Live in the Vintage 3-Bedroom SFH and Rent the Coach House: 1708 N. Sedgwick in Old Town
This multi-unit vintage property at 1708 N. Sedgwick in Old Town came on the market in August 2022.
The main house was built in 1888 and the listing says it’s a Victorian. It’s on a bigger than average Chicago lot measuring 25×144.
The coach house is above the 2-car garage and fronts on cute Fern Court. The coach house has a private entrance on Fern (see the street below).
The listing says the main house has been “completely redesigned.”
It has some vintage features including the original staircase, crown moldings and hardwood floors.
The house has arched windows and a painted brick fireplace in the living room as well as a separate dining room.
The chef’s kitchen is “custom designed” with black and white cabinets, a white subway tile backsplash, stainless steel appliances, quartz countertops and an island that seats 3.
There’s a family room on the second floor as well as the primary suite which has a walk-in-closet and a luxury bath with double vanity, separate tub and shower.
The third floor has two more bedrooms, a hall bath and the laundry center.
The house has central air, skylights and a 2-car garage as well as a private landscaped backyard and patio.
The coach house has 2 units above the garage.
- Unit 2 is an open studio space, with a bath, a back porch, washer/dryer and central air. The listing says that estimated rent is $1500 a month.
- Unit 3 is 3 bedrooms duplex up with 1.5 baths. It has an open kitchen with stone countertops, stainless steel appliances, hardwood floors, washer/dryer and central air. The listing says that estimated rent is $4000 a month.
This multi-unit property is near the shops and restaurants of Old Town and not far from Lincoln Park and the Zoo.
Originally listed at $2.399 million in August 2022, it went under contract in August, but has come back on the market.
Is this a great set-up if you want to be a landlord?
Jeffrey Lowe and Harry Pfaff at Compass have the listing. See the pictures here.
1708 N. Sedgwick: 6 bedrooms, 5 baths, main house and coach house
- Sold in November 2007 for $1.15 million
- Sold in June 2015 for $1.7 million
- Originally listed in August 2022 for $2.399 million
- Under contract
- Re-listed at $2.399 million
- Taxes of $35,097
- Central Air
- 2-car garage
- Fireplace
- Unit #1: Main house: 3 bedrooms, 2.5 baths
- Unit #2: Studio with estimated rent of $1500 a month
- Unit #3: 3 bedrooms, 1.5 baths with estimated rent of $4000 a month
Why use estimated rent Vs what there actually generating? Sabrina must be writing copy now.
Less rentals, property ask is around $1.7MM. Main house isn’t worth it.
Top floor BRs are marginal at best
It uses estimated rents because it’s difficult to verify what market rents are and they vary wildly from advertised rents. To my knowledge, there’s no singular record or database of past rents, unlike sale prices real estate parcels. Aggregates sure, but not verifiable rental comps.
Beautiful place though. Can’t say if it’s worth 2.4mm as this is in a tier of wealth for which I will never be in the market, so I won’t waste my blue collar brain power in figuring out what the FMV is based on its gross rent multiplier.
Given that it’s a 3-unit property, cash or conventional financing would be needed as this likely wouldn’t pass a lower downpayment FHA self-sufficiency test. With interest rates increasing I have to imagine it hurts more expensive multifamily properties (relative to single-family) given the risk premiums lenders put on 2-4 unit homes; generally primary loan interest rates + 75-100 basis points. Gotta be around 6.75% range at the very least. Ouch.
Love the couch house set up though, especially if you’re owner-occupying this. You still get garage parking and a detached dwelling structure that separates you from renters. I wish the city would expand their ADU/Coach House pilot area to areas outside of the green zone or poverty stricken areas of the south/west sides. It’s a shame they were ever banned to begin with.
Classy place but I wouldn’t want to be a landlord. My son is looking for a place to rent and this would be a good one, however.
Regarding the actual unit (not the rental): Am I actually seeing a fireplace with no TV above it? And a real dining room? Haven’t seen anything like it in ages!
I don’t see the buyers of homes in this price-point actually needing a mortgage to buy it. This is the stratosphere of the cash buyer….AND I don’t know that they need the rental income / headache. Yes, if you did a mortgage I believe at minimum you would need 25% down if you wanted them to count 80% of the rental income towards whether you could afford this…so part with $600K, spend nearly $9K a month in P&I, Taxes, Insurance and upkeep for 3beds and two renters worth of headaches…not sure that makes a ton of sense. They might want to condo this out and sell the house and coach house separately otherwise this makes an amazing home for someone who frequently entertains overnight guests.
Maybe they are using estimated rent because they are currently airbnbing the coach house units?
I love this place, but I would guess the pool of buyers that could both afford this AND want to deal with landlord/tenant issues onsite is pretty small.
“the pool of buyers that could both afford this AND want to deal with landlord/tenant issues onsite is pretty small”
Marco probably disagrees with you:
http://cribchatter.com/?p=28043#comment-1177377
The ask is probably a little juicy, of course.
“AND I don’t know that they need the rental income”
no one loves to pay 35k in property taxes no matter how wealthy you are. assuming they get the advertised rent, that’s 66k/year. not bad. they can also selectively use airbnb/vrbo and make just enough to cover taxes.