Live on the Third Floor of this Vintage Walk-Up: 158 W. Huron in River North
The listing calls this 3-bedroom at 158 W. Huron in River North “extremely rare” because there aren’t many 3-story brownstones left in the neighborhood.
Built in 1882, the unit has parquet floors, exposed brick and a fireplace.
The unit has south, west and north exposures.
The kitchen has white cabinets, stainless steel appliances and granite counter tops.
Even though it’s vintage, it has some of the modern conveniences, such as central air and washer/dryer in the unit.
There is no deeded parking however. It is rental in the neighborhood.
There are only 8 units in the building.
The listing says, “DUE TO RARE TYPE OF BUILDING/UNIT – EXPECT TO GO FAST.”
Will it?
Patrick Kosnick at @Properties has the listing. See the pictures here.
Unit #3C: 3 bedrooms, 2 baths, no square footage listed
- Sold in November 1996 for $159,000
- Sold in February 1999 for $178,500
- Sold in October 2002 for $289,000
- Currently listed for $339,900
- Assessments of $304 a month
- Taxes of $5283
- Bedroom #1: 14×13
- Bedroom #2: 13×10
- Bedroom #3: 10×10
They forgot “Cozy” in the listing.
Given the AS Roma flag in the bedroom one would think the unit would have some italian style, but alas, four different chairs at the dining room table; and of course, the part they DON’T mention is this:
Executed Recorded Document Type Amount
01/02/2007 04/05/2007 MORTGAGE $318,000.00
Executed Recorded Document Type Amount
05/23/2007 06/25/2007 MORTGAGE $50,000.00
$368,000 in recorded mortgages…Even the first purchase was 95% financed between two mortgages making me doubt that the $50,000 in paid off…
Good price given the great loaction and the space. I’m pretty sure dining room chairs are replaceable. And maybe the place is ‘cozy’; that’s why they’re asking 339k.
Jeez, the commenters here are the most ‘glass is half empty’ group I’ve ever come across.
I don’t like the way the kitchen is done. It is an example of a good idea executed poorly. Those cabinets could have been quite nice if they were running from the ceiling rather than having the weird extra space on the top. Also they need some sort of column on the right hand side not to look dangling like a stalactite.
Like the floors as they remind me of the house I grow up in. Over all not a bad looking place but I find the living room narrow and don’t think the exposed brick goes with the look of the place at all. Vintage looking floor and loftish looking walls?!
looks like a bunch of damn dirty renters live here
no thanks
cb: in this particular case, the glass is 108% empty, given that the listed price is 8% below the total sum of both recorded mortgages…
Good point Sonies, if only you could hire someone to come to your place and clean it. Someday maybe!
homedelete;
Do we know if it’s a short sale? I don’t think we do. Given that it isn’t listed as one, shouldn’t we assume it is not? But again, the glass is half-empty around here.
And besides, if it was a short sale, it’d be a headache, obviously, but still a good deal, IMO.
lol i know I was joking cb
I do like this place @ the price, the location is TOP notch
“still a good deal, IMO.”
In the ballpark, fo’sho.
Whaddya think the damn dirty renters (btw–keep your stinkin’ paws off Sonies) are paying, and is that rent sustainable?
This is no deal. Look at the stratospheric price increases over the years.
I HIGHLY DOUBT the second mortgage is paid off. I’ve heard plenty of stories of properties listed that are short sales, or there is some type of negotiation with the mortgage company, but you don’t find that out until you talk to the Realtor. This may be the case here, or, the seller is clearly bringing money to the table to close.
Maybe if Sabrina listed some properties with some equity that were not purchased between 1999 and 2007 the glass would have some more milk in it, so to speak.
The room sizes are tiny, it does seem like a rental unit, with no parking either. I guess it’s a decent enough place, and the price is not obnoxious. It sure lacks the charm of those clio places in Boston (i.e. 534 Mass Ave).
This place in is the RN no-man’s land btw that little cool strip of retail/restaurants on Wells and the action on State/Hubbard.
“Given the AS Roma flag in the bedroom one would think the unit would have some italian style”
AS Roma fans are sloppy communist/anarcho rabble types, the eternal city fans that have the stereotypical class, style, tradition, etc. root for SS Lazio.
Some posters to this site hate on anything they can’t afford or don’t want to pay for the place.
I wish I drove a 7 series but I can’t afford it. Doesn’t mean it isn’t worth the price.
“I wish I drove a 7 series but I can’t afford it. Doesn’t mean it isn’t worth the price.”
