Under Contract Within 20 Days for This East Lincoln Park 3-Bedroom: 2131 N. Clark
It suddenly seems that there are 3-bedroom properties in “real” East Lincoln Park for under $400,000 available all over the place.
This 3-bedroom duplex-up at 2131 N. Clark came on the market in mid-September at $389,000 and is already under contract.
All 3 bedrooms are on the second floor, with 2 of them overlooking a unique 2-story heated glass atrium.
It has some exposed brick in the main living area.
The kitchen has white cabinets and stainless steel appliances.
Built in 1988, the unit does have central air, an in-unit washer/dryer and an outdoor parking space.
Was this a deal for the location?
Emily Jeffries at Re/Max Exclusive has the listing. See the pictures here.
Unit #2: 3 bedrooms, 2.5 baths, no square footage listed, 1 car outdoor parking
- Sold in the early 1990s (I can’t tell for sure what year- and there is no price listed)
- Originally listed in September 2011 for $389,000
- Under contract within 20 days
- Assessments of $454 a month (includes cable)
- Taxes of $5888
- Central Air
- Washer/Dryer in the unit
- Bedroom #1: 11×14 (second floor)
- Bedroom #2: 10×15 (second floor)
- Bedroom #3: 10×10 (second floor)
“Was this a deal for the location?”
Yes.
I’ve wondered about these places. Can’t really tell if the living and bedrooms face Clark or the rear alley, which might be an issue, and I’m not too sure about the whole atrium/home-within-a-home feel, but this place is certainly nicer than the TH’s over on Dickens in this price range. Their comp is the 3/2.5’s up on Grant at Clark. Provided that there’s no problems (e.g., Are the atrium windows in good shape? If facing Clark, is it very loud? Does it feel like living in some sort of modern art exhibit?), this place seems far superior to the units at Grant and Clark.
Assuming it closes, congrats to the buyers and welcome to the neighborhood.
This looks like a very interesting place and goes to show if you price it right, it will sell.
I think the buyers got a deal, and I’m jealous!
Super deal. Beautiful place. Always been curious to see what the space looked like on the other side of the atrium. Congrats to the buyers. Good job sellers.
Always have liked this Kerbis-designed condo complex, but don’t like electric baseboard heat.
A nice, livable, 3/2.5 in ELP in the $300s. In the sacred ELP! And a 3/2.5, not one of those 3/1 or 3/1.5 jokes.
A comp DESTROYER for the countless generic LP/LV 2/2 dumps listed in the mid-300s.
I forecast adult diaper sales in LP/LV to soar as the 2/2 owners panic and realize they are stuck.
“I forecast adult diaper sales in LP/LV to soar as the 2/2 owners panic and realize they are stuck.”
Still many buyers in LP/LV:
http://www.redfin.com/IL/Chicago/3232-N-Halsted-St-60657/unit-H301/home/12742612
clio, that’s my point. hopefully that buyer doesn’t see what this 3/2.5 went for.
“Does it feel like living in some sort of modern art exhibit?”
I actually like that aspect to the place. Very interesting unit.
Not my style, but nice enough.
I looked at one of these units about 15 years ago and–even though I like “contemporary” they didn’t feel well constructed, seemed rather cramped (I’m betting the square footage here isn’t much above 1100, though numerous small rooms may be good for a 2 child situation). Also, the atrium on that unit was kind of dingy feeling. This also was in a strange block of Clark (though that may have changed in recent years–but surrounded by garage, halfway house, pizza place)
All that said, the updates & staging/photos make this place look better than what I remember & the price looks reasonable.
Agree with JAH that many of the rooms seem narrow and the place overall seems small. We’ll need to know exactly what the buyer paid for it to see if it’s a deal. Paying $380k or more would give me a “meh” feeling where I’d think they got a fair price but not what I’d consider a deal.
Someday this price will seem overpriced.
Place looks like a cave, that’s why everything is white or painted white, and every single halogen light is on in the pics. Place looks like the 80’s NYC apartment (where they brought Mick to the yuppie party) in the movie Crocodile Dundee.
