Will This 3-Bedroom SFH in Bell Go Under $500K? 1911 W. Berenice in North Center
We’ve chattered about this 3-bedroom single family home at 1911 W. Berenice in North Center several times since it first came on the market on November 1, 2011.
See our January 2012 chatter here.
Originally listed for $545,000 it has now reduced to $515,000.
It is now listed $10,000 under the 2004 purchase price.
Back in November, I thought this might sell fast because:
- It was among the cheapest single family homes in the Bell school district, and
- It was among the cheapest single family homes in the Bell school district.
Alas, I was wrong on this one.
Nearly 5 months later, this house is still on the market.
Some of you thought it would sell for around $500,000 simply because of its school district. Others of you didn’t like the location given that there is allegedly a patio dining area that will be located next door.
Built in 1896 on a standard Chicago lot of 25×125, it has 1704 square feet on two levels. There is apparently an unfinished basement.
All 3 bedrooms are on the second level. The house also has an “updated” kitchen with white cabinets and stainless steel appliances. The listing also says there is a new 2-car garage.
The gate in the picture above is for the property next door.
And yes- there are still NO pictures of the bathrooms in the listing (I guess Mr. Sullivan hasn’t been reading Crib Chatter.)
We’ve been debating the ultimate sales price on this one for awhile.
Will it go for under $475,000?
Kevin Sullivan at Coldwell Banker still has the listing. See the pictures here.
1911 W. Berenice: 3 bedrooms, 1.5 baths, 1704 square feet, 2 car garage
- Sold before 1991 (no price listed)
- Sold in December 2004 for $525,500
- Was listed on November 1, 2011 for $545,000
- Reduced
- Currently listed at $515,000
- Taxes of $8618
- Space pak air conditioning
- Bedroom #1: 16×14 (second floor)
- Bedroom #2: 12×9 (second floor)
- Bedroom #3: 17×8 (second floor)
When is the patio next door opening? I had read that the restaurant had closed.
This is not an attractive home and the location is also off-putting, as it’s next to someone else’s patio/dining area, as you note. Just from looking at the exterior, I can start to imagine all the issues this place has; everything from asbestos to sagging floors to crummy old siding. And no bathroom photos makes me even more wary.
Why someone would spend a lot of money for a crummy house with loads of issues that’s probably better as a teardown and has the possibility of loud noise from the lot next door – just because it’s in the “right” school district – is beyond me, however. (and “right” district only covers the grade school years. Where do your kids go to HS?)
No kids, just dogs. But I like the Trader Joes w/in walking distance. Roof looks old as well. I’d put this this @435.
Anyone notice 5339 n. Ashland for $189? Its a complete mess and probably a tear down.
But the location is right in the heart of Andersoniville.
I have no issue with the house or relative location.
I have issue with the BBQ Beer garden right next door.and the sensory overload associated
It’s NOT a tear down for that reason
Mid 4s next winter maybe gets it done after the beer garden closes for the season
Dan#2 you from Oak Brook too?
While not quite fugly, it is pretty darned close. That siding… Original from 1896? Or just filthy? Presentation is more than half the battle here. No matter the price, I would imagine coming home, looking at my ‘lovely’ home, sighing deeply, putting my dirty, rusty key into a worn lock after opening my rickety aluminum screen door, stepping into a saggy, flaccid lost dream of a better life. I would hope Bell School District offers great counseling for those kids who would be ashamed to invite friends over. OK, maybe it’s not that bad, but judging this book by its cover is almost guaranteed. Try a power-washer and clean the filth off the siding. This house reminds me of the ugly kids table on that episode of South Park “the List” (the house being one of the ugly kids).
It’s not that bad. It’s that BBQ Beer garden that kills it
No, Lunker. I’m not another Clio from Oak Park. I actually like old houses. But this one just doesn’t look like it’s been cared for very well. Mid-4s still sounds high. I get it that it’s in a good neighborhood. But the lot just kills it, even if it were in better shape.
Oak Brook, I meant. Not Oak Park. I actually like Oak Park.
Paint the siding purple and the trim green and blue (and fix up the nasty looking box additions in the back) and this ‘painted’ lady and the curb appeal would be 10x better. The problem however is that the bell district tends to attract those who want new mcmansion style construction that goes from lot line to lot 5 with 2 bathrooms on every floor; and an office and rec room in the basement. It’s an oddball that’s priced too high for a tear down, too low for the neighborhood and too damn ugly and old as is to really appeal to anyone except for the dude who bought it as a bubble purchase. It also doesn’t help that there’s no picture of the living room with a tv.
http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2012-02-09/news/chi-jury-gets-murder-case-of-man-accused-of-ramming-carload-of-teens-20120209_1_jury-convicts-man-gang-member-stephanie-herrera
Party in the wrong neighborhood in chicago where you dno’t belong and get shot up
http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2011-09-17/news/ct-met-depaul-murder-verdict-20110917_1_narcisco-gatica-berly-valladares-gang-member
Whoa, take it down a notch doczie. The siding, it can be replaced. Just relax, take deep breaths. Everything is going to be alright. No need to go ballistic.
