Vintage Condo Alternative in North Center: 4116 N. Bell
This 3-bedroom 1901 vintage single family home at 4116 N. Bell in North Center has been on the market for 11 months.
After being reduced by $55,001, it is now in the similar price range as many condos in the area yet it has a nice front and backyard and a 2-car garage.
All three bedrooms are on the lower level, or the “first” floor, however, and the kitchen doesn’t sport any granite or stainless steel appliances.
The house is also in the highly coveted Coonley school district.
What will it take to sell this vintage home?
Suzanne Gignilliat at Koenig & Strey has the listing. See the pictures here.
4116 N. Bell: 3 bedrooms, 2 baths, 2018 square feet, 2 car garage
- Sold in August 1989 for $82,800
- Sold in June 1991 for $180,000
- Sold in October 1994 for $184,000
- Sold in September 1998 for $270,000
- Originally listed in September 2008 for $580,000
- Reduced twice
- Currently listed for $524,999
- Taxes of $6016
- Central Air
- 2 brick fireplaces including one in the master bedroom
- Bedroom #1: 22×11
- Bedroom #2: 13×11
- Bedroom #3: 13×11
that place is kind of quaint but I think I’d feel pretty shitty if I dropped a half mil on it.
Hey location location location
Like the two car garage, but the rest of the place is pretty dumpy.
I have seen this place. It is a little dated inside but not bad. The upstairs actually has a nice layout. The problem is with the bedrooms in the basement – you have to go through the second bedroom to get to the third bedroom (also where the washer and dryer are located). The third bedroom is also open to the upstairs by a spiral staircase. I think the bedroom configuration rules this house out for most families.
Wow, that kitchen screams “I love the 80s”
475k is my guess. And no I wouldn’t pay that to live here but I bet someone else does.
What a giant POS… seriously will people pay that frickin much just to live in a decent school district? I’m never having kids, f–k that!
i may be wrong but i thought that Bell elem school was the “highly coveted” school in that area?
its a nice hood with nice streets nice sized bedrooms nice size garage a nice landscaped yard some nice bars and nice restaurants but @ 524k ummm i dont know
i love that the kitchen doesnt have granite or suburban stainless steel appliances and is laid out nicely
its a NICE place
“i may be wrong but i thought that Bell elem school was the “highly coveted” school in that area?”
You’re not wrong, but Coonley is (and has been) changing dramatically as we speak and if you haven’t been in the ‘hood in a few years, it has changed a lot. Coonley may have been the hardest Elem. magnet program to get into this year.
“and if you haven’t been in the ‘hood in a few years, it has changed a lot”
the neighborhood over there was always nice since way back, i used to work at the ace hardware when i was a teen (my first legal job). and its gotten better.
thats why that school didnt hit my radar its a magnet school.
Sonies, yes, it works this way. I know lot of people who are in the trouble right now because they are living in the wrong neighbourhood or wrong side of the street. They were not thinking about school districts when they originally bought their places and regret it now.
But after the whole morning on the phone with CPS – I can totally see benefits of private schools!
“thats why that school didnt hit my radar its a magnet school.”
It has a magnet program *and* a neighborhood program.
“the neighborhood over there was always nice since way back”
There’s something I’m not allowed to say* about a number of the (mostly) **former** renters–especially in the few buildings just west of Lincoln from Addison north and a couple of blocks in Coonley. Not bad people, but not “typical” northsiders (or southsiders, or westsiders) either. (Altho by their very existence and one-time concentration, they were–in a way–“typical”.) I actually was talking to one of my neighbors about the tenants of his house when he bought it in the early-90s. So it’s not my imagination.
*Sabrina deleted my post on the subject. Maybe someone else remembers and will post, but I won’t.
“But after the whole morning on the phone with CPS – I can totally see benefits of private schools!”
The private schools have nicwer hold music? Having kids in/registering for school is being on the phone and dealing with non-sensical nonsense.
Not that anyone cares, but Coonley is not magnet. It has a neighborhood program and a gifted program, which was the most competitive (highest test scores, higher than Edison) for this year’s K class. The school has a dynamic newer principal, who has attracted some large grants and is a school to watch.
“Coonley is not magnet. It has a neighborhood program and a gifted program”
The distinction b/t gifted v. magnet in CPS gets abused interchangeably*, even by some parents with kids in the programs. Why CPS has 6 different categories of Elem “selective”/lottery enrollment programs baffles me.
*intentional.
anon (tfo),
It’s more that school district is too big and hard to find the person in charge. They lost my son’s documents + someone forgot to file other papers and now people are blaming this on each other and on different departments and not doing what they are supposed to do. And I don’t know the system that well so I have no idea who’s fault it is and what should I do besides calling and complaining. It’s my third day on the phone and probably I’ll have another three.
With one kid we would probably just go with the private school and wouldn’t have to pay premium for attendance area. But we are planning to have at least another one and $35-45K per year for school is just too much.
“They lost my son’s documents + someone forgot to file other papers and now people are blaming this on each other and on different departments and not doing what they are supposed to do.”
I find it’s best to just ask what you need to get where, when and to whom (as with all gov’t things everywhere). If someone says “I don’t know”, ask them if they know who to ask, or who might know who to ask. Then hand-deliver whatever it is to whomever is supposed to receive it.
And your best resource should be the office staff and principal (or asst) at your kids school. They deal with the (central) administartive headache, too.
hillbillys. the neighborhood used to be a bunch of hillbillys.
“We lost your son’s documents” must be the Chicago Way of saying that those documents will suddenly reappear for a modest fee.
312forever, good luck on the CPS issue. It is almost a full time job to deal with the array of problems that crop up with CPS.
North Center has seemed way too high priced for the location for years now — what’s the deal? Sure it’s a “nice” neighborhood, but not particularly convenient, nor does it have any special draws. Why would I pay so much more for North Center vs. say Portage Park??
You need to get out more if you don’t know the difference between North Center and Portage Park….
“EJ on August 4th, 2009 at 12:01 pm
North Center has seemed way too high priced for the location for years now — what’s the deal? Sure it’s a “nice” neighborhood, but not particularly convenient, nor does it have any special draws. Why would I pay so much more for North Center vs. say Portage Park??
“
“Why would I pay so much more for North Center vs. say Portage Park??”
let me know if would like me to list the reasons, i have many.
“North Center has seemed way too high priced for the location for years now — what’s the deal? Sure it’s a “nice” neighborhood, but not particularly convenient, nor does it have any special draws.”
Ask someone with kids.
And comparing PP to NC for “convenience”? Really? But that’s basically about how one lives one’s life; wouldn’t work too well for me–very little of the ‘hood is
anon (tfo),
Thank you! you are always very helpful and knowledgeable. You are my favorite on CC!:)
Pete,
No, not in this case. Just one of the examples of mismanagement in CPS.
dd,
Thanks! Fortunately or unfortunately dealing with CPS is my only full-time job now. Spring 09 was the worst time to graduate with MBA!
312forever,
Enjoy the CPS experience, its not all bad, it has its good aspects. the bad as you have seen can get out of hand. I cant give my experiences yet as a parent but as product of CPS i can tell you the bureaucracy of it sucks and it seems sometimes nobody wants to help or can help.
i remember my mom writing letters going the head cps office just to get things straight. she even went to the alderman for help
“she even went to the alderman for help”
This can also be a practical idea, depending on the alderman.