All bedrooms on the same floor. Good. Price it right and it sells fast.
Looks like a good pick up. The rooms are definitely narrow feeling and that’s with the wide angle lense so I imagine that it’s pretty tight. Still though seems like a good deal for the buyers.
HD, please show us what is not over priced in your book. Good Lord, properties could be free and you would still be bitching about how expensive assessments and property taxes.
Please, pretty please; show me an example of what you feel is a fair priced property that meets YOUR unicorn criteria.
How can you tell they used a “wide-angle” lens? I don’t see any curvature at the edges or corners. Right?
All real estate photography is wide angle ( unless the agent does it herself) You can tell by looking at how large objects in foreground are relative to how small the same sized objects are int eh background. Look at the chair in the living room for example>
“How can you tell they used a “wide-angle” lens? I don’t see any curvature at the edges or corners. Right?”
A quality wide angle lens will not have distortion, lines are supposed to be straight lines, and if you do have some barrel distortion it’s easily fixed in software anyways.
Ha!! Are assessments and property taxes NOT too high? This is merely the first deal of many to come in the ELP.
‘Deals’ are like cockroaches – as soon as you see one, you know there are more lurking in the shadows.
That’s all I have to say about the matter.
“Russ on October 5th, 2011 at 8:46 am
HD, please show us what is not over priced in your book. Good Lord, properties could be free and you would still be bitching about how expensive assessments and property taxes.
Please, pretty please; show me an example of what you feel is a fair priced property that meets YOUR unicorn criteria.”
It’s all about lifestyles and priorities. Some of the folks commenting on the pricing, size and appearance of this place wish to live in areas I’d never even heard of until hearing them wax longingly for a SFH in Park-this or Glen-that, and unless my kid’s friends or sports require, I cannot fathom ever visiting such areas.
“‘Deals’ are like cockroaches – as soon as you see one, you know there are more lurking in the shadows.”
No, a “deal” is not the norm or a comp. That’s what makes it a “deal.”
so close to CPOG
“No, a “deal” is not the norm or a comp. That’s what makes it a “deal.””
HD shops at walmart and the dollar store, where EVERYTHING is a DEAL!!!!!
“No, a “deal” is not the norm or a comp. That’s what makes it a “deal.””
But yesterday’s deals become today’s comps; and today’s deals become tomorrow’s comps. That’s how it works.
There’s a house I like somewhere in the area and it’s listed at $260 psf. There’s a ‘deal’ that just sold, literally this week, for a very very similar home aka a comp, at $175psf. Not a distressed sale, not a short sale, a regular sale by a long time owner so there’s no need to chase the market down.
So when I look at the house I like, I will show the realtor a printout of the comp and say, “this is nearly identical” (long time owner, same style, slightly smaller, etc) and I’ll say “$175psf and I’ll close in 60 days.”
And if they don’t like it, I’ll revisit the house next year when the comps are selling for $165 psf and resubmit a lower offer; or just find a different house I can buy at $165psf because that’s what most others are paying in the area for this type of house.
It’s under contract. Big deal. Let’s see what the price is if/when it closes.
I think the main reason this place looks attractive at all is the lack of inventory in the 3/2+ space.
“But yesterday’s deals become today’s comps; and today’s deals become tomorrow’s comps. That’s how it works.”
Becauase, as wee all know, real estate always goes down. Don’t worry, Suzanne researched it.
“So when I look at the house I like, I will show the realtor a printout of the comp and say, “this is nearly identical” (long time owner, same style, slightly smaller, etc) and I’ll say “$175psf and I’ll close in 60 days.”
Are you buying office space or a house? Yes, $100/sqft diff is big, but $10/sqft difference on a 3,000sqft place? Is that really a big difference?
“hearing them wax longingly for a SFH in Park-this or Glen-that, and unless my kid’s friends or sports require, I cannot fathom ever visiting such areas.”
