How Close to the El Could You Live? 3408 N. Bosworth in Lakeview
This 3-bedroom vintage single family home at 3408 N. Bosworth in Lakeview has been on the market since April 2010.
It would appear to have everything buyers are looking for.
It has central air and a 2 car garage on a 25×125 lot.
Built in 1877, it has some of its original features including stained glass but also has been updated, including a new chef’s kitchen with Viking and Jennair appliances.
2 of the 3 bedrooms are on the second floor and the property has an unfinished basement.
It is also located right next to the brown line El tracks.
The house has been reduced $149,000 since April.
How much does the El location matter versus the price?
Patrick Ryan at @Properties has the listing. See the pictures here.
3408 N. Bosworth: 3 bedrooms, 1 bath, no square footage listed, 2 car garage
- Sold in February 1996 for $132,000
- Sold in February 1997 for $170,000
- Sold in June 2002 for $428,000
- Sold in July 2005 for $569,000
- Originally listed in April 2010 for $749,000
- Reduced
- Currently listed for $600,000
- Taxes of $8523
- Central Air
- Bedroom #1: 15×14 (second floor)
- Bedroom #2: 14×10 (second floor)
- Bedroom #3: 11×8 (main floor)
- Living room: 23×12
- Dining room: 12×12
- Kitchen: 16×9
- Mudroom: 9×6
- Unfinished basement
F’ing yuppies your are ridiculous
At least the brown line doesn’t run in the middle of the night.
I’ll give you 350
“I’ll give you 350”
I wouldn’t even buy this for 100k.
There are 2 trains passing in the Google view! Hilarious.
I like when realtors say things like “literally a chef lives here” — does the chef come with the house? No. It should say “A chef can’t stand to live this close to the el any more. Here’s your chance to.” Or, “Come fall in love.” What? Can’t hear you.
$600K for a 1 bath house is ludicrous. A third bedroom on the main floor is worse than one in my basement IMO. Not to mention an unusable backyard…
But it’s in the soon-to-be coveted Hamilton attendance area!!!
There’s “close” and there’s CLLLLLLOSE, as in, if you go to open a window on that side of the house, you’d better not reach out too far!!
In addition to around 5 feet of clearance on that side of the building, both front and back yard are practically underneath the tracks. Much worse than a situation where the EL is behind the garage and over the alley.
The subset of buyers willing to tolerate this, even for a BIG discount, is probably very small, and even someone who could live with that would have to consider the length of time needed for resale in the future.
Best possibility: an owner or tenant with a loud rock band (neighbors wouldn’t be able to complain!!)
Oh yeah…everyone here nailed it on the head. The pool of potential buyers for this is SMALL. Good luck to the seller at this price…
The pool of potential buyers for this home isn’t that small; it’s clearly sold four times in 11 years to four different buyers.
# Sold in February 1996 for $132,000
# Sold in February 1997 for $170,000
# Sold in June 2002 for $428,000
# Sold in July 2005 for $569,000
hahahaha the price has to be a bad joke 750k for a 3/1 ON THE TRACKS?? ahahah pass the crack pipe this place will be lucky to get 300k
I think they’re marketing this to the buy-and-hold crowd, who will then wait for the City of Chicago to upgrade the EL to super-quiet electric mono-rails, when they’ll just have the pleasing whoosh of the aerodynamic trains as they drift by. Then they’ll sell for an outrageous profit, open their vault and swim in the profits Scrooge McDuck-style. What an outstanding investment opportunity.
I’m among the subset of buyers willing to tolerate the El tracks, but I could only afford this at the 1997 price. Hope they’re not looking to make a profit on that chef’s kitchen.
would be nice if they buried the el or converted it into some sort of 20th century technology that isn’t noisy as @#$! and runs through most of your residential and commercial spaces blasting them with some insane noise pollution..
I mean think about how much property values would rise if they buried the El
Dave – some insulation and a willingness to not leave the windows open a lot could go a long way here.
“I mean think about how much property values would rise if they buried the El”
HA, but the taxes to cover that!
