The 3-Bedroom Bucktown Victorian Cottage: 1848 W. Cortland
This 3-bedroom single family home at 1848 W. Cortland in Bucktown has been on the market since November 2010.
In that time, it has been reduced $90,000.
Built in 1872, the listing says it is a frame Victorian cottage.
It has 11 foot ceilings on the first floor along with a separate dining room.
The kitchen has maple cabinets, granite counter tops and black appliances and also has an 11×9 breakfast room.
All 3 bedrooms are on the second floor.
Built on a 26.5×118 lot, it has both a front and a back deck along with a 2-car garage.
The house also has central air.
It looks as though it may have an unfinished basement.
Is this a good townhouse alternative?
Randie Shapiro at Koenig & Strey Real Living has the listing. See the pictures and the floor plan here.
1848 W. Cortland: 3 bedrooms, 2 baths, 2 car garage, no square footage listed
- Sold in May 1988 for $86,000
- Sold in January 1991 for $95,000
- Sold in March 1995 for $215,000
- Sold in August 1999 for $318,000
- Sold in February 2004 for $505,000
- Originally listed in November 2010 for $625,000
- Reduced
- Currently listed for $535,000
- Taxes of $8300
- Central Air
- Bedroom #1: 12×12 (second floor)
- Bedroom #2: 13×11 (second floor)
- Bedroom #3: 14×12 (second floor)
- Living room: 14×13
- Dining room: 13×12
- Kitchen: 13×13
- Breakfast room: 11×9
- Office: 13×7
Hard to imagine anything more than 500K at best: pretty tight space upstairs. Good call on holding off painting the “master bedroom”/hallway space tumeric- would have really made it “cozy”
cute little frame house…..
…oh wait 535k for a little frame house? yuppie puppies are fun to watch
I would say mid to high $400s for this property, but the list price is not outlandish. The price for a bigger, nicer, newer SFH in this stretch of Cortland is probably low $700s these days, and a Victorian cottage is not nearly as desirable for most. The distance to transit and the fact that it’s somewhat desolate along Cortland here kind of hurts it. I have never liked this location much. Drummond is pretty good but no Bell, Lincoln, Burley, etc.
“Drummond is pretty good but no Bell, Lincoln, Burley, etc.”
W/o looking at the school locator, pretty sure this is in Pulaski (which is potentially up and coming etc.). Maybe it used to be in Drummond and maybe still for upper grades, but I think Drummond stopped being a neighborhood school with the montessori program.
“…oh wait 535k for a little frame house?”
Yeah, I like bucktown but hard to see living in this house. Those upstairs photos do not look inviting.
This is the first time I’ve seen a listing in Bucktown claim to be in Logan Square…usually it’s the other way around
“This is the first time I’ve seen a listing in Bucktown claim to be in Logan Square…usually it’s the other way around”
What are you looking at? The Logan community area (which included btown)? And which I think shows as Logan on many sites.
“W/o looking at the school locator, pretty sure this is in Pulaski (which is potentially up and coming etc.).”
You’re probably right – I assumed Drummond from the proximity.
DZ, when you click on the photos, it’s in the listing on the Details tab:
General
County Cook
Township WEST CHICAGO
Area Logan Square
Style 2 Stories
MLS Number 07669883
“when you click on the photos, it’s in the listing on the Details tab”
But that’s just reporting the community area, which is what redfin and other sites do too. I don’t think there’s anything notable about it.
And the writeup says bucktown.
I’d feel like a science experiment under that giant skylight in the lavender bedroom.
OMG another seller who ‘owns’ a roughly 25×125 plot of land on the northside of the city, with a kitchen installed after 1982, who wants a half a million dollars. Is it in the Realtor(tm) handbook that says all SFH on 25×125 lots on the north side of the city with kitchens renovated after 1982 must list for half a million dollars? Maybe it’s on page 68, paragraph 3, line 2, but it’s been a while since I’d seen the handbook.
