New For Sale! Renovated Jefferson Park single family house $269,900

Bright, open kitchen with plenty of counter space.

For Sale! 5201 W Foster, Chicago IL 60630 asking $269,900.  Watch the video walk through!



Renovated Jefferson Park home in Beaubien School District. Crain's Chicago Business calls Jefferson Park a "best bet to buy a house" in Chicago.  Fantastic location for commuters! Minutes from two Metra lines, the CTA Blue line, 90/94 and Foster all make it easy to O'Hare, the burbs or downtown. Walk to Roberts Square Park, Mariano's grocery and Forest Glen Woods.

View more photos HERE

New roof, windows and an attractive exterior welcomes you home!

Open floor plan on main level.

Newer fully renovated kitchen overlooks the living room.

Fully renovated basement provides large family room, storage, 3rd bedroom and laundry room.

Family room.

Lower level bathroom with walk-in shower.

WOW moment backyard!

5201 West Foster, $269,900
3 Bedrooms
2 Bathrooms
2 Car garage
33'x125' Oversized lot
Landscaped yard with patio and pergola
Attic storage

Open floor plan on main level with living room, dining area, (2) bedrooms and one full bathroom. Newer gut renovation kitchen with maple cabinets, granite counter-tops and stainless steel appliances. Fully finished lower level with family room, second bathroom with walk-in shower, 3rd  bedroom and a separate laundry room.

Summer nights in your own yard!

Recent improvements include new windows throughout the house, fully finished basement, all new baths, new roof in 2015, newer HVAC, 6ft tall cedar privacy fence and gorgeous patio. The house is situated on a corner lot in Jefferson Park and just a few blocks from the Jefferson Park Blue Line and Metra stations (Forest Glen and Jefferson Park), Mariano's grocery and highly rated Beaubien public neighborhood school.

Jefferson Park is home to a booming arts and small business community. Art galleries, theaters and food trucks galore! During the summer there is a farmer's market nearby at the Copernicus center. Several parks and forest preserves for those that enjoy being active. Great sense of community!

 Exclusively listed by:

Eric Rojas, Vice President/ Broker

ericrojasblog.com

erojas@kalerealty.com

Kale Realty - Lincoln Park

2447 N Ashland Avenue

Chicago IL 60614

773-510-1597

Views along North Ravenswood Avenue

This tree sort of stands alone on the Metra embankment at the corner of North Ravenswood and West Carmen.  It stands taller than any trees within a couple blocks and has survived some major trimming.  It catches my eye as I use this stretch of Ravenswood often while commuting on my bike. 

North Ravenswood Avenue can offer many surprises including unique homes, wooded lots and the West Andersonville Gardens north of West Foster.

"Decorated" work cars creep along the Metra tracks.

 

More major investment in Ravenswood: Newark building sold for $6.5 million gets $8 million gut rehab

Metra riders wait at the old station platform in front of a gutted 4801 North Ravenswood, Chicago IL 60640.  The Newark electronics company sold the large property in 2013 for $6.5 million. Photo Eric Rojas, Broker, Kale Realty

The whole Mariano's/ Metra hub in the Ravenswood neighborhood (Lincoln Square/ Uptown) is home to continued major investment.  The large former Newark building sold for $6.5 million is now undergoing a gut renovation to attract new tenant leases.  The renovation is estimated at over $8 million according to a Crain's Chicago Business.

The new Ravenswood Metra station sitting just to the south of the building opened last week.  At least 10 new projects that come to mind (restaurant/ shops/ new construction buildings) have been recently completed or approved along or near West Lawrence Avenue from Ashland to Western since the Newark building sale. This includes the 150 unit Ravenswood Terrace apartments, Roots Pizza, The Sixth Bar, Ampersand Wine Bar, District, a 21 unit new apartment building, a 27 unit condo development and several 3 unit new construction condo buildings. Wow.

Show me the money:
The median price of a condo within a 4 block radius of the the West Lawrence and North Ravenswood intersection is about $275,000 over the last 12 months.  That's a pretty good value for a very hot neighborhood on the verge of exploding.  About 99 condo units have sold over the last 12 months in the four block radius.  The highest condo sale was a new construction three bedrooms, two baths unit for $595,000 at 4835 N Damen Avenue (Unit PH South) Chicago, IL 60625. 

Long winter at Ravenswood Metra station, new shelter to open in May

Ravenswood Metra stop at 4800 N Ravenswood Chicago, IL 60640. Photo taken from Mariano's late March. The new station shelter is completed just south of this platform but is not open yet. Photo Eric Rojas, Broker, Kale Realty

No relief for Ravenswood Metra Union Pacific North riders exposed to the elements with the recent spring cold snap. CBS Local reports the newly built shelter is not open yet due to a delay installing the new tracks.  The new projected opening is for May.  Bring your umbrella for April showers.

Ravenswood Station development, Metra improvement woes

Curbed Chicago has an update via the Sun-Times on Ravenswood Station.