Yes–it sold 4 times, but that doesn’t tell us how many months it had to sit on the market each time. Also, the 96 and 97 prices were very cheap, even for that time in this neighborhood. Presumably a lot of work was done on this between 97 and ’02 to bring up the price, and during the heady years of 02-05, some buyers were willing to grab at anything.
You also have to ask yourself why 4 people who chose to buy a house (not a small condo) would choose to sell within a few years if it was such a great place to live!!
I like the idea of speculating on El improvements, but it could be a 20-30 year wait!!
“The pool of potential buyers for this home isn’t that small; it’s clearly sold four times in 11 years to four different buyers.
# Sold in February 1996 for $132,000
# Sold in February 1997 for $170,000
# Sold in June 2002 for $428,000
# Sold in July 2005 for $569,000”
I owned a townhome in LP that backed up to the brownline. It wasn’t bad, but it was built so that no windows faced the back and of course they were attached townhomes, so the noise was negligible. The a/c unit was actually a heck of a lot louder than the trains were. That said, this place is ridiculously priced. I just cannot imagine anyone paying more than $350 for this.
“HA, but the taxes to cover that!”
true, but if our stupid federal gubbermint hadn’t wasted like 400 of the 800 billion dollar stimulus on useless crap we could have paid for it… I mean what would burying the el cost, 10, 20 billion?
and before you go crazy about how much burying the El would cost, it sure as hell would provide a better rate of return than the 4.8 billion we were more than willing to spend on the stupid olympics
Big Dig ended up clost to $15bn, and that was one tunnel. More tranching and I’d like to think our city is at least as corrupt, so let’s put it at $25-40bn.
” Much worse than a situation where the EL is behind the garage and over the alley.”
Yeah, behind the building is less than ideal, but it’s workable. Having the tracks run the length of your house? No, thanks.
It’s too bad, because it’s otherwise a lovely place (1 bath, though, so it wouldn’t warrant $600K, even if it were on the same block but further from the el).
That was close and trenching, sorry. Although if we tranched the bonds we could act like the good ole days, hedge funds would eat it up!
We rented last year in a condo building which was essentially as close to the red line as this house is–and even though we lived on the 8th floor, the el noise was still as loud as hell. Good luck to whoever lives here.
“true, but if our stupid federal gubbermint hadn’t wasted like 400 of the 800 billion dollar stimulus on useless crap we could have paid for it… I mean what would burying the el cost, 10, 20 billion?”
Where are you going to bury it?
Exactly where it is? Need to buy all the property on at least one side of the tracks.
In the middle of streets? many of the streets near the el lines aren’t really wide enough for two way train traffic, so you’d cut and cover on two streets.
Consider that we’re built on a swamp? Water management would be a genuine issue in a lot of places along the lines.
Not this close.
Would the value of the duplex-down then be greater than up based on proximity to the el?
This is one of the most ridiculous prices I’ve seen in a while. Here is my comparable: http://www.redfin.com/IL/Chicago/Undisclosed-address-60614/home/13352955, which has been on the market almost a year and reduced $160K. I know a lot about it because we almost bought it (I guess I’m also in the small percentage of people who can look past the tracks-I kind of think it’s charming actually). Much bigger, absolutely gorgeous, and much better location/school district. No comparison. I bet the buyers got it under $600K, so this place doesn’t stand a chance. I would be surprised if it got $400K to be honest. The entire length of the house???? NO WAY.
That el location does suck! As you recall from earlier posts I too live on the el and dont find it to be an issue. Spent the weekend in NYC in an air conditioned hotel room with sealed windows and could not wait to get back to my open window city noise. Actually slept great last night el trains and all!
The subtle but important difference is that our condo is 45 feet above the tracks. When out walking below those tracks or in a condo on level with the train it is an entirely different sound. Ugggh!
Not likely they will bury the tracks in the next 20 years but maybe one day a smooth silent train could happen.
“Need to buy all the property on at least one side of the tracks. ”
why? couldn’t you just tunnel under where it currently is? Doesn’t the city own the property where the El currently runs?
but yeah, no way this happens probably even in my lifetime, although it would be nice
This is one of the hidden costs of public transportation. Think how much real estate in this city is tainted by the proximity to the el. Granted, there is even more that benefits from it but the net benefit is nowhere near what people think it is – especially when you take into consideration the ridiculous subsidies it gets.
