Historic Rowhouse Sells for Just $7500 Above the 2001 Price: 3814 N. Alta Vista in Lakeview
We last chattered about this 3-bedroom historic rowhouse on the popular “street of 40 doors” at 3814 N. Alta Vista Terrace in Lakeview in August 2011.
See our prior chatter here.
Back then, many of you thought this was a deal as it was listed out of the gate at $63,000 under the 2004 purchase price. Some of you thought they listed it TOO LOW (gasp) and one said the seller should have “tested” the market at a higher price point.
Either way- most of you thought it was a lovely property that would sell close to the asking price of $635,000.
The rowhouse recently sold for $590,000.
If you recall, the rowhouse was built in 1904 on a 24×40 lot. All 3 bedrooms and a sunroom were on the second level.
The rowhouse also had a lower level family room.
The kitchen had cherry cabinets and tile counter tops.
It had central air and the listing said it had a parking space (which is rare for this street.)
Did someone get a deal?
Karen Stierwalt at Coldwell Banker had the listing. (It was agent owned.) You can still see the interior pictures here.
3814 N. Alta Vista Terrace: 3 bedrooms, 2 baths, 2100 square feet, 1 car parking
- Sold in May 1994 for $260,000
- Sold in April 2001 for $582,500
- Sold in November 2004 for $698,000
- Was listed in August 2011 for $635,000
- Sold in December 2011 for $590,000
- Taxes of $9668
- Central Air
- Bedroom #1: 13×12 (second floor)
- Bedroom #2: 12×14 (second floor)
- Bedroom #3: 11×10 (second floor)
- Family room: 18×17 (lower level)
- Sunroom: 19×8 (second level)
Obviously the seller/realtor knew listing at $700 wasn’t the right thing to do. They listed it at a decent price, got an offer and sold it fast. I think a very wise decision. Better to take an offer you have than let it sit hoping someone will come by with the offer everyone suggested.
Btw…tile countertops suck!!!
It would have gotten even cheaper had the buyer waited a little longer.
No question a deal.
Nice house, prudent renovation. Don’t like “living large” in basement family room. Where’s parking space – out-front street-zoned parking? Houses/units this large without self-contained enclosed parking are problematic. Household unlikely to be carless, parking costs and location hassles mount, and a couple of snowy winters plus a car break-in, and soon compromise becomes a serious issue.
The person who thought it should be listed much higher at $700K is a realtor. I wonder if he’s still in business considering the bad advice he was posting back then, which wasn’t even that long ago really.
Architect- the parking spot is usually in the backyard. There is space to pull a car in back there on the one side of the street (so one side has parking and one side does not.) That’s why most of the backyards that use it are bricked. You just open the gate and pull in – but you’re not exactly doing anything else back there if the car is there.
If I am not mistaken two of the bedrooms are separated by a french door. It seems like an odd layout. More like a 2BR with a den. The sale price is reflective of that. If this was a legit 3BR, I could see it going at a higher price.
Sold in May 1994 for $260,000
Sold in April 2001 for $582,500
Look at that appreciation during that 6 year period. The 2004 price and the 2011 listing price is just froth on the bubble. Today’s selling price still reflects the insane amount of froth and bubble left in the market in some of these northside neighborhoods. How ironic that b/c there are so many underwater owners who can’t/won’t sell, supply is restricted, which props up price. Seems like a very tenuous basis for the support of frothy prices. Mark my words, it’s only a matter of time before prices on the northside return most if not all of their bubble appreciation. Its going to start as the next smaller generation of buyers sees the mistakes of the boomers and Gen X’ers and heads straight for the suburbs, or, chooses to instead rent in the city. They’re poorer, have higher amounts of debt, earn less income, have smaller net worth their cohort is smaller too. Demand for small homes on 24×40 foot lots (even if they’re historic) is waning; and I consider 15% price reductions off the ’04 price as nothing more than a slow and disappointing start but pull out the microwave popcorn folks because the bottom is about to drop out.
RE: Appreciation
Sold in May 1994 for $260,000
Sold in April 2001 for $582,500
Might this reflect rehab work? Maybe the basement addition, kitchen, baths, back patio, various invisible improvements (roof, electrical, etc)?? Also, this area has improved quite a bit over the years. I live close to the property and I’m always hearing about how much worse it used to be (gangs, etc.).
I don’t think this place is cheap, per se. But it is a rarity. It’s chaming to a person who loves vintage and city living. The entire block is landmarked and it’s quite special. It’s not a cookie cutter place at all and for that reason generalizations don’t apply here, IMO.
that’s a hell of a lot of owner occupied improvements to more than double in price in 6 years!
HD- Almost every ‘flipper’ property here doubles or tripples in price in 3 months with potentially the same improvements..
I notice a couple others on this street are still listed well above 800K. Seems like their sellers need to get realistic.
The next generation is heading straight to the suburbs because that is where Mommy and Daddy live. When they are not Occupying some public park, they are occupying Daddy’s basement. If you own a place now, don’t count on selling it to the “next generation” – they are all sitting around waiting for more Obama money to buy it.
