Winnetka or Southport? A 3-Bedroom with a Roof Deck: 3320 N. Clifton
This 3-bedroom top floor condo at 3320 N. Clifton in Southport came on the market in August 2020.
Built in 2012, this building has 4 units and garage parking.
This unit has luxury custom features including coffered ceilings in the living/dining room, wainscoting, crown moldings and a gas fireplace.
The kitchen has 42″ espresso cabinets, a Viking refrigerator, a Viking 4-burner gas stove and Bosch dishwasher.
The primary suite has tray ceilings, 2 walk-in closets and heated marble floors and a marble steam shower in the en suite bathroom.
This property has two outside spaces including a front balcony and a private rooftop deck with a pergola, a wet bar, a gas grill. It’s also wired for sound.
This unit has all the features buyers look for including central air, washer/dryer in the unit and 1-car garage parking.
The listing says it’s in the Nettlehorst school district.
It’s just a quick stroll over to the shops and restaurants of Southport, which has become one of the hottest neighborhoods over the last 10 years.
Listed in August 2020 at $900,000, is it a choice between Southport and a single family home in Winnetka for buyers in 2020?
Lyn Harvie at Baird & Warner has the listing. See the pictures here.
Unit #3: 3 bedrooms, 2 baths, 1815 square feet
- Sold in January 2013 for $720,000
- Sold in August 2018 for $878,500
- Originally listed in August 2020 for $900,000
- Currently still listed at $900,000 (includes 1-car garage parking)
- Assessments of $191 a month (includes exterior maintenance, lawn care, scavenger, snow removal)
- Taxes of $13,789
- Central Air
- Washer/dryer in the unit
- Gas fireplace
- Bedroom #1: 15×14
- Bedroom #2: 12×12
- Bedroom #3: 12×11
- Living/dining room: 22×20
- Kitchen: 13×11
- Laundry room: 4×4
- Balcony: 9×20
- Deck: 28×72
That’s a pricey 1800 square feet.
The coffered ceilings reek of taste. Acquiring a pad like this under $1m in a city as fine as Chicago is a steal.
Unless of course 2020 hits and affluent flight away from the city leads to depressed property values.
It’s more like “Clark or Southport” thinking of the post from a few days ago (2929 N. Clark). Both are Lakeview 3 bedroom/2 bath condos with parking. The size difference is roughly 100 square feet. This place was built in 2013 so new enough for most new construction buyers.
Is the interior completely photoshopped? Dont understand what the horizontal handrail in Photo #2 is for.
Outdoor area is nice. Not seeing a gas line or frost proof spigots – better budget a min of $100k
Looks like a lack of storage – bike on roof entrance doesnt make a lot of sense
Too bad this wasnt repurposed as a 2Brt + Den and more living area
Guessing that the constant turnover of these 3BR condos is due to families figuring out that they dont work for 2 kids?
So the seller is shooting for a $180k gain over the 2013 price? It was just as overpriced then as it is now. 900k will get a you a similar sized condo with an ocean view in SoCal. What am I missing? This place looks like it should be 700k tops.
As the first owner of this unit I have had my dreams come true with a place I lived in being featured on CribChatter. To reply to JohhnyU, there is gas on the roof as well as the front porch. The irrigation system was pretty simple to deal with over the winter, requiring just a little work draining the line before cold.
When purchased new the roof deck was not built out so part of the appreciation from the first sale is from that. Also this is on an extra wide city lot and really felt like more space than many of the 3/2’s we have been in.
“1800 square feet”
There probably is 1800 sf of interior space, but just barely, and including all of the stairs. The main floor footprint–per the measuring tool in the 3d tour–is 1680, before deducting anything.
And no, it is not an alternative family home to a Winnetka SFH. This is a quite nice DINK condo, and a decent 1-kid home for 0-18. But a 2d kid blows it up with that layout.
Nice unit at a great location.
