Old Town Renovated Beauty Reduced Again: 1722 North North Park

We’ve chattered about this house at 1722 N. North Park in Old Town seemingly after each major price reduction.

1722-n-north-park-approved.jpg

See our April 2010 chatter here.

It is now been reduced $610,000.

Originally listed as “eco-friendly” it is now a “fantastic sunlit jewel.”

The vintage home has been renovated with all new finishes including a mudroom.

Back in April, some of you thought this needed to be reduced $300k-$400k to sell. And now?

Karen Peterson at Coldwell Banker now has the listing. See the pictures here.

 1722 N. North Park: 5 bedrooms, 4.5 baths, plus family room, 4500 square feet

  • Sold in July 2007 for $1.435 million (per the Tribune)
  • Was listed in June 2009 for $2.3 million
  • Reduced
  • Was listed in September 2009 for $2 million
  • Reduced
  • Was listed in December 2009 for $1.985 million
  • Reduced
  • Was listed in April 2010 for $1.895 million
  • Reduced
  • Currently listed at $1.69 million
  • Taxes of $16,848
  • No parking – but one year paid for by the seller
  • Central Air

89 Responses to “Old Town Renovated Beauty Reduced Again: 1722 North North Park”

  1. I don’t really care for the mix of styles (modern inside/victorian outside) – but it is a great place in a great location. I would much rather live in this place than the place featured yesterday – I think most people would. Location is everything!!

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  2. There’s no place to park a lambo.

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  3. Finishes will look dated in another 5 years as I think one could have achieved a better balance of new (not so trendy) with old. No parking too as we mentioned and ? not much yard space. The location is quaint and desirable. I could see the 2007 price moving it in this market.

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  4. I think quite a bit of work was put into this building. Its too bad that the sellers got caught by the downturn.

    I can also see it going for the around the 2007 listed sale price.

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  5. “There’s no place to park a lambo”

    oh – didn’t see that part. yeah, I would have to pass.

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  6. a hard sell at 1.6mil without parking or outdoor space.

    anyone think the renovation was too much for the house and land?

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  7. I’m a sucker for trendy. That bathtub is great! And, I love the kitchen. I’m sold, hypothetically. Sadly, even the taxes would pretty much land me in foreclosure. I’m definitely not a $1M+ buyer. But, I actually do sometimes like the mix of old and new. So long as there was a bad renovation they were ripping out to put in a new one. And, not tearing out good stuff. I like it both ways – historically accurate and all new on the inside. This is WAY better than yesterday’s.

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  8. I love the interior! Fantastic location. I think people buying in this area understand the parking limitations. Nice to have a 30 foot lot too. Think maybe $1.5 gets it sold. Agree, too bad that they got caught in the downturn, it’s a great looking place.

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  9. The 2007 purchase was only 10% down baby, only 10% down.

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  10. While it would of course be ideal to have at least one (owned) garage space, a prospective buyer should be able to reliably rent at least one garage space within no more than a block’s distance or so. Again, not ideal, but if this thing can be had for $1.5, it sure beats the heck out of so many SFH’s in the $1 – $1.5 range way up yonder, beginning in RV and west Lakeview and continuing into the great northwest expanse into which so many families have been willing to venture. In addition to its proximity to the park and Old Town stuff, it’s Lincoln attendance area (and a stone’s throw from Latin and not far from Parker, should the buyer’s good fortune continue as the kids get older).

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  11. My guess is that this was not bought as a we are going to live here, but as a we are going to flip this place. As a flipper, I am not going to tie up capital and if I only have to put 10% down, then so be it.

    If I recall, there is little to no outdoor space for this property even if it is on a 30 foot lot.

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  12. HD: Why would the buyer have been better off parting with some greater amount of their capital in 2007.

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  13. The owners made a killing on their last flip. They bought a row home on Mohawk in 2003 for $500,000; and then borrowed against it for about $600,000; and then flipped in at the height of the bubble in 8/2007 for $1,073,500.

    What the bubble gave, the bubble shall also take away.

    They can kiss their bubble earned money (aka their prosperity and retirement) good bye when this finally sells.

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  14. They’re not betting parting with capital in 2007. I make no judgments other than to explain why prices got to such dizzying heights in 2007. Buy one property, rehab, make a killing, flip it into another property, make a killing – lather, rinse, repeat until real estate fortunes have been earned. Until the party stopped in 2008.

    They could have parted with the money in 2007; or they can part with it tomorrow when they sell. Either way, that real estate reinvested bubble money is going to return from where it came.

    “#anonny on October 19th, 2010 at 8:18 am

    HD: Why would the buyer have been better off parting with some greater amount of their capital in 2007.”

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  15. “What the bubble gave, the bubble shall also take away. ”

    Not if our government had anything to say about it, at least up until now. Unfortunately (for them) if people haven’t sold their homes by now at bubbly or near bubbly prices their situation is looking increasingly grim.

    Fiscal policy now is increasingly untenable and so is lowering interest rates directly. Instead the only ammo the Fed has left is printing money to buy bonds to suppress yields. Its as if they’ve run out of ammo and are now throwing tomatoes.

    Even look at our chief policy makers up until this point: Geithner himself bought a home at bubbly prices. A 1.6MM home on what a 200k/year salary? And he’s the one trusted to run our Treasury Department? Bwhahahaha!

    Howabout them apples, Mr. Prez?

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  16. Just to revisit a old post about this property……..

    “#
    old towner on October 9th, 2009 at 11:19 am

    Had to write back to the knucklehead who keeps insisting that this family lived in their house for 2 months before listing. I went back to another open house and nailed down the dates. They moved into it July 2008..they listed June 2009 — by my count that is 11 months; however, they’ve now been in it for 14 months. Sounds like they are considering moving to burbs but not desperate to do so. They have kids so maybe that’s why? Can’t guess at that, but I got the idea that they are firm on this and that they are just about as low as they will go on price. This guy is a builder and sounds like he is trying to get back what he put in and get out. There are a couple of nice houses in this neighborhood on the market, but nothing like this one. At this point it is not something to pass up — if you can afford it! People wait forever for a house like this to pop up. I’m really surprised it’s still on the market. Gotta be the parking, but someone will eventually see the value.”

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  17. “oh – didn’t see that part. yeah, I would have to pass.”

    C’mon, man, seller will pay for a whole year of parking, what the heck do you want? 😉

    (Sorry, I still find that offer hilarious for any place, but especially one in this price range.)

    I think this is getting pretty close to a sale price. . . flame away, but I bet they get more than the ’07 price.

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  18. Btw – beautiful home. I love it and I hope to have a similar looking home someday. It may look dated in the future, but doesn’t everything ultimately look dated?

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  19. “They can kiss their bubble earned money (aka their prosperity and retirement) good bye when this finally sells.”

    That depends how much the renovations cost. And these people had to live somewhere (assuming they lived in this house).

    Let’s say they didn’t even move in until 2008, after the work was done. What would it cost to rent a place like this? Let’s say $5k/mo: after a couple years, that’s $120k they would have spent living in a comparable home. Let’s say the renovations cost $250k. Subtract what they would have paid in rent, and the renovation figure is down to $130k. They put down $140k on a roughly $1.4 purchase, so they probably owe about $1.2 right now, but let’s call it $1.3 just to be conservative. If this sells at $1.5, they make $200k off of their $390k investment (the $140k down and $250k in renovations) over the course of three years.

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  20. They may get the 07 price because they put so much into it. Its not like they’re losing money, because all the rehab money was bubble money from the previous flip anyway.

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  21. love this house but the no parking is going to KILL the sale price

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  22. Renovations look expensive. I’m not expert but this is not cheap.

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  23. i wouldnt mind a parking spot a block away. but for the women folk, this is a killer. esp with all the stumbling drunks on old towns narrow sidewalks.

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  24. For me personally, I’d take an older frame home with the parking and get the reno done my way for the 1M+ house.

    By no means is this property on as nice of a street, its smaller, but then it has the outdoor space in the back and it’s less than half the price.

    http://www.redfin.com/IL/Chicago/1749-N-Fern-Ct-60614/home/12792653

    Lack of parking really hurts

    There is parking at the 4+1 blasphemy a little south of this house, but do you really want to park your nice car there?

    Parking paid for a year is ridiculous, let’s call parking $250/month just for kicks. That’s ~ $3000 for a year. At this ask, let’s just talk price.

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  25. “i wouldnt mind a parking spot a block away. but for the women folk, this is a killer. esp with all the stumbling drunks on old towns narrow sidewalks”

    My garage is 300 feet behind my house and I have a problem with that!! In the bitter cold, in the pouring rain it gets really tiresome to walk all that way (so I end up parking right outside my front door on a parking pad/turnaroung and leaving the cars outside). At the price point of this house, you NEED to have direct access parking. Period!

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  26. …and what’s wrong with a pathway with a removable awning between your house & garage to protect your aldens from the rain and snow?

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  27. Matt the Coffeeman on October 19th, 2010 at 8:53 am

    I’m beginning to think my original prediction from a year ago is lofty (http://cribchatter.com/?p=7501#comment-53512) (called at 1.5).

    While it is a smaller house, 234 W. St. Paul (which is only 4 houses away) is now going for 1.15 (down from 1.5, originally purchased in 08 for 975). Like this house, it was a gut rehab (in 2009). Unlike this house, it has parking and a small shared yard.

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  28. “i wouldnt mind a parking spot a block away. but for the women folk, this is a killer. esp with all the stumbling drunks on old towns narrow sidewalks.”

    haha yeah

    not to mention carrying groceries or whatever else kid crap in the wintertime a block from your house really sounds like fun too

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  29. clio i am surprised you havent done the awning thing with a moving sidewalk like they have at ohare. you’d have to post a video of it on youtube but think of all the happiness it would give people. stop being selfish and make it happen.

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  30. Yes, Matt, 234 W. St. Paul is smaller, but given everything else it has going for it, I’d say you just found 1722 N. Park’s biggest enemy. I would buy the St. Paul place for $1, maybe $1,050,000, in a heartbeat if I had the means.

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  31. Owner is also the proprietor of a construction company. More pix on the website, here: http://www.crescentrock.com/portfolio.html

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  32. Few small time builders have made it through the depression unscathed. Those that were prudent enough to put some money away during the good times to prepare for the bad times are getting by OK; I hope that this builder survives; he builds beautiful homes.

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  33. 234 W. St. Paul is small. REALLY small. Don’t be fooled by the pictures.

    Those places are under

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  34. Wow. Check out the place he did at 737 Willow.

    Chichow – the place on Fern is a joke. I’ve looked at it twice. Once a few years ago when it was on the market pre-remodel, and recently just for kicks. Seriously overpriced both times. I don’t know what the owner is thinking.

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  35. “234 W. St. Paul … has parking and a small shared yard.”

    Any idea if there is anything recorded to provide permanent access to that shared yard? How is maintenance split?

    Parking is obviously off site, so that’s a $50k value, rather than another sort of + for 234.

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  36. oh my that kitchen in the “river north home” is to die for

    actually that whole place is awesome… I can’t quite figure out where it is though… in one of the pictures i can see where there are some garages & an alley

    upon further review it is 705 N. Hudson… wooow I’m gonna have to walk by that place today

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  37. “Wow. Check out the place he did at 737 Willow. ”

    Totally, gratuitously awesome. Why, tho, with 9 pix total, feature a detail pic of your mediocre nailing work?

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  38. actually more like 700 n hudson (since its on the west side of the st.)

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  39. how much did the willow place sell for? and whats with the 3rd laundro machine?

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  40. Man I hate how CC will chop the posts. I keep forgetting that if you put a “less than sign” then CC will drop the rest of your post.

    That all being said.

    234 W. St. Paul is small. REALLY small. Don’t be fooled by the pictures.
    Those places are “less than” 2000 sq. ft.
    The upper two floors have been nicely done. The bathroom reno has no bathtubs. The basement has not been done.

    The parking is very strange. 234 has an alley to its east side. The parking is a one car garage that is further north up the alley, but there is one property between 234 W. St. Paul and the garage spot.

    And the garage spot is very very small. And the access door to the garage spot is blocked by garbage cans. And it may be some sort of 100 year hookey lease for that spot. Either way, it is not ideal.

    As for the shared space between the two units on St. Paul, it is rather dark. I’m not saying that you can’t do something with the space, but as of now, the garbage cans are kept in the front which kinda of distracts from its usage other than the occasional use of the grill.

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  41. “Those that were prudent enough to put some money away during the good times to prepare for the bad times are getting by OK; ”

    Don’t confuse them not going BK with them not being a going concern. They all are, or should be to any rational person. The MSM and financial press loves to hype today’s new housing starts, and they are up 4.1% year over year!

    But that provides little context that they are substantially below anything that has resembled normal for the past 50 years.

    http://www.calculatedriskblog.com/2010/10/feds-dudley-3-million-excess-vacant.html

    Only builders that are going to survive are going to be those that get out of building in the decade ahead and instead focus on consolidation and speculating on land value from other BK builders.

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  42. I don’t think I like the river north home. The double stair case makes it look like a museum of contemporary art built in a small town. Other than the bathroom it also seems kind of dark.

    That said, looking at this guy’s work, I feel kind of bad for him. Bubble this, bubble that . . . At least his work is quality and creative. People like this I hope survive this market.

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  43. HD: “They can kiss their bubble earned money (aka their prosperity and retirement) good bye when this finally sells.”

    anonny: “That depends how much the renovations cost. And these people had to live somewhere (assuming they lived in this house).”

    “Let’s say they didn’t even move in until 2008, after the work was done. What would it cost to rent a place like this? Let’s say $5k/mo: after a couple years, that’s $120k they would have spent living in a comparable home. Let’s say the renovations cost $250k. Subtract what they would have paid in rent, and the renovation figure is down to $130k. They put down $140k on a roughly $1.4 purchase, so they probably owe about $1.2 right now, but let’s call it $1.3 just to be conservative. If this sells at $1.5, they make $200k off of their $390k investment (the $140k down and $250k in renovations) over the course of three years.”

    Didn’t you forget about transaction costs, RE taxes and mortgage interest?

    They spent at least $280,000 more in your example than paying $5,000/mo rent. That would almost triple their effective rent for 30 months of occupancy. If the renovation was only $125,000, then they still almost doubled the market rent.

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  44. “Geithner himself bought a home at bubbly prices. A 1.6MM home on what a 200k/year salary? And he’s the one trusted to run our Treasury Department? Bwhahahaha!”

    The best example to date of Bob and his endless & baseless characterizations and rants (all while crying deep inside). If this man is educated and experienced enough to carry the title he does, I am sure the total of his accumulated assets and his net worth…without taking into account his rather small salary…allowed him to purchase his $1.6 mil home for cash.
    One does not get to his level of employment and standing without showing personal financial responsibility.
    Now I know I will get a boat load of comments about this statement, but using Bob’s formula of comparing my salary for the last year against the current market value of both of my personal residences is not at all indicative of what I *should be able* to afford or what level of home I should own. If using a year’s salary as a way of determining how much one should spend on a home then I should be bankrupt?!?!?! and seriously underwater… Good for the laugh though.

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  45. “If this man is educated and experienced enough to carry the title he does, I am sure the total of his accumulated assets and his net worth…without taking into account his rather small salary…allowed him to purchase his $1.6 mil home for cash.”

    This is very knowable, don’t think Geithner had any big bucks private sector work. His Fed salary probably over $200K. May have family money.

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  46. “I am sure the total of his accumulated assets and his net worth…without taking into account his rather small salary…allowed him to purchase his $1.6 mil home for cash.”

    He may have “been able to” (dunno, but seriously doubt it as his financial disclosure form showed assets of b/t $740k and $1.7mm, with the largest single asset a part interest in a house on cape cod), but he did not–he has two mortgages with a face amount of ~$1.25mm. His salary at the NY Fed was something around $450k.

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  47. annony: I have a $1.2 million mortgage at $6,000 per month with a sub 5 interest rate (not likely on a super jumbo like this) and the taxes are $1,400 a month, so the real amount of money they put into this is $7,400 a month, for a $178,000, not $120,000, plus the hundreds of thousands of dollars in renovations much of which presumably would have come from the sale of the previous flip. While I feel bad for this builder, he went big on a major flip and he got caught up in the mess.

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  48. Thanks for your input of facts anon, but I think my point is a valid one regarding speculation about what level of home one is able to afford. Sure, these financial facts are readily available for a public figure to back up such statements, but for the most part we don’t discuss public figures here on CC.
    This type of dangerous speculation about private people who we do not know is done so often on CC by posters not privy to the buyers or sellers private financial standing that it just gets tired after awhile.

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  49. Well for Mr. Treas Def, 450k salary and 1.2m combined mortgage is 3x mortgage compared to salary. Not terribly out of line.

    As for the place on N. North Park, that would rent for more than 5k a month. Once you get into that range for a house, a lot of your clients are going to be corporate and they will pay more.

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  50. It’s not dangerous westloopelo, it’s perfectly natural. The underlying theme through the boom/bust was people living beyond their means – borrowing too much, paying too much, living in homes they couldn’t afford, buying furniture they couldn’t afford, earning high salaries at unsustainable jobs and spending it all…

    If we citizens were more prudent, guess what, we’d all still be paying our mortgages and nobody would be living in a home beyond their means. Unfortunately, so many people went out of control between 2000 and 2008 that our country is in the Great Recession.

    So yeah, it’s perfectly OK to look at someone’s mortgage, someone’s selling price and then speculate “HOW DO THEY AFFORD THIS?????” Because more often than you would think, it’s Stanley Johnson living in that house and he’s up to his eyeball in debt.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OPsuCJvRxqY

    “#westloopelo on October 19th, 2010 at 12:11 pm

    Thanks for your input of facts anon, but I think my point is a valid one regarding speculation about what level of home one is able to afford. Sure, these financial facts are readily available for a public figure to back up such statements, but for the most part we don’t discuss public figures here on CC.
    This type of dangerous speculation about private people who we do not know is done so often on CC by posters not privy to the buyers or sellers private financial standing that it just gets tired after awhile.”

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  51. Here’s the real video, sorry

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hn5EP9StlVA

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  52. “Well for Mr. Treas Def, 450k salary and 1.2m combined mortgage is 3x mortgage compared to salary. Not terribly out of line.”

    Yeah because as we know 450k has the same tax effect multiplier as 100k/year jobs as well as that 450k jobs are as secure as 100k jobs?

    Hate to inform you but Mr. Timmy was a keeping up w/the Joneses stretching to the largest home he could afford as well. Definitely a bubble high-flyer and now he’s running the Treasury Department. It would be hilarious if it weren’t so sad.

    You should see the Daily Show take on him trying to sell his house if you haven’t yet its pretty damn hilarious.

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  53. “clio i am surprised you havent done the awning thing with a moving sidewalk like they have at ohare. you’d have to post a video of it on youtube but think of all the happiness it would give people. stop being selfish and make it happen.”

    Great idea!!! – if you know someone that can make it happen (there are a few curves in the path), I would consider it!!!

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  54. Don’t want to wait for moderation since Sabrina is not around.

    This is a candidate for governor in NYC complaining that the rent is too high

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x4o-TeMHys0&feature=player_embedded#!

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  55. Mr. Geithner was in his position for 6 years at the NYC Fed before moving on to the white house. The previous head was there for 10 years. Before that, an 8 year term. Its enough time in that position to carry his mortgage debt.

    And at that level you are dealing with the mover and shakers of the work…the Jamie Dimons. Mr. Geithner could go work for any Cerberus or anywhere he wanted and get enough coin to meet his debt obligations.

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  56. “Great idea!!! – if you know someone that can make it happen (there are a few curves in the path), I would consider it!!!”

    Why not a tunnel? Seen houses (norcal, again) with a tunnel to the garage.

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  57. “Mr. Geithner could go work for any Cerberus or anywhere he wanted and get enough coin to meet his debt obligations.”

    He could *probably* get a signing bonus large enough to pay off the mortgages. Certainly a first year guaranteed minimum total bonus sufficient to pay them off.

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  58. “Why not a tunnel? Seen houses (norcal, again) with a tunnel to the garage.”

    also a great idea – but I am terrified of tunnels (esp. w/ the chinese and chilean miners)!!!!

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  59. “also a great idea – but I am terrified of tunnels (esp. w/ the chinese and chilean miners)!!!!”

    How do you manage to leave your house, with all your terrification?

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  60. 1722 N. North Park on 5/2/2000

    http://www.cookcountyassessor.com/data/searchflat/ParcelImage.asp?pin=14334160140000

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  61. My SO thinks it looks better when it was painted yellow circa 2000 – not a fan of the folk Victorian colors and all

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  62. “How do you manage to leave your house, with all your terrification?”

    awww, thanks anon, I think I’m pretty terrific too!!

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  63. ’07 price for sure. Owners vastly overpaid in 2007 unfortunately.

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  64. Reminds me of that show “9 by design” where the bubble flippers are stuck with a massive SFH on seven levels with no elevator! Now that they realize the mistake they are trying to figure out how to add one at a huge cost!

    It was a terrible oversight from day one by a crazy spec buyer! Great place but major flaw with no attached parking included!

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  65. This house has obviously undergone extensive renovations since its last purchase. If the current owners sell at 1.5 million, they are essentially giving away the year of labor they paid for, plus everything on the interior! I’ve been inside this place and it is impeccable. The building behind them (previously a church; now 3 townhomes) has the parking to the South, but it allows beautiful light to stream in. The entire lot on the North is an entire garden – again, allowing incredible light. The place is loaded with large windows and a tall, airy ceilings. The parking is Old Town. I think that people who live here (as I do) understand that there is a give and take. I don’t have parking, but I live here because I can buy parking at a reasonable rate of about $250month (I street park because I don’t mind the short walk to my car), and then I can walk EVERYWHERE. The grocery, the Starbucks, the bank, the drugstore, the beach, the zoo, the Green City Market, even church. Plus the neighborhood is gorgeous and quiet with many residents having lived here for 10+ even 20+ years. I think you have to live here to truly “get it” but once you do, the parking is not a big deal; however, I do think the parking is what is holding up this sale. As I said about yesterday’s house, I feel badly for these owners as well as they have done beautiful work on this house and they are not going to see a return at all (if they decide to continue with the sale in this market). On the other hand, whoever buys this at this point and holds onto it for several years is going to see a huge windfall in appreciation. This neighborhood is not going to be hit that hard by the recession. It is one of the best and will always be.

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  66. One more thing on the neighborhood….down the street from this house is the Old Town Triangle Association; housed in an historic old building next the original Menomonee Clubhouse (where my kids have spent many happy afternoons!) I believe that this association (OTTA) is another thing that makes this neighborhood truly unique. On Sunday we attended one of their neighborhood events – The Old Town Hoe-Down – and there is something really unique about being able to socialize regularly with your neighbors. I don’t think you find that everywhere in Chicago.

    Also….wasn’t there a row house on Crilly that sold for around 1.4 or 1.5 million a couple of months ago? It sold very quickly….and was smaller, renovated less recently, and also had no parking. With that as a comp, I would think this should sell for 1.65.

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  67. oldtowner,

    i agree the house is gorgeous, truly a gem, i wish i able to tour the interior.

    one question i would like to ask, do you think the renovation was over done in consideration of the no parking or outdoor space?

    and why redo a home to this caliber when your only going to be in it for two years? any thoughts?

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  68. @groove77

    With not inside info, I think the intent was always to flip it

    @OldTowner

    I went inside the Crilly Court place. It was a nice end unit. The parking situation there is better than at N. North Park because there is rentable parking right across the street.

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  69. “And at that level you are dealing with the mover and shakers of the work…the Jamie Dimons. Mr. Geithner could go work for any Cerberus or anywhere he wanted and get enough coin to meet his debt obligations.”

    Depends on when he leaves. If he exits the beltway don’t look for him to walk into a bigshot WS/PE job if he’s on the way out with the prez (whether that be 2012 or 2016). If he departs while the prez is still there its likely solely for his lobbying power.

    Timmy boy is gonna wind up a talking head on cable TeeVee or pushing his book similar to Hank Paulson if the political winds change. His _only value_ to the private sector is BHO’s ear. And that is time limited.

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  70. I do not think they intended to flip it. If you can catch an open house you’ll see that it’s designed very much to fit their family (they have some kids). In the beginning they didn’t seem so interested in selling it (with that initial price!) but now it seems like they are willing to lose a substantial amount of money on the sale….which suggests to me that they “need” to get out.

    Was it over-improved? Not if you intended to live there for a long time. I think they built it for themselves, but they overpaid when they bought it.

    Regarding the St. Paul property — I’ve been inside that one, too, (open house) and it is nicely done but it’s not at all in the same category as the North Park property. It is MUCH smaller, darker, and just feels cramped. The parking there is not much closer (if at all) than the North Park rental parking (which is a building away). Plus it’s a rowhouse.

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  71. Because as you can see they made a killing on their previous flip. and based upon information and belief, the one before that too. Lather, rinse repeat – this is how real estate millionaires are made. or not. what do I know?

    “and why redo a home to this caliber when your only going to be in it for two years? any thoughts?”

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  72. HD,

    i keep going back and forth with the pics and oldtowners statements. I really cant tell if it is a flip or a perm residence.

    from some of the cue’s in the pics it looks like a perm residence and the owner/builder just got caught up in the bad market and probably needs to sell to get capitol to start all over again.

    but also given the track record chichows insider info (plus matt coffee guy info)and your ccrd skills i looks to be a flip also?

    well only the owner knows.
    its still a beautiful place
    sad it has no parking or outdoor space and its 1.6mil

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  73. Oldtowner lives in an alternate universe where future owners appreciate windfall appreciation, everyone knows their neighbors in their million dollar homes, and no parking isn’t a issue for a million dollar house, and old town will not be affected by the great recession. What a wonderful place to live.

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  74. One last comment…it DOES have outside space. There are 3 decks off of every floor in the back – you can see them from the street, and while the parking area may not be “theirs”, they seem to use it like it is. I often see their children playing there with balls, their dog, rakes, etc., or sometimes just sitting out there at that table eating dinner. It actually seems like more outside space than is “normal” in this area.

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  75. It’s sad to be you homedelete.

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  76. 3 decks of every floor.. nine decks? do you live in this house old towner?

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  77. Regarding the decks, sorry, I guess that wasn’t clear. If you look from the street you can see a deck off each of the 3 floors. That’s 3 decks…bigger than balconies, but smaller than a “deck” per se. Don’t know what else to call it.

    I’m not a realtor. I just like looking at this stuff. I don’t know all the ends and outs of the finances, I just know what I like and what I don’t and I use common sense. I live in this neighborhood and it is as I described it. The haters can be as rude and negative as they like, but it is what it is. I feel fortunate to live around here…that’s why I pay a premium. Now I must get back to work because yes, I live in a million+ house in Old Town and I have to PAY my mortgage or else land up on CribChatter getting eaten alive. Ciao.

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  78. “area may not be “theirs”, they seem to use it like it is. I often see their children playing there with balls, their dog, rakes, etc.,”

    i dont consider “decks” to be true outdoor space, but thats my personal preference i am a NW sider.

    but i guess its hard to state in the MLS that you can use a certain part of the land that is not owned.

    also if you look at the previous posting i agree a car should not be needed in this area but when your asking a person to part with 1.6mil at least one spot should be standard.

    i wish you luck on your sale oldtowner

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  79. “and old town will not be affected by the great recession. What a wonderful place to live.”

    HD you are always loved 🙂

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  80. @Bob

    The current chairman of Cerberus is a former SecTres. Quayle is also there and he’s been long gone from the White House. It doesn’t have to be Cerberus, it could be BlackRock / he could join BigLaw / he could set up his own shop.

    If Jamie Dimon is on the board of the NY Fed, why would his only value to the private sector be his access to the current president?

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  81. I’m in Old Town. I’ve got a Gator Deck. While its nice and one of the reasons why I bought the place (a previous place had no deck), I prefer yard space even if it is only space between the main house and then a garage.

    I understand that there are decks at 1722 N. North Park, but its not yard space.
    The open space to the south of the building is used by cars. Yes you can use it, but it can be taken away from you at anytime. And I personally wouldn’t want my kids chasing around a ball in a place that is designed to park cars.

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  82. I preferred yard space too. But, I end up on my deck a lot avoiding rats the size of golden retrievers running around BelPort.

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  83. @Oldtowner

    “On the other hand, whoever buys this at this point and holds onto it for several years is going to see a huge windfall in appreciation. This neighborhood is not going to be hit that hard by the recession. It is one of the best and will always be.”

    I’m sorry, but I think this is a bit off-base. I’ve seen short-sales in Old Town.

    And several years to me is less than 10 years. I don’t think that you are going to get a windfall in appreciation in the next 10 years. And let’s say you get 25% in appreciation. Are you going to tell me that in the next 10 years, someone is going to pay 2M+ for this place and again…no parking?

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  84. “And several years to me is less than 10 years. I don’t think that you are going to get a windfall in appreciation in the next 10 years. And let’s say you get 25% in appreciation. Are you going to tell me that in the next 10 years, someone is going to pay 2M+ for this place and again…no parking?”

    doodes/doodettes what will happen in 5 years is that the market will turn and start getting better and it will be highly media hyped. which in turn will have mr. let me not sell untill things are better and that will flood the market with inventory which in turn will lower prices yet again.

    (this does not include shadow foreclosure inventory)

    and yes i am mr wait till the market turns before i sell.

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  85. And this property has been reduced yet again by another $100k. Now it’s listed at $1,595,000. Guess the sellers really are motivated. Will be interesting to see how low they’re willing to go.

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  86. Matt the Coffeeman on November 4th, 2010 at 2:29 pm

    Also, 234 W. St. Paul went under contract.

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  87. Matt the Coffeeman on December 6th, 2010 at 2:25 pm

    1722 just recently went under contract. No idea what the price was.

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  88. Following up on Matt’s post, according to Redfin, this sold for $1,572,500. Probably a good thing for me personally, because if it fell much more I would have seriously thought about stretching my budget to try to buy it.

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