Used 7-series are usually *great* deals, if you find one that still mostly works. Need a good bimmer wrencher to give it a thorough look before cutting the check, tho.
Kevin, it’s all related to priced. Lower the price to $150,000 posters will rave about it.
http://www.redfin.com/IL/Chicago/3732-N-Lowell-Ave-60641/home/13459167
Priced somewhat appropriately, purchased prior to 1999, has some equity. Oh how few and far between these properties truly are.
Clear sign #4080 that you spend too much time on CC:
I saw this pop up on my daily search and *immediately* though of HD and what he would think/say about it
Clear sign #4081:
In my head, I also heard anon commenting about the ridiculous inefficiency of the oven/fridge placement.
Clear sign #4082:
See the Atherton town border and think of clio.
Hey I was only in the office an hour today.
“In my head, I also heard anon commenting about the ridiculous inefficiency of the oven/fridge placement.”
And with an old, poorly insulated oven at that!! Better buy Exelon stock, or get some wind/solar energy going.
EXTREMELY RARE, WALK-UP BROWNSTONE
Isn’t this a brick building?
Location and price are pretty good. That “parquet” floor looks like the “simulated parquet” that I had in a rental many years ago.
http://www.hardwareworld.com/Simulated-Parquet-Tile-Tan-12-x-12-inch-pN7NSW3.aspx
This place is exactly what I was looking for a couple of months ago. Too bad I gave up looking and settled for a burb place instead (under contract as of this week). 3br places in Ogden boundary don’t come around at this price too often.
I hate those cabinets. Not a fan of the black tile either in the shower (the cool thing about WHITE tiles is when they get dirty you can tell!, but I guess practicality is too passe for RN).
Also LOL on the staging. The couch blocking a window or door…really? That means the place is too small.
From November 1996 to February 1999 the CSI condo index for Chicago went up 10.36%. The condo went up 12.26% during this timeframe. Not terrible out of line.
From February 1999 to October 2002 the CSI condo index for Chicago went up 36.8%. The 2002 purchaser and current owner paid a premium of 61.9% over the purchase price only a few years earlier. Who would be willing to overpay such an amount?
SURPRISE, SURPRISE! It’s someone using the bank’s money with almost no skin in the game.
Because they are stupid and overpaid (poseur $ not real earnings $), we can discount the 2002 purchase price and instead extrapolate from the 1999 sales price to arrive at a 2011 imputed value of 207,500.
Anyone anchoring to the October 2002 price should take note of HD’s mortgage details above: that wasn’t a legitimate arms length sale given the market distortions that occur when its almost entirely the bank’s money. When it’s almost entirely the banks money you have bozos will to steeply overpay for premiums relative to the overall market.
The finishes are decent, and the price seems pretty good, but it’s way too “cozy” for me.
Looks like a Loyola Law School dorm. Anyone interested in the unit should probably check out neighbors, could be a mostly-rental condo association filled with post-grads. Try getting a mortgage for that now.
What is “simulated parquet”?
Man everything has a fake these days : )
This is not a brownstone, it’s red brick
who cares about the k-8 ogden school when the high school for this location is utterly worthless and one of the worst in the country
i guess that at least gives you a bit of time to up and move or hope your kid is actually smart
Sonies — its difficult to get zoned into the best elementary schools and high schools. We for example are zoned into crappy Jenner but Lincoln Park High, which is probably the best high school one can be zoned into (obviously, the selective enrollment high schools are better). That side of RN gets zoned into Ogden but a crappy high school…I’d prefer that b/c you have many years before you need to worry about moving and 4 years private high school is cheaper than K-8 private. The only place I know of that gets a great elementary and high school is the area around Lincoln ES…but then your paying 799K for a 3 bedroom condo and millions for a SFH…essentially paying for private school with your taxes.
I know, i’m just salty that my area of river north has no public high school option… (have you seen the stats for wells? omg wtf) Like, seriously I would be ok with a mediocre school, I don’t need “the best” but when you have 97% minorities with a 50% dropout rate… it gets a big huge wtf from me
who’s bright idea was it to put this zone of town with hoodrats from the west side?
Ogden elementary’s graduates are guaranteed admission into the new Ogden International High School, which is just getting up and running. It currently has only freshmen and sophomore students, so there are no PSAE scores to look at yet, and we’ll see whether the school attracts bright students in the long run.
Michelle. Thanks for all of the great school info.
You’re welcome. Real estate and the Chicago public schools are my obsessions, so I’m happy to share info when I can.
“the area around Lincoln ES…but then your paying 799K for a 3 bedroom condo”
Huh?