Get over yourself. two can play that game. What about people who view Chicago as flyover-country and “cannot fathom” ever visiting where you live and think where you live is a joke?
“What about people who view Chicago as flyover-country and “cannot fathom” ever visiting where you live and think where you live is a joke?”
I was one of those people. Then I discovered that Chicago (1) can provide (almost) the same professional and cultural opportunities as NYC or some expensive west coast area (or the handful of very nice, very expensive places in between) at a fraction of the housing cost and (2) is a beautiful place, primarily due to its location along Lake Michigan and, not coincidentally, the nicest places happen to be within walking distance to Lake Michigan.
Sonies was in the dollar store the other day and they had a note up that they now accept manufacturers coupons. I’m gonna get a bunch of free shit I don’t use or have a need for soon! 😀
Annony, I don’t think many people realize how nice and big Chicago is relative to other major cities. I have friends that flip out when they see Lake Michigan. You know it is “great lake” but the reality is that it is closer to a sea than lake. It doesn’t really sink in how big Lake Michigan is until you actually see it and then the beautiful sky line along the lake just caps it off. I never gave Chicago much consideration until I had to relocate here for school.
“today’s deals become tomorrow’s comps.”
HD is right. I am in the market for a 3BR in LP/LV. I have this listing bookmarked and printed. I’ll be waving this in the face of all the Suzannes and delusional sellers whose price begins with a $5xx. Sorry sellers, the bar has been lowered.
most New Yorkers or people from LA don’t even know about lake michigan, they come here and ride down lake shore drive and are all like, “whoah dude, what ocean is that?”
“I was one of those people. Then I discovered ….that Chicago (1) can provide (almost) the same professional and cultural opportunities as NYC or some expensive west coast area (or the handful of very nice, very expensive places in between) at a fraction of the housing cost and (2) is a beautiful place, primarily due to its location along Lake Michigan and, not coincidentally, the nicest places happen to be within walking distance to Lake Michigan.”
Oh right, the lakefront between North Ave and Diversey sure is “beautiful” (NOT!). How many times can you even traipse a mile east out there anyway, crossing over concrete pedestrian bridges at North or Fullerton with traffic noise at 100 decibels before it gets totally boring and repetitive? It’s a flat stretch of asphalt and cars. Not to mention the cold wind most of the year. You’ve obviously never been to place like the Puget Sound. Face it, your still grasping at a relative argument, and like clio says more people prefer SFHs in Buffalo Grove type settings than they do the subject 80’s small box townhome.
Chicago is way underrated, primarily because not too long ago it was largely complete shit.
“You’ve obviously never been to place like the Puget Sound.”
That’s just it: Had I not spent a decade (working as little as possible) in places like that, I wouldn’t be so picky as to where I’ll live in the Chicago area. Buffalo Grove? I’d say “are you kidding me?!” but, alas, I don’t even know where that is, or what it’s like (but I’ll go out on a limb and state that I have no desire learn about it).
You have an “interesting” take on the lakefront between North and Diversey. I’m sorry that you find it to be such a noisy, blighted, windy pit. If I’m running between North and Fullerton, I’ll only take the lakefront one-way (otherwise remaining in the park – oh gosh, I can only imagine how much you loathe the park). For any sort of longer run, I head north (the lakefront along the golf course, the park west of Montrose, and the lakefront up to Foster or Hollywood). I rotate my access to the lakefront mainly between North (the underpass) and Fullerton, and sometimes mix it up with the Diversey or Belmont harbor underpasses (but when I do that, I often go along the north pond – I know, I know, what a putrid swamp!).
p.s. It’s not a mile east from my door to the lakefront trail (I’m certainly not running 4/4:30 minute miles).
People say the “love the city”, but refuse to go ‘west of Western’ and God forbid they ever have to go to Midway Airport! The city is more than uppity whiteys in the sliver of GZ, who are actaully from suburbs who who think they ‘discovered Chicago’.
Try living in the true city, the Bungalow belt, where real people live and don’t throw their cash around showing off.