I do like the location though. close to everything without being too close to the epicenter of bucktown/wicker park. you could dormer that top out and have a nice place. Not sure in this location if you will do better than this for the price. Maybe 510 gets it sold?
ps if I’m reading CCRD correctly there is NO mortgage on this property as of today, unless there is an unrecorded mortgage or something.
“roughly 25×125 plot of land”
125 foot lots are hard to find in btown. Can’t invite anon to CC housewarming with a 100 ft lot.
Why is this lot 116 ft long per redfin? Lots on Cortland generally seem to be 125 ft. (I’m not harassing you for saying 125 since you said roughly, just curious about 116.)
“unless there is an unrecorded mortgage or something”
Is that just b/c clerical error or is are there legitimate cases where it wouldn’t get recorded?
“Is it in the Realtor(tm) handbook that says all SFH on 25×125 lots on the north side of the city with kitchens renovated after 1982 must list for half a million dollars?…Maybe it’s on page 68, paragraph 3, line 2, but it’s been a while since I’d seen the handbook.”
You might be confused about the meaning of the part on that page that says “Real estate values are determined by the operation of supply and demand and the willingness of seller and buyers to agree on a price. Don’t fall prey to attributing your own beliefs about what something “should” cost to every participant in the market – this is a rookie mistake.”
wow HD- you’re really sour today is life handing you some rotten apples this week? did your cat die?
Homedelete — before the bust the land value on this was probably close to $500k. After the bust it’s still a nice little house, in a nice neighborhood, with lots of multimillion dollar homes surrounding. I’d be surprised if this doesn’t move near $500k.
1/2 million for a tiny plot of land with a 140 year-old tiny house. It’s so close to the neighbors house that you might have trouble walking between the two.
There are several streets around the city that are a few feet shorter giving them larger alleys. They list the lot as still being “standard lot” though. 116ft seems a but shorter than usual. I have done measurements on streets that came in at 122ft and streets that were 119ft but were listed at 125ft. Doesnt make a huge difference unless you are planning in maximizing the square footage of a lot with a new construction or something. The larger alleys are actually nice if you dont plan on building new. You dont have to worry about backing into your neighbors garage and it gives kids a wider street hockey court.
Sonies: I’m a ittle sour today, yes, I’m getting awfully tired of half a million dollar 140 year old workers cottages. I’m ready to move, I’m ready to buy, I’ve got all my cards lined up, yet every listing I see is crap like this. All over the city.
JJJ: I’m no rookie, I’ve been working in legal offices doing real estate and other financial related transactions for over 12 years. I’ve been fortunate enough in life not to make the mistake of buying during the bubble. I don’t know what you do for a living, but I see plenty of things which give me my point of view, hundreds of transactions a year, from all different angles, all walks of life, and that’s where I get my perspective. Funny how some people just don’t know what the hell they’re talking about and they’re too naive to even know it! They call me the rookie. This is rich stuff here, rich.
I think it’s a little odd the way so many people on this site think “old workers cottages” are “crap.”
If it is all you can afford today, it likely means you fall roughly in the same spectrum socioeconomic that those workers fell into 100 years ago. The house has been updated. Why is it not good enough for you?
It’s really strange. I see the same people that complain about modern trends in housing also complain that the old houses are crap.
HD, you have to take a chill pill, it is Friday and it means most fortunate mortals (not yours truly) can take couple of days off and enjoy whatever it is they enjoy. As you said patience is a virtue. I think by end of summer the prices will trickle down further and you might be able to make your move. That being said, you have to define an acceptable loss margin for yourself, say 50K on a 500K property in some time horizon (2years, 4 years or whatever else). If you find something you like and you think it most probably won’t depreciate beyond your acceptable loss margin in the time horizon, just buy it and enjoy life. You can never remove the risk entirely, but you can try and make some reasonable decision given the uncertainty. This is where I agree with Clio one cannot put life on hold forever.
