Sold! First time buyers choose single family home in great Lincoln Square location

We recently represented buyer clients on the purchase of 2140 W Montrose, a single family home on a wide 37 foot lot in the absolute heart of Lincoln Square amenities. The asking price was $450,000 and this was not our listing.  The purchase contract is out of attorney review period and is pending closing.  The location on the Lincoln Square, North Center border near Montrose and Lincoln is an urban paradise.

The 2140 W Montrose lot has a huge backyard and side yard.

The home was renovated in 2007...little to do but move-in. The owners can add to the home over time.

We love this location! The house is literally next door to the best of Lincoln Square:  Wells Park, Sulzer Library, Old Town School of Folk Music...and most importantly, across the street from Julius Meinl Cafe!

Welles Park last summer. 5 min walk to the play lot from the house!

Julius Meinl Cafe across the street!

Although some may find Montrose too busy, this house is located on an almost exclusively residential block lined with higher-end renovated and new construction homes.  One re-sale house on a smaller lot across the street sold for around $850,000 quickly last year.  When in the front of the house, you don't notice an overly noisy street...and you lose yourself in the huge backyard!  These buyers took the time to see the house rather than let a Montrose Avenue address turn them away.

Large  renovated homes line the residential block of 2100 West Montrose

Three bedroom homes in a four block radius of 2140 W Montrose have about a $520,000 closing median price over the last 12 months. This is a nice deal for a renovated, wide lot home with room in the price and market to improve the house if wanted.


Please contact Bob and me to find and purchase homes on the North Side of Chicago.
More Lincoln Square posts HERE!

Update: State Street Target coming soon

The facade of 1 South State Street: Photo Bob DePalma

State Street, That Great Street! Controversial to some, a major "win, win" for others...this famous Louis Sullivan building on Chicago's ever changing State Street will be home to a new Target store opening up this July.


We think the store will be very successful and meets the evolving needs of a lager residential and traditional tourist and business populations.

The side of the building on State Street: Photo Bob DePalma

More on downtown HERE

Interesting Roscoe Village renovation left for dead

This wide lot Roscoe Village renovation at 3318 N Bell has been stalled for over three years.

One of the potentially cooler Roscoe Village to-flat conversions to a single family home at 3318 N Bell sits stalled. This higher-end neighborhood has been attracting affluent buyers, including professional athletes, for a decade now. Audubon Elementary is a National Blue Ribbon Award Winner and the restaurant/ retail scene on Roscoe Street is fantastic. It's nothing new to see a two-flat converted to a single family home...or for a house to be torn down for new construction. About 50 single family homes have sold in Roscoe Village over the past 12 months with a median price of $870,000.


However, the bold addition of this arch and living space over a side drive makes this property unique. And...that it's an eyesore testament to busted developments-although rare in this neighborhood.
Take a look at a Google Maps  shot I found of the original structure below!

Before

After

All photos and analysis Eric Rojas, Broker and Realtor.

More Roscoe Village posts HERE

Bank owned luxury home hits Lincoln Square market

4838 N Oakley is a foreclosure for sale listed at $1,075,000 in the Ravenswood neighborhood

 A bank owned 30 foot wide lot luxury home has been "re-listed" for sale last week for just over $1 million dollars in the Ravenswood, Lincoln Square neighborhood. The Lincoln Square Community Area has had quite a few high-end luxury homes built and sold over the past couple years well over $1 million.  However, million dollar home sales on lots smaller than 37 feet wide and located north of Lawrence avenue are rare.  Most of these million dollar house sales occur south of Lawrence Avenue and on wider than 30 lots.

 However, this luxury home is excellent showing condition and move-in ready.  The quiet, neighborly location is only steps from excellent school options, restaurants, retail and the CTA Brown Line at Western Avenue. I think someