The Renovated Vintage Lincoln Square 5-Bedroom Home: 2174 W. Wilson
This 5-bedroom single family home at 2174 W. Wilson in Lincoln Square was apparently completely renovated in 2007.
Built in 1901 on a 37.5×125 lot, the house now has all the modern amenities such as a main floor family room/kitchen combination as well as a 28×12 lower level recreation room.
4 out of the 5 bedrooms are on the second floor.
The house also has a woodpaneled library.
The kitchen has stainless steel appliances and a big breakfast/dining bar.
This house is now listed $37,500 under the 2008 purchase price but it looks like a relocation company now owns the home.
Is this a deal?
Elizabeth Bleeker at Prudential Rubloff has the listing. See the photos here.
2174 W. Wilson: 5 bedrooms, 3.5 baths, 2 car garage, 5500 square feet
- Sold in June 2005 for $600,000
- Sold in July 2008 for $1,087,500
- Sold in June 2010 for $1.155 million (according to public records- to relocation company)
- Listed in June 2010 for $1,246,300
- Reduced several times
- Currently listed for $1,050,000
- Taxes of $8732
- Central Air
- Bedroom #1: 18×17
- Bedroom #2: 16×15
- Bedroom #3: 12×11
- Bedroom #4: 12×12
- Bedroom #5: 15×12 (lower level)
- Family room: 16×18 (main level)
- Recreation room: 28×12 (lower level)
Hah! I love this place and can see living here for a long time. Cei la vie. I can see spending many hours in that office.
Which I suppose says something about me that I no longer really want a full working bar in my basement but lust after an office.
What a vinyl sided million dollar joke.
I think you meant “C’est la vie”.
Wicker, how about a compromise: office with a stocked bar a la mad men? yes please.
groove fun fact;
i used to go to some killer house parties 3 blocks east!!!
80% of the reason to buy this house is the library/office, but i have a better way to spend 1mil
That library/office looks really taped on to me — kinda the equivalent of the Ralph Lauren store on Michigan Ave. Well done, but ultimately fake. Doesn’t fit the style of the house at all.
Bad rennovation to be sure. More of a sows ear rather than a silk purse. Quite a befuddled Queen Anne. Too bad.
roscoevillager: that’s a fair compromise, and one that I’m ready for. Maybe I could snake a beer tap up next to the wetbar and be complete.
At what price point would vinyl siding be considered ok? I am under the impression that they are low on maintenance. I’d prefer the look of brick but not really the tuckpointing.
It’s close to the el, has a lot of space and a large lot. Office looks nice to me but you know without seeing the place you have no idea what the finishes are really like.
I’d like to know how they got the property taxes that low. I wouldn’t count on them staying there.
The thing with siding on an older home is I always wonder what’s underneath it.
i could think of about a million other things to spend a million bucks on than this place
ewwww
“The thing with siding on an older home is I always wonder what’s underneath it.”
I’d say that’s a good point no matter what the exterior shell is, though. Even the old three-deep brick buildings can have all sorts of issues you can’t see, the wiring is a usual suspect.
We had vinyl siding & insulation wrapped over the asbestos (90% likely) shingles, as removing them was stupid expensive, and undisturbed they still offer insulation value & aren’t a health issue. It’s not something I’d ever try and hide were I selling, of course.
“i could think of about a million other things to spend a million bucks on than this place”
A lottery ticket “investment”?
no more like a 500k house/condo that isn’t a ridiculous wasteful 5500sqft, (more like a manageable 2500) a couple of nice cars and an investment portfolio that would kick off enough income to take a nice vacation twice a year
so if it sold for $600k in 2005, why is it worth 40% more in today’s market?
so if it sold for $600k in 2005, why is it worth 400K more in today’s market?
“so if it sold for $600k in 2005, why is it worth 400K more in today’s market?”
Complete reno. That $600k was what near teardowns on 37.5′ lots would have sold for.
Does anyone on this site ever say anything positive or is the point to criticize the decorating, renovation, and taste of everyone but yourselves? If one followed this site seriously, one would never buy anything in Chicago.
“Does anyone on this site ever say anything positive or is the point to criticize the decorating, renovation, and taste of everyone but yourselves?”