“I think it’s a little odd the way so many people on this site think “old workers cottages” are “crap.” ”
Old workers cottages are pretty self-explanatory. They were simple housing structures built for working class Americans and immigrants. The fact that affluent people were willing to pay over half a million dollars for such domiciles is what I find hilarious.
“This is where I agree with Clio one cannot put life on hold forever.”
You don’t need to put your life on hold if you’re deferring a real estate purchase. Instead there is this alternative called renting which provides the same tangible benefits of owning and residing in a piece of real estate.
“Why is this lot 116 ft long per redfin? Lots on Cortland generally seem to be 125 ft. (I’m not harassing you for saying 125 since you said roughly, just curious about 116.)”
This *one* block end, south of the alley, was platted with 118′ deep and 26.5′ wide lots. Alley is actually narrower (13.4′) than the alley to the east (16′).
26.5×118 is almost the same as 25×125–3127 v 3125.
Why is a question for M.Marx, who subdivided the land sometime before the fire.
it appears this is not one of the streets with larger alleys that i was referring too. thanks for that info anon (tfo).
“Old workers cottages are pretty self-explanatory. They were simple housing structures built for working class Americans and immigrants. The fact that affluent people were willing to pay over half a million dollars for such domiciles is what I find hilarious.”
Who do you think buys a half a million dollar house in Chicago? Investment bankers? Corner office partners? Other titans of industry? Umm . . . no. It’s the people who WORK for them. I.e, today’s “working class Americans.” They may be white collar, but they are the “working class.” Meaning they have to work for a living, and will always have to work for a living, because they have no capital.
What I find hilarious is that people on this site like to rant about how the real estate market is out of whack, how people borrow too much to afford a lifestyle they can’t afford, etc., etc. But when it comes time to think about the house they want, no way they’re going to live in a “crappy” worker’s cottage. Hilarious nobody sees the disconnect.
Alanon, strawman argument. Nobody sid they wont live in a workaers cottage, simply that they wouldnt pay half a mil to live in one.
“What I find hilarious is that people on this site like to rant about how the real estate market is out of whack, how people borrow too much to afford a lifestyle they can’t afford, etc., etc. But when it comes time to think about the house they want, no way they’re going to live in a “crappy” worker’s cottage. Hilarious nobody sees the disconnect.”
But how can you expect the average worker to spend 10x his income on a “crappy worker’s cottage”? What did that cost when it was built? $4000? Its absurd to expect $500,000 for something that cost $4000 when it was built over 100 years ago!!!
Wait. What’s that you say? “An average worker made about $400 in 1900”? So it was about 10x annual wages then, too? And there were no such thing as 30-year amortizing mortgages? Huh. Guess it ain’t so bad, after all.
Homedelete, not a strawman argument if those some people can’t afford to buy a nicer place. You think the workers that lived in those cottages 100 years ago thought they were getting a great deal? No, they likely thought they were over paying for a small house on a small lot. Point is — it’s expensive to live in the city. If you are looking at $500k houses in the city, you are still a worker. Workers will continue to live in workers cottages.
“Who do you think buys a half a million dollar house in Chicago? Investment bankers? Corner office partners? Other titans of industry? Umm . . . no. It’s the people who WORK for them. I.e, today’s “working class Americans.” They may be white collar, but they are the “working class.” Meaning they have to work for a living, and will always have to work for a living, because they have no capital. ”
You are an idiot if you think white collar workers are buying workman’s cottages to live in for half a million dollars in Chicago.
This thing only sold for 500k in 2004 due to rampant real estate speculation and lax lending. I don’t even need to know the financing details to guess that that purchase had an extremely high LTV ratio.
You sound like an owner who got caught in a bad purchase who is in denial about the state of the real estate market.
This cottage is maybe worth 300k but some bozo (like you) might pay up to 400k for it in 2011. Funny thing is I am betting the current owners can’t cut the price to move it because let’s be honest: they were debtslaves and don’t have sufficient equity in the place to budge much.