“Try living in the true city, the Bungalow belt, where real people live and don’t throw their cash around showing off.”
Why waste your time with that.
RE:“Try living in the true city, the Bungalow belt, where real people live and don’t throw their cash around showing off.”
I have lived in such an area, among the noble people you speak of.
From my observation, they spend much of their disposable income on shitty seasonal lawn decorations.
Serious, have you ever seen how much plastic holiday crap there is on the lawns in Jefferson and Portage Park? And, it isn’t just for religious holidays (life size plastic Santas riding Harleys, or illuminated 10 foot snow globes). It’s EVERY holiday, all year long, for many of them.
HD: “Oh right, the lakefront between North Ave and Diversey sure is “beautiful” (NOT!). How many times can you even traipse a mile east out there anyway, crossing over concrete pedestrian bridges at North or Fullerton with traffic noise at 100 decibels before it gets totally boring and repetitive? It’s a flat stretch of asphalt and cars. Not to mention the cold wind most of the year. You’ve obviously never been to place like the Puget Sound. ”
Do you have any idea how stupid you sound?
That’s right folks, there is only one type of beauty in this world. And it just so happens to be *exactly* what is in HD’s head.
Clearly you’ve never been to the Florida Everglades, you provincial rube.
:how do i signal the biggest eye roll i’ve ever had?:
tomm: “Try living in the true city, the Bungalow belt, where real people live and don’t throw their cash around showing off.”
Whenever I hear the words “true city” I know that the person has no interest in objectivity or serious discussion. Wherever you are, stay there. The rest of the “fake” city thanks you.
TftInChi: You my friend are a god damn idiot with a reading comprehension problem. It was the relatively new poster ‘helmethofer’ that dissed on the lakefront, not me. So before you go off on a rant and make a fool of yourself, please make sure it’s addressed to the proper poster.
I’ll take Midway over O’Hare any day of the week. And if the vast majority of working and middle-class white folks living in the vaunted Bungalow belt had their druthers, their communities would be 100% straight and white (and likely of a Christian denomination). Or is your alternate Billy Bragg universe inhabited by good old fashioned workin’ folks who ARE NOT racists and homophobes?
Damn. Well, apologies HD. Addressed to the wrong poster.
Can’t say I feel all that foolish, sorry to disappoint. But thanks for the kind words, you fucking twit.
Can’t we all just get along?
“Can’t we all just get along?”
[shaking Ze’s magic 8 ball]
Outlook not so good
[trying again, bc I have hope for this slice of humanity]
Don’t count on it
[one more time, bc we can’t really be that pathetic, can we?]
It is decidedly so
{Great! … oh, crap, I asked a different question. one last try]
Better not tell you now
[ah, well, maybe tomorrow]
Reading this blog kills my soul, yet I cannot look away! Cribchatter is like crack – addictive and bad for local real estate prices! zing!
At any rate, I really like the subject property and location, but share the concerns about layout, space, and camera angles.
As for Chicago vs. Everywhere Else, I’ve really come to enjoy the relative safety, quality of public transportation, and civic amenities, vs. where I grew up on the East Coast.
Parts of Chicago always seem too spread out to me, and there is a major segregation issue, but those two things are what frankly makes the North Side GZ as enjoyable as it is for yuppie scum like me. I prefer a little more grit and “attytude”, but I would definitely take Chad and Trixie over higher rates of random violence and housing projects sprinkled throughout towns like Philly. Plus the economy is better in Chicago. I’m still going back though! I definitely think I would be willing to move back here though if I find it’s true you can never go “home” again.
“you fucking twit.”
I love you too.
Great thread guys, nice work
TB – wow, man, thats some hilariously true shit right there re: the lawn decorations
Groove please come back!
Sonies, I second that!!
“And if the vast majority of working and middle-class white folks living in the vaunted Bungalow belt had their druthers, their communities would be 100% straight and white (and likely of a Christian denomination). Or is your alternate Billy Bragg universe inhabited by good old fashioned workin’ folks who ARE NOT racists and homophobes?”
