Introducing the 3-Bedroom Lincoln Park Single Family Home Priced Under $500K: 610 W. Kemper
On a comment to a recent post about the most expensive condos to ever be listed in Chicago, Looking to buy said the following about properties in Lincoln Park:
“Probably because you can’t buy a SFH in LP for 500k.”
But as Bob pointed out, you were able to buy for under $500,000 in the past and actually you are able to right now. (Did you think I wouldn’t look???)
This 3-bedroom single family home at 610 W. Kemper in Lincoln Park has been on the market at $499,900 since February 2012.
Built on a 50×21 lot, it has a large front patio and a rooftop deck.
All three bedrooms are on the second floor.
The master bathroom has a skylight.
The kitchen has maple cabinets, granite counter tops and white appliances.
While the house does have central air it doesn’t have attached parking. Apparently, a space is available to rent nearby.
It is directly across from the Lincoln school.
What will this house ultimately sell for?
Nancy Hearon at Jameson Sotheby’s has the listing. See the pictures here.
610 W. Kemper: 3 bedrooms, 2 baths, no square footage listed
- Sold in 1993? (no price)
- Originally listed in February 2012 for $499,900
- Currently still listed for $499,900
- Taxes of $6477
- Central Air
- No parking- but rental in the neighborhood
- Bedroom #1: 11×22 (second floor)
- Bedroom #2: 8×11 (second floor)
- Bedroom #3: 8×11 (second floor)
Three months probably means its time for a price drop. I’m guessing the lack of parking and being off an alley are two major issues for this home. I’ll guess it sells for $427K.
I say that it sits almost all summer and finally sells around 410k. They are likely patient empty nesters with little to zero mortgage payments waiting and waiting on that big offer. News flash for them take anything over $450 and call it a big win!
They feel that they are a great alternative to a 3 bedroom condo at the same or higher price. Unfortunately many of those buyers will not realize the benefits of being in a SFH and overlook this place. Some will prefer a modern designed space with flashy finishes that will likely deterioriate at a faster rate than this 80 year old structure. Hope that I’m wrong and they find a buyer near ask!
needs gutters
Agree. And, once again, wth is with some of these pictures. Clear the crap out of your basement. Gotta love that pile of junk ‘staged’ so perfectly. Geez…really why bother taking that picture.
“I say that it sits almost all summer and finally sells around 410k. They are likely patient empty nesters with little to zero mortgage payments waiting and waiting on that big offer. News flash for them take anything over $450 and call it a big win!”
This is half a house in Lincoln Park.
The living room windows are at the ceiling…it looks like a basement.
50×21 lot? That is a postage stamp! I’d much rather live elsewhere for my $500k!
hard sell even for the price,
*on the school drop off street directly infront of the school
*on an alley
*back door opens directly onto alley at ground level
*no garage (see first point to emphasize this point)
*tight bedrooms 8xanything is tight
*that bathroom which is the only one on the top floor is rough, not design-wise, space-wise
*cant firgure the layout, looks like walk in its dining room then the kitchen in the middle and the living room at the back with one side of window facing the neighbors brick wall.
location, location, location. And this being LP, it’s going to be expensive. Pay through the nose or live in Elgin. That’s basically the two choices you have in life.
Why on earth did anyone ever think it was a good idea to trim 21′ off the “main” lot facing Geneva? If you look at the lots on redfin, it’s pretty obvious that the neighboring lots are all standard lots, but this is a little trimmed off the back of a double lot.
I’ve seen some townhouses where this is done, take a double lot on the corner, build 6 or 7 townhouses facing the other way. Or there’s 3 SFH’s at the NE corner of Wrightwood/Ashland that have been on here before. But this? Seems really odd.
“Pay through the nose or live in Elgin. That’s basically the two choices you have in life.”
there are more choices than that.
if you want to be on a school drop off street directly in front of a school and still have location, location, location why not choose my favorite house?
http://www.redfin.com/IL/Oak-Park/329-Clinton-Ave-60302/home/13270964
Agree with Groove. There are a lot of nice places, either in outlying city neighborhoods or inner suburbs, where you can get a nice house on a nice street and not pay through the nose without having to live in the proverbial “Elgin.”