For 799k, you can buy one 3 bedroom condo in Lincoln and have enough left over to buy ANOTHER 3 bedroom condo, also in Lincoln, just to house your kids’ stuff.
Seems we are having a double dip after all:
http://www.nuwireinvestor.com/articles/national-housing-prices-see-dramatic-drop-57253.aspx
I was pretty sure Ogden boundaries were North Ave to Oak St, Lake to LaSalle; were they expanded because of the new school/building?
“but then your paying 799K for a 3 bedroom condo and millions for a SFH…essentially paying for private school with your taxes.”
As Roma said- “huh?”
This is clearly not correct as we chattered about a 3-bedroom duplex up on Grant that sold for like $370k (granted- only 1600 square feet or whatnot) but still a 3-bedroom in Lincoln and LPHS districts.
There is another one in the same complex on the market in the lower $400ks (already under contract, I believe.)
I personally think everyone is underestimating what is going to happen when they have to cut the school budget severely. In NYC, they just announced they were laying off 6,000 teachers.
Here’s a tidbit from the Ogden International School web site:
“Additionally, Chicago Public Schools is again facing a $750 million deficit that can increase for the 2011-2012 school year. Due to the exorbitant deficit, local schools, including Ogden, may be affected in the upcoming school year. Its impact will reduce or eliminate programs for our school. I have not been provided with the details regarding Ogden’s FY 2012 budget. The release of the budget has been postponed twice this season. No date has been set for budgets to be released.
Once released, I can analyze the impact our budget will have on our school and our programs, then I will be able to better outline the changes and modifications that will have to take place for the 2011-2012 academic year. Meetings will be scheduled to outline any changes and the programmatic impact, including the grade structure at both campuses, the new budget will have on our school.”
@312forever – Ogden boundaries have always been huge, due to the relatively small number of children who enroll. They stretch from North Ave on the north to Monroe St on the south along the lake. However, the enrollment area’s western boundary is quite gerrymandered, since we are talking Chicago. You can see the exact map on the CPS website.
@Sabrina — There have been funding crises every year in the history of public schools, even in boom years. Education has never been “fully” funded. I’m not saying it’s not an issue at all, but it’s nothing people should panic about. Also, CPS is absolutely a priority for Rahm.
I don’t dispute that there have always been funding issues. But I don’t think the schools (or the city or the state or the federal government) has EVER been in the level of debt it is currently in (with the exception of maybe the Civil War era when we were borrowing up the whazoo.)
It is naive to think there couldn’t be major and dramatic cuts (and similarly- in suburban school districts as well.) I’m not saying anywhere is safe- but it’s likely to get nasty out there in the CPS in the next few years. I know Rahm ran on trying to help the school but the budget realities are the realities.
‘There have been funding crises every year in the history of public schools, even in boom years”
Thanks Michelle, you are so right. In all the years I have lived here, I have yet to remember one single year when the CPS or any form of government for that matter *wasn’t* in a crisis.
Let’s pretend that due to an accounting error billions were found the CPS’s checking account. Do you think there wouldn’t be yet another crisis next year after the school board decides that all students will receive their own 3D/virtual reality laptops, along with personal tutors that make house calls in CPS Range Rovers? It goes from one self induced crisis to another… to another… to another, regardless of how much money they have.
Frankly I think America as a whole operates in the same manner; extremes and superlatives are now so ingrained into our cultural narrative, I don’t think we could function in any other way; the children…. what about the children???
“i guess that at least gives you a bit of time to up and move or hope your kid is actually smart”
Pre-primary school everyone thinks their baby is a genius. By the time HS rolls around its pretty hard to live in such denial.
I think I was in this building years ago and it is just around the corner from Excalibur. Probably okay if you don’t mind drunken clubbers urinating in the alley.
Jay, more than half CPS’ budget goes to administration, not direct teaching costs. CPS has many “administrative staff”, layer upon layer, including political hirees with little true responsibility but nice desk-jobs with mid-level management salaries. Hubermann had TWO SUVs at his disposal, plus his crazy salary (for a junior ex-cop with no educational credentials, but it’s Chicago so nobody is surprised by another inappropriate department head choice.) CPS isn’t about teaching; it’s about jobs creation for an army of political-connected but not particularly qualified patronage workers.
The Sabrina rightfully points out that CPS is facing dire times; new mayor is unlikely to raise property taxes significantly enough to make a dent in City of Chicago’s various agency budgets. That said, our savvy new mayor may chose to furtively steer monies to certain gentrifying schools to continue that white-collar parent participation trend.
