How Valuable Are 4-Bedroom Condos? A Pre-War at 411 W. Briar in East Lakeview
This 4-bedroom at 411 W. Briar in East Lakeview came on the market in July 2017.
The pre-war building, at the corner of Briar and Sheridan, was constructed in 1914 and has 15 units.
There’s no parking with the building, as cars were not widely owned when it was built.
This unit has west and north exposures.
It has some of its vintage features including a wood burning fireplace, a 50 foot gallery with barreled ceilings, and crown molding.
It has a sunroom and a grand entry foyer.
The kitchen has recently been renovated by a professional designer. It has custom wood cabinets, marble countertops, a farm sink, and Liehberr, Wolf, and Miele appliances.
The master bedroom suite also has a gut renovated bathroom with marble finishes.
The listing says the second bathroom has also been renovated. Only the third one appears to have its older finishes.
The unit has hardwood floors throughout.
It has in-unit washer/dryer but no central air.
The listing also says its in the Nettlehorst school district.
Three bedroom condos have been in high demand as being family friendly.
Will this 4-bedroom unit sell quickly simply due to all of its bedrooms?
Steven Acoba at Keller Williams has the listing. See the pictures here.
Unit #D2: 4 bedrooms, 3 baths, 2600 square feet
- Sold in September 1991 for $205,000
- Sold in July 1998 for $325,000
- Sold in August 2011 for $366,500
- Currently listed for $699,000
- Assessments of $1072 a month (includes heat, gas, security, cable, exterior maintenance, lawn care, scavenger, snow removal)
- Taxes of $8463
- No central air- window units only
- Washer/dryer in the unit
- No parking (but it’s available in the neighborhood)
- Bedroom #1: 17×13
- Bedroom #2: 14×14
- Bedroom #3: 14×13
- Bedroom #4: 10×9
- Foyer: 13×11
- Sunroom: 15×8
- Gallery: 50×4
i almost bought a unit at 522 W Briar several years ago. beautiful pre-war building with units that had a ton of sq footage. At the end of the day, the no central air and, especially, the lack of parking were deal killers. i would never buy a home in this neighborhood without parking.
that being said, this is a beautiful home.
The price per square foot seems reasonable. No central air and the lack of parking are problematic. Still, it’s good to see this site finally featuring homes that don’t cost $500+ per square foot.
Instead of paying $1000/month+ for HOA I’d rather just get a larger mortgage and just buy a single family home with modern amenities and get a bigger mortgage interest writeoff. And you’ll be able to sell it faster. Problem solved.
Space Pak solves the central A/C issue. It’s expensive but a good investment for a condo in this price range. Maybe there’s a parking space for rent in the adjacent high rise.
I used to live in this neighborhood. No need for a car. Problem solved!
This is a way better deal than yesterday’s place…and in-unit laundry!
I don’t think the lack of central air would be enough to deter me – – and I would look into a solution for it but this unit has plenty of cross breeze options. I grew up without central air – – In fact, we only had window units when I lived in the gulf south so no problemo. You get used to it.
I would actually ask these folks to leave the rug in the foyer – – it really works with that wallpaper. I normally hate wallpaper but whomever picked out that rug is a genius. I would also stipulate the light fixtures stay. Wish the bottom cabs in the kitchen were also white but I guess you get used to that too.
I agree about the rug in the foyer. and I think light fixtures stay when you buy a home.
“I used to live in this neighborhood. No need for a car. Problem solved!”
come resale time, youll find the vast vast majority of folks out there disagree with you.
” I think light fixtures stay when you buy a home”
Not always! I’ve seen listings that specifically exclude one or more fixtures, and of course they can also be excluded in the contract.
@Icarus – – you have to negotiate that point to be sure when a high end fixtures such as a crystal chandelier is involved. There may well be “a light fixture” there after closing, just not necessarily that particular one unless you protect yourself in the contract.
@keef17x The vast majority of folks with brains would be willing to rent parking for $100 a month before letting a great deal in a good school district get away from them. This is a highly walkable location. Plenty of zip cars around…cabs, uber, lyft, buses, bikes.
For folks for whom the car is a deal breaker, there is the suburbs.
We’ve sold a few large, 3 bed condos in this neighborhood very quickly at prices right around 700K. It’s a highly desirable neighborhood. This unit looks really nice so I have to believe that the parking is an issue – and good luck finding overnight street parking there. People in this price range usually have a car. And I’m sure the lack of central AC doesn’t help.