I remember going to this place during an open house. It is not on my short list of places in that area. Next door, Did appear that it would be a patio with dining soon but nothing was out. The bathrooms left no impression, so could not have been that bad. I think the place has to go under $450k. The furniture is new too. There are multiple places in bell going under contract in a few days, some with multiple bids. All 2 flat which I assume will be gutted and turned into single family. When you price it right the market works.
homedelete –
Stop with your city bashing BS. It’s old, and not constructive in any way.
Party in the wrong neighborhood in NAPERVILLE where you dno’t belong and get knifed up.
See? Bad stuff can happen anywhere (except Oak Brook)
http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2012-02-04/news/chi-3-seriously-hurt-in-naperville-bar-stabbing-20120204_1_naperville-bar-frankies-blue-room-spring-brook-elementary-school
whoa: I”m not bashing the city, just showing what happens when you become a fish out of water in the wrong neighborhood. I live in the city TB, I just don’t go into certain neighborhoods.
That being said:
http://www.redfin.com/IL/Park-Ridge/1515-W-Marcus-Ct-60068/home/13659988
Check out this amazing house in Park RIdge. It put’s clio’s oak brook to shame! TO shame I tell you, to shame!
homedelete –
Being 100% honest, a good friend of mine and his girlfriend were held up at gunpoint (on their porch) on the 2000 block of Waveland in North Center about 3 years ago. Is that “certain neighborhood” off limits too? It’s pretty nice there.
It can happen anywhere, and fear mongering is not constructive.
Discounting the terrible CPS schools, where kids bring weapons to school, what is so great about this particular school? Besides Decatur, even the best CPS school seems run of the mill and I don’t understand what this one public school actually provides that’s any better than a middling CPS school. CPS schools just teach for the test and kids would probably scores about the same no matter where they went… the “smart” kids just get clustered into one particular school since so many middle class parents see that school as “good.”
“Whoa, take it down a notch doczie.”
I dunno.
I enjoyed his use of “flaccid”.
jenny how many kids do you have? what schools do they go to?
I don’t have kids, but you don’t have to have had heart surgery to be a heart surgeon. Paying a premium for a dilapidated house like this, just because of it has a “good” CPS school (that only looks good in comparison to other CPS schools), doesn’t make much sense.
yes paying 500k for a crapshack next to a smokehouse just to say your kid goes to some good CPS school is moronic
Jenny, Bell is one of the best schools in the state of IL. 96% of its meet and exceed state standards. 62% exceed, 34% meet, 4% don’t.
The house sucks, but the school is very good.
Having kids in the first place is even more so ; )….kidding
“yes paying 500k for a crapshack next to a smokehouse just to say your kid goes to some good CPS school is moronic”
” It’s an oddball that’s priced too high for a tear down”
No, it’s not. It is too high for a teardown in this *exact* location, tho.
“No, it’s not. It is too high for a teardown in this *exact* location, tho.”
Uh…..is it priced too high for a tear down or not? Where else is this house other than it’s *exact* location? can a house be in two locations at the same time? You got me going on a metaphysical tangent here; it’s NOT priced too high to be a tear down but it IS priced too high for a teardown in this exact location? where else is this house?
“Jenny, Bell is one of the best schools in the state of IL. 96% of its meet and exceed state standards. 62% exceed, 34% meet, 4% don’t.”
The question is whether those kids exceed/meet those standards because they have good parents or because the school is actually good and worth spending money on a ramshackle house to get. Cluster a bunch of upper middle class kids together and of course you’re going to get high test scores. Bus some “poors” in and those numbers will go way down.
“The question is whether those kids exceed/meet those standards because they have good parents or because the school is actually good and worth spending money on a ramshackle house to get. Cluster a bunch of upper middle class kids together and of course you’re going to get high test scores. Bus some “poors” in and those numbers will go way down.”
Ok, but isn’t that the same for most schools?
What anon is saying is that other teardowns in Bell do sell for upwards of 400k. Try not to be so literal.
“Try not to be so literal.”