“why? couldn’t you just tunnel under where it currently is? Doesn’t the city own the property where the El currently runs?”
Going to shut down the line for the 2 or 3 years it takes to get it done (doubt it’s reasonable, albeit certainly possible, to shore up the supports from directly underneath, while digging directly underneath)? And how do you get equipment and materials in and out? Look at how much space they needed to rebuild the Fullerton and Belmont stations *above ground*.
“# Sold in June 2002 for $428,000
# Sold in July 2005 for $569,000?
Hahahaha Bozo Jenkins shows up in 2002 and pays an obscene amount. Not willing to handle the carry for long (remember Bozo Jenkins likely doesn’t have a _real day job_) he flips three years later to a much larger Bozo–Bozo Jenkins Jr!
Bozo Jenkins Junior is now left holding the nut on this place and those taxes, and he still hasn’t figured out the whole ponzi joke is on him and he’s the one left holding the bag.
This guy is a complete idiot and if he didn’t put a large downpayment down (he likely didn’t) this property is going back to the bank.
“# Sold in June 2002 for $428,000
# Sold in July 2005 for $569,000?
Hahahaha Bozo Jenkins shows up in 2002 and pays an obscene amount. Not willing to handle the carry for long (remember Bozo Jenkins likely doesn’t have a _real day job_) he flips three years later to a much larger Bozo–Bozo Jenkins Jr!
Bozo Jenkins Junior is now left holding the nut on this place and those taxes, and he still hasn’t figured out the whole ponzi joke is on him and he’s the one left holding the bag.
This guy is a complete idiot and if he didn’t put a large downpayment down (he likely didn’t) this property is going back to the bank.
“# Sold in June 2002 for $428,000
# Sold in July 2005 for $569,000?
Hahahaha Bozo Jenkins shows up in 2002 and pays an obscene amount. Not willing to handle the carry for long (remember Bozo Jenkins likely doesn’t have a _real day job_) he flips three years later to a much larger Bozo–Bozo Jenkins Jr!
Bozo Jenkins Junior is now left holding the nut on this place and those taxes, and he still hasn’t figured out the whole ponzi joke is on him and he’s the one left holding the bag.
This guy is a complete idiot and if he didn’t put a large downpayment down (he likely didn’t) this property is going back to the bank.
Wow uhh sorry the site went haywire on me.
Say it again Bob, I can’t hear you over the train noise.
T.S., while it probably wouldn’t register as an actual comp (1.5 miles away in very different hood), I completely agree with your point.
With the exception that I think that place was still overpriced at $619k. (It has charm, but for an attached 4/3.5 with no garage on a tiny lot, and no guaranteed school option, I don’t see it).
It’s never going underground as the costs of that project far outweigh the benefits by a long shot. Google the “big dig” fiasco of Boston. Even if you factored in the money from selling that land in the open market it does not equate.
As another option for some of the current steel structure is that after burying the train it could later be turned into an awesome bike lane with direct access to the city. If money grew on trees it could have been an interesting angle for the tree hugger/biking crowd. It would sure be a big hit in the warmer months. Can you imagine a non stop, smooth, and wide bike path right into the loop. That option sure has the ability to change some individuals commuting habits.
we chattered about a sfh on Roscoe that is on the el a while back and that one is now about 574k and sitting. And I think Roscoe is a better location than this one. People do not want to buy on el tracks
Going underground will never happen. And I don’t use the word never lightly.
Hmm…ok it won’t happen in the next 100 years.
Take a look at places where public transit goes underground; Its in the dense city centers. Even places that are incredibly constrained such as Asia Pacific cities like Hong Kong or Singapore have mass transit that run underground in the city centers and then come above ground as the light rail lines radiate out…
“Not likely they will bury the tracks in the next 20 years but maybe one day a smooth silent train could happen.”
LMAO! You guys think CTA is some beneificient organization who is interested in improving quality of life affects like noise or timeliness or really anything other than their pay & pensions. The only El expansion I’ve heard in the news lately is some talk to extend the Red Line down to 130th.