Someone is gonna drop 500k on this crapshack to take a bus to work? Sorry alanon the supply of greater fools is exhausted and they’re all holding a hot potato right now.
“Point is — it’s expensive to live in the city. ”
No it’s not too expensive, especially relative to other cities. It is expensive to live in the city if you’re an idiot who paid 500k for a piece of real estate like this, that I agree with.
485
“Funny thing is I am betting the current owners can’t cut the price to move it because let’s be honest: they were debtslaves and don’t have sufficient equity in the place to budge much.”
HD sez free and clear (probably). So pay the man his money.
@ Bob,
Please tell us how you’ve outsmarted all of us bozo’s and avoided overpaying for a crap shack.
Thanks
They aren’t interested in selling at all then because no way this thing is near 500k.
You can get a mini-estate in the suburbs with much better school districts for 500k these days. This is a POS property in a POS location and this property being featured is a good April fools joke.
This owner’s disconnection from reality is funny. The 625k ask price is even more hilarious. They’ll be lucky to get 425k for it.
I wouldn’t pay over 250k for this.
First of all this wasn’t the city when it was buit. It was the suburbs and was annexed into the city. Secondly, living in the city was cheap that’s why workers lived there. It was dirty, crowded and full of disease. It was expensive to live in the country, like the north shore suburbs, away from the unwashed masses.
Seriously, homes like this are all over the southside in real working class neighborhoods and they have wrking class prices, not absurd half a mil valuations by a seller who doesn’t want to lose his equity.
You have to admit on the days when I post a lot the converstions are liively without resorting to antisemitism or race baiting.
“You are an idiot if you think white collar workers are buying workman’s cottages to live in for half a million dollars in Chicago.”
Uh, yes, that’s exactly who is buying these cottages.
“This thing only sold for 500k in 2004 due to rampant real estate speculation and lax lending.”
You are talking out of your ass, as usual. Ever go to Bucktown in the 1990’s? How about the 1980’s? It changed a little bit. Maybe enough to justify a . . . gasp . . . rise in property values?
“I don’t even need to know the financing details to guess that that purchase had an extremely high LTV ratio.”
You are talking out your ass, as usual. HD already confirmed house is owned free and clear.
“You sound like an owner who got caught in a bad purchase who is in denial about the state of the real estate market.”
You don’t know shit about me so you shouldn’t make things personal. I’ll give you one bit of personal information: your statement is incorrect.
“This cottage is maybe worth 300k but some bozo (like you) might pay up to 400k for it in 2011.”
You don’t know shit about me so you shouldn’t make things personal. I’ll give you another piece of information: you make yourself look like a “bozo” when you get into these rants.
“Funny thing is I am betting the current owners can’t cut the price to move it because let’s be honest: they were debtslaves and don’t have sufficient equity in the place to budge much.”
See above re house paid off / talking out your ass.
“Someone is gonna drop 500k on this crapshack to take a bus to work? Sorry alanon the supply of greater fools is exhausted and they’re all holding a hot potato right now.”
This place is a crapshack? Really? Where do you live again?
“Please tell us how you’ve outsmarted all of us bozo’s and avoided overpaying for a crap shack. ”
You see my networth over the past few years has went up. You, alanon and almost everyone else who bought real estate in the past few years likely has a networth that went down.
I am debt free. You are a debt slave. You work for the bankers and off of the back of your hard work they eat sirloin and live a grand life.
I was never stupid enough to jump into the RE market even after being able to do so for about four years now. Because I saw it was insane and I saw who was paying ridiculous prices for real estate and how they were able to do so (funny financing). I saw teachers buying McCrapBox condos for 400k off of their 60k salary and I knew it wasn’t sustainable.
Too many stupid people given access to too much credit. The real travesty is the banks are being bailed out and they were the chief enablers of this mess.
“This place is a crapshack? Really? Where do you live again?”
