Renovated Victorian Still Waiting For a Buyer 18 Months Later: 4446 N. Damen in Lincoln Square
We last chattered about this 4-bedroom Victorian single family home at 4446 N. Damen in Lincoln Square in February 2011.
See our prior chatter here.
It last sold “as-is” in October 2009 and the listing said it needed rehab.
It came back on the market briefly in November 2010 and then came back for good in January 2011 with the following:
“New thermopane windows, cu plumbing, 200 amp electric, refinished floors, gourmet island cherry/quarts/stainless steel kitchen.”
The house is now listed as a 4 bedroom/ 3.5 baths whereas in 2009 it was listed as 5 bedrooms/1.5 baths.
In 2009, it had no central air.
In 2012, it has central air.
It also has a full basement and a live-in nanny suite.
The current listing says it’s on an oversized 30×170 lot (but the 2009 listing said it was on a 35×124 lot.)
There’s no garage but there is a parking pad for 6 cars.
Lincoln Square/Ravenswood has been hot for some time.
What is keeping this house from selling?
Do buyers in this price range demand a garage? Would it sell faster if it had one?
Thomas Driscoll has the listing. See the listing here (but no interior pictures).
4446 N. Damen: 4 bedrooms, 3.5 baths, 3000 square feet
- Sold sometime before 1989
- Originally listed in March 2009 for $625,000
- Sold in October 2009 for $305,000 (if you have a redfin account- you can see the prior listing but no interior pics available)
- Originally listed for 2 weeks in November 2010
- Re-listed in January 2011 for $699,500
- Reduced numerous times
- Currently listed at $622,500
- Taxes of $9685
- Central Air
- No garage- but an outdoor parking pad for 6 cars
- Bedroom #1: 12×15 (second floor)
- Bedroom #2: 12×14 (second floor)
- Bedroom #3: 12×13 (second floor)
- Bedroom #4: 12×12 (third floor)
- Suite: 12×13 (third floor)
I can’t think of any good reason not to have interior pictures of a property which at this point should look pretty nice inside. Therefore I think that something is fishy.
Without interior pictures or a garage, I’m not surprised this listing has sat so long. Why rehab a hourse and then NOT put in a garage and then try to sell it without picutres? Is your rehab really that bad that it won’t even look good in pictures?
Also, I’d rather be on a side street rather than Damen. Damen isn’t Ashland by any stretch but it still definitely is not a side street.
Bet no-one can beat this deal 🙂
http://www.redfin.com/IL/Chicago/680-N-Lake-Shore-Dr-60611/unit-1004/home/14097477
@Roma, nice catch. Based on previous sale price and Redflin’s selection of similar listings, I can only surmise that a zero fell off the price
Should we assume that no pictures = unfinished work? Or does Mr. Driscoll just hate money?
Can’t really say much without pictures.
makes no sense to renovate and then not have any pics…..what do the new bathrooms look like etc
Even if there were interior photos and they looked great, I’d question the wisdom of spending over $600,000 to live on Damen. Maybe it’s not Ashland, but it’s still busy enough.
I’ll send you some pics. for $5.
Only properties listed as “tear downs” don’t show the interiors for obvious reasons. Why in the world wouldn’t the agent list pictures?! It must be horrible inside – or if it’s not that’s what everyone that sees this listing is thinking. Also – is this within the “Waters” school boundaries?
It reminds me of the house next to the beer garden. Only a lot more expensive.
“Also – is this within the “Waters” school boundaries?”
Nope, McPherson.
I’d love to get some feedback on the parking issue Sabrina raised. How important is it for most buyers to have a garage? I recently bought a house in Andersonville that has no parking. Street parking is not bad here and we only have one car, but we’d prefer to have a private spot in place by the time winter arrives. We can either put in a tandem 2-car parking pad beside our house (we live on an extra wide lot) or a 1.5-car garage in the back with a rooftop deck. Which would be a better investment in terms of resale value?
We’re really stumped on this and would greatly appreciate some feedback from the chatteratti.
kp, I’m voting for the garage, particularly since Andersonville has good public transportation. The parking pad sounds like it could be an eyesore, and with the garage you will also be gaining some storage space and the deck. But obviously opinions may vary.
Having a garage over a carpad is like having a working fireplace over an ornamental one: if you don’t want to utilize it all the time, you don’t have to, but if you don’t have it, you cannot use it at all.
Not enough room for 2 car garage?
Garage, without a doubt.
Build a coach house above the garage instead and rent it out to pay for the cost of the garage.
Thanks all. We don’t have an alley — just an easement that is shared with the building next door, and it is only wide enough for one car, so we can’t build a 2-car garage without doing something pretty weird and/or eating substantially into our backyard. A coach house is not really practical for similar reasons.