Looking for a “Real” Dining Room? 4110 N. Southport in Lakeview
We last chattered about this Victorian vintage 2-bedroom at 4110 N. Southport in Lakeview in September 2009.
See our prior chatter and pictures here.
The unit has a full-sized dining room with vintage built-ins as well as a generous sized kitchen which would make it ideal for throwing sophisticated dinner parties.
It also has the vintage woodwork intact in the living room.
The unit has central air, a back porch and an in-unit washer/dryer, all of which are sometimes difficult to find in vintage units.
The only thing it doesn’t have is deeded parking.
The unit has also been reduced by $4900 since last September.
Last time, we had a debate about the location of this unit- whether or not it’s Lakeview, Uptown, or Graceland West (which I have heard used- and not just by realtors.) The property is north of Irving Park Road.
I’m going with Lakeview though Graceland West would also be fitting.
Eric Rojas at Prudential Rubloff has the listing. See more pictures and the floor plan here.
See the virtual tour here.
You can also check out Eric’s real estate blog here.
Unit #2: 2 bedrooms, 1 bath, no square footage listed
- Sold in December 1993 for $100,500
- Sold in July 2004 for $253,000
- Was listed in September 2009 for $289,900
- Assessments of $226 a month
- Taxes of $2842
- Central Air
- Washer/Dryer in the Unit
- No parking
- Bedroom #1: 10×9
- Bedroom #2: 10×9
- Living room: 18×10
- Dining room: 16×12
- Kitchen: 12×12
In a place this small, I’d trade that 200 square feet of dining room for more living space 164 hours out of the week (save 4 for a dinner party once a week max). How great is a dining room when it’s bigger than your living room? Not for me, thanks.
Then just switch the two – make the dining room and the living room and the living room the dining room.
It’s a pretty nice little condo in a decent location and at this price point no parking is not that much of an issue.
Ask at $289K is a bit much, I’m sure perhaps $250K (aka 2004 sale price) is more likely.
I think this place will sell fast, if it had parking it should be $299,000
“I think this place will sell fast”
Define fast. It’s been listed for ~3 months.
Not one, but TWO uncomfortably small 10×9 bedrooms… nice.
You can rent places like this in the area for about $1400-1600 right?
Only one bath is a bit tough at this price.
Great dining room for dinner parties. Only problem is that your guests will need to use the same bathroom in which you shower, etc. Yuck (for you and your guests). Why would anyone buy anything bigger than a one-bedroom with fewer than 1.5 baths?
No parking either… lulz
you can rent a floor of a two flat for around $1200/mnth – $1400 is probably possible
Who does this place make sense for? I’m trying to picture a potential buyer in my head. You either have a single person/couple with an unused tiny bedroom for $2,000+ a month — in which case they can do far better renting something in a better area. Or, you have someone that takes in a friend to for some rent (unlikely they will pay $1,000/mo or half) and there you live in your cramped place. Never mind the dining room, this place doesn’t work. I don’t see it.
Jon,
“Then just switch the two – make the dining room and the living room and the living room the dining room.”
to add on, this SHOULD be done by the new buyer of this place. Get rid of that ginormous entertainment box. get rid of the chairs by the window and put in a built-in curved window bench. Do a dining room table with a leaf (to save space) and just think dinner parties next to fire place 🙂
This is a great place at the 2004 price!
Nice place, but the 2/1 condo is an odd animal. I just don’t see the benefit of them being a condo when you can just rent a 2/1 much cheaper. When people buy, they usually want to get a way from the drawbacks of what you get when you rent – lack of 2nd bath, no central air, no parking, no laundry, etc.
A lot of 2/1s are at the price point where it takes two incomes to reasonably pay the PITI. I just don’t see people willing to pay a significant premium over rents for these units anymore, nor do I think they will command a significant price premium over 1 bedrooms either.
Formal dining rooms are a must.
If you can’t swing a 2/2, just keep renting…
But its in the SOPOCO! Things are different here. Cats and dogs living together, 1 bathroom condos for nearly 300k, down is up and up is down….