Guess what debtslave: my housing cost is around $800/mo. How much is this owners housing cost for this crapshack?
They pay in yearly taxes alone close to my housing cost. LOL.
“Uh, yes, that’s exactly who is buying these cottages. ”
Where is the invisible white collar worker then to buy this cottage for half a million? Is his name Godot?
“See above re house paid off / talking out your ass.”
I’d bet it’s a clerical error and there is a mortgage on this place. It has high LTV mortgage written all over it.
I don’t trust HD’s source that this place is owned free & clear. Please check a second source to verify. No way someone had half a mill in cash and purchased this place. I don’t believe it for a second.
Wow Bob, It’s like your in my living room….you seem to know everything about everyone, you must be on HZT or whatever that drug in “Limitless” is called. Do you feel better now? Good for you for staying out of the real estate market for the last 10 years. I’m sure your $800 a month rental is a lovely place to live, cheers!
Purchased with a 50ltv mortgage, with a few refis, all ended up with releases recorded.
Stupidity abounds even at the highest levels.
This was a dumb 2004 purchase and the owner will pay dearly.
“First of all this wasn’t the city when it was buit.”
Wrong-O, my friend. House built in 1873/4, this was *definitely* part of the City at that time. 15th Ward.
By 1851, North and Western was the NW corner of the city (gee, I wonder how those streets were named …) and the triangle b/t Western, North and the River added in 1863.
(yes, had to look it up; but knew it was part of the city before 1873 b/c of the plat I looked at earlier)
You can always drop the price on a house but raising is much more difficult. If this seller is in no hurry, price as high as you want and maybe you will catch a fish….if not, change the bait – lower the price!
I personally see this sittin on the MLS for quite some time given the other inventory on the MLS.
Bobs rant may be a little misplaced but there is nothng wrong with an 800 a month rental. Quite frankly, paying a lot for rent/mortgage is stupid. Some of my dumbest clients have the highest monthly mortgage payments.
Bob – Congratulations. You won the “I live in the shittiest apartment contest.” You claim to be happy with this situation. However, the way you bitterly insult anyone who is not in the same situation suggests maybe you are not so happy.
This was near jefferson township. It was the outskirts of the city. Maybe not a suburb but the edge of the city.
“they eat sirloin and live a grand life”
That would be dry aged Porterhouse, preferably at Lugers.
“You have to admit on the days when I post a lot the converstions are liively without resorting to antisemitism or race baiting.”
What’s your point you dumb goy!
“This was a dumb 2004 purchase and the owner will pay dearly.”
Not necessarily. S/He’s got 7 years of taxes, some relatively small amount of interest and the delta between $505 and the net sale proceeds into the house that we know about. Also any maintenance/improvements (looks like 0 on improvements + some maintenance).
Call the taxes $50k (high); another $50k for interest (4% on $250 for 5 years–also high); net the maintenance with the tax benefits, and we’re at $100k for 86 months right now–$1162/month. Do you really think that s/he could have rented an equivalent place for under $1200/month for the past 7 years w/o having to move once?
Say it sells *tomorrow* for a (pessimistic, imo) $425k; net of costs, what?, $390k? for another $115k cost–which then takes it to *exactly* $2500/month for 86 months–which still seems a little cheap for a 3br, SFH home rental of roughly equivalent quality, in a roughly equivalent location (ie, no fair comparing to North of Diversey or west or Western or south of Madison) that you could have stayed in from 2004 to 2011.
So, no, I don’t think there is much chance of “paying dearly”. (Unless there is an unrecorded mortgage, or the pay off was financed with an unsecured line for some reason.)
“This was near jefferson township. It was the outskirts of the city. Maybe not a suburb but the edge of the city.”
Doesn’t make your “first of all” any less wrong.
“First of all this wasn’t the city when it was bui[l]t. It was the suburbs and was annexed into the city.”
