“Please Submit Highest and Best” on This SFH Under $200K in Wicker Park: 1738 W. LeMoyne
If you’re interested in this 2-bedroom single family home at 1738 W. LeMoyne in “true” Wicker Park, you may be out of luck as your “highest and best” offer was due, yesterday, on July 27 by 5pm.
It just came on the market 4 days ago and is bank owned.
The house was built in 1888 on a 25×110 lot.
It does have a 2-car garage but no central air.
It appears from the listing photos that most of the kitchen and the bathroom are intact.
It is listed for just $36,000 over the 1997 purchase price.
Is someone going to a deal or will a bidding war skew buyer’s perspectives?
LaShandria Sanderson at Chicago Realty & Asset Management has the listing. See the pictures here.
1738 W. LeMoyne: 2 bedrooms, 1 bath, no square footage listed, 2 car garage
- Sold in April 1997 for $153,000
- Lis pendens filed in November 2006
- Sold in January 2007 for $460,000
- Lis pendens foreclosure filed in January 2009
- Lis pendens filed in August 2009
- Bank owned in June 2010
- Currently listed for $189,000
- Offers were due by 5 pm on July 27
- Taxes of $6363
- No central air
- Bedroom #1: 10×8
- Bedroom #2: 10×8
- Living room: 15×12
- Kitchen: 12×12
- Dining room: 16×13
- Unfinished basement
$153,000.00 seems about right
So I guess I’m not the only one who hopped on Redfin to price out a few $hitbox teardowns and empty lots to see what I can build a SFR for in Chicago these days after reading about the Paulina house.
The Paulina property was arguably the best option I found. The LeMoyne one is on a short lot (110′) and the location leaves a little to be desired.
This sells for 225k easy, not saying that I’d pay that but it will
Somebody paid $460k for this in January 2007.
“Somebody paid $460k for this in January 2007.”
And that Rockefeller took the stove with them….
“Somebody paid $460k for this in January 2007.”
As a foreclosure/pre-foreclosure, even. Nutso, but, again, that’s what a lot was selling for.
The list price is designed to elicit a bidding war. wouldn’t be surprised at ~$250k. Does that block really look like it does on Streetview? If so, I’d strongly second Bradford’s view of the location.
“And that Rockefeller took the stove with them….”
Probably the refrigerator too.
Definitely designed for a bidding war. Potentially a good strategy, but is this block really appropriate for a high end SFH? Does anyone build nice, middle of the road construction ($75 to $100 / sq ft maybe?) in the city anymore?
“Does anyone build nice, middle of the road construction ($75 to $100 / sq ft maybe?) in the city anymore?”
I think it’s tough to get under $100/ft for a smaller (ie, sub-2500 sf, including basement) house because of expenses that don’t decrease meaningfully by going smaller. And when you go bigger, then the base is high enough that buyers generally expect nicer.
And, everything I’ve seen/heard puts $75/sf near the bottom of build costs on open land in cheap areas (eg, suburban Ohio), so I doubt you could hit that in the city w/o a charitable organization doing the job.
“And that Rockefeller took the stove with them….”
“Probably the refrigerator too.”
And possibly the bathtub.
It’s a SFH in WP with a 2 car garage. It will probably go for 250ish (and ya, that block is not pretty).
I would rather have this than some 1/1 or 2/1 condo at the same price.
“Does anyone build nice, middle of the road construction ($75 to $100 / sq ft maybe?) in the city anymore?”
I’d like to hear from anyone who has actually built new construction in the city for anything even approaching this p.p. sq. ft…
In my experience $75-$100 would be a decent but not total gut rehab of a solid building in ‘fair’ condition.
Tearing down the existing structure plus architects drawings and permits plus the water line to the street and you have already spent 25 or 30k before you even dig a hole for the foundation.
“I’d like to hear from anyone who has actually built new construction in the city for anything even approaching this p.p. sq. ft…”
Every time someone makes a similar suggestion (not that JMM actually was), I ask for the name and number for their contractor.
Still don’t have a single name.
“Does anyone build nice, middle of the road construction ($75 to $100 / sq ft maybe?) in the city anymore?”