We’re talking anon(tfo) the reigning king of cribchatter literality.
touche!
“Ok, but isn’t that the same for most schools?”
That’s why I don’t think Bell is so special that it warrants a premium… or any public school for that matter. I define a good school as one that values individuality and teaches kids to think for themselves. This is found in even a very small portion of schools, both public and private. Therefore, paying a premium for this or that public school is a waste of money.
OK, lets be clear – this could be a tear down 4-5 house down.
This is NOT a tear down because of its location next to the BBQ Beer Garden.
There is no issue with North Center or relative location but this exact location sucks.
I still say Mid 4’s next Winter after the Beer Garden season is over.
jenny (March 1, 2012, 11:26 am)
“Ok, but isn’t that the same for most schools?”
That’s why I don’t think Bell is so special that it warrants a premium… or any public school for that matter. I define a good school as one that values individuality and teaches kids to think for themselves. This is found in even a very small portion of schools, both public and private. Therefore, paying a premium for this or that public school is a waste of money.
You just said you have no kids so you have no skin in the game so how can you even have an opinion
“You just said you have no kids so you have no skin in the game so how can you even have an opinion”
I think jenny has a right to an opinion. It’s just that her opinion in this instance blows.
“is it priced too high for a tear down or not?”
Oh, by “for” you meant “to be” (thereby proving your later point).
Then the dispute is about the “too low for the neighborhood”. And the “lot line to lot 5 [sic]”, which ain’t permissible in the zoning, which requires 20% of lot width (minimum 5′) in sidelot.
Jenny’s logic is impeccable; it’s just validity of the premise (a very few number of public or private schools value individuality and teach kids to think for themselves) is faulty; and is more akin to hyperbole and generalization than cold hard scientific facts.
Bell has such large class sizes, that a few bad apples won’t bring down the stats. In some suburban schools disctricts, the classes are so small that one or two underachivers, can drop the percentage that meets or exceeds by 10%.
“Bell has such large class sizes, that a few bad apples won’t bring down the stats. In some suburban schools disctricts, the classes are so small that one or two underachivers, can drop the percentage that meets or exceeds by 10%.”
Yep, that’s how statistics work. Also, it appears Bell has about 25 kids/class.
“Having kids in the first place is even more so ; )….kidding”
miumiu, just make the kid conform to your plans and your lifestyle.
Not the other way around.
Kids are malleable and they will adapt.
Our friends who adopted the baby have gone completely bonkers.
They just tried to re-engineer some dinner plans for everyone to meet in an out of the way location in Brooklyn because there is a playground across the street from a South African restaurant no one wants to go to, so we can all take turns playing with their kid outside so she doesn’t get bored at the restaurant.
I’m like “Thanks, but NO THANKS!”
The husband especially has lost his ball sack.
The last time we saw them the wife was yelling at him to take his shirt off because the baby needed “skin-to-skin” bonding time.
The last time we saw them the wife was yelling at him to take his shirt off because the baby needed “skin-to-skin” bonding time.
That’s gross
Yep, Vlajos.
And you’d better believe we’ve gotten plenty ‘o mileage out of that one.
“Skin to skin! Skin to skin! Bwahahahaha!”
They are hippies.
Even worse, one day last fall, the husband sat on his butt with the kid in the dirt patch under a tree planted in the sidewalk right by Myrtle Avenue.
Right where all the neighborhood dogs go to the bathroom and where you used to see used syringes.
They sat there tossing leaves in the air and letting them fall around them over and over and over.
I was like “Well, at least the kid will have a strong immune system.”
Why is it gross? It is proven that skin to skin care helps neurologic development and the so called kangaroo care is used for premature babies. It is definitely not gross, what is out of line is yelling at your husband to do it. If she is so adamant about it, why doesn’t she breast feed? Sometimes the modern culture baffles me, people have no problem with one night stands and so called “skin to skin” with a stranger but finding it gross to have a parent’s skin touch their child?!
“That’s gross”
I asked The Wolfman if he thought the mom walked around bare-breasted doing “skin-to-skin” when company wasn’t around and he said he was POSITIVE she did.
LOL.
She would also travel to the Bronx to get breast milk from a stranger she found on the internet.
The baby is adopted, hence the mom can’t breast feed herself.
If she could, she would probably do it till the kid’s 12.
What I learned on Crib Chatter today:
Milkster is from Toronto
HD, is at least 33 years old, but no older than whatever mid-30s is
Skin on skin is a good way to raise kangaroo babies
oh forgot
anon(tfo) is the reigning king of cribchatter literality.
“The baby is adopted, hence the mom can’t breast feed herself.”
