One Year Later, It’s Now a Rehabbed SFH + Coach House: 1633 N. Campbell in West Town

This 4-bedroom single family home and coach house at 1633 N. Campbell in West Town (the West Bucktown neighborhood?) used to be a 2-flat and coach house just one year ago.

Bought from the bank in September 2009, it has been rehabbed and the listing says it now has the finest finishes.

The kitchen is like “something you see in a magazine.”

It has stainless steel appliances and what looks to be stainless cabinets.

There are hardwood floors throughout the main level.

The house and coach house are on a standard 25×125 lot. It doesn’t appear there is any garage.

Will we see a big upgrade in the housing stock in some neighborhoods as rehabbers buy properties from the bank on the cheap and fix them up for resale?

Anthony Zaskowski at Property Consultants, Inc. has the listing. See the pictures here.

(If you have a redfin account, it is illuminating to click on the prior 2009 sale link to see what the front of the property looked like as a 2-flat just a year ago.)

1633 N. Campbell: 4 bedrooms, 2.5 baths for the house- 2 bedrooms, 1 bath on the coach house, 3000 square feet (total???)

  • Sold in July 1996 for $92,000
  • Lis pendens filed in January 2008
  • Bank owned in January 2009
  • Sold in September 2009 for $129,000
  • Originally listed in September 2010 for $474,900
  • Reduced
  • Currently listed at $464,900
  • Taxes of $4383
  • Central Air
  • Bedroom #1: 14×12 (second floor)
  • Bedroom #2: 12×11 (second floor)
  • Bedroom #3: 15×14 (third floor)
  • Bedroom #4: 10×8 (main floor)
  • Office: 15×13 (third floor)

51 Responses to “One Year Later, It’s Now a Rehabbed SFH + Coach House: 1633 N. Campbell in West Town”

  1. “The house and coach house are on a standard 25×125 lot. It doesn’t appear there is any garage.”

    There usually isn’t unless the coachhouse is the garage.

    FYI — I grew up 4 blocks west of this address and we called it Humboldt Park, not West Town or West Bucktown or West Wicker Park.

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  2. I agree…most people would call this Humboldt Park. However, it’s technically “West Town” per the official Chicago neighborhood map. The Humboldt Park neighborhood doesn’t officially start until you are west of Humboldt Boulevard or west of Humboldt Park.

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  3. “Cheap and Ugly Kitchens” must not be available on newstands in my area. This house has ZERO curb appeal and the finishes are gross and inconsistent as especially well-demonstrated in the bathrooms. Befuddling why someone would take a gut-rehab in this direction.

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  4. “THIS PROPERTY WILL EXCITE YOU.”

    oh yeah, nips are at full noon over this one…

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  5. I think those are Ikea kitchen cabinets.

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  6. walking distance to get a jibarito/jibaro sandwich!!!!!!!! i cant live here i will have clogged arteries in a few months.

    and what magazine is the realtor referring to?

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  7. Obviously a magazine from Puerto Rico

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  8. There are a ton of these rehabs all throughout the city. They’re usually priced at or slightly higher than market price. They usually sell within a month or two once they get the pricing right. People like them because they’re generally affordable, priced right, move in condition, FHA financable and can close quickly (unlike short sales or foreclosures). I actually enjoy seeing these rehabs and flips. $400k is a tad bit pricey for this property I think, probably slightly higher than market but they’ll get the pricing right soon enough. keep up the good work guys, you’re helping first time home buyers find affordable properties.

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  9. This property needs to be priced below $350k. The area immediately west of Western changes very quickly. I’m a Logan Square resident and wouldn’t want to live on this block of Campbell.

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  10. “$400k is a tad bit pricey for this property I think”

    $400 is probably about right. The $464 they are asking is a bit high, but might about get it done. The coach house is easily worth $150k.

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  11. homedelete is possessed!

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  12. Also:

    House next door (1635) is on the market for $819k. Newish construction, with a GatorDeck.

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  13. So speaking of ugly kitchens, if you have ugly white appliances, should you spend the money to upgrade to stainless steel or just lower your asking price to compensate?

    Discuss!

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  14. “So speaking of ugly kitchens, if you have ugly white appliances, should you spend the money to upgrade to stainless steel or just lower your asking price to compensate?”

    call them “vintage” and charge double

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  15. U-G-L-Y

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  16. You aint got no alibi!

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  17. MOST DESIRABLE LOCATION

    KITCHEN LIKE SOMETHING YOU SEE IN A MAGAZINE.

    Just saying it (even in ALL CAPS) doesn’t make it so.

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  18. If this doesn’t sell quickly, it will be interesting to see how Zaskowski manages the price changes–he (or his client) is the master of the frequent price change–in both directions.

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  19. I might be possessed but at least I’m consistent.

    “#Groove77 on October 6th, 2010 at 1:52 pm

    homedelete is possessed!”