F-ing terrible, my god, sacrifice a little and you can get a fantastic place for 500k in this town and not have to live in a house so tiny with no parking. I mean why not just get a fricking condo or TH if you’re not going to have a yard, or parking
“Why on earth did anyone ever think it was a good idea to trim 21′ off the “main” lot facing Geneva? ”
to make a killer profit? based on the lot lines and the street view, I’d guess someone built a house in one corner of their double lot and then sold the rest off to a developer for big bucks.
Would the suburbs really be a viable option for someone who really wants to live in Lincoln Park/nearish to downtown? I would prefer a Lincoln Park townhouse on a quiet street to this place, but I would still rather live in this house than in the suburbs or North Center.
‘Pay through the nose or live in Elgin’
Lol…. brilliant.
This one sold last summer for $570K. Naturally this is a dead unicorn to this crowd (no parking), but with Childrens closing Saturday, think of all the additional street parking you’ll have. http://cribchatter.com/?p=9990
“Agree with Groove. There are a lot of nice places, either in outlying city neighborhoods or inner suburbs, where you can get a nice house on a nice street and not pay through the nose without having to live in the proverbial “Elgin.”
Dan #2.. better you don’t buy it because you would probably replace the beautiful stars and stripes with the Star of David or the Red Commie Marxist Russian flag.. Then hang all your ugly abstracts all over the inside.
(my apologies… Our Meiskeit friend dan wrote me saying he was having post-kaneh complications and asked if I would do a ‘lil mitzvah for him and cover for him until the sabbath).
Now dog walking time and some sushi… found this salmon topped with what I think is sugar water coated chopped peanuts.. As bube used to say… It’s to die for!! Of course zayde (the funny one) would always follow with – Ess vie ein foygl sheise vie ein feirt.
“Would the suburbs really be a viable option for someone who really wants to live in Lincoln Park/nearish to downtown?”
valid opinion, so how about this one then?
http://www.redfin.com/IL/Chicago/720-S-Dearborn-St-60605/unit-2/home/12577949
Could a place be built (almost) all the way up to the lot line? If so, what would it cost to tear this place down, and built three-level place? I know I’ve raised this concept before, but this spot seems like a particularly good candidate.
Have a garage door in the alley, and other than a 1.5 car garage, have the laundry/storage/mechanicals/exercise chamber stashed on the ground floor. Run a nice looking staircase up to the front door, at the second level, which would could fit a living/dining room in front, kitchen/powder room in the middle, and family room in back, from which an external staircase could climb the rear of the house up to the roof deck; then a master suite, two bedrooms and a second full bath upstairs.
It’s not a food/commercial alley, so that shouldn’t be a big deal. And the seven months or so of drop-off/pick up across the street wouldn’t be so bad, especially not during the cold months. It’s not exactly a bad school.
Groove, the south loop would be an option for me, but lots of people don’t like it. If I was wealthy, I would consider Lincoln Park an option, but not as a middle class person since I wouldn’t want to live in a house without parking, across the street from a school.
Pay up for this, and walk to North Pond/Lake:
http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/529-W-Wrightwood-Ave-Chicago-IL-60614/87617949_zpid/
“Could a place be built (almost) all the way up to the lot line?”
Maybe, with a variance, given the small lot.
“If so, what would it cost to tear this place down, and built three-level place?”
Highly doubful, due to FAR considerations–need *another* variance, and I don’t think you’d get that one.
Pretty likely you could get the variance to dormer, at least on the alley side, tho.
‘… what would it cost to tear this place down’
You can’t. This house is in the Mid North district, and older structures can’t be razed regardless of their architectural integrity. There’s a reason why the neighborhood lacks the eyesore McMansions like the ‘other’ LP… Sheffield, Wrightwood, Ranch.
“You can’t. This house is in the Mid North district, and older structures can’t be razed regardless of their architectural integrity. There’s a reason why the neighborhood lacks the eyesore McMansions”
cool, did not know that. is the permit process for improvements or structural changes also rough to get approved?
“You can’t.”
I suppose they could always “pull a Roy’s.”