There aren’t enough HS “seats” in well-regarding Chicago public and private HSs to fulfill demand arises from Chicago’s white-collar upper-middle class parents presently sending their kids to selective enrollment private and public elementary schools within muncipal Chicago boundaries. This year’s 8th grade application process demonstrated that even excellent students had a hard time finding a freshman spot at those few desired HSs.
“I think I was in this building years ago and it is just around the corner from Excalibur. Probably okay if you don’t mind drunken clubbers urinating in the alley.”
Nope. You’re thinking of a different building. This building is several blocks away from Excalibur. It is west of LaSalle.
“There aren’t enough HS “seats” in well-regarding Chicago public and private HSs to fulfill demand arises from Chicago’s white-collar upper-middle class parents presently sending their kids to selective enrollment private and public elementary schools within muncipal Chicago boundaries.”
Yes, true. And 10 years ago, there weren’t enough seats in well-regarded elementary magnet schools for kids of yuppie parents, because only LaSalle, Hawthorne and Decatur were considered good enough. So what happened? Hundreds of others were “forced” to enroll in schools like Franklin, Newberry, Blaine, Jackson, Stone, South Loop and others. Those schools “improved” over time, at least in the eyes of those yuppie parents. Now there are dozens of elementary magnet schools that are considered acceptable for families starting out in CPS. Public high schools of all sorts, including neighborhood, contract and charters, will now follow suit. Not overnight, of course, but over time.
“Yes, true. And 10 years ago, there weren’t enough seats in well-regarded elementary magnet schools for kids of yuppie parents, because only LaSalle, Hawthorne and Decatur were considered good enough.”
Not true (ok, re-read, and true if limited to “magnet schools”, as you did). 10 years ago, Lincoln and Bell were considered “good enough” by many. I know, specifically, b/c we were house shopping 10 years ago and attendance area schools were one of our considerations.
“Now there are dozens of elementary magnet schools that are considered acceptable for families starting out in CPS. ”
Dozens?
But really, what does it matter if a school is good or not if it all comes down to the parents?
“more than half CPS’ budget goes to administration, not direct teaching costs”
wow, this is truly incredible given that central office makes up between 3-4% of the budget.
those principals must be billionaires!
wouldn’t it be amazing if cps, as a public entity, had to publish its budget so we could fact-check these kinds of claims?
From CPS’ own web-site section on preliminary budget: 51% annual budget assigned to “salaries” for 40,000 CPS employees of which only 21,000 are classifed as “teachers” (21/40 = 53%; 53% x 51% = 27%) so 27% of budget attributed to annual teacher salary cost.
“those principals must be billionaires! ”
I met a superintendent one time. He was in his early 30’s and was drunkenly bragging about making 120k/year with tons of time off. Stay Democrat, Cook County!
Illinois teachers’ salaries are public domain.
You can look them up here:
http://www.familytaxpayers.org/salary.php
200 teachers in Illinois K-12 pulling in over 200k! Ya gotta love the cozy relationship the teachers union has with the Democratic party.
Wow that is pretty high. Are they at least superintendents or something? Most math full Professors at top schools even including their summer salaries don’t make that much!
On a related note, Bob, how about all the failing CEOs getting multi million dollar salaries. Do you criticize the Republicans for that? I think both parties have screwed up practices.
“On a related note, Bob, how about all the failing CEOs getting multi million dollar salaries.”
1- Ones pay is being approved and paid by a company, the other the taxpayer. nothing similar here.
2- try getting a CEO job, almost anyone can be a teacher.
Another distortion is when the public sector pays better than the private sector, as is the case here in Cook County, it attracts people who may not be in it for the passion of the work but rather the remuneration.
You can’t criticize CPS for sucking if it attracts people acting in their rational economic interests to warm a seat and collect outsized economic rents from it.
” try getting a CEO job, almost anyone can be a teacher”
Anyone except a CEO, right?
Could not disagree more. There ton of CEO’s who fail to deliver as there are many teachers.
”try getting a CEO job, almost anyone can be a teacher”
The problem is not the pay in itself it is the tenure system. The question is are these people still delivering after they get the cozy salaries? Academia has the same issue. There are useless tenured faculty who stop doing much research and often even suck at teaching and still can keep their job forever.
Also I think it is not fair to demand teachers (or some other professions) to work for sake of the passion they have about the job but let selective sectors make tones of money without delivery just cause it is ok to be money hungry in those other jobs.
“Another distortion is when the public sector pays better than the private sector, as is the case here in Cook County, it attracts people who may not be in it for the passion of the work but rather the remuneration.”