” I’m a ittle sour today, yes, I’m getting awfully tired of half a million dollar 140 year old workers cottages. I’m ready to move, I’m ready to buy, I’ve got all my cards lined up, yet every listing I see is crap like this. All over the city………. I’ve been fortunate enough in life not to make the mistake of buying during the bubble.”
Uhh – maybe you should have – at least you wouldn’t be as sour as you are today. HD – you are looking at this all wrong. You are totally looking at real estate as an investment. You should look at it as an improvement in your life/lifestyle. You obviously want to buy – so why not do it. Why does the house you buy have to be a great deal? Why do you have to get a house that is going to appreciate more than your investments? That is stupid. A house (for you) is something that is going to enhance your life. Stop looking at it as an financial investment. I promise, if you stay for 10-15 years, you won’t regret it (financially, socially or emotionally). Just do it!!
well clio, he stated he can’t find anything he likes in his price range… which is probably accurate as most “nice” properties are scooped up really fast and most REO’s suck or are priced so cheap that cash investors buy them in a day of listing
and LOL at bobs sirloin comment…
they make burgers out of sirloin meat because it sucks…
I have to admit, and it hurts, renting does not equal owning. Coming home feels MUCH different.
I still think.. no rush… you got 2 years to pull the trigger.
“You are totally looking at real estate as an investment. You should look at it as an improvement in your life/lifestyle.”
Clio, I wish you would tell that to my fiance. She is underwater on her Sloop condo and though we have a renter paying market value, she realizes she is never going to get her downpayment money back (she was foolish enough to buy at the height but “smart” enough to put 20% down.)
I try telling her that worse case scenario, we keep renting it at a small loss until the market improves enough for us to unload it for what is owed, but best case we have an in-town when we are older.
I think part of Clios argument is highly contingent on the 10-15 yr thing.
Exactly. Owning an underwater property you’ll never pay off would keep me up at night too.
“#gringozecarioca on April 1st, 2011 at 6:06 pm
I have to admit, and it hurts, renting does not equal owning. Coming home feels MUCH different.”
clio – why buy something today that will most assuredly be cheaper tomorrow?
The writing is on the wall – all you have to do is open your eyes and read it.
I’ll buy when the realization comes to sellers that not every structure built on a 25×125 plot of land on the northside of chicago is worth half a million dollars.
I said to you previously. Rule #1.. If you can’t sleep, don’t ever do it.
Said to young, earlier to his question of which part is he missing on the rent/buy thing “Risk”.
You have a natural hedge to being (+rent – ownership) in a positive economy called a job, you have no such hedge to the downside, you are doubly long.
I personally think someone has to be a f’n idiot to scratch up enough cash for a down payment and take diversified liquid assets and move it all into 1 illiquid asset.
“clio – why buy something today that will most assuredly be cheaper tomorrow?”
because life is passing you by fast……. you don’t know how much time you have left. I know people like you who wait and wait and wait and before they know it , their kids are grown and the best years of their life have passed by. You need to concentrate on the quality of your life and stop thinking too much about money.
Ridiculous price. I love how it went down almost $100K in 3-4 months.
Bucktown, schmucktown. You can buy cheaper in Edgewater for a frame SFH; I know someone who is closing on one for a great price (and well under this).
$375 – $400K. And that’s my generous prediction.
I am looking to buy 1530 N paulina unit f. It was listed at 550, and I bid 485 for it. Short sale. In retrospect I might have wanted to bid lower, but I didn’t know better and I wanted to be competitive because I liked the unit.
Anyways, something shaddy just went down. I got an appraisal through BofA (my lender) and the appraiser had to disclose that they did a appraisal on the same unit in the recent past! They came back with a 485K appraisal (which is expected), but in Jan 2011 he appraised the same home for 405K. Since I put my bid in at the beginning on Dec, I think the appraiser appraised this unit for the seller. The seller is also BofA.
He tries to explain that the difference is there because the unit was previously used as a gallery. It doesn’t justify a 80K diff, and the gallery looked awesome.