Pfffffft…..like you and jay are any better??? You guys are as doctrinaire as they come, in the opposite direction, the mirror image. I wonder who is more intolerant, disdainful, and disgusted of the other side: annonny and Jay’s disdain for the bungalow belt/Royko type, or the vice-versa?
“Do you have any idea how stupid you sound?”
Why? let’s hear it.
If you go due east from Armitage to get the lakefront, you have to cross over either the North Ave or Fullerton pedestrian bridges. For me, the North Av/e crossing comes to mind. It’s anything but peaceful or beautiful, esp. on a drab overcast windy day, which are the majority of days in Chicago. Then you look at the “lincoln park” stretch from the boat house to Fullerton? What’s so great about it? Compared to almost any other coastline in America, it’s probably in the lower 25th percentile in true beauty due to the noise, traffic, concrete, flatness, drabness, etc. Yeah, and after you’ve seen the Hancock a million times that doesn’t compare to topography elsewhere. That’s my opinion on it, so anonny acting like a snob based on the lakefront across from Lincoln Park doesn’t quite cut it among well-travelled people. That’s the reality of the “lakefront” for the purchaser of the subject unit.
PS It’s not like there’s any “nature” along that stretch of the lake either, that’s my main point. There’s nothing there as compared to any other beautiful, natural (as in has nature present) coastline elsewhere. There’s no fish (alewives don’t count), no seashells, no nature, no trees, dunes, nothing but cement and a cheap thin man-made stretch of sand.
If you want nature you might wanna get the fuck outta the city. I’ve climbed mountains that would blow your mind and I still think the lakefront is one bitchin amenity.
“If you want nature you might wanna get the fuck outta the city.”
I hear that Manhattan and EsEff (and Seattle for that matter–Puget Sound represent!) have very natural, urban waterfronts, that are usable for recreational activities 422 days per year.
But I wouldn’t know better because I’m a rube.
A swimming pool in a backyard is also an amenity, in the bungalow belt. annony doesn’t have a swimming pool in his backyard. He doesn’t even have a backyard, right?
The lakefront is open to anyone in Chicago, so the bungalow belt people can have the lake AND a swimming pool. annony has his narcissistic brain though, that keeps him quite busy.
“But I wouldn’t know better because I’m a rube.”
The bigger problem is he thinks that little stretch of LP lakefront is representative of the entire lakefront. There are lots of quiet and beautiful places, all man made sure, but who cares. Northerly Island feels as natural as it gets and has an incredible urban city view.
“Northerly Island feels as natural as it gets and has an incredible urban city view.”
Here we agree completely, but this is not right outside annony’s little LP center-of-the-universe at Armitage and Clark.
Joe I: “Reading this blog kills my soul, yet I cannot look away! Cribchatter is like crack – addictive and bad for local real estate prices! zing!”
Nice. Although any correlation between RE prices on chatter here is probably an illusion. I’ll give you the bad for the soul part…
helmethofer: “Why? let’s hear it.”
Because beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Granted, the views on the coasts in the pacific northwest and cali–hell even pictured rocks on lake superior–are all good examples of breathtaking natural coastlines. But people travel the world to look at man made wonders for a reason: they are often as beautiful to behold as nature’s lakes, oceans and moutains. Chicago is blessed to have both in contrast: man made architectural grandeur perched over amazing coastline and waters.
As a point of comparison, have you spent time along the coast in LA or NYC? Manhattan has little of its coast accessible and while LA’s coast is nice, it has little of the contrast between urbanism and natural setting that Chicago’s has. I’d personally take the views and pedestrian accessibility on Chicago’s coast to either of those any day.
But the point is that this is all subjective. Many Chicagoans find the proximity and juxtaposition to the lake is one of the things that makes Chicago a great place to live. Complaining about wind, weather and one of the more beloved skyscrapers in the world and declaring our coast not beautiful certainly shows your bias and cynicism, but says little about how nice our coastline actually is.
