiculously-Desperate-Real-Estate-Listings.aspx
I think this one is interesting too – it shows the % of renters by zip code as of 2011. http://www.chicagobusiness.com/article/20110630/PAGES/110639988
Is it just me? I think the assessments are really cheap for a vintage condo of this size. You don’t want the assessments to be too cheap because that means the HOA is probably not building up a good reserve fund which will mean special assessments when major repairs come up.
About the area, I am in love with it. No offense Annony, but I love Edgewater and Andersonville much more than LP and it’s fulfilling my unicorn criteria. Magnolia in particular is a beautiful street with huge old SFHs. You are close to the beach, the Red Line, multiple buses and there is an abundance of good retail, bars and restaurants. Great grocery shopping with Dominick’s, a couple of Jewels, CVS, Walgreen’s, the Aldi and Target down by Wilson, plus the Asian and Ethiopian markets on Broadway and Edgewater Produce on Clark. And there’s even a real butcher up on Broadway by Granville.
I love the feel of the area in the summer when everyone’s strolling around in beachwear. You’ll have friendly neighbors here who take pride in their homes and streets. Give this area a chance. Come north and check it out. It’s unbelievably nice.
And…how could I forget to mention my favorite, the Dollar Tree in the strip mall at Berwyn and Broadway? This time I scored laundry detergent, fabric softener, this orange oxygen spray cleaner, a measuring cup, oven mitts, ibuprofen, and a cute laundry bag for just $1 each! Crazy!
Well the job numbers came out Friday. I don’t like to follow the headlines but instead look to this graph for context:
http://cr4re.com/charts/chart-images/EmployRecessJune2011.jpg
It appears the recovery in employment has stalled. I see dark clouds for real estate valuations nationally. There should be no reason the CSI-10 is 52% higher and the CSI-20 is 39% higher than their January, 2000 nominal levels.
I think nationally valuations are going to get hammered. Not sure about Chicagoland specifically as we’ve already given back most of the appreciation but I see unsustainable prices and steep declines for: Los Angeles, San Diego, Washington DC, Boston, New York, Seattle and Miami.
I am currently reviewing my guess of a Chicagoland bottom of 94-95 on the CSINSA index sometime in 2014-2015. Given the collapse in employment this might be overly optimistic.
“About the area, I am in love with it. No offense Annony, but I love Edgewater and Andersonville much more than LP and it’s fulfilling my unicorn criteria.”
Milkster- you’re one of the reasons I run this site. There is SO much more to Chicago than a 3 block radius in Lincoln Park. I try to cover more neighborhoods so maybe people will branch out and find out the great areas that some of us are aware of. There’s so much more to the city than LP (even though I like LP myself, personally.) The city is alive in so many neighborhoods. And there are lovely vibes in many of them.
Despite anonny’s view that there is no reason to live in Chicago if you don’t live within sight of the Lake- there are people living in wonderful bungalows in tree-lined streets on the west side of the city who love it.
“I think nationally valuations are going to get hammered. Not sure about Chicagoland specifically as we’ve already given back most of the appreciation but I see unsustainable prices and steep declines for: Los Angeles, San Diego, Washington DC, Boston, New York, Seattle and Miami.”
The foreclosures are still everywhere on the north, west and south sides of the city. So it’s unclear where everything is going to shake out. If we were to have an unexpected spike in interest rates (due to Congress NOT raising the debt ceiling, for instance) all bets are off across the city.
I disagree with you about DC having a steep decline unless they really gut the federal government work force. Employment is just too strong there right now.
Also- hasn’t Miami already bottomed? Condo prices are rising due to a lot of Latin American buyers (I heard anywhere up to 50% or 60% of all buyers of downtown condos are now from overseas.) I don’t know about the SFH situation there though.
Bob:
Don’t know if you’ve seen this Bloomberg Businessweek article yet.
Basically- the bust will go longer and be deeper than anyone thinks (if prior bubbles are any indication.) People underestimate what happens after a bubble bursts. It takes decades to recover.
http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/the-housing-horror-show-is-worse-than-you-think-07072011.html
“I disagree with you about DC having a steep decline unless they really gut the federal government work force. Employment is just too strong there right now.”
Right now is the term. If the growth in that part of the government can be sustained _maybe_. But DC metro RE values are 87% higher than 2000 nominal values. It’s alot of unsustainable stimulus money.
Maybe downtown Miami can be saved, too. But like you said maybe not the SFHs. The thing about Chicagoland, Cleveland and Charlotte is things never got too out of wack nearly to vs the coasts.