Any of you guys have some input for me? What’s going on here? I’m supposed to close sometime next week or the week after.
Does the appraiser have an incentive to come back with a low evaluation for the bank? Maybe to continue getting there business, or make them feel good that they are making a “profit” on the transaction?
Young- It’s a sign! Don’t do it. Back out.
link to unit:
http://www.urbanrealestate.com/property/1530-N-Paulina-Unit-F-CHICAGO-IL-60622-MVQKIN3VEIER2.html
The whole argument can be distilled down to these 2 viewpoints, and I’m having a tough time picking one:
“If it is all you can afford today, it likely means you fall roughly in the same spectrum socioeconomic that those workers fell into 100 years ago. If you are looking at $500k houses in the city, you are still a worker. Workers will continue to live in workers cottages.”
versus
“Seriously, homes like this are all over the southside in real working class neighborhoods and they have wrking class prices, not absurd half a mil valuations by a seller who doesn’t want to lose his equity.”
“Dan on April 1st, 2011 at 9:22 pm
The whole argument can be distilled down to these 2 viewpoints, and I’m having a tough time picking one:”
The latter pick is the easier of the two. Granted, the “south side” is an extreme contrast, but no one should drop half a mil on a small frame house while dealing with the city’s outrageous taxation and building code violation brigade.
Especially to live in “Bucktown~!” despite however that neighborhood meme started.
You’re better off having THE LOOK FOR LESS in Rogers Park or some other lakefront NE side community than this for ~1/2 mill.
And for those of you ascribing to the former point of view, please point me to one damn “worker” that would qualify to buy this mess anyway. Workers ain’t buying $500K+ SFH. Save that hot mess opinion for adorable Hegewisch.
Dan: There’s actually a third viewpoint, one that i actually believe (as opposed to what I spout); there are limited number of renovated single family homes in desirable areas of the city. This is a fact. Many have been torn down and replaced with multi-unit housing over the years. Due to the limited supply of SFH, they will be expensive compared to other less desirable multi-unti housing.
The question we should be asking is: What is expensive and how large should that gap be between the SFH and the condo? It’s difficult to say, but $500,000 for SFH in bucktown is crazytalk. The proof is in the pudding – no pending contract yet at $500,000.
The SFH market has become less expensive now that in addition to income, significant downpayments are required. Even though homes are cheaper – the ability to obtain a SFH is still difficult given the need for the large down payment. THe market will eventually find an equilibrium between price and down payment.
Just estimating, but maybe the requirement for an updated cottage in bucktown is $140k HH income plus a $84,000 down payment for a $420,000 purchase price. $84,000 for a downpayment (20%) is not chump change and takes time to save or earn. without family assistance $84,000 is difficult to save for a down payment within a couple of years time if you’re not making $100k a year or more. I konw that the $100k down payment on a $500k house is even more difficult, and that’s why this house isn’t selling because it’s clearly not the type of house a person with a hard earned $100,000 down payment wants to buy.
(yes this sold during the boom with a large down payment but that was more the exception than the rule).
This is the walking artist ad place that was on here recently.
Are you saying that they previously valued it at 405k, and are now saying it’s worth 485k, saying that it was worth less before because of the gallery or is it the other way around?
I’d say get another appraisal, but it sounds like they may be simply giving the bank whatever number it takes to get it done. Was it under contract in January, because that would suggest that they may have actually take 405k. I’d be very suspicious of this appraisal firm.
Jan 2011 – 405K (appraised for BofA the seller)
March 2011 – 485K (appraised for me)
Same appraiser was used for both.
It was already under contract in december. Drop dead date is April 13th. So I lose my escrow of 5K at that point if I pull out. Pretty much a fact that I will lose it, but its a small cost if I can pull out, and bid at 405K or somewhere in between.
Sounds like they actually might take a lower bid. They also “accepted” relatively fast for a short sale which makes me suspicious that I over paid.
