Historic Home Perfect for Fireplace Lovers Reduces: 1535 W. Jackson in the West Loop
We last chattered about this historic 4-bedroom West Loop single family home at 1535 W. Jackson in November 2009.
See our November 2009 chatter and pictures here.
It is still available, has been reduced, and is now listed for $30,000 less than the 2004 purchase price.
Built in 1893, the house has 5 fireplaces and many of its vintage historical features including the original stained glass.
It has a longer than standard Chicago lot but is also narrower at 17×188.
The listing says there is room for 6 car parking or you can build a 2 car garage in the back. It has central air.
Is this now a deal for a vintage lover looking for one of the classic Jackson Boulevard mansions?
Mario Greco at Prudential Rubloff still has the listing. See more pictures and a virtual tour here.
1535 W. Jackson: 4 bedrooms, 3.5 baths, 4000 square feet
- Sold in September 2003 for $675,000
- Sold in December 2004 for $829,000
- Originally listed in April 2009 for $1.2 million
- Reduced numerous times
- Was listed in November 2009 at $975,000
- Reduced
- Currently listed for $799,000
- Taxes of $5455
- Central Air
- 5 fireplaces
- Bedroom #1: 19×13
- Bedroom #2: 16×13
- Bedroom #3: 12×12 (lower level)
- Bedroom #4: 12×11 (lower level)
gorgeous! And you could walk to Hawks games
That interior is fecking horrid.
= stale listing with 30% price reduction, still waiting for Alice in Wonderland to come along and drop eight hundred stacks. lol
I love this neighborhood. Drive past it all the time and think about how great it would be to live in one of these homes. Might be a little too close to Ashland and Whitney Young for some people and Jackson is a busy street but I love the area.
Why settle for 5 fireplaces in the Jackson Blvd. District when you can get 6 fireplaces in the Bronzeville Historic District?
I guess it is technically west of the Loop.
TOTALLY OT–apologies. But–does a little under $4000 strike you guys as a reasonable price to pay for a building appraisal (courtyard building, about 40 units), for purposes of a tax appeal? How much does an appraisal improve the chances of an appeal?
Our lawyer just told us that we would need to pay this–immediately–to get an appraisal for an appeal coming up in less than two weeks. It strikes me as both a) way too expensive and b) a little unseemly in how it is being sold to us. To be fair, though, we’ve used this lawyer a long time and have no reason to suspect any “too comfortable” arrangements.
Love the house and rather like the area it’s in.
It strikes me as being a decent deal for the money, but I don’t know the area extremely well, just found it really appealing when I walked through it a couple of years ago.
“does a little under $4000 strike you guys as a reasonable price to pay for a building appraisal (courtyard building, about 40 units), for purposes of a tax appeal?”
Dunno. Russ might actually have a good idea of what appraisers are charging lately.
“How much does an appraisal improve the chances of an appeal?”
If the comps are either all poor comps or bad for your case, then it could be your only good fact.
To Kenworthey: I don’t really know what a home appraisal costs. But my gut tells me that $4000 is an absolute ripoff and a scam. If your lawyer suggested this, I’d get another lawyer.
Figure that any basic professional hourly cost (whether for an engineer, inspector, HVAC specialist, architect, etc.) should be between $100 and $200 an hour. Attorneys and accountants may charge more.
Taking an appraisal of a 40 unit building should not require 20 man-hours of labor. Even if it involves making court appearances and filings.
Shop around. You should be able to find someone reasonable that can do the work in less than 2 weeks.
I’ve never paid more than $400 for an appraisal. . . but I’ve never looked at a 40-unit building, and that does make a difference.
And if this is one of those appraisals that includes all legal representation at the tax appeal, it might start to make sense.
Still seems startlinging high and I would shop it around– SO MANY appraisers out there (but I wouldn’t go with the cheapest one either because some of them is idiots).
Maybe someone reading this (who is in the industry) could recommend to Kenworthey an appraiser capable of a large multi-unit complex.
$400 is totally reasonable for a courtyard building with 40 units, in fact, it seems a little cheap today.
