Waiting for a Buyer at 919 W. Wisconsin in Lincoln Park
The listing for this fee simple townhouse/rowhouse at 919 W. Wisconsin in Lincoln Park says “Carpe Diem.”
But the property has been on the market since October 2007 and has been reduced over $250,000.
Ron Goldstein at Sudler Sotheby’s has the listing. See more pictures and the listing here.
See the property website here (check out the multiple decks and the greenhouse.)
919 W. Wisconsin: 3 bedrooms, 2.5 baths, 4100 square feet, 1.5 car garage
- I couldn’t find a prior sales price
- Originally listed in October 2007 for $1.25 million
- Reduced several times
- Currently listed at $999,970
- Assessment of $240 (don’t know if this is monthly or not)
- Taxes of $5900
- Central Air
- Greenhouse
- Multiple decks – including a walkway that leads over the walled in garden
Now THAT is a great property website!
“4100 square feet”
How do they justify this exaggeration? There’s a floorplan on the website–there is about 2500 sq ft of interior space. It says “4100 sqft TLA” which I take to mean “total living area”, but when you set expectations for a 4100 sq ft home, anyone looking at the interior space is going to be disappointed that that 4100 sqft includes the garden and decks.
Lots of actual information on the site, but the design is killing my eyes!
I think $1 Mil for 3 BR is a stretch, but those professional pictures look damn nice.
Now that is an actual website that could possibly move a higher priced place. Thank you even if it is a bit tough to navigate.
Am I the only one who got a different set of pictures via the realtors site earlier today?
It looks like 1983 threw up all over it….
I dont really consider these “professional” pictures, just ones taken with a real digital camera instead of a camera phone.
Unique place, I like the outdoor space the most but the indoor areas dont seem unique/neat enough for a million.
a, I agree with you re: price (in my book, no million-dollar-home of any description will have sheet vinyl kitchen floors), but this brochure is the way it should be done. If I were selling a high-priced place, this is one real estate agent I might actually use. In fact, I think I’m going to recommend them to a friend of mine who *is* selling (trying, anyway) a million+ dollar place!
KW:
I could do the technical portion 😉
Well, a, when you and Sabrina start your competitor site, I’ll invest in it. It’s not like there’s anywhere else to put one’s money right now. 🙁
Its very close to the brown line.
“It’s not like there’s anywhere else to put one’s money right now.”
You say that as equities are up over 5%. Investments don’t hit you over the head, you have to find them. There are plenty of places to make money…
Steve, you’re kidding, right?
You don’t see volatility (including rallies) like this in a bull market. Wild upswings are almost as ugly as wild downswings, unless you are a day trader.
Again, they don’t throw opportunity at your head. You have to find it. If you are waiting for a time to buy and hold equitites you should look to the past 10 years of 0% return. Buy the dips and sell the tips!
“Buy the dips and sell the tips!”
You’re a genius, Steve. If you ever leave real estate, would you consider becoming my financial planner?
Steve, DJIA ended 3.5% in the black today, not 5. They’ll go back down by the end of the week. IMHO it’s the Hedgies creating a big uptick so the commoners think everything is OK and put their money in, all while shorting it, then selling their positions creating a market panic and we’ll be back in the lower/mid 8000s by end of week when they’ll cover the shorts. just a guess.
Per CNNMoney:
53% of rescued borrowers default anyway: Top federal regulator says many mortgages that are modified end up in default within 6 months.
Some 53% of borrowers with loans modified in the first three months of 2008 and 51% of those with loans modified in the second quarter could not keep up with payments within six months, according to U.S. Comptroller John Dugan, who spoke at a housing conference
http://money.cnn.com/2008/12/08/news/economy/mortgage_summit/?postversion=2008120815
The way to handle this stock market volatility (and maybe this is what Steve is referring to) is to buy at thresholds as the market moves down and then sell those positions as they hit certain gain thresholds. That’s what I’ve been doing with 5% drops and 10% gains on the purchases. It’s not day trading in my opinion but rather frequent portfolio rebalancing and it’s consistent with a long term investment strategy.
Gary, that is pretty much the classic definition of day trading. Not that there is anything wrong with day trading, but it’s an awfully hard (and risky) way to make an easy living.
Re: your question about macroeconomics on a different thread–given that cribchatter is a site about Chicago real estate, this just isn’t the best site imo to get good information on it. Sure, it’s fun to talk a little smack here and there about things other than the local real estate market, but if you are really serious about answering your question, go to Calculated Risk and Economist’s View and read the archives for a few months. Not being snarky; it’s just that such topics are the central focus of those sites. I’m talking about the posts, of cours–the comments, of course, are as wild as this site’s! 🙂
I was looking for quite some time for a new home for my wife and our new baby. When we visited this place we fell in love with it. (I never thought that a guy can fall in love with a house…) Finally a property with quality construction and great thought. I was about to make an offer when I was transferred to New York. Whoever is going to buy this house will be very fortunate. Places like this one don’t come on the market very often. It has everything one needs! What a buy!
Holy filibuster. The property website shows a KEY Award Winner for total year round living. TLA = total living area.
Fast math on the scaled floor plan at the property website says this f e e s i m p l e is priced around the average $/sq for LP sales with f r e e finished basement, garden, greenhouse & decks.
Architecture is Bauhaus in Victorian. Attached furnishings appear European marbles, French Empire, hand leaded glass in teak and old-world finished oak beams. Lamoge/Waterford friendly kitchen counters and floor should be standard for $1m.
well, at least the above real estate agents find value in your site. Hey, SSO and Chuck Richards, how about you ask your mls overlords to back off harassing Sabrina? (Oh, and next time, work on the subtlety of your posts.)
SSO,
I question your judgment that you were about to make an offer then you were transferred. In this market I would be nowhere in the buying process if I didn’t know the location of my job with near certainty for the next decade unless I was sufficiently high up enough on the totem pole to have my employer guarantee all relocation related expenses (including potential capital losses on any RE sale).
While I agree that its a nice property, I doubt the truthfulness in your post. People who buy $1MM properties pre-bubble are generally very meticulous and wouldn’t be out property shopping if their job was in jeopardy of moving to NYC at the drop of a hat.
Brochures and good pictures DO make a difference (especially in higher priced properties.) In fact, every property over $800k should have its own property website. And the pictures should be taken by a professional photographer.
Why are we the only ones who have figured this out?
“53% of rescued borrowers default anyway: Top federal regulator says many mortgages that are modified end up in default within 6 months.”
So you are saying 47% of those who were having trouble paying there mortgage payments are no longer having problems? That’s great news. The other 53% who were have problems with their payments to continue to have problems.
Looks like they save 47% of the future foreclosures.
I would day the program is working great!
If 53pct went bad again at 6 months, what do you suppose the 2-year pct will be?
Bob,
I agree. But when your employer decides last minute that he needs you in another town – in this market – you go.
I googled the address and found this site. I usually don’t write on blog sites. But when I saw this listing here, I just had to tell.
Now that was a cautionary tale about the need for mobility “in this market.”
You really dodged a bullet by avoiding getting anchored to a depreciating asset. Your career could have dead-ended right here, right now.
Good luck, the crash has just begun in the Big Apple.
Very true G. My brother in law just got transferred to New York, leaving him and my sister stuck with a home in Chicago that they won’t be able to sell without taking a big hit.
Beju,
I can only assume that your sister and her husband are stressing over the loss on ONE of their assets. However, can’t they take consolation in the fact that they are buying a NY asset at a lower price?
Why would they choose bondage again if they are lucky enough to escape their current captivity?
Besides, that “big hit” will put most well out of reach of the ‘new old’ down payment requirements.
“is priced around the average $/sq for LP sales with f r e e finished basement, garden, greenhouse & decks.”
So, the average $/sqft in LP is ~$600+ for townhouses? Honest question. A typical 1600 sqft townhouse sells for $1mm?
Thanks to everyone for their kind comments! Political commentaries on all types of equities are always welcome….Should you know anyone for this Luxury Hybrid home.. please have them check out the web site..Also viewable on http://carpediemrealestate.blogspot.com/..THanks.Ron
Uh oh… people using cribchatter to sell property? I don’t like that.
If this place had a recent, seamless renovation job then MAYBE and I stress maybe it could fetch $1.2M.
But in the current condition, and with the current market conditions set to get much, much worse… I would say $499K would be the most you could get for this shell.
Sellers need to rectify with this reality or else the banks will do it for them.
Excellent point about the thin shell of information covering the equally thin value in many listings.
The text, hypertext and high-res photography here all clearly show the “real” in this estate – refreshingly matched when you see it first hand.
Everyone stop! We saw this place and it’s horrible. Basement ceiling is 7 feet high -you need to duck in some areas. Bathrooms are from the ’70’s. Kitchen is a total gut rehab. THERE IS ONLY 1 PARKING spot. not worth $500k.
The square footage is also misrepresented. The “great room” is 21 x 17 and the kichen is listed as 10 x 11 but if you look at the floor plan and the dimensions of the bedrooms above, it is obvious the kitchen is counted twice, alone and in the great room. The place is much smaller in person and although they try and make the basement look livable, it isn’t. The garden is beautiful.