Shit on it all you want. It won’t diminish my views.
helmethofer: “no fish (alewives don’t count)”
Eh?
http://www.ifishillinois.org/profiles/lakes/lake_michigan/wheremich.html
I wouldn’t call Chicago waters a fisherman’s paradise, but there’s plenty out there and decent diversity, especially given the stocking programs of the last few decades.
PS: if you are talking just about the portion of our lake between Diversey and North Ave, then I agree it isn’t necessarily the finest that Chicago has to offer (though the views of our skyline are hard to beat). Promantary Point, the LP golf coarse, Northerly Island, and Montrose Harbor area are my personal favorite bits of coastline in Chicago. YMMV.
h. meth, I don’t live at Armitage at Clark (frankly I’m not crazy about that specific location).
And I never said that the Chicago lakefront rivals this country’s best coastlines/mountain regions/naturally wondrous places to live. What I said is that the lakefront is what makes Chicago a particularly spectacular place to live and, as a result, (most of) the areas directly fronting the lakefront happen to be the nicest, most desirable places to live. Chicago’s not nicer than Malibu or Maui or Mendocino or Aspen or Seattle or the Bay area or San Diego or Telluride or Tahoe or Big Sky or Charleston or Boulder or…or…,sigh, I’m tired and need to get back to work, but I don’t think that I’m setting out any radical new theory in saying that the nicest Chicago areas are what they are largely in part because of their proximity to the lakefront.
I’ll concede that the lakefront has a depressingly low seashell count. I’ll also grant that I’d love to have a pool at my home. If I ever move away from the Chicago area, there’s a good chance I would try and have one. I just don’t see myself having enough dough to have one at a house in ELP or the GC (or in Evanstson/Wilmette were I move to the burbs). And it would have to be a pool like the one from Cocoon to get me to move out to the Bungled Belt.
“I would try and have one”
Which is it? Would you try or would you have one?
Well, maybe I was being humble (i.e., I could try to buy a house with a pool, but who knows if I could afford it, etc.), or by “try,” I was subtly acknowledging the effort that comes with owning a pool (all those Bungalow owners who have pools no doubt have a service to handle that task in addition to the yard upkeep, or perhaps they just enjoy spending their free time that way). Or I could have simply written “I would try *to* have one.” Do or do not. There is no try.
“all those Bungalow owners who have pools no doubt have a service to handle that task in addition to the yard upkeep”
That’s pretty much either-or. Put a pool on a standard Chicago lot, thaere ain’t much yard to maintain.
if you take away the lake, Chicago would suck.
Now i must concentrate. Making ice cream with liquid nitrogen. Problem being the nitrogen comes from a semen tank. Just one lil mistake and we got a whole new flavor- Creamin Semen- let’s see Ben and Jerry market that one. – inhale- focus – !!
“if you take away the lake, Chicago would suck.”
It would not exist. It’s as simple as that.
This place was a surprise when I opened the pics, I like it! In Lincoln district too? I think it’s a deal and pretty cool and unique!
I think this is a deal. I too was suprised… b/c the outside pics don’t look that great but once you get to see the inside (wide-angle camera or not) it looks great. Nice place. Nice price. Lincoln Park is a nice neighborhood.
“if you take away the lake, Chicago would suck.”
this is nonsense. It’s like saying if you take away the bay San Fran (or Hong Kong) would suck or if you take a way the Hudson River and make Manhattan a land-lock borough it would suck or if you take away the beach Miami would blow.
100% nonsense. These cities exist BECAUSE of the natural habitat. The only major city I know that doesn’t have anything natural to offer folks is Dallas. Yes there’s oil but that’s not something that can be enjoyed by the habitants. Even Vegas has mountains.
“These cities exist BECAUSE of the natural habitat. … Even Vegas has mountains.”
Vegas exists bc of state boundaries, and federal land ownership. Not becasue of anything “natural”.
“The only major city I know that doesn’t have anything natural to offer folks is Dallas.”
Nothing now, but Dallas was established at a river ford on the Trinity.