Lakeview Bank Owned Single Family Home Still Available 4 Months Later: 2823 N. Racine
We chattered about this bank owned single family home at 2823 N. Racine in Lakeview back in July.
It is still available and has now been reduced another $43,000.
It is now listed for $238,200 under the 2003 purchase price.
Anyone been in it?
Jason Shapiro at Rising Realty LLC still has the listing. See the pictures here.
2823 N. Racine: 3 bedrooms, 2 baths, 1536 square feet
- Sold in April 1998 for $355,000
- Sold in May 2003 for $747,000
- Bank owned as of March 2009
- Was listed in July 2009 for $551,800
- Reduced several times
- Currently listed for $508,800
- Taxes of $9289
- Listing says there is 1-car assigned parking
- No central air
- Bedroom #1: 16×12
- Bedroom #2: 10×11
- Bedroom #3: 13×13
- Living room: 15×14
- Kitchen: 10×9
- Dining room: 18×10
Admittedly amongst regular CC’ers, my real estate knowledge is lacking, but WHOA $747K for this place in ’03?! Even now it’s quite small for a 3/2, and with no a/c? It’s not for me $500K. I’ve been 9 months pregnant in August: tis not fun without A/C.
How did and pokey little frame house sell for over 1.2 mil back in 2003?
“How did and pokey little frame house sell for over 1.2 mil back in 2003?”
It didn’t; Redfin has it wrong. Altho, looking at the prior thread (no link Sabrina?), it was re-fi’d for over $1.1mm in ’05.
“$747K for this place in ‘03?!”
Teardowns nearby were around $600k, so (less than) $100/ft for the structure, and $600k for the land. Non-absurd, in context, but objectively absurd, still, especially on this particular block.
Egads! What a dump! With a 15’X14′ living room, Good God.
This house is a tear-down. It’s ugly, cramped, and impossible to renovate into a real house. Houses like this were designed for factory workers and other working-class folk, and it’s a sick joke that you had to be a well-paid professional to live THIS well.
My guess, it sells for 425k but the bank throws in a gallon of gas and a box of matches.
“sells for 425k but the bank throws in a gallon of gas”
So, the land’s “worth” ~$300k now? Or less?
My guess is it sells for 465k. I think its a cute, albeit cramped, space but the key is in the land value. I could live in a house like this.
MrsB the a/c isn’t that big of a deal with a building this small as you could get a big window unit somewhere in the house and so long as the interior doors remain open you could keep it cool and still not hear it from the bedroom. But yeah I agree if I’m gonna drop anywhere near 500k on a place it better damn well have central air.
“the a/c isn’t that big of a deal with a building this small ”
It has gfa heat, no? So ducts in place. If so, A/C is ~$5k to add, doing a reasonably good job of it.
The real key is how much of the reno is complete and if they did a good job. If 90%+ and at least decent, $450k-475k would be a good deal in the current market, if you have a decently long time horizon.
“The real key is how much of the reno is complete and if they did a good job.”
Do you think the fact that it’s being sold “as-is” airs more on the side of complete and/or good? Or do you think the as-is indicates the reno was sub-par? Or maybe the “as-is” stems more from the fact that it’s a corporate owned home and therefore there’s predominantly cosmetic stuff that needs to be addressed?
Just curious.
I think that this property is in a bit of a catch-22:
1. If you are going to pay half a mil, chances are you don’t want to live in this place with its small living room, parking pad, no A/C…
2. It’s not a great candidate for a tear-down because people generally want to build a big fancy house and I don’t think this location (close to gas station, real close to Diversey and Diversey/Lincoln/Racine intersection) supports that either.
I could be wrong with these estimations, but that’s where I come out on it. My view is that the E/W non-main streets are preferred in this area. I used to rent a coach house on Wolfram between Racine and Seminary – great place.
“Do you think the fact that it’s being sold “as-is” airs more on the side of complete and/or good? Or do you think the as-is indicates the reno was sub-par? Or maybe the “as-is” stems more from the fact that it’s a corporate owned home and therefore there’s predominantly cosmetic stuff that needs to be addressed?”
Could absolutely be any of them. Given that it’s a foreclosure, it would be as-is *no matter what*.
“My view is that the E/W non-main streets are preferred in this area.”
I’d agree, only adding that it’s not just e-w, but n-s, too, provided they are sidestreets and the “face” side of the blocks, rather than the “ends”.
Also, why’s it listed with “1 assigned spot”? The aerials clearly show a 2-car garage.
“Sold in May 2003 for $747,000”
really, really?
no seriously really?
at what point…..umm forget it…… REALLY?
Anyone have an opinion on how much it costs to tear down and BUILD a SFH of a quality that most cc’er would agree upon? $200/sf? $300/sf? Curious with all these craptastic tear-downs what one could estimate the add-on to be above the land cost.
“Anyone have an opinion on how much it costs to tear down and BUILD a SFH of a quality that most cc’er would agree upon? $200/sf? $300/sf?”
When discussed previously, my recollection is that there was a general agreement that you could get something nice done for ~$150/ft, including all costs other than land and assuming one-off construction. I think if you value engineer it sufficiently–and act as your own general, etc.–you could do decent quality (no hi-falutin’ design; no exotic woods; no extensive use of handmade tile; no $50k+ home theatre; etc) for closer to $100/ft, esp. given the greater availability of labor, and lesser demand for materials, right now.
Someone correct me if my recollection is wrong, or I’m way off base on the value-engineered option.
If you’re spending $300 sq ft on new construction it better be a new house made of gold.
Excluding land costs, $100 sq ft will get you a nice home, $125-150 will get you a nicer home, and $200+ gets you a highend pad with the top of the line finishes most wish they had.
What’s the zoning on the lot? If it’s RT4, a person might pay $500K…against the distant day when there is a hot market for new condos.
Otherwise, the tear-down value.
I have been in this house. It’s suprisiingly nice, and more spacious than the pictures make it look.
The renovation is half-assed, but not wretched, and some of the choices were quirky (weird fireplace in middle of first floor?). I would want to do so cosmetic renovation and tweak some of the floor plan (move laundry, re-do at least master bath, move kitchen island) but it would be easy to move into this place without much work. And i agree – adding AC not a big deal (altho i didn’t pay much attention to the heating system).
there is a den area on the first floor as well as a family room off the kitchen, which i think compensates for the small living room. I suspect the family room and the rear half of the master bedroom were originally some sort of enclosed porch – so i would check out the foundation and structure in the rear of the house to make sure it was done properly.
the second floor has a nice-sized master suite, plus two adequate bedrooms with a hall bathroom. basement is also redone and adds some nice useable area.
I think this is a good deal, especially when you consider that some three-bed condos sell for a similar price. However, i would be interseted to see what an inspector would say about this property.
“What’s the zoning on the lot? If it’s RT4”
Nope. RS-3.
And even the assessor thinks it has a 2-car garage. But assessor also has the MV estimate at $703,600, based on a decrease in assessed value.
I have been in this place. I think it has gone under contract 2 or 3 times and fallen through each time due to inspection. It appears there are foundation issues. When you go into the basement, mold is visable and then entire basement smells really musty … so much so you can smell it from up stairs. Sky lights, dormers and windows all have water damage, which lead me to beleive the re-hab work was not amazing. It is a really tough property because on the surface it appears to be a small house in move in condition at a fair price, but as the problems build up you start having to consider knocking it down, whis is unfortunate.