The negatives: I’m not in love with the exterior of the building, and $900,000 seems like a lot for a walk-up condo with no amenities, especially with taxes this high. You could pay quite a bit less for a similar-sized condo in a high rise and get a doorman, gym, etc, though HOA would likely be a lot higher.
Speaking of which, this HOA seems way too low. Is maintenance going to be deferred? Who are your downstairs neighbors? In a small building like this, that can matter a lot. And. I doubt they paid anywhere near $900,000 for their units, which means they might not want to invest as much in the building’s upkeep.
I don’t really see this as a good family/children unit, though the nearby elementary school is said to be pretty good. It just doesn’t have that feel. I suppose you could make it work, but if you pay the same price in Winnetka you get better schools and don’t have to worry about what HS your kid can get into. Of course you can’t buy anything this new in Winnetka at this price.
“Dont understand what the horizontal handrail in Photo #2 is for.”
To keep people from falling down the entry stairs, which are inside the unit.
“900k will get a you a similar sized condo with an ocean view in SoCal.”
Yep. Finishes not as nice, tho. But lower property taxes!
One more thing: Why Winnetka? At $900,000, you could get a lot more for your money in other North Shore suburbs if you want to be in that area. Highland Park, Evanston, even Wilmette all come to mind. That said, it might still be hard to find 2013 SFH construction for $900,000 in those communities, but at least there’s no worries about what HS your kids will go to.
I agree with the post about this being more of a DINK home, or maybe for a family with one kid. The space is too small for two kids. Believe me, I grew up in a condo about this size with my younger brother. By the time we were teen, it didn’t work any longer and we moved to a townhome with a big basement where my brother and I could have some space of our own (well, we shared it with parents and dog, but we could play video games, wrestle, ping pong, etc. without bothering anyone).
“I doubt they paid anywhere near $900,000 for their units”
Garden unit- $478k in Jan-13
#1- $765k in Jan-18 ($605 in Mar-13)
#2- $785k in Jul-19 ($625 in Feb-13)
This one- Jan-13 for $720k
So, the developer priced it at about #2 + 15%, and that’s what they’re asking, based of the 13 month old sale.
This is a really nice 2 bedroom + den condo. Unfortunately, it’s not priced like a 2 bd + den.
“So the seller is shooting for a $180k gain over the 2013 price? ”
If you’re into statistics – home values, according to the Case Shiller index, are up over 25% since then which warrants the price. I do agree though that this place is overpriced.
As much as I love living in the city, I find it laughable to compare the Southport corridor, with a fine North Shore suburb like Winnetka.
In Winnetka, your $900,000 buys a fine house with at least 2,500 sq ft and often more, at least 4 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms, a garage with two or three spaces, a large lot, and on a quiet street in an extremely safe area with NO crime, in a top-rated public school district.
In the Southport Corridor, it buys you a boxy 1,800 sq foot condo on a narrow city lot, with ONE garage space, with public schools that vary widely in quality- if you can’t get your kid into a selective enrollment school, you have to shell out $20,000 a year for a private school, and it isn’t easy to get your kid a place in one of the better private schools, either.
The only thing that favors the place on Clifton is the much smaller tax bill, but that’s because it’s a condo with a tiny land footprint.
As a single woman, I prefer the city, always have and always will. But if I had children, and things like quality schools, space, and public safety were top priority, there is no way I’d choose most city neighborhoods over a suburb like Winnetka, Northfield, Highland Park or Wilmette, or even Evanston.
Great observations, Laura. I second everything you said.
“So the seller is shooting for a $180k gain over the 2013 price? ”
What were mortgage rates in 2013?
Home prices have risen in conjunction with the decline in mortgage rates.
“Unless of course 2020 hits and affluent flight away from the city leads to depressed property values.”
But, Michael S, “affluent flight” actually isn’t happening in 2020.
Not yet. Still have a few months left to go.
And property values aren’t depressed yet either. But that would take years to work it’s way through the market, like it did in the housing bust.
“As much as I love living in the city, I find it laughable to compare the Southport corridor, with a fine North Shore suburb like Winnetka.