Amen – but, Lori, as you know – nobody seems to want to hear about anything positive here. All they want to hear is that prices are going down to zero, the sky is falling real estate is terrible, the government sucks, banks are terrible, etc. etc..
In the beginning I thought that perhaps I had suddenly developed really low standards and should hang my head in shame for living in a concrete loft, loving having a doorman and 24 hour security, and not really thinking a SFH in Lincoln Park is the gold standard for everyone.
I have found some good info on this site like inside scoop on some buildings and other insights. Just seems like that is less often than the ongoing bashing and thrashing.
Actually Lori, that’s part of the format. Sabrina posts something. Then we complain about the dark photos. we also debate whether or not the it’s too far from the green zone or too close to the El tracks.
If someone posts what the mortgage would be and they do not calculate it the exact penny, we criticize their math skills (and frankly, we assume their parents drank heavily before, during and after pregancy).
Whenever possible we try to rip on the seller. Because EVERYONE who overpaid even a moderate amount should have known better (see drinking during pregnancy).
Finally we make sure we get off the subject of the actual post and make sleep inducing references to inflation and macro-economics. Through in a few jabs at Clio, HomeDelete and WestLooper for fun and then Sabrina posts a new property. Rinse and Repeat.
Now please play along. 🙂
Very funny Icarus – thanks for the laugh.
And on the overpaying on the mortgage… I wonder how many people on this site are agents – and may have benefited from those high prices…
I need to go turn up the heat now in my drafty, noisy, ductwork exposed, half -walled, artsy fartsy loft now…
@ Icarus…. LMAO, Nice observations…….
BTW whats the school situation here?
I’ll go out on a limb and say most people here completed some level of college…
LOL Lori!
BAAAAAAAAA-DING!
Very Good Icarus.
Valasko on December 14th, 2010 at 5:46 pm
BTW whats the school situation here?
I’m thinking McPherson, but Anon tfo will correct me if I’m wrong.
that about sums it up there Icarus! Lori – don’t take it to heart. We all have our preferences. I have liked understanding different views.
For the love of God, have people actually lost their marbles? I grew up in this neighborhood (at Lawrence and Damen) and saw the neighborhood go from slightly sketchy to very trendy.
A million dollars for a home? I used to remember what a million dollar home used to look like. This isn’t it. Property values are still way overpriced.
The huge increase in property values in this neighborhood took me by surprise too. However, I’d MUCH rather pay a million for a SFH here than down in Bucktown. It’s got a much better neighborhood vibe, and traffic is less intense thanks to Western and Lawrence. It also has one of my favorite public libraries in the city, and some nice restaurants and bars, and parks that you could actually take children to (nothing makes me sadder than seeing small children playing in wicker park a dozen feet from some crashed out person in the grass, or even worse, a million dogs running around that tiny dog enclosure…) The brown line isn’t as great as the blue for getting downtown, but I think it’s still only like a half hour to the loop from here?
And yes, that summary of Crib Chatter is spot on. You just missed the part where people rip apart the owner for having a white couch, or discuss the dive bar that the agent should’ve mentioned as a selling point.
Bummer Lori – I actually started this entire thread off with how I love this place.
School is McPherson, which isn’t yet a top tier CPS but has an active Friends Of group. I’m not as optimistic on the El time (Brown Line from Damen -> Quincy is more like 45-50 mins) but an extra 2.5 blocks gets you to the Metra for a ~15 min trip to downtown.
“Finally we make sure we get off the subject of the actual post and make sleep inducing references to inflation and macro-economics.”
Ok, guilty as charged.
But I will say the information discussed on property taxes is helpful. People can and should understand why their property taxes are what they are and where the money goes to. Plus, what direction it could be heading.
“School is McPherson”
Yep. Tho cross Leavitt and it’s Waters. And the boundaries do move a bit over time, so unless your kid(s) is in or starting school, might change.
Icarus – add boring school conversations to the mix and you summed it up 100%
Sold. $825,000
Wow. Really? $825,000?
Yup: well at least according to my Redfin alert. I wouldn’t have thought a 200k below list bid would close, but hey that’s the advice everyone here gives.
ouch, 825? congrats to the new buyer
“Yup: well at least according to my Redfin alert. I wouldn’t have thought a 200k below list bid would close, but hey that’s the advice everyone here gives.”
Well, it was apparently a relo company, so that just became a *really* expensive transfer.