I’d say a majority of the DINKS families who bought a 2/2 in the sopoor corridor will eventually outgrow them and 1) move into a SFH in the city or 2) move into a SFH in the suburbs. Why even bother buying a 2/2 when you know that you will outgrow it in a few years?
“Why even bother buying a 2/2 when you know that you will outgrow it in a few years?”
It’s a *really* good question.
anon(tfo), there is no good answer to that question today. During the boom there were a million great answers such as:
1) real estate only goes up;
2) buy now or be priced out forever;
3) sweet sweet capital appreciation, regardless of carrying costs;
4) the tax deduction, of course!
5) impress your friends
Some people value having a place of their own to call home for 5 years. What is so wrong with that? You all sit here and hate on properties and basically rip on people for investing in where they want to live. I agree some people by a 2/1 and in two years have a baby and grow out of it. That is stupid. But there are some people that live in their 2/1’s for a very long time to make it worth it. My husband and I just bought a new home that we love and we bought from a women who had lived there for 9 years. She made a lot of money from that. Obviously times are different but you have to remember that people want to settle down and have a place of their own. If they can afford to do it who are you to judge them. Plus, I grew up in a home with 6 other family members and we had two bathrooms and we all survived.
Last week’s House Hunters was set here and the couple on that show bought a 2/1 (with parking) in Lakeview probably sometime last year. If I remember right it was somewhere north of $300K. The kitchen was dated. I couldn’t figure out why they just didn’t stay in their rental which was above his family’s shop on Lincoln or Clark or Broadway. The place just did not seem worth it at all. Here is an article from the Chrib about it:
http://www.chicagotribune.com/classified/realestate/chi-local-scene_chomes1204dec04,0,3169017.column
“My husband and I just bought a new home that we love and we bought from a women who had lived there for 9 years. She made a lot of money from that.”
Nothing wrong with owning your own place, but if you think you are going to “make a lot of money” on it over the next 9 years you are delusional.
“I grew up in a home with 6 other family members and we had two bathrooms and we all survived.”
What does that have to do with a one bath condo?
No problem with the place or location, except gimme a break – Graceland “West”? Graceland is a CEMETERY, for starters. Second, a compass direction *after* a geographic marker is a sign of ridiculousness. Good grief – as if Lake View wasn’t toney enough for some people…
“a compass direction *after* a geographic marker is a sign of ridiculousness”
South of Houston? Back of the Yards? South of Market? East/West Village? NoLIta? (okay, that is ridiculous).
The place is beautiful, and it has a lot of favorable offsets to the tiny bedrooms and single bath.
Great place for a single person.
It would be nice to have an extra half bath, but a single bath is typical of older 2 bed units, and it is a standard to which we might return. The future is probably going to be a lot more austere than the recent past, and many features now seen as necessities might become luxuries.
“Great place for a single person.”
Yep, it would be great for someone who is terminally single or a couple that are absolutely positively sure they aren’t ever having any kids. Problem is, those classifications together constitute about 1% of the typical traffic for places like this. The other 99% are people for whom this is perfect now, but won’t be within 5 years. And if we get into austerity as you suggest, (and I agree this is probably coming) the 99% should WAIT until they can afford something they won’t outgrow in 5 years, because they will lose their shirts if they try to turn this over in less time than that.
I know I’m joining this thread late, but someone brought up 2/1’s, 20- and 30-somethings and rental alternatives, so I was wondering:
In the past six months I’ve noticed my corporate-managed, largeish Lakeview apartment building has been getting some common-space upgrades and unit renovations after years of neglect. At first I thought the new owners were crazy, investing so much in a bad economy, but now I wonder if they’re ahead of the pack, preparing the old rental stock to accommodate the tastes of professionals who in years past might have been 2/1 buyers.
Is anyone else seeing this? Is there a move afoot to upgrade the existing rental stock in prime Chicago neighborhoods to attract this market segment? If so, this could definitely put pressure on the own-versus-rent comparison.
I have seen a few vintage rental buildings do that and I think it make sense to upgrade them. I rented a highly upgraded 2/1 vintage like this unit when I first got out of business school. It was nicer than most condos at the time. I didn’t really want to buy at the time, but I wasn’t really digging the half ass maintained vintage units that were for rent either.