“@Icarus – – you have to negotiate that point to be sure when a high end fixtures such as a crystal chandelier is involved. There may well be “a light fixture” there after closing, just not necessarily that particular one unless you protect yourself in the contract.”
It’s irritating to me when sellers exclude things like random light fixtures or drapes. Take them down if you don’t want to include them in the selling price and replace them with someone else. It usually tells me that the seller is an unreasonable person. “I can’t bear to part with my precious!”
With a bus stop right outside you will wake up every single morning to the bus stop announcements. I lived one block south on North Sheridan for a year and it quickly became torture.
If I’m spending $4700/month I’m sure as hell getting a parking spot and central AC. Sacrifice a bedroom or half bath and just get a single family home like the one at 1334 W Fletcher or 1534 W Henderson for equal or cheaper monthly payments, and be closer to the el. I personally find east Lakeview to be a bit overrated but, as a coffee snob, I like the proximity to Intelligentsia.
“For folks for whom the car is a deal breaker, there is the suburbs.”
or, you know, other properties in the neighborhood that include parking…
“The vast majority of folks with brains would be willing to rent parking for $100 a month before letting a great deal in a good school district get away from them.”
the vast majority of folks paying over $4000/mo mortgage arent going to walk to their rental parking spot a block or two away in January when it is 5 degrees with a foot of snow on the ground.
“With a bus stop right outside you will wake up every single morning to the bus stop announcements. I lived one block south on North Sheridan for a year and it quickly became torture.”
This unit faces Briar on one side and the alley on the other. It doesn’t have any direct exposure to Sheridan, as far as I can tell. But, yes, agreed that those bus announcements would get incredibly annoying….If the windows are open in this one, I’m sure you could hear them still, but hopefully it’s sound proof and far enough away to not be an issue for this particular unit when the windows are closed.
Sonies, where are these 4-bed 3-bath units with 2600 SF that are at the same or lower price point in this neighborhood?
I admittedly haven’t searched this at all. I would genuinely be surprised to find there are any.
Folks yesterday were commenting how they thought that unit was great – – it has many of the same drawbacks as this unit and it is more expensive. It had NO in unit laundry or parking. Granted it had AC…but I would rather have laundry in a four bed because 4 beds usually indicates a lot of laundry… and stick a window unit in or look into another AC solve.
Keef17x – – I doubt one is trudging through snow much here. They plow sidewalks in this neighborhood…at least that is my recollection. The neighborhoods with single family homes are the ones where plowing is spotty – – oddly the more expensive the single family home, the less likely the walk in front will be plowed.
i have lived in the neighborhood for 6 years. there is no rental parking on my street. the closest is two blocks away on broadway. when i have guests and give them a parking pass, they often park 2, 3, or 4 blocks away on the street bc finding parking on the street is impossible. i almost bought in a pre-war a few hundred feet away from this unit on Briar. the owners rented a spot 1.5 blocks away on Broadway at Barry. sure, you might be able to find an owner in a building or two away where you can lease a spot but it is few and far between. again though, assuming a family buys this (and the realtor is marketing it to families by mentioning Nettlehorst), are they really going to want to take their kids outside in January at 8am everday to walk them 3 doors down (best case) to the rental garage? especially if they are paying roughly the equivalent of a $1mm home after the assessments? that is why the place hasnt sold. if this had parking, it wouldve sold immediately. hell, look at the price in 2011….$367k. nice 2/2s were going for that in 2011. a 2/2 in my building sold for more than that in 2011. the price was depressed then and it is depressed now bc of the lack of a parking spot and, to a lesser degree, lack of a/c.
“For folks for whom the car is a deal breaker, there is the suburbs.”
Or from another perspective, for those with a car, 99.99% of America suddenly become accessible. We don’t live in 1890 anymore, where 98% of the population had never left the *county* of their birth. Cars for most families are a necessity. Even 100 years ago the owner of the unit would have trouble reselling if it lacked a spot to park the carriage and stable the horses.
Cars for most families are a necessity.
This isn’t true. Ask anyone in Manhattan. And now- with uber (yes, kids take it)- and zipcars on just about every block in Chicago, why do you have to own even if you have kids?
“hell, look at the price in 2011….$367k.”
We actually chattered about other units in this building (also 4 bedroom units) in 2011-2012. They, too, were “cheap.” But you know why? Old kitchen and baths. No one wants to update anything.
The new kitchen adds a TON of value. I’m guessing that in 2011 this unit also had the older finishes.
