Open House Saturday! 4702 N Talman, Unit 2 in Lincoln Square asking $229,900 (VIDEO)

Open House Saturday August 5th, 11a to 1p

4702 N Talman #2, Chicago IL 60625

 $229,900

Watch the video walk-through!

Spacious living room and sun room

Kitchen and breakfast bar

Kitchen overlooks dining area

Large deck area

Great Ravenswood Gardens, Lincoln Square location in Waters School district. Two beds, one bath, large shared deck, central AC/Heat, in-unit washer and dryer. Steps from Rockwell CTA Brown Line train and Rockwell Crossing shops and dining. Low assessment and taxes!

More property information and photos HERE

CPS Summer Meals program in effect

Amundsen High School is our closest location for the CPS Summer Meals program. Check the link for schools near you or neighbors in need of summer meals. All photos Eric Rojas, Kale Realty

Chicago Public Schools has a school breakfast and lunch program in effect. Please pass the word on to neighbors.  The lunch sites near our home around Winnemac Park are Amundsen High School for lunches and Waters School for breakfast and lunch.

Check the link for locations close to your home and neighbors in need.

Great escape! Riverbank area houses in North Center

Wow, so cool! This house sits overlooking the river on West Berteau.  They added a massive picture looking west.

Chicago has no end to interesting pockets to live in.  The North Branch riverbank area of North Center offers a great escape just off busy North Western Ave and West Irving Park Road. I dropped my son off at Revere Park for flag football and took a run headed north quickly enhanced by the riverbank trails. The eastern bank of the river between Irving Park Road and Montrose offers a nature respite with single family homes backing right up to the riverbank.

So cool here's another angle.

A full gut renovation near completion a half block from the riverbank in North Center. I counted at least a half dozen tear-down or gut rehabs in process walking around a couple blocks.

The rectangle section between West Montrose Ave and West Irving Park Road and North Western Ave to the river (shown below) has seen a lot of sales and rehab activity in the last 12 months. It's a quiet, tree-lined area located in popular Waters School district.  22 single family homes have closed in this section of North Center near the river in the last 12 months. The median price over the last 12 months is a healthy $899,000.

I spend a little time walking the river trail on the east bank and then head over to the west bank of the river to run the large Horner Park running path. When we were buying a house back in 2010 I was fixated on Lincoln Square and the Winnemac Park area we were currently living. I never gave this awesome section consideration. Looking back it should have been a top option due to parks and schools.  Here's some trail photos from last week's walk.

Six (6) two-flat buildings sold in the same area over the last 12 months for a median price of about $525,000. Consider a multi-unit purchase as a cheaper way to get into the neighborhood you want.

Bang Bang Pie confirms new location on Damen near Winnemac Park

The store front at 4947 N Damen Avennue teases walker-bys. All photos Eric Rojas, Broker, Kale Realty

Patty Wetli of DNAinfo confirms Bang Bang Pie will open a new store at 4947 N Damen Avenue in the Ravenswood neighborhood of Lincoln Square. The location is across from popular Winnemac Park.  We posted earlier this week on speculation over what would replace Dolce Casa Cafe.

Bang Bang Pie and Biscuits should do great at this location.  North Damen Avenue from Lawrence to Foster has become a fairly high-end destination for new condos and has added quality retail and dining over the past few years.

Residents living near Winnemac Park on Damen Avenue have been longing for a new cafe to take over for local favorite Dolce Casa Cafe.

 

 

Home sales in Waters school district 2015: units sold up 27% and median price up 21%

A couple new single family home conversions caught my eye in the Waters school district of the Ravenswood Gardens neighborhood. The two-flat at 2418 W Wilson sold in early 2014 for $549,000 cash. The converted project was listed at $1,259,000 on the MLS earlier this year but is now cancelled.  2420 W Wilson was bought at the same time for $600,000 in early 2014. Both developer projects are listed for sale by Coldwell Banker according to the signs.

2416 W Wilson pictured below on the right (corner home on the alley) sold for $535,000 in early 2015 and now is under construction.

2416 W Wilson on the right is under gut renovation.  The three adjacent homes on Wilson in Waters school district are all formerly two-flats getting make-overs to single family homes.

Let's check in on home sales in this desirable area with a well rated neighborhood school.

Approximately 28 single family homes closed in the Waters elementary school district in 2015.  The median price of a house was $765,000 for the year.

The lowest sale was $425,000 for a two bedrooms "move-in ready" brick bungalow at 2529 W Cullom Ave, Chicago IL 60618. The highest sale in the district in 2015 was $1,237,500 in the Waters Elementary school district at 2510 W Cullom Ave, Chicago IL 60618.  It's rare to have the lowest and highest sold homes in a school district on the same block (unless one is a tear down and one is new construction).  The 2500 block of West Cullom is a desirable block on the Chicago River North Branch.

Past sales22 homes were recorded as sold in the MLS for Waters school district in 2014 with a median price about $675,000.  In 2013, 22 homes were also recorded as sold but with median price of about $569,000.  In 2012, about 19 homes closed with a median price about $630,000.

The grounds at Thomas J. Waters school, Chicago

Chicagoans love their green spaces and Waters school knocks it out of the park. The school has gained lots of "parent buzz" in the real estate world as a terrific place to send your kids. Getting into a well ranked Chicago Public School attendance boundary is not a piece of cake for Chicago families. The best school attendance districts command the highest single family home prices on average. Although, what qualifies as a quality school for individual families is a personal choice, there's no doubt Waters has a very unique "green" culture.