With hormone therapy, I bet she could.
“She would also travel to the Bronx to get breast milk from a stranger she found on the internet.”
so thats where the nickname Milkster came from eh?
LOL you are crackin me up this thread
Ugh, Sonies!
When she told us about it we were like “You did WHAT?! How do you know the milk’s good?”
Reminded me of that Dave Chapelle skit when he played Puffy and sent the Making the Band kids to Brooklyn to find him some breast milk from a Cambodian woman.
“people have no problem with one night stands and so called “skin to skin” with a stranger but finding it gross to have a parent’s skin touch their child?!”
A one night stand’s just a friend you’ve never met before 😉
miumiu, I guess I assumed the mother wanted the father to do the skin to skin thing in public. I don’t think it’s gross in the privacy of their home.
Is it the lack of sleep that makes people with kids crazy? Overworking so lack of time spent with child? or what… trying to figure this out
Definitely lack of sleep makes you go a bit crazy but also I think love is a sort of madness and I never thought I would say this, but there is no love like a mother’s love for her child.
Oh, I don’t find having a wet nurse disturbing. This is how we have brought up our kids for centuries before drug and food companies took over. Of course I assume the lady in question asked the wet nurse to carry out medical tests to see whether she has a clean health bill.
@ Vlajos, fair enough, but I still don’t find a shirtless man holding his child in his arms disturbing either.
This is such a very unfair and judgmental statement. How many breastfeeding mothers do you know who do this? I really doubt this will be a problem. If there is an issue, it is that too few women do what our bodies are made for and I wonder if we are paying for it given that nearly 1 out of 7 women in developed countries get breast cancer.
“If she could, she would probably do it till the kid’s 12.”
didnt you get the memo miu, kids are malleable… just no skin on skin, extracurricular breast milk or playing in leaves.
“Is it the lack of sleep that makes people with kids crazy?”
Yeah, and is that what makes them so self-important and makes them forget how they got knocked up in the first place?
” but I still don’t find a shirtless man holding his child in his arms disturbing either.”
That’s what I said to the police! Then they told me it was the guy making the complaints child. Week later I find myself living in Brazil. 🙂
That makes no sense whatsoever. Percentage exceeding, passing, etc is from the entire student population, not from each class, so it does not really matter if you have 5 classes of 20 each or 3 classes of 33 each. Are all suburban schools teeny tiny?
Granted, small class size is certainly preferable to large. Yet studies have shown that kids are better off in a large class with a fantastic teacher than a small class with a mediocre one.
Oh yea, I forgot, teachers cant be fantastic, something about teamsters…….
Looking to buy (March 1, 2012, 12:59 pm)
Bell has such large class sizes, that a few bad apples won’t bring down the stats. In some suburban schools disctricts, the classes are so small that one or two underachivers, can drop the percentage that meets or exceeds by 10%.
Or maybe Sonies – to tie it all back to the owner of this house – maybe it’s the stench of a flaccid lost dream. And jealousy. Because all they’ve got besides the kid is a pair of saggy old cow titties and a closetful of pants which will never fit again.
haahahahaha brilliant!
ok off to vacation myself!
“so thats where the nickname Milkster came from eh?”
No, it’s from the old adage of “Why buy the milk when the cow is free?”
Is parenting really crazier than, or would it really create jealousy of, a carpetbagging crapshack fetishist or a CMK’d couple in a 2br/2ba/2 pit bull 885 sf concrete box living the dream?
“2 pit bull”
I thought they were Presa Canarios. Bane and Hera or something like that.
Now that’s an obscure reference.
tfo likes to flex his omniscience now and then. he gets bored explaining the lanthrop home section of lp and defending nort center from misguided muckrakers
Going across town to get breast milk for your adopted baby? Only in Brooklyn!
G –
The previous owners of my in-town bought it with no money down and stopped paying the mortgage, assessments and taxes just a few months later.
At the same time they rented the unit out and pocketed all the proceeds.
So while they were making money off the place, the HOA was in the red, the county was out the taxes and the bank was losing money.
When I bought it the taxes and assessments were paid off.
The unit was pretty much destroyed by the tenants.
By the way the tenants did not know what they were getting into when they rented the place.
After the foreclosure they were evicted.
I repaired the unit which added value to the building as a whole.
I’m not sure where your bitterness comes from, but I’m glad I didn’t listen to you and I’m glad I didn’t lose out on an opportunity.
I’d be happy to compare notes in 5 years or whenever and we’ll see if today’s buyers have any regrets.
It’s not bitterness, it’s amusement. I’m glad you bought, too.