Vintage 3-Bedroom Cottage Reduces $23,000: 4838 N. Seeley in Lincoln Square
We last chattered about this vintage 3-bedroom single family home at 4838 N. Seeley in Lincoln Square in February 2011.
See our February chatter here.
Since that time, it has been reduced $23,000.
On the market for the first time in 14 years, the house has professional landscaping as well as a large back deck.
Built in 1884 on a 25×125 lot, the listing says it has 1280 square feet.
The house has hardwood floors and a claw foot tub in one of the bathrooms.
2 of the 3 bedrooms are on the second floor with the third on the main level.
The kitchen has a stainless steel refrigerator but a white stove.
The house has some of the features home buyers look for such as a 2-car garage and central air however there’s no basement.
What price will it take to sell this property in this kind of market?
Mark Mielnicki at KP&G Enterprises still has the listing. See the pictures here.
4838 N. Seeley: 3 bedrooms, 2 baths, 1280 square feet, 2 car garage
- Sold in October 1997 for $148,000
- Was listed in February 2011 for $389,900
- Reduced
- Currently listed at $366,900
- Taxes of $5660
- Central Air
- Bedroom #1: 14×12 (second floor)
- Bedroom #2: 14×12 (second floor)
- Bedroom #3: 10×8 (main floor)
- Living room: 21×14
- Dining room: 14×11
- Kitchen: 12×7
agent remarks are interesting… sounds like this place is in bad shape and the sellers are smoking crack!
i would bet this place was heloced cashed out a lot
This was a boomer who rode the property bubble and treated this as an ATM. Now they’re trying to get someone from the younger generation to carry water for their profligate, spendthrift lifestyle.
Why should it be worth any more than the 1997 price nominal? Is the job situation in Chicago better than 1997?
The price seems decent even though it’s a small place, but the Redfin comments (3 separate agents have view this property – the most I’ve seen) show that the unit needs some work.
The mortgages were only $191,500 as of 2003 vintage. Nothing special.
It’s still worth the 1997 price given the amount of work its going to take to bring it from the 19th century into the 21st century. And then you have to decide if it’s worth keeping a house that is only 1,300 sq ft. or just starting over. An addition would be expensive and visually displeasing.
Being north of lawrence doesn’t help either.
interesting, I would have thought something like this would have been heloc’d a lot
i guess people don’t bother maintining their homes sometimes
The inside of this one looks like a college rental unit. The house is small enough that the backyard is larger than any of the neighbors’ backyards. Is this potentially a teardown?
Did you guys hear about more of the mob attacks over the weekend?
that’s actually a nice block, a buddy lives on it – I used to rib him relentlessly that he had actually bought in Uptown and not Lincoln Sq (some Uptown org did claim east of Damen via some banners), but he eventually realized I was just joking.
this area actually feels more like Bowmanville than Lincoln Sq (or Uptown) due to proximity to the park, Amundsen, etc.
Just tear it down.
Lots of speculation that was wrong here.
I don’t really know this area, so I’m guessing, but I guess that this is not really priced near tear-down value, as I can’t imagine it’s more than $200k for the land minus reno costs in that location. IF someone can get a loan on it, it might be buyable for someone in the high to mid $200k range. The question is whether the condition is just a bit ugly or really requires significant structural work.
Just for the hell of it, I’ll guess that it sells to someone in October for around $290, and the buyer actually lives in it.
“And then you have to decide if it’s worth keeping a house that is only 1,300 sq ft. or just starting over. An addition would be expensive and visually displeasing.’
Who’s “starting over” on a house these days outside of a builder?
People want move-in ready. They aren’t going to do anything when they buy it. Maybe that’s what’s holding this house back. If it had stainless steel appliances, granite and a new kitchen and baths- someone would be buying it ASAP.
“People want move-in ready. They aren’t going to do anything when they buy it. Maybe that’s what’s holding this house back. If it had stainless steel appliances, granite and a new kitchen and baths- someone would be buying it ASAP.”
If this place were as nicely updated as most of the Aville condos we see here (ie, nice, but not d-lux), this would be a very nice place for the price. Very nice.
Besides being north of lawrence, this cottage is old. 1800’s old. who knows what’s behind those walls. is it worth even renovating? If it were a 2000 sq victorian, or in a great part of town – maybe. But here? for $366,000? There’s no basement to even finish. 1,300 sq ft of finished space is small for a SFH these days. That’s seems on the smaller side of a 2/2 condo too. There’s just not enough of a market for a $366,000 cottage like this. Heck if you want to live up near lawrence, go 24 blocks west and get this for $359,000.
http://www.redfin.com/IL/Chicago/4547-N-Kostner-Ave-60630/home/13482645
2,000 sq feet of finished space, on a 37×172 foot lot.
That’s what I”m saying, even if this sold as a firesale distressed property for $125,000 I wonder if this seeley property itself is worth salvaging?
“Who’s “starting over” on a house these days outside of a builder?
People want move-in ready. They aren’t going to do anything when they buy it. Maybe that’s what’s holding this house back. “
I don’t know if granite countertops and stainless steel is enough lipstick to coat this property at $366,000. Redfin still had 3 agent comments on the property – more than any other property i’ve seen yet. People are interested in the location, the price, etc. GIven that prospective buyers were using redfin agents the most buyers assuredly saw the pictures of the dated kitchen, the old bathroom (with the weird piping that probably requires an entire plumbing overhaul to update the tub – which is why the original clawfot is still there) before even visiting the property – but afterwards walked away from this. It’s just my two cents. It reminds me of a property I toured a while back. Looked nice but needed work, basement was too short to finish, smallish bedrooms, no shower on the 2nd floor or even the ability to put a shower on the second floor without taking valuable bedroom space. NO amount of granite or stainless would have saved that property and that’s likely the case here. Lower the price enough and somebody might consider doing a gut job on it. Somebody, maybe, but it’s gotta be pretty cheap.
“Lower the price enough and somebody might consider doing a gut job on it.”
Lower the price enough, and someone just lives in it, and updates as possible, or rents it out as is or whatever. Lower the price enough and one of the neighbors buys it to use for storage. Lower the price enough and someone tears down the house and landbanks it.
from the comments it seems some realtors will never understand how caps lock is to be used.