I’m not sure why everyone is hating on this unit so much just because it doesn’t have parking or central AC. It’s a gorgeous, almost one of kind gem that doesn’t look like every other cookie cutter unit put up during the early 90’s. There are some amazing window units (albeit expensive) that are virtually silent that make up for the lack of central air. While the parking situation is annoying, if you want to live in that neighborhood, that’s what you’re dealing with.
It’s easy to just say, “I’d buy a single family home for those assessments” but you aren’t getting a single family home in that neighborhood for less than $1,000,000, which puts you into an entirely different category for financing, plus you have to actually maintain it every month.
“Sonies, where are these 4-bed 3-bath units with 2600 SF that are at the same or lower price point in this neighborhood?”
there won’t be any, because those units with those modern amenities will be more expensive, this is a “deal” because of these pretty glaring drawbacks that you can’t easily change.
“We don’t live in 1890 anymore, where 98% of the population had never left the *county* of their birth.”
Um, 98% of America in 1890 hadn’t been born in the USA, much less the county of their current residence. Also, that was just about the peak of westward movement, and a larger percentage of the native-born population hd moved.
In other words: You made that up, without thinking about it, and it’s severely counterfactual.
“uber (yes, kids take it)”
Uh, not without violating Uber’s TOS. They’re *very* clear that minors are not ‘allowed’ to be passengers by themselves.
I’m confused, because looking at the listing, it DOES come with 1 parking space: https://www.redfin.com/IL/Chicago/411-W-Briar-Pl-60657/unit-D2/home/13373981
Scroll down, and under “Property Details”, right after virtual tour. By the way, if I could afford this, I’d jump on it in a heartbeat.
If you can afford a car, why wouldn’t you want one? A car equals freedom to me. I take Lyft if I’m going out drinking and am sick of it. I’m sick of listening to someone else’s music and having to talk to a stranger. I don’t want use ZipCar. It’s inconvenient for me to walk to pick one up. If I want to go out of town for the weekend, I just go. If I want to take my dogs to a random forest preserve, I just go. I abhor public transportation. It’s bad enough being stuck in a car with one stranger, like Lyft, but being squeezed into a small space with hundreds of strangers is just too much.
exactly, ubers and lyfts are getting more and more disgusting in the cleanliness department each passing day
I still don’t like taking public transit but I do it for work at times and in the summer it especially sucks so I walk, Divvy or drive when I can
I can’t imagine living here without a car anymore (I did it for 5 years)
“I’m confused, because looking at the listing, it DOES come with 1 parking space:”
Jen: Many times realtors will list a property as having “parking” even if it’s rental in the neighborhood because they want it to show up in the searches people put in for properties with parking.
Here’s what the listing actually says in the description:
“Walk to EVERYTHING location; lake, bike path, shopping, casual & fine dining, cafes, gyms, Wrigley, Belmont eL, express buses, & all major grocers. Rental parking nearby.”
The MLS says you can lease parking for $235 and the garage is not on site. A good realtor will identify a place where the spot can be rented.
“exactly, ubers and lyfts are getting more and more disgusting in the cleanliness department each passing day
I still don’t like taking public transit but I do it for work at times and in the summer it especially sucks so I walk, Divvy or drive when I can”
Nothing beats the quiet cars on the metra, even when they are crowded! #SeeYouInTheSuburbs
@Sabrina on August 16th, 2017 at 8:30 pm
“Many times realtors will list a property as having “parking” even if it’s rental in the neighborhood because they want it to show up in the searches people put in for properties with parking.
Here’s what the listing actually says in the description:
“Walk to EVERYTHING location; lake, bike path, shopping, casual & fine dining, cafes, gyms, Wrigley, Belmont eL, express buses, & all major grocers. Rental parking nearby.””
Right, I saw that too. But my question is, why is parking listed as included in the assessment dues then? It’s under both “Parking Information” and “Homeowners Association Information”, as included.
That’s a mistake, though it’s not clear how that would have happened. Usually you see mistakes like that when an old listing or another listing in the building has that same mistake but that’s not the case here.
anyone willing to find out where the parking is located for this unit?
“Nothing beats the quiet cars on the metra, even when they are crowded! #SeeYouInTheSuburbs”
yeah no
If I’m moving to any suburb it isn’t going to be in Chicago
fuck
that
This is a nice unit but $1,000 a month assessments is pretty ridiculous for a low rise. If I’m paying that much I want amenities like a door man, an exercise room, a pool, etc.