Just this afternoon (1:00 p.m.) I recommended a client to an appraiser who charges $300 for SFH and that’s totally reasonable and customary for the industry.
“$400 is totally reasonable for a courtyard building with 40 units, in fact, it seems a little cheap today. ”
You missed a Zero. It’s $4,000. I assume that changes your view. Any recommendation?
yes, homedelete, if you have a recommendation, I’d be very grateful. Or even advice on ballpark figures.
Commercial property appraisals for $2 million+ non-SF properties are usually done by an appraisal firm w/established track record for this type of appraisal. You don’t want a guy operating out of his house and car, doing cheap appraisals. Reputation and credibility are important. Your appraiser is expected to be able to provide tax protest attorney with expert 3rd-party witness testimony, comprehensive written report on both property and market, and establish property value based upon 1) land + replacement value, as well as 2) sale comps. For a 40-unit courtyard apartment building owner, trying to establish that property shouldn’t be valued as identical to a 40-unit condo-conversion courtyard building, the goal is to diminish value by appraisal rather than “meet the sales contract price”. Appraiser needs to prove value to assessor, who will defend current assessment. $4000 for 40 units is $100/unit. I think it’s very reasonable.
Thanks for your opinion, Architect. I’ll convey it to my Board. It does gall, though–we are likely to save about $28,000 if we win our appeal. The atty. who does this takes 50% of whatever we save. So we get $14,000 if we win, less the $4000 appraisal. Or in other words, of $28,000 “saved,” we see only $10,000.
“we are likely to save about $28,000 if we win our appeal. The atty. who does this takes 50% of whatever we save. So we get $14,000 if we win, less the $4000 appraisal. Or in other words, of $28,000 “saved,” we see only $10,000.”
But you’ll save the full $28k (adjusted for rate increases) each of the next two years, too, no?
“If the comps are either all poor comps or bad for your case, then it could be your only good fact.”
How does an appraisal differ fundamentally from the set of comps that exist for the property? Isn’t it driven by comps? Just curious.
I guess I missed a zero. I said I thought $400 seemed a little cheap for a 40 unit building.
I agree with Architect. Pay the $4,000 for the appraisal especially since they can get it done in less than 2 weeks.
For the record, I am not a fireplace lover…
“How does an appraisal differ fundamentally from the set of comps that exist for the property? Isn’t it driven by comps? Just curious.”
The Assessor’s comps could be too narrow or too broad or too old. Or not really comps, as Architect noted. The assessor (and the appeals board, etc) is working off of county records, the appraiser would be working off of reality.
Agree with Architect, commercial or multi-unit properties need a higher level of assessment than SF. First year savings is $250/unit, but next two years should be more significant, approximately $750/unit.
We filed a tax appeal about two and a half years ago for a SF. The appraisal fee was normal for a SF house, about $350, which translated into a 20% decrease in taxes for the last two years. We did not use an attorney. Our first try without an assessment, using comps, did not fly, and we had two weeks to get an assessment done. The assessment barely got done in time and was a cookie cutter assessment, but was better than not appealing. The appraisal stamp is worth a lot in an appeal. Using comps is difficult if your house or building is unique and there are no recently sold similar properties nearby.
I was looking at places within blocks of this place. Is this a decent neighborhood considering it is a little bit on the western side of the west loop?
All immensely useful information–thanks to all who chimed in. I’m now going to vote “yes” on getting the appraisal, and will try to talk fellow Board members into it.
“For the record, I am not a fireplace lover…”
This totally ruins the mental image I had of Sonies curled up with a nice leather bound book, before his master fireplace.
(Every once in a while he mutters: “I dunneedno goddamn lawn. . . “)
i like the area and if i was to buy it id paint the entire place a decent neutral color and change the wall paper.dont think id do anything else…i wudnt move here cause i already have a place i like…any idea how much rent one cud generate off this place?
Investor, it’s now available for rent, listed on MLS asking $4500 a month. Probably will be on CL asking $4000 or so?