Trust me the city isn’t going to spend money to revamp the El with a fancy Epcot center monorail or any other crap any time soon for the yup ‘hoods or any others.
Not all stops are even ADA compliant and that was passed what–20 years ago? Hell Belmont stop (Brown&Red) wasn’t even ADA compliant before last year and its one of the busiest stations.
The el is an artifact of the private rail car companies from 100 years ago that was nationalized in the middle of last century. That’s it.
The land under the El is owned by the city. Ancestors of mine in Logan Square had a portion of their backyard purchased in the 1890’s in order for the blue line to go through a small part of their backyard around Milwaukee and California.
This house was built in 1877 (that blows my mind), and yet the Ravenswood el was built 30 years later in 1907. That must have sucked for the contemporary owners.
The money they got for the land was not chump change for that time, but they didn’t really have a choice in the matter. Similar things happened in other parts of the city in the 1950’s when the interstates went in.
“Trust me the city isn’t going to spend money to revamp the El with a fancy Epcot center monorail or any other crap any time soon for the yup ‘hoods or any other”
Amen Bob you are right on the money with that point!
I do not think that it will ever be the city to make drastic changes but rather a private company that eventually buys the rights to pieces of the city public transit system. If Daley were in for another term it could have been sold by 2014. Imagine the revenue for a private company to take over the system from O’Hare to downtown. They could make major changes and be far more user friendly and competitive than the “blow” ummm I mean “blue” line
Imagine a private developer charging market rates and providing a truly efficient system with higher end (aka quiet smooth) equipment. That could easily beat a taxi. think London and Hong Kong. I have used both to the city center and found them to be excellent options far better than any other mode. Wait I am wrong – using a private helicopter from Hong Kong airport to the Peninsula Hotel would trump that mode.
if we had gotten the olympics the o’hare-downtown train was a done deal with the federal money that would have come with it. if for no other reason i was very much in favor of having them just to achieve some truly quality EL upgrades.
Daley was in China last week trying to get them to invest in the EL, but doubting even they’ll bite on it.
$6 or $7 a ride, each way is the true cost.
CTA is heavily subsidized.
Public transit is heavily subsidized all over Europe too. I doubt there is a system anywhere that actually makes money without government subsidies.
Transit systems are very expensive. Even the private ones from earlier last century mostly went bust. It took nationalization to actually make the system work again.
“Imagine a private developer charging market rates and providing a truly efficient system with higher end (aka quiet smooth) equipment.”
“$6 or $7 a ride, each way is the true cost.”
If you take a broader perspective, it’s a complicated issue, no? All kinds of externalities in play. I don’t know how it all sorts out.
“That could easily beat a taxi. think London and Hong Kong. I have used both to the city center and found them to be excellent options far better than any other mode.”
Except when the Heathrow express gets stuck behind another train, and you sit for 15+ minutes and end up having paid $30 to get to Paddington slightly slower than on the regular tube.
Two separate things being discussed.
One is putting more of the CTA underground.
The second is high speed rail between O’Hare and downtown.
#1 I wonder if there is an example of a city that tore up a functioning mass transportation system to put in another. NYC and London surely haven’t. Again, I don’t see current above ground sections of the CTA being put underground. For that matter, I’d love it if all my power lines were underground too, but I’m not waiting around for that either.
#2 A light rail system between O’hare and downtown would be great. Hong Kong has it. Tokyo has it. Frankfurt has it. London does what it can.
And the blue line doesn’t suck as bad anymore since they’ve finished the upgrades. You’re no longer poking along at 30mph. Its too bad that Chicago didn’t get the Olympics. Despite Daley’s assurances, I am betting that the taxpayer would have picked up some of the tab; however I would have traded that for the infrastructure improvements.
“Again, I don’t see current above ground sections of the CTA being put underground.”
The only section I’ve heard being discussed with any seriousness is the brown line near north/clybourn, to accomplish both a tie into the “grey line” at the existing north/clybourn station and eliminate the double curve which slows the trains so much.
“Except when the Heathrow express gets stuck behind another train, and you sit for 15+ minutes and end up having paid $30 to get to Paddington slightly slower than on the regular tube.”