NO – and I wouldn’t trust ANYONE that claims they could do new construction (in the city) for less than 150-175/square foot. There are so many permits and other issues building in the city that builders always add on at least $25-50/sq foot to build in the city.
Give it another year or two.
““I’d like to hear from anyone who has actually built new construction in the city for anything even approaching this p.p. sq. ft…”
Every time someone makes a similar suggestion (not that JMM actually was), I ask for the name and number for their contractor.
Still don’t have a single name.”
The bedrooms are each only 8 X 10. At first I thought the BR pics were of walk-in closets with windows.
“tomaso on July 28th, 2010 at 10:30 am
Give it another year or two.”
LOL
Are you going to make your own bricks in a kiln and hire people from the Church for subs?
Ok so basically every home in Chicago sells well below replacement cost I guess. I guess inflation should only help that equation.
When I look at high end homes, I usually ascribe a Mangan or Environs type build quality which I estimate around 200 / sq ft cost (before profit margin). Add a reasonable estimate on lot value and it stands to reason that there are a lot of very nice homes out there that are priced below build cost / replacement cost.
“When I look at high end homes, I usually ascribe a Mangan or Environs type build quality which I estimate around 200 / sq ft cost (before profit margin). Add a reasonable estimate on lot value and it stands to reason that there are a lot of very nice homes out there that are priced below build cost / replacement cost.”
Curious–you rolling some portion of carrying costs (or a management fee) into that $200psf? Because of the Mangan houses I know pricing & size details on, it seems that would give a gross profit of under 20%, which would get really small with a 2 year carry, which isn’t really that long for a $1.5-2mm house.
I do think you could get to ~$100psf before GC costs/profit if you were doing a fairly basic build w/o a finished basement and value engineered it enough. But that’s not very realistic for a one-off project for someone not in the development biz.
I expect people will be working for a lot less when the unemployment checks run out. And I expect building supplies to be cheaper. I agree with deflationists arguments.
“LOL
Are you going to make your own bricks in a kiln and hire people from the Church for subs?”
tomaso
you are right about the building supplies…lumber,drywall,lots of that stuff is down 40-50% from what it was 5 or 6 years ago.
Only lower quality materials have been reduced in price. I would not use cheap stuff for the sake of having a lower $$/sq ft. To me, if you are going to go through the process/cost of doing a tear down and rebuild, you have to go with a higher quality material and do it right the first time.
It is definately NOT worth the headaches a few years down the road when you have to replace or repair cheap crap building materials.
Just curious, do you folks think there is any future for modular component homes in Chicago?
“Just curious, do you folks think there is any future for modular component homes in Chicago?”
In the city? Probably not, as the unions will control revisions to the building code for the foreseeable future and that will prevent any changes that would be perceived to reduce their job opportunities. Compare to pex and pvc pipe in plumbing applications.
The wildcard would be if the manufacturing of the components were to (a) become a big thing in Chicago and (b) it was done in a union shop. Then the code *might* be revised overnight.
“In the city? Probably not, as the unions will control revisions to the building code for the foreseeable future and that will prevent any changes that would be perceived to reduce their job opportunities.”
That’s a shame. I like some of the modernish prefab houses. I would have thought that the relative uniformity of chicago lots would work in their favor. Don’t know how much difficulty of construction in a city (building codes and politics aside) complicate matters.
I’d like to see creative ways for making use of the standard lot but maybe all the good ideas have pretty much been done.
“I’d like to see creative ways for making use of the standard lot but maybe all the good ideas have pretty much been done.”
I really think that most innovative good ideas are quashed by Chicago’s building and zoning codes, and their total inability to be changed in any fashion that any individual union sees as possibly reducing their working hours by .01%.
Chicago’s standard lots make for a perfect experimental area for pre-fab construction, but it will simply not fly unless/until it stops being a union town.
I remembered this house today and checked up on it to see what happened.
It sold on 8/17/2010 for $250,073.
So those of you who said it would sell for 250K were correct. I’d be curious to know if the shadow inventory will truly start hitting the market this winter and if we will see more properties like this – (small SFHs in good locations and in move-in condition close to an el stop) – but at lower prices.
“It sold on 8/17/2010 for $250,073.
So those of you who said it would sell for 250K were correct.”
Heh.
we owned this one anon