Here's two recent stories for the biggest hot spot in Ravenswood... the sometime conjoined and sometimes mutually exclusive issues of the Ravenswood Station development project and the Ravenswood Metra Station bridge and platform improvements.

Sorry...this has been brutal!

Chicago.cbslocal.com has the story on resident opposition to the newest Metra Ravenswood stop plans.

Read more Ravenswood posts HERE!

Stock market down, oil prices up... Buy near the CTA Brown Line

Today's stock market report has given many the jitters I suspect. Some of the "blame" of the sell off could go to oil prices hitting $99 a barrel. Yep.

Luckily we have a elevated train system and those pesky buses to get around (CTA). Well, at least for the time being.

For some reason, I see the happy condo owner near public transportation in say... Wrigleyville or Lincoln Square... hopping on the Brown Line near their house tonight on the eve of Thanksgiving. Off to their local pub to grab a pint of Guiness. Not a worry about oil prices.

It's a nice life.

By the way, if you think Chicago real estate near an "L" station isn't hot, you have not been in the market for awhile.

Chicago Open House Stories

I hosted an open house for my clients yesterday at 2333 W St Paul, #305 in Bucktown. It was a busy afternoon with about 6 groups coming in specifically off advertising to see the penthouse duplex condo. I have been very busy with showing requests, Internet inquiries and clients wanting to see property... so Sunday's open house confirmed that people are out, wanting to buy property after the July 4th holiday. We should have a pretty hot Chicago market in the second half... at least I'll keep busy.

One person who came in off the signs I had scattered about wants to buy a place for under $300K, close to the Blue Line (or train line easy to downtown), has two bedrooms, parking, washer/dryer and central air/heat.

This is the challenge... starting from scratch with a client and really locating a great fit. Sounds cheesey, but it's a serious endeavor, if not satisfying. It's a persoanl rush to meet a new client looking for something specific and reasonable. She stated "I just want the best place I can get with those features". The new client is from the suburbs and has an idea of some city neighborhoods, but not expertise. She is commuting downtown, so getting closer to the city is priority for her.

I suggested Bucktown would be tough to get a decent place at the price, but I knew of a great West Loop/Printer's Row condo with one bed plus den, parking included for $264,000 or so. The place is right on the Clinton Blue Line stop, in her budget and she could actually walk to work.

We will look in several different places like Avondale (near the Belmont stop), Logan Square (near the Logan stop), and maybe even Old Irving. But the this West Loop location is one she never thought of. And I think it makes the most sense.

Ravenswood single family homes: Off market

Updated with photos of the new construction homes in Ravenswood: The Metra line is to the east and an existing successful townhome development is to the south. Existing single family homes sit adjacent on the north. These existing homes are in varied condition.


There are some cool off-market and preconstruction choices for single family homes available in the Ravenswood neighborhood. A five home development is going up at the corner of West Winnemac and North Ravenswood. These are frame homes... but huge. The first is just about framed out.

They are on what looks to be standard lots, but offer three floors of living. The height of the home suggests at least 10 foot high ceilings on each level. They are a minimum of 3500 square... detached garage will allow for a deck or yard area. I'm not sure what they are going to do, but the best combo would be to leave the yard space and put roof top deck on the garage.

I have not been able to find any information on these homes as of yet, but will be onsite to find out who the developer is and what the prices will be (I do have the marketing information now and will call for information). I'm guessing a minimum of $850K, but would not be surprised if they are closer to a million. The location is perfect for the commuter who wants the Metra Union Pacific North Line to downtown or Evanston...15 minutes either way from this stop.

There are also two conversion homes for sale in the 1.2 million range at the end of my block. These are brick and stone two flats converted to single family homes. Located near the Metra Line, the Damen Brown Line stop, Winnemac Park, Lincoln Square and Andersonville...these homes have location covered. They are situated on a quiet street and have oversized lots...about 25x150. You get a nice yard area and garage with the extra long lot.

These homes have not been marketed on the MLS. It's also a good time to get in and customize. If you are looking for high end homes around Lincoln Square and Ravenswood, and did not know about these off market choices, please give me a call. I will arrange showings.

The CTA and Chicago Cubs have conspired against me

The Chicago Transit Authority has announced it will “flood” (Tribune’s words) the North Side with buses to accommodate the reduction in commuter train capacity. The CTA will have to dramatically scale back capacity by a third as a part of the ongoing rail renovation, expansion and accessibility plan.

Great. I’ve discussed by sensory disgust with buses in the past… so the prospect of more of them on the roads during rush hour times is a kick in the you know what.

Can you imagine two, three, four buses stopping to pick up passengers on the same corner… one after another? Yes, that was a shiver down your spine.

Read this story and others discussing the decrease in train capacity at the Chicago Tribune. If you have not already done so, please register at their site to receive the content. Good real estate and commuter coverage.

Call or email me now to go look at homes near the Metra stops around Chicago… or for a good bicycle shop.

In totally unrelated news, Kerry Wood injured himself getting out of a hot tub in spring training. I can’t take this.