But you have to change trains when taking the tube, which is a pain with luggage. And even at $30, it beats a cab both time-wise and expense-wise. (And at the current exchange rate, it’s only $23.)
“it beats a cab both time-wise and expense-wise”
That’s what makes benefit of a premium train service to O’Hare hard to see for me. Cab to/from O’Hare is not that expensive, compared to London and certainly Tokyo. And is pretty fast, except at the very worst of times. I love the blue line for my commute but almost never take it to/from O’Hare, and I basically work on top of blue line stop (and live really close to one).
“But you have to change trains when taking the tube, which is a pain with luggage. And even at $30, it beats a cab both time-wise and expense-wise. (And at the current exchange rate, it’s only $23.)”
$23×2 plus 2 kids ~= Cabfare.
As to the train switch, depends where you’re heading. Piccadilly can easily involve less luggage carting, once you get to the Heathrow station.
Also, with this prop, I’m a little surprised no one has dogged on the *other* location problems–backing up on a car repair shop, on Ashland, and basically across the street from the chase parking lot wasteland. Not exactly the best location in the area, even w/o considering the el.
APAC has the advantage of building newer airports that are generally waaaaaaay the heck out there which makes car services more expensive. Narita Airport for Tokyo. Incheon Airport for Seoul. Of course in some places, car services are less expensive Pudong Airport in Shanghai and (I am not even going to attempt to spell the airport name) in Bangkok.
But here in the Western hemisphere our airports are closer in and more established. Laguardia NYC. Logan Boston. Reagan DC.
It would be a real “nice to have” to get from O’hare to downtown in 20 min on a light rail no matter when esp. since Daley took away Meigs.
But as stated before without the Olympics, I don’t see it happening.
““it beats a cab both time-wise and expense-wise”
That’s what makes benefit of a premium train service to O’Hare hard to see for me. ”
The advantage, such as it is, is mainly in being able to check bags at the block 37 station. It would be much, much more of an advantage if the service also included delivery of your checked bags to the Block 37 station on arrival, double esp. if you didn’t have to collect them from baggage claim first.
Mind the gap
—
step up? step down? up these set of stairs? down these curves? where’s the a/c
great. now i am having flashbacks
I also can’t see the CTA burying a line when other parts of the city are clamoring for new lines or extensions to existing lines; for example the underserved South Side where extending the red-line past 95th would be a boon to the area.
“It would be a real “nice to have” to get from O’hare to downtown in 20 min on a light rail no matter when esp. since Daley took away Meigs.”
Just need a loop heliport. I’m pretty low on the sympathy for the folks “inconvenienced” by Meigs disappearance.
“Just need a loop heliport. I’m pretty low on the sympathy for the folks “inconvenienced” by Meigs disappearance.”
Doesn’t matter. Little Richard seized it illegally. That needs to be reversed back to pre-seizure state.
We cannot allow our society to be governed by politicians with good populist intentions but who use illegal means to achieve their objectives.
“I also can’t see the CTA burying a line when other parts of the city are clamoring for new lines or extensions to existing lines; for example the underserved South Side where extending the red-line past 95th would be a boon to the area.”
They won’t, unless it’s part of a larger integration project.
The latest wildhare suggestion I’ve seen was a new n/s elevated line on Western or Cicero.
“The advantage, such as it is, is mainly in being able to check bags at the block 37 station. It would be much, much more of an advantage if the service also included delivery of your checked bags to the Block 37 station on arrival, double esp. if you didn’t have to collect them from baggage claim first.”
Who checks bags on a business trip? I assume that b travelers would have to be a major chunk of the potential customer base.
Also, checking bags for arrival even if delivered all the way through is nice, except you still have to get them from the station to wherever you’re ultimately going, versus picking them up at ORD and putting them in a cab or car. Maybe better, maybe, but not by a huge amount. For departure, benefit versus having bags in a cab is not obvious either. Yes, a lot better than on the blue line, but not versus cab or car service.
“As to the train switch, depends where you’re heading. Piccadilly can easily involve less luggage carting, once you get to the Heathrow station.”
Oh for sure. I was assuming Paddington. But when visiting London for leisure rather than business, we usually stay with friends in Kensington. Super-easy to get to their place on the tube.
