The Renovated 4-Bedroom Victorian Single Family Home in Lincoln Square: 4446 N. Damen
This 4-bedroom vintage Victorian single family home at 4446 N. Damen last sold in October 2009.
At that time, it was being sold “as-is” and the listing said it needed rehab.
It looked to be an estate sale.
It came back on the market briefly in November 2010 and then came back for good in January 2011 with new windows, plumbing and electric.
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 2011, 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 doesn’t appear to be a garage, however. Just space for parking behind the house.
Is this a deal for the location and square footage?
Thomas Driscoll has the listing. See the pictures here.
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
- Currently listed at $699,500
- Taxes of $1825
- Central Air
- No garage- just outdoor parking pad
- 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 am beginning to wonder what constitutes new plumbing and electric. For plumbing I would expect everything from the street to the inside has been replaced, probably not the case though. Same for electric, I would expect everything from the pole to the inside has been replaced. This place probably has a new 200A panel and a few new can lights.
hard to tell from the old redfin picture of 2009, but I’m not certain they did 400K worth of improvements.
I looked at this place when I was house hunting in November and it is really goofy. The “improvements” were very Home Depot random, space utilization is odd. Not quite modern and not quite traditional, it would take someone with a lot of vision and time to make it a proper home. The major pluses are a HUGE front and backyard, but just a parking pad in the back. There is also a halfway house of sorts a few doors down on the corner that makes the location less desirable.
rehabber must have run out of money not to put in a cheap garage. Those only run like $10k. That should be chump change on this job.
“hard to tell from the old redfin picture of 2009, but I’m not certain they did 400K worth of improvements.”
Of course they didn’t – you see, Icarus, in America we have this thing called “profit”. Whether these people get it is uncertain, but everyone tries.
kacheek and icarus,
quick easy but not 100% way to see if they ran all new plumbing or “lipsticked a pig” is go down to the basement and look at the utility sink pipes.
if you more venturous in the basement find the sewage stack from the upstairs cut a hole in the ceiling you should be able to see the pipes with a flash light up in the walls. or go up to the attic find the sewage vent remove the floor board and look down
electric is easy to check just look at the connection to the house and look to see if the cover panel and pipe going down to the breaker box look new?
more venturous people again go in the basement or back porch sun room or attic find the oldest outlet or switch take it off and check the wires.
always get a really good home inspector but there are neat little tricks to find things out before you go and pay an inspector.
Thanks Groove, those are spot-on
I would tread very softly here and negotiate HARD.
taxes are low!
Weird kitchen. Next to a large multi-unit. On Damen. No Garage.
$699,000 seems like a steal!
“Thanks Groove, those are spot-on”
hope people can use them, the help when at a first showing.
same thing when people are hyping the kitchen cabinets, check the hinges, check the hinges, people mask cheap cabinets with fancy pulls and nice color stain but forget about the hinges when trying to trick people.
“Of course they didn’t – you see, Icarus, in America we have this thing called “profit”. Whether these people get it is uncertain, but everyone tries.”
Of course Clio, but not knowing whether they put in $1 worth of improvements and wanted $399999 in profit, or vice-versa, I felt it was safe to write what i wrote and trust everyone could make the leap and get my point that perhaps they were leaning closer to a higher profit-than-improvement ratio.
I laughed out loud when I saw those stairs.
You can probably build a garage here for 10K. Plenty of backyard to put one in.
Taxes are misleading I assume; what do they shoot up to post sale?
“quick easy but not 100% way to see if they ran all new plumbing or “lipsticked a pig” is go down to the basement and look at the utility sink pipes.”
If we are *really* talking about *all* new–to the street–you check for a permit. Can’t get the new water line from the main w/o paying the $4k (or whatever it is) to get your permit to cut a hole in the street. Sewer is possible w/o permits.
What’s funny is that the former owners were asking $625 as-is in Mar-09.
At a $625,000 market value the taxes with a homeowner’s exemption will be over $8,000 per year.
“Can’t get the new water line from the main w/o paying the $4k (or whatever it is) to get your permit to cut a hole in the street.”
ahahahahaa they couldnt even put in a 7k garage i dont think they dropped 4k for that.
good tip on the permit thing. i always forget about the permit thing.
“ahahahahaa they couldnt even put in a 7k garage i dont think they dropped 4k for that.”
Yeah. But I don’t think the new line from the main thing is as big an issue as some do. I’m much more interested in the drainage, which I am sure they didn’t do anything about, either.
And of course the reno “includes” new plumbing and electric, as they had to (as you noted) put in the new panel and plumb the new baths.
PS, no building permit in the last 18 months.
“But I don’t think the new line from the main thing is as big an issue as some do”
i think it somewhat is as most older homes water pressure is HORRIBLE, but like you said its not a BIG issue as there are many other issues i would question first.