I also a paid slight premium for the nicer place. It was somewhat above typical rental market, but not really as expensive as owning a 2/2.
I would have never considered buying a 2/1. Like the poster above said, the market for those units is just too limited imho. People want more than one bath. Never buy places that are functionally obsolete and cannot be updated. It is one thing if the kitchen is outdated or the place needs painting, but it isn’t so easy to add an extra bath, fix a crappy view, deal with a busy street, etc.
“I grew up in a home with 6 other family members and we had two bathrooms and we all survived.”
“What does that have to do with a one bath condo?”
I guess my point was that a couple can manage with one bathroom. I agree two bathrooms would be great but it is more expensive and then you get the cookie cutter crap that will be outdated in 5 years when you want to sell. Vintage condos have a lot of classic charm to them, you just have to sacrifice other things like only having one bathroom. People used to manage in smaller places, now everyone wants more space. If you want a giant house for less money move out to the suburbs.
I am not dilusional and think I am going to make a lot of money in 9 years, however, I don’t think I will lose money either.
anon:
“Back of the Yards West”
sounds stupid, no? I rest my case.
South Loop, West Loop, OK, the Loop is pretty unique, and those areas have pretty much been completely overhauled. It’s mostly that annoying gut feeling I’m being suckered by a realtor when the compass direction comes *after* the neighborhood that bugs me – because it just screams deception. There aren’t any unnamed areas in Chicago, if you see my point. Garfield Park East is another one that irks me.
What about “West West Town”?
Skeptic:
The one that bugs me is West Bucktown (ie Humboldt Park or Logan Square).
Graceland West has a community organization, so it’s not *just* a realtor construct.
How do you feel about “Roscoe Village”? Created as a marketing designation in the late-70s, but w/o a directional. Is that okay?
This place has a newer (2007) large deck, a pretty large kitchen with great windows, new windows through-out and large storage and common storage in the basement. The married couple owners have lived here for 5 years, own two cars and have parked on the street (Southport) the whole time (despite the option of renting a spot directly behind their home for well under $100 and month). I would have rented a spot just to make sure I didn’t have to fight for a spot in the winters, but my clients really felt no need.
Bedrooms are small, but the place offers a lot more (great kitchen/deck layout and large common area living space, huge storage) than many other 2/1s in the area. I’ve been in just about every $250K-$300K sold comparable this year within a mile and I think this is a nice place and priced pretty well now.
Washer dryer is in-unit, has central air etc… etc…
Those who know this spot in Graceland West (I didn’t name it) know parking is pretty easy, it’s a nice quiet spot, but minutes walk from heart of Southport Corridor and Wrigleyville (didn’t name those either). The homes are gorgeous.
The home has a solid feel and the fireplace and built-ins are gorgeous. I was excited to list it after some staging and preparation and surprised I have not sold it yet. But, I like my chances this new year. We came on originally a little high which did not help.
“Is anyone else seeing this? Is there a move afoot to upgrade the existing rental stock in prime Chicago neighborhoods to attract this market segment? If so, this could definitely put pressure on the own-versus-rent comparison.”
They’re also taking advantage of the low low interest rates. Put in new Windows, replace the boiler, etc. Great time to get a cheap loan and finance building improvements over 15 – 30 years….
“and surprised I have not sold it yet.”
I’m not. People aren’t as stupid as you think they are now that credit is much stricter, people actually think before they purchase unlike in the mania days so the days of way overpaying for a made up (premium) neighborhood in a small 2 bedroom 1 bathroom place are over.
This will sell around 240k and that’s about it.
“surprised I have not sold it yet. But, I like my chances this new year. We came on originally a little high which did not help.”
Original LP of $289,900
Reduced to $285,000
Oh yeah, that reduction out to help.
maybe it would be successful if he disguised the reduction by offering 2 years of free parking, ala the purple palace in old town.
Rojas is correct about parking in the neighborhood. I’m on Belle Plaine (around the corner from that building) and I’ve never had trouble parking. Oddly enough, parking is even easy to find during cubs games. (As a resident of “Graceland West,” I’m supposed to keep that a secret.)