“No offense Annony, but I love Edgewater and Andersonville much more than LP and it’s fulfilling my unicorn criteria. Magnolia in particular is a beautiful street with huge old SFHs. You are close to the beach, the Red Line, multiple buses and there is an abundance of good retail, bars and restaurants. Great grocery shopping with Dominick’s, a couple of Jewels, CVS, Walgreen’s, the Aldi and Target down by Wilson, plus the Asian and Ethiopian markets on Broadway and Edgewater Produce on Clark. And there’s even a real butcher up on Broadway by Granville.
I love the feel of the area in the summer when everyone’s strolling around in beachwear. You’ll have friendly neighbors here who take pride in their homes and streets. Give this area a chance. Come north and check it out. It’s unbelievably nice.”
It is rather nice, I’ll grant you that. I ran up to Foster Beach over the weekend, and always feel like I’m on vacation up there. And if one needs a huge old SFH, then yes, a place up on Magnolia might be quite nice. And such a buyer would likely hop in a luxury sedan and cruise down to the Loop for work.
I’m not sure about you, but I’m not currently in a position to buy a big house on Magnolia or a luxury sedan. Perhaps in a few years, but not now. Right now, however, I do happen to know a couple with a nice little 2/2 in Andersonville. They’re not seeing much interest, even at a list that is 10 percent below their bubble purchase price. Once a buyer eventually materializes and seeks a further 10 percent reduction, they’ll be letting it go for at least 20 percent under what they paid (if such a buyer ever materializes). My point? Don’t BUY anything BUT a “huge SFH” outside of the very best sections of the most expensive neighborhoods, unless you can get it for 30 – 40 percent below bubble pricing.
bob. My bet is almost always that if something sucked worse when everything sucked, it will continue to suck worse.
DC money is more tech and defense post 9-11 than simply stimulus.
And bob.. Less than 16 months to a new all time high in equities.
“Right now, however, I do happen to know a couple with a nice little 2/2 in Andersonville. They’re not seeing much interest, even at a list that is 10 percent below their bubble purchase price.”
Really? Anonny- tell them to contact me and I’ll put it up as a post to give them some publicity.
The 2/2s are selling quite nicely in Andersonville, actually. The ones that aren’t are those that are older, don’t have parking or a/c. Do they have stainless steel appliances and granite counter tops? Those are usually selling. Maybe they’re on a busy street (like Ashland.)
Andersonville is holding up WAY better than other neighborhoods (I think even better than LP and Lakeview- at least for the bigger, updated units.) Andersonville is still relatively “hot” (as far as this market can be hot.
But I agree with you- that selling any condo that was purchased in the last 5 years is difficult no matter what the location. But it’s not much better in the SFH market either. Try selling a SFH that was bought in 2007. You’ll take a 10% to 20% (or more) loss on that too (even in LP.)
“The thing about Chicagoland, Cleveland and Charlotte is things never got too out of wack nearly to vs the coasts.”
I disagree. $500k for a 3 bedroom frame house that is 1800 square feet in Portage Park? Really?
What about the $500k condo in Bronzeville?
Many neighborhoods went just as crazy in Chicagoland as they did on the coasts.
Re 5203 Magnolia:
I have lived in Lakewood Balmoral for 28 years and it just keeps getting nicer and nicer with wonderful caring neighbors, but if you don’t want a big single family home there aren’t many choices – except now this cute vintage condo. I know the building and it is very well cared for by long term owners. There is a new roof, new water service to the street, new common area windows. The W/D is in a common area as is a bike room and storage. This unit has newly redone hardwood floors and a half bath that could be converted to an in unit laundry if someone didn’t want to walk down one flight of stairs. Also, the huge master bedroom used to be two rooms and could easily be changed back if someone wanted a 3 bedroom unit. This is a charming home with unspoiled vintage details and a very cheap way to live in an expensive neighborhood!
Long time lurker motivated to comment on this one. We bought not far from this unit having moved from a condo in Rogers Park. I love living in Edgewater. Public transportation is excellent. The shops and restaurants of Andersonville are a short walk away. Argyle Street with its great food and grocery options is easily walkable. Two grocery stores are available in the immediate neighborhood, with smaller markets nearby. Beach and lakefront path access is a straight shot down Foster or Berwyn. This unit is in the heart of all of this. The best part is that it is on the north side of the building, away from the traffic on Foster.