“And of course the reno “includes” new plumbing and electric,”
could i change a trap and put in a dimmer switch and claim new plumbing and electrical?
what’s that surface in the kitchen? “gourmet cherry/quarts/stainless steel kitchen” QUARTS!
Too funny.
http://www.calculatedriskblog.com/2011/02/corelogic-house-prices-declined-18-in.html
CoreLogic … released its December Home Price Index (HPI) which shows that home prices in the U.S. declined for the fifth month in a row. According to the CoreLogic HPI, national home prices, including distressed sales, declined by 5.46 percent in December 2010 compared to December 2009 and declined by 4.39 percent in November 2010 compared to November 2009.
Excluding distressed sales, year-over-year prices declined by 2.31 percent in December 2010 compared to December 2009 and declined by 2.81 percent in November 2010 compared to November 2009.
…
The index is only 0.07% above the low set in March 2009 (essentially at the low)….
Oh bottow, where art thou?
bottom not bottow!
How much does it cost to build a garage, 10k seems a bit exaggerated on the low side.
“How much does it cost to build a garage, 10k seems a bit exaggerated on the low side.”
Definitely can get it done for under $10k. Won’t be de-lux, but it’ll work.
Gesco, it will vary from region to region somewhat but check here:
http://www.costhelper.com/cost/home-garden/build-garage.html
Here ya go gesco:
http://tinyurl.com/4tq984o
Anon, even in chicago with all the required permits? Under 10k?
Hmmm maybe i should build a new garage.
“How much does it cost to build a garage, 10k seems a bit exaggerated on the low side.”
a basic chicago small 2 car garage frame siding no “real” storage above and a manual garage door your looking at 5k to 7k if you already have a slab foundation in place.
now add more for other luxury’s like auto door, running electric for lights or adding storage heating, ect.
well if you have a property that doesn’t have a garage, it seems like building one would be a great financial investment. I rent my 2 car garage out for $200 a month in uptown.
“well if you have a property that doesn’t have a garage, it seems like building one would be a great financial investment. I rent my 2 car garage out for $200 a month in uptown”
or just pave the part of the back yard and charge $200 for 3 tandem spot, six cars total and at 2k-3k to pour the concrete and $500-$600 in rental income seems like a better deal.
“Anon, even in chicago with all the required permits? Under 10k?
Hmmm maybe i should build a new garage.”
Eh, permits, maybe more.
Wildcard is the slab. Assuming that the ground is about level with the alley to start, with no need to build it up a foot or more.
Totally OT but does anyone know what elementary school yuppie parents send their children to if they live in West Town, Uke Village, Wicker etc? I don’t think it’s the public schools – are there private catholic schools in the area?
Thanks!!
“Totally OT but does anyone know what elementary school yuppie parents send their children to if they live in West Town, Uke Village, Wicker etc? I don’t think it’s the public schools – are there private catholic schools in the area?”
It would be less OT if you posted this on the Logan property. Around my area of Logan, know a couple of kinda upper middle class parents who send their kids to St John Berchmans on the Boulevard and are reasonably happy with it. There’s a couple of others, can’t remember names. Some have gotten into good CPS through testing/lottery. Some sending to private like Near North Montessori.
Interested in what anyone else knows, especially private non-religious besides the big name ones.
@Gesco, I contacted the city permit dept once about this…you don’t need a permit for the concrete slab. You do need one for a garage or carport (assuming some structure even a canopy).
paving your backyard also has the benefit of not having to pay to have someone mow your yard, or you can sell your lawnmower to help offset the cost of the pavement!
NNM Near North Montessori
$14,066 per year. Wow that ain’t cheap.
St John Berchmans
1 Child K-8 $4990 per year
That’s not too bad.
there’s a non-diddlers premium in non-catholic schools i guess
“there’s a non-diddlers premium in non-catholic schools i guess”
and the award goes to…..Sonies….[crowd calls for speech, speech]
“NNM Near North Montessori
$14,066 per year. Wow that ain’t cheap.”
Not cheap (although cheaper than other alternatives) and not trivial to get into, from what I understand.
“St John Berchmans
1 Child K-8 $4990 per year”
School went through serious financial crisis a few years ago but I think is more or less stable now. I don’t know whether the $5K (there’s a catholic discount for more kids) plus fundraising covers costs.
Heres one in Uke Village for homedelete. I do not know much about it. It’s in the area and has a nice little fair every year.
http://www.sthelenchicago.org/
HD: I’ll second the St. Helen call, I know two families sending their kid there. However depending on their situations with Drummond and Pulaski they may switch back to CPS.
Wow that is a big yard! It seems strange that there are not more pics (e.g., nanny suite, b-rooms, etc.). This is a nice part of Damen. Seems like some places have been selling in Lincoln square…perhaps this shows better than it looks on the listing?
Thanks everyone for the school update.
all the chatter must’ve done this place well. Under contract as of 2/11.
OOPS i meant the above comment for monticello property. disregard!