On the other hand the previous owner paid 630K in 2006 (the peak).
“They came back with a 485K appraisal (which is expected), but in Jan 2011 he appraised the same home for 405K. Since I put my bid in at the beginning on Dec, I think the appraiser appraised this unit for the seller. The seller is also BofA.”
Hire another appraiser. That’s what I would do. The money would be well worth it. Prices continue to fall- not rise.
“I personally think someone has to be a f’n idiot to scratch up enough cash for a down payment and take diversified liquid assets and move it all into 1 illiquid asset.”
Yep- me too. I don’t get it. Housing should be part of your net worth – NOT all of it. Yet how many people STILL have all of their “wealth” mainly in real estate?
It is somewhere to live. That is it. It is NOT an investment (unless you’re going the landlord route.)
Heck- many homes in the suburbs are now priced at 1990s prices. Imagine owning 15 years and it’s still “worth” the same? Even after you’ve remodeled the kitchen and baths, put in new windows, did landscaping, redid the driveway, replaced the furnace and the air conditioner?
“Seriously, homes like this are all over the southside in real working class neighborhoods and they have wrking class prices, not absurd half a mil valuations by a seller who doesn’t want to lose his equity.’
This is true. You can get one for $75,000 to $100,000 probably.
“Homes like this are all over the southside in real working class neighborhoods and they have wrking class prices, not absurd half a mil valuations by a seller who doesn’t want to lose his equity.”
“This is true. You can get one for $75,000 to $100,000 probably.”
yeah but these homes in 2011 would be the past equivalent of being stuck in the black belt (chain of neighborhoods on the South Side) or near Hull House in the old times. So, I’m leaning towards alanon’s position. The $500K price is just the (inflated) cost of doin’ business nowadays for the worker.
There’s always been the super-cheap houses (like in the black belt or near Hull House, etc.) in the past. Those are today’s $75K – $100K houses, so they aren’t really relevant to the mainstream worker. What’s really happened is the ghetto and lower class areas have massively expanded in Chicago, where they were once confined to the black belt, Hull House type pockets, etc. The middle-class areas have been taken over by poverty. So, the this bucktown house represents the current version of the middle class worker housing like alanon says. Comparing Humboldt Park in the past to present is like apples and oranges, since it’s declined so much from its middle-class past. The $75K – $100K houses aren’t relevant to the “worker” we all know, they just represent expanded ghetto and poverty.
“Comparing Humboldt Park in the past to present is like apples and oranges, since it’s declined so much from its middle-class past.”
PS same goes for all the grand boulevards in Chicago (i.e. boulevard system), just because there’s a $100K house or greystone available all around these areas today, it’s not apples to apples with the past since the neighborhoods have declined so much. The good areas have shrunk massively. So, you’d have to compare some past house around Garfield Blvd. Independence Blvd., Douglas Blvd. etc. with this Bucktown cottage!! The cheap houses are actually in the equivalent of yesterday’s slums and not relevant.
“Heck- many homes in the suburbs are now priced at 1990s prices. Imagine owning 15 years and it’s still “worth” the same? Even after you’ve remodeled the kitchen and baths, put in new windows, did landscaping, redid the driveway, replaced the furnace and the air conditioner?”
My parents lucked out. They did spend a bunch on remodeling throughout the years. But they lived in a city not nearly as affected by the bubble and were able to get 50% appreciation over their holding period return (17 years).
Unfortunately they rolled their appreciation into another, smaller property instead of renting. Missed a $6,500 tax benefit by mere weeks. There are short sales & foreclosures all over their newer development so no doubt it has declined in value some too.
“The middle-class areas have been taken over by poverty.”
This is completely wrong. You clearly haven’t been to the south side in awhile. You should check out the bungalow belt. It isn’t “the ghetto.”
Go over by Midway Airport and McKinley Park. Again- NOT the ghetto. Nice working class housing.
NEW lower price.
$480,000 ?