“Could not disagree more. There ton of CEO’s who fail to deliver as there are many teachers. ”
There are under six thousand publicly traded companies in the US–that’s 6k CEOs. Yeah the CEO remuneration thing is a problem, but its not the taxpayers being wronged and they’re a very small number of people in the whole scheme of things.
“Also I think it is not fair to demand teachers (or some other professions) to work for sake of the passion they have about the job but let selective sectors make tones of money without delivery just cause it is ok to be money hungry in those other jobs.”
You don’t seem to understand–people wouldn’t be seeking out positions in those other sectors if they didn’t pay well (it’s kind of like being a dentist). Also there is far less job security and far fewer benefits for private sector jobs.
If you believe that teachers are delivering a public good I don’t see how you can’t prefer that they have passion and take pride in their work.
And you can’t complain about the quagmire of lack of quality K12 education while defending their remuneration. As I said the policies you advocate, with your paradigm of benchmarking to “other professions” will induce rent-seeking people who aren’t interested in teaching but instead are interested in warming a seat.
“The problem is not the pay in itself it is the tenure system. ”
No as noted above the problem is the teachers union and how only a fraction of CPS budget actually goes to teachers. With a significant amount going towards administration budgets.
So long as the teachers union rules the roost in Illinois and has the governor’s ear (which they will so long as Quinn is in office, so at least 5 more years) there is no hope of changing. The teachers union job is to preserve the status quo because it is working out very well for them–very, very well.
Miumiu:
Do you know a clear indication the US is on the decline and your children likely will have a lower standard of living than your generation? That canary in the coal mine is the hot job sector for recent grads these days in states like Illinois is the government.
mm.. You are attributing the entire performance of a company to the CEO. The company has to take risks, the company has to compete ferociously with competitors, it ain’t necessarily easy…
The teacher.. How f’n hard is it to do the same course material over and over and over again… No risk and it doesn’t change! Finny will die on page 172 every time you pick up the book.
“Anyone except a CEO, right?”
I will say I show respect for many different abilities, even if that ability is being political. (actually maybe that’s the one I have most respect for since I don’t share that ability)
“I will say I show respect for many different abilities, even if that ability is being political. (actually maybe that’s the one I have most respect for since I don’t share that ability)”
So it wasnt a straight line?
Two things about CPS spending and teacher salaries/unions:
1. If the teachers only capture 27% of the budget, is the union really doing such a great job?
2. Five minutes with the *actual* budget, and one sees that “teacher” (quotes b/c i did not dig into whether teacher means teacher) salaries are much more than 51% of all CPS salaries and that “teacher” total comp is over 40% of the operating budget. Maybe that’s not enough, maybe it’s too much, but it’s impossible to have an intelligent discussion of the matter when garbage “stats” are being thrown around.
My stats came from CPS’ own current web-site page on its preliminary budget. “Teacher” is a separate job category, 21,000 out of 40,000 CPS employment positions, as opposed to “administrator”, “aide”, “principal”, “vice principal”, etc. Per CPS’ own budget data, 27% of budget is devoted to teacher salaries.
I would love this place if i was single and in my mid to late 20’s!
Arch: ““Teacher” is a separate job category, 21,000 out of 40,000 CPS employment positions”
True; from the 2011 budget book (link: http://www.cps.edu/About_CPS/Financial_information/Documents/FY2011Budget.pdf ), page 26 (pdf page 31):
“As of August 1, 2010, CPS employed 40,678 staff, including 21,320 teachers and 529 principals.”
Arch: “Per CPS’ own budget data, 27% of budget is devoted to teacher salaries.”
False; from the budget book (page 35, pdf page 40):
Teacher Salaries …$ 2,064.7
Ed Support Personnel Salaries … 619.4
Employee Benefits … 872.4
Subtotal Compensation … $ 3,556.5
Total Appropriations … $ 6,566.8
2,064.7/6,566.8 = 31.4%
Add in Benefits, in the same ratio (2064.7/(2064.7+619.4 = 76.9%; I believe this slightly understates it “teacher” share of benefit costs, but whatever) and you have (.769*872.4 = 670.9):
2,735.6/6,566.8 = 41.6% of total budget
And that doesn’t consider that 14% of the budget is for debt service (ie, capital costs, really) and contingency.
This unit DID sell fast (even though it didn’t have parking.)
It just closed for $320,000.
It was in a brownstone building in River North.
You can still see the pictures:
http://www.urbanrealestate.com/property/158-W-Huron-Unit-3C-CHICAGO-IL-60654-HNYIUET7XV67S.html