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  20. “but at least I’m consistent”

    i will give you that!

    “This property needs to be priced below $350k”

    chris but really its a multi unit property when you add the coach house.
    anyone know the craiglist market for a 2 br coach house in humbolt park?
    i say 1200 per month?

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  21. “i say 1200 per month?”

    I was going even a little bit below that in saying the coach house is worth $150k.

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  22. New but ugly and will be “dated” in no time if it doesn’t fall apart first. Seems closer to 400K at best to move it: thumbs down for neighborhood/curb appeal and I don’t understand the kitchen- just bad

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  23. “I was going even a little bit below that in saying the coach house is worth $150k.”

    even if the coach is worth 100k (share he land) and you pay 400k, its still not the worst thing to buy this 300k home.

    look at it this way if the “rehabber” didnt come in and do the work this may have ended up another boarded up mess bringing down the block for years to come.

    positve you are walking distance to the boriquen “parade/festival”

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  24. Exterior looked better before it was ‘improved’.

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  25. HD-Not sure what you mean by this as the ‘market price’ of something completely rehabbed is going to be higher than an older house with deferred maintenance and older kitchen and baths.

    homedelete on October 6th, 2010 at 1:48 pm
    “There are a ton of these rehabs all throughout the city. They’re usually priced at or slightly higher than market price.”

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  26. Is this a dangerous neighborhood?

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  27. This area is close to Bucktown & Wicker Park but it’s a world away in terms of safety. The prime area of Logan Square is much nicer and safer than this sub-neighborhood and $350k or below is probably what this would go for there. This is just a really bland rehab of a frame building.

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  28. I would say the market for a 2-bedroom in that area is (or should be) up to $1,000.

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  29. “Is this a dangerous neighborhood?”

    You’d be terrified–it’s only two streets west of Western.

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  30. I got a shiver just reading this…

    “You’d be terrified–it’s only two streets west of Western.”

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  31. Groove:

    Did you go to the festival this year? LOTS of police presence
    It was a little rougher than I remember, but I’m getting senile.

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  32. dahliachi, by market price, I mean priced at or near the comps. Unlike some of the homes we see on cribchatter which are priced at 2007 plus a profit; the rehabbers want to flip and make a quick buck, they have no intention of holding out as long as possible for their wishing price.

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  33. “Groove:
    Did you go to the festival this year? LOTS of police presence
    It was a little rougher than I remember, but I’m getting senile.”

    have not gone since the little squirt, would go every year. We almost didnt go to the house music festival this year because of the little buddy but when i found out they charged this year i went. (charging keeps most trouble out.)

    now with the little groover i pass on things i know are and have the ability to get out of hand, diversity smershity when it comes to the fam.

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  34. “I would say the market for a 2-bedroom in that area is (or should be) up to $1,000.”

    thanks chris, so that would be a extra $800 a month towards mortgage and $200 to reserves if you owned this.

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  35. “extra $800 a month towards mortgage”

    Which, at a $400k price, is over half of your monthly interest. Or enough extra principal to turn a 30-year amortization into 17.

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  36. I looked at rented properties on the MLS and I stand by my ~$1,000/month estimate for a 2bd/1ba rental in this area (using Western to California and North to Armitage). There’s a place that rented for $1,250 at 1715 N Talman Ave (a couple blocks further west)…not sure what the interior of that one was like, but the renter is probably overpaying for that unit.

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  37. “keep up the good work guys, you’re helping first time home buyers find affordable properties.”

    I could have afforded it if a flipper didn’t buy it and add a bunch of new fixtures I don’t want or need. Now the property is well out of my price range. Flippers and developers are decimating the supply of housing stock that I can afford.

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  38. ?

    Flippers are buying run down $100k properties and fixing them up and making them livable. Unless you have the time and patience to do it yourself, you’re better off paying a flipper to do it for you.

    The middle range properties, the $200’s, and the $300’s, those (usually) don’t need as much work as the $100k properties, and the higher priced properties you can do hire something to do it for you. How you going to have the cash sitting around to buy a crapshack and then install HVAC, fix the roof, redo electric, tear down walls and put in new flooring & drywall? I haven[‘t got that kind of cash sitting around.

    These $100k properties they’re buying are the blighted foreclosure homes of the neighborhood and they’re fixing them up, and they’re selling quickly. The more homes like this on the market, the greater the supply, the faster prices will fall. This is most of what is selling because too many people are too far underwater to do normal resales.

    “Dave on October 6th, 2010 at 7:38 pm

    “keep up the good work guys, you’re helping first time home buyers find affordable properties.”

    I could have afforded it if a flipper didn’t buy it and add a bunch of new fixtures I don’t want or need. Now the property is well out of my price range. Flippers and developers are decimating the supply of housing stock that I can afford.”