” Its going to start as the next smaller generation of buyers sees the mistakes of the boomers and Gen X’ers and heads straight for the suburbs, or, chooses to instead rent in the city. They’re poorer, have higher amounts of debt, earn less income, have smaller net worth their cohort is smaller too. “
What’s with the “downvote HD” trend? Even his good comments get voted way down. Who’d you piss off HD? 🙂
tftinChi: I noticed the same thing. Whys erbody pickin’ on me?????? My comments are so apropos, funny, witty and downright thought provoking.
and I was agreeing with ya HD – just adding some color commentary to your stats.
Matt,
Your optimism is really uplifting!
Dave M,
That was me. Fact is I am still in the business. My homes sell on average in 17 days, and my list price to sale price average is 98.5%. I would have listed this at $700,000, and I believe I would have gotten more than $590,000 for this home. Of course, if you need to dump the place and sell fast, listing where this Realtor listed makes sense. If you have the patience to test it out and are not in a bind, I think that there were comps out there to back a higher asking price.
This house took much longer than 17 days to sell at $635k, so listing it for $700k would certainly have hurt your average.
“If you have the patience to test it out and are not in a bind, I think that there were comps out there to back a higher asking price.”
What are the comps? As some people have pointed out the third bedroom was really not a bedroom- but was through a set of french doors. This is NOT one of the bigger units on this street. There is a bigger 7-bedroom rowhouse across the street that we’ve chattered about in the past at 3825 n alta vista that has been on the market for a year and a half listed at $899k.
Do you really think you’re going to get $700k when that is across the street? (yes- not selling- because THAT rowhouse is likely to sell for $700k.)
This whole mentality of “let’s list it higher and just see what happens” and “have patience” is a bunch of crap. That’s what’s hurting this market more than anything else. This seller was realistic and priced the property realistically. They didn’t price it at a “wish” price. They most likely needed to sell within a few months and that’s what they did.
Sure- if you want to have it listed for YEARS (as many, many of the properties seem to be these days) – then go ahead and list at $700k. It’s absurd. Given that the seller was a realtor- I’m assuming she did her homework on the comps. And it’s paid off with a sale. It’s not the price they would have liked to get, I’m sure- but what is in this market? Prices are down 30% or more citywide. THAT is the reality.
Sorry for the rant- but I get so tired of seeing overpriced properties coming on the market day after day. Sometimes I wonder- do the sellers and the agents even know what YEAR it is? Or are they that far removed from reality?
An underpriced home won’t sit on the market for long–it will get attention and lots of it. Just check out http://www.redfin.com/IL/Chicago/4947-N-Leavitt-St-60625/home/13403294 8 offers in a few days…wonder what this one will sell for. Would it have sold for more if it was listed for $400k? Hard to say but the owners are at least hedging the risk that the market could fall further.
“An underpriced home won’t sit on the market for long–it will get attention and lots of it. ”
Place like that–you think that $289 is *objectively* underpriced? You get the workdwork and a roof while you go about replacing everything except the woodwork over a number of years. Seems like the house itself borders on being a net liability for an o/o is isn’t quite handy.
Perhaps more appropriate to say it was priced reasonably. With most competing listings overpriced, probably no wonder a place priced to reflect the work necessary and the state of the market would attract 8 offers immediately.
Agreed.
Did anybody notice that the house right next door to this, 3818 Alta Vista recently significantly increased its asking price? What is going on there?
Andy, my guess is the previous price was with few renovations. The new price includes being “restored to vintage excellence with luxurious amenities.” Anyways, as the listing suggests, “price is a rough estimate”….Roughly $485k or $850k or $1M, depends what you want and how stupid you are.
“That was me. Fact is I am still in the business. My homes sell on average in 17 days, and my list price to sale price average is 98.5%. I would have listed this at $700,000, and I believe I would have gotten more than $590,000 for this home. Of course, if you need to dump the place and sell fast, listing where this Realtor listed makes sense. If you have the patience to test it out and are not in a bind, I think that there were comps out there to back a higher asking price.”
Bullshit, or it’s based on 5 sales this year and you left out the canceled’/expired listing times. Are you a part time Realtor?
“I think that there were comps out there to back a higher asking price.”
Please make your case Mr. Vossoughi.
What comps (or other evidence) can you cite that would argue for a higher selling price here?
(And btw, fix the typo in your Yelp advert: “Ask my how I can help you, and why I am different than all the other Realtors out there.”
http://www.yelp.com/biz/john-vossoughi-chicago
You could indeed distinguish yourself from “all the other Realtors out there” if you’d attend to details.)
What currency would the 700k be in? Certainly not US dollars…
Amazing how people don’t look at actual sales comps when pricing a property these days.
Locationlocationlocation…if I hadn’t already learned that Theo Epstein bought elsewhere in the ‘hood I’d say he bought it so as to be within “walking distance to work.”. But maybe one of the other new Cubbie personnel decided it would be a good deal. Or maybe a very rich and optimistic fan.
Winter after the holidays is SOOOO dull – how many more days till “pitchers and catchers report?”