“You can’t. This house is in the Mid North district, and older structures can’t be razed regardless of their architectural integrity. There’s a reason why the neighborhood lacks the eyesore McMansions like the ‘other’ LP… Sheffield, Wrightwood, Ranch.”
what if jewish lightning strikes?
This place is still an eyesore 🙂
‘is the permit process for improvements or structural changes also rough to get approved?’
It can be. When you apply for *any* kind of building/remodeling permit, a red flag goes up on the city’s computer saying you live within the historic boundaries (roughly Fullerton-N, Armitage-S, Lincoln-W, the park-E), and all changes have to then pass by the city’s Landmark commission *and* the Mid North neighborhood association. They don’t care how you remodel your bathroom for example, but they do care how the exterior of your house will be altered from its historical self. ‘Sensitive’ changes would most likely be approved – dormers, kitchen additions, a porch, a garage.
They did allow tearing down most 60s/70s commercial/residential structures like the old nurses dorms that were at Grant/Geneva, or the old channel 44 on Grant (home of the Speed Racer broadcast of my youth), but other than LP hospital there’s nothing left that can be razed; a few 70s condo buildings, but imagine buying each and every owner out. Ironically, the developer of the LP hospital site just finished his own house on Grant near Geneva… an old 20’s dairy. Not an architectural significant building by any means, but he was forced to keep the original facade (he wanted to tear the whole this down… the neighbors and Mid North went crazy), but ended up building this *amazing* modern loft/courtyard structure, as seen thru the pre-shaded windows during one of my midnight dog walks. You’d never know there was a modern house there, and proof that even wealthy connected developers can’t get their way here; a reason why the area is so desirable for so many who don’t want this http://www.koenigstrey.com/108022270/1251-W-Dickens-AVE-CHICAGO-IL-60614/resultRTlhZs75RTlhZsvHB as your new neighbor.
‘what if jewish lightning strikes?’
LP keeps handy menorah fire extinguishers next to the dog crap-bag dispensers attached to light posts. You didn’t know that??
Thanks Jay,
always thought that was just particular to Old Town in that area. with NIMBY watchdogs in that area there would be no way to get away with the nonpermit dormers i put in. and the rest of the sans permit stuff i did.
http://www.1251wdickensave.com
sorry but i cant help reading that link the wrong way. am i the only one? you would think selling for 2.5mil you would not have these “might be” errors
> needs gutters
yeah, any inspector should first say that and then check for water infiltration throughout the whole house. If I were a buyer, that’d be about $5000 I’d ask for in credits.
“with NIMBY watchdogs in that area there would be no way to get away with the nonpermit dormers i put in. and the rest of the sans permit stuff i did”
putting it here might not be a wise idea either — someone could subpoena Sabrina’s IP logs and then you have to rely on HD to get you off.
” then you have to rely on HD to get you off.”
Groove, you want this one???
“putting it here might not be a wise idea either — someone could subpoena Sabrina’s IP logs”
i used to watch a lot of law and order, i stopped when started thinking things like you said would really happen.
“” then you have to rely on HD to get you off.”
Groove, you want this one???”
considering how cheap HD is he probably puts up a stink when his wife want to buy the “expensive” stuff like nivea. i will take a pass on rough hands
“”” then you have to rely on HD to get you off.”
Groove, you want this one???””
Forgot how much you have to not only watch what you write, but how you write it here!
““Why on earth did anyone ever think it was a good idea to trim 21? off the “main” lot facing Geneva? ”
to make a killer profit? based on the lot lines and the street view, I’d guess someone built a house in one corner of their double lot and then sold the rest off to a developer for big bucks.”
You’re absolutely right. I looked at http://www.historicaerials.com/ and it appears that the house has been there a long time but used to have a big yard in the front. House kept (maybe due to the landmark stuff?), rest of land sold.
Historical aerials is a pretty amazing site. You have to admit, along with antibiotics, the internet is one of the greatest achievements of mankind, and is pretty much on par with the discovery of fire and the invention of the wheel.
I’d rather live in a studio than this place.
$500K Good Luck
This house was taken off the market with no sale.