In Winnetka, your $900,000 buys a fine house with at least 2,500 sq ft and often more, at least 4 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms, a garage with two or three spaces, a large lot, and on a quiet street in an extremely safe area with NO crime, in a top-rated public school district.”
Well said, but I dont think $900k goes nearly as far as it did just a year ago in Winnetka.
Here are three houses under contract between 900k and 950k in Winnetka.
https://www.redfin.com/IL/Winnetka/822-Humboldt-Ave-60093/home/13788568
https://www.redfin.com/IL/Winnetka/948-Spruce-St-60093/home/13786921
https://www.redfin.com/IL/Winnetka/781-Walden-Rd-60093/home/18940338
Here is a home that sold for under $900k in October of last year. IMO, larger house, better location, better curb appeal.
https://www.redfin.com/IL/Winnetka/955-Tower-Manor-Dr-60093/home/13789663
“Here is a home that sold for under $900k in October of last year.”
Which was below the *2004* price! Crazy!
And the other three are either close to or at older prices, or have had a *lot* of work done since. (Hate the f’ing dutch colonials, tho)
Winnetka is a waaaay better (relative) value than it was 15-20 years ago.
And all those Winnetka homes are under contract/pending!! It is interesting to me – – – are these empty nesters selling? What is the commute like from there to the loop – – door to desk at least an hour each way, right? I guess if you figure work from home will be an option some days a week, it is a no-brainer if you have kids. I have friends who are raising kids in the City and shelling out for private school land I just don’t get it. I would move to the suburb and the second those kids are in college start looking to move back to the city. Kids who do manage to get into the selective enrollment schools however do always strike me as smarter and more mature for their age than kids raised in suburbs so the city has other benefits.
My commute time, door to door from Winnetka to South Loop, is 30-40 minutes. Since March, traffic is light. I take Edens, then Kennedy, it’s same or faster than coming from Lincoln Square or Ravenswood – no traffic lights or stops on the way. I moved to Winnetka 7 years ago, commute to downtown every day, love living here.
Vera – we moved to Highland Park in 2002 from the city and have enjoyed it out here. Great place to raise kids, easy commute back when I worked downtown. It’s very much like small-town life. These 19th century railroad suburbs were built to human scale, with things generally walkable.
Here are more Winnetka properties priced $850,000 to $925,000. They al have at least four bedrooms, are in good condition, and even if they’re not new and or totally on trend, they’re ample and comfortable, and the typical mother of two might prefer them to walking up one or two stories carrying a baby stroller or load of groceries with an infant and toddler in tow, or circling the neighborhood for 20 minutes in search of a space for that second car:
4 beds, 2.5 baths, $883,000:
https://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/1270-Scott-Ave_Winnetka_IL_60093_M83916-70307?view=qv
4 beds, 3.5 baths, newer home built 2008, $849,000:
https://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/182-Forest-St_Winnetka_IL_60093_M74404-94391?view=qv
“It is interesting to me – – – are these empty nesters selling?”
The Cat: This has been going on for 5 years already. The Baby Boomers are retiring. Their kids are like 30 now. They don’t need to be in Winnetka. They were selling to move downtown or to simply move to better climate.
It’s been happening in ALL of the older suburbs, actually. Turnover of generations. But before COVID, Millennials didn’t want to buy out there. Too far of a commute and from downtown.
A retiree doesn’t need to be in a particular school district, and he really,really doesn’t need a 5 bed 4 bath 3,000 sq ft house on a acre lot to take care of. I’ve talked to retirees from North Shore burbs who are swapping their houses in Winnetka and Wilmette, for glossy new condos in Winnetka, or Evanston. I’m guessing such people are the majority of the buyers of condos in tony new developments in Winnetka and Evanston. Downtown Evanston is a great place for a retiree to live- beautiful, walkable, friendly, with plenty of nice restaurants, excellent transportation, a very high level of public safety, and friendly, polite people.