My last client in London was in Canary Wharf. There was really no hassle-free way to get there from Heathrow.
“Doesn’t matter. Little Richard seized it illegally. That needs to be reversed back to pre-seizure state.”
Get your facts straight. He closed it illegally (in violation of FAA notice requirements), but it was operating on Park District land without a lease. He “seized” nothing.
“I assume that b travelers would have to be a major chunk of the potential customer base.”
Daley’s intent always seemed to me to be, primarily, for convention biz, which does usually involve checked luggage.
“He “seized” nothing.”
He seized its airworthiness license illegally by tearing up the runway with bulldozers. He also did this under the cover of night because he knew it was illegal.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meigs_Field
” In a controversial move on March 31, 2003, Mayor Daley ordered private crews to destroy the runway in the middle of the night, bulldozing large X-shaped gouges into the runway surface.[7] The required notice was not given to the Federal Aviation Administration or the owners of airplanes tied down at the field, and as a result sixteen planes were left stranded at an airport with no operating runway, and an incoming flight was diverted….on September 17, 2006, the city dropped all legal appeals and agreed to pay the $33,000 fine as well as repay $1 million in misappropriated FAA Airport Improvement Program funds that it used to destroy the airfield and build the Northerly Island park.”
Mob-style? Chicago-style? panache???
Like London or Hong Kong, my money would have 1 – 3 stops on a high speed rail to stops like Block 37 and Mccormick.
Plus this would further cement O’Hare’s place for the City of Chicago’s stranglehold and put to bed silly discussions like Peotone. Two bad we can’t play nice and do like NYC Tri-State Port Authority and do a O’Hare Midway Gary trifecta
“My last client in London was in Canary Wharf. There was really no hassle-free way to get there from Heathrow.”
Which is why intra-europe, we all fly in and out of City Airport 🙂 if *ahem* I can guess at the type of client in London
“Two bad we can’t play nice and do like NYC Tri-State Port Authority and do a O’Hare Midway Gary trifecta”
Gary airport is in some sort of partnership with the city. The problem is that the Illinois state folks don’t want to play ball with the Chicago folks.
“He seized its airworthiness license”
Whatever. The feds get to tell local government what to do whenever it’s convenient for your argument, and not the rest of the time. Fine. I’m done with that one.
“Whatever. The feds get to tell local government what to do whenever it’s convenient for your argument, and not the rest of the time. ”
If it was operating without a lease on municipal property he could’ve easily raised their rent to an unreasonably high level or just told them their lease was terminated. This would have at least allowed time for the planes there to not be stranded.
There’s a difference between being a politician and a thug and for most of his administration he was a thug dressed in pinstripes. Good riddance.
“This would have at least allowed time for the planes there to not be stranded.”
They got to fly out–the FAA was the limiting fact there, as it was “illegal” to take off from the taxiway, which is what they did, once the FAA said it was okay.
Stupid downstate politicos were the ones so desperate to keep it open, as it made their boondoogles on state planes from po-dunk to Chicago easier to accomplish. Local CEOs and aviation hobbyists were the fortunate beneficiaries. Also, if Meigs had produced (or had actually potential to produce) meaningful revenue for the city, no way Daley would have closed it.
Good story which talks in detail about public transportation, driving, the externalities, etc.
http://www.chicagopublicradio.org/Content.aspx?audioID=44948
relates to the unrolling today of the new CMAP map:
http://www.cmap.illinois.gov
If we are going use “seized” and with respect to infrastructure
http://newsblogs.chicagotribune.com/clout_st/2010/10/daleys-budget-raids-reserves-but-no-tax-hikes-aldermen-say.html
“By declaring $200 million in the city’s tax increment financing district funds as “surplus,” the mayor would pour up to $40 million into city coffers next year. The rest of the money would go to other local taxing districts, with about $100 million going to the cash-strapped Chicago Public Schools.”
Daley’s continuing to tap reserves. Exact figures are not given, but I think the city may have less than 100 million from the 1 billion+ 75 year lease of the Skyway…
talk about kicking the can down the road
By the way- they JUST lowered this house to $589,000.