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  39. HD: In terms of having cash sitting around to fix stuff up I’ve been looking into rehab construction loans that let you take say 80% from the appraised future value of the property. Of course I’m brand new to this so I can’t say if it works or not.

    One of the features of the loan is that they seem to work sort of like education loans – no payments necessary while the product is getting built, but they do accrue interest. Thus you’d have time to sell / live in your current place so you don’t have to live in a literal construction zone.

    I’m simply parroting what I read on websites; I’ll get serious about this idea sometime next year (or simply purchase a SFH).

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  40. That kitchen looks like it’s from a magazine, specifically the KraftMaid catalog, and that’s where it should have stayed.

    Faddy design that will look dated in five years, and almost NO cabinet space to speak of, especially for a family; and almost no working space. The kitchen will need a lot of improvement to be workable for a family, especially if they actually cook (rare, I know).

    A lot of people might rather buy the place unimproved and do their own improvements.

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  41. HD: Since you were showing houses you’d like to get into and rehab, here’s an example of one that I’d love to stay put in for years:

    http://www.redfin.com/IL/Chicago/2174-W-Wilson-Ave-60625/home/13392095

    I’ll admit the office is a huge draw for me – I can envision being 70+ sitting with a cigar and a bourbon there. So, I need to find a place that I can rehab into this as I don’t have have 400+ to put down for the 33% for a jumbo mortgage on this one.

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  42. “In terms of having cash sitting around to fix stuff up I’ve been looking into rehab construction loans that let you take say 80% from the appraised future value of the property. Of course I’m brand new to this so I can’t say if it works or not”

    Wicker – seriously DO NOT DO THIS!!!!!! It will be the biggest nightmare for you (especially if you don’t have experience). AGAIN, DO NOT DO THIS – you are playing with fire and WILL get burned.

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  43. Wicker: 5,000+ sq feet is a bit much now, isn’t it? Like I tell me SO, the more bathrooms we have, the more time I spend on Sunday afternoon cleaning instead of watching football…

    And furthermore, you’ll go broke rehabbing a crapshack into this place room by room!

    And I don’t know what loan you’re looking at but I’d be interested in seeing it. I’m aware of 203(b) loans but you only get $35,000 or something to update the house. A lot of houses I looked at need more than $35k to bring it up to date according to my contractor. $35k doesn’t go far when you redo electrical, drywall, new kitchen, new bathroom, additional bathroom upstairs (many of these old victorians have no shower upstairs!) … supposedly the full 203b loans are hard to do so very few lenders do them. And then you have to find a house cheap enough to buy that putting $100k into it makes sense; the flippers snap up the $100k houses, put money into them and try to sell for $400+ like this one here.

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  44. The 203(b) loan is the standard FHA loan. You’re referring to the 203(k) loan, which is the rehab product.

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  45. Also, from speaking with lenders about the 203(k) loan product, it raises the interest rate approximately by half a percent. So, take market on a 30-year right now–about 4.25%–and raise that to 4.75%. Then do the payment calculation.

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  46. HD: Oh yah I fully agree that 5k sq is way too crazy for my life. My SO loves the idea of the space but has warned that we’d need a staff to help clean. I think it’s a gorgeous house but what I wasn’t clear with is that I’d love to find a place to rehab to get an office & kitchen along those lines (not that I want to get 5k space!).

    I’m much more interested in some day not having a mortgage rather than being leveraged to the hilt. Done the leverage thing already once. 😉

    203(k) is what I was thinking about. I have a good friend who’s a general contractor who vets any of my crazy ideas – so far each property has been shot down by him unless I wanted to dump a lot of money in.

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  47. Yeah re-read my post – I must have been tired. What I’m thinking is that a house like that has absolutely everything and is a no brainer to stay in until I’m headed to a home.

    However, in my situation, I’d like to rehab or mod an existing structure with at least that office & kitchen. Hopefully in an area that’s still somewhat urban + good elementary schools. 203(k) is what I’m looking at.

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  48. “Oh yah I fully agree that 5k sq is way too crazy for my life.”

    Pah, just turn the basement back into a basement, by covering the vents and using it for storage. Then you have a 3400sf house.

    Assessor calls it 1147, for now, and when the HIEs expire, the taxes will leap up.

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  49. That is a huge single family home to not have a garage. I think the developer should have kept it a 2-flat. You would attract more people who would tolerate a coach house instead of a garage.

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  50. I’m with ChiBuilder. Should have never de=converted. This could have been 3 decent rental units; live in one, rent out the other two, would have worked nicely. The de=conversion is pretty plain-jane/low end. My suspicion is that the front building was possibly being used as up to FOUR rental units prior to the last sale, although I don’t know that as a fact. They could have made 2 nice, duplexed units in the front building. How much do we think they spent on this “rehab”?

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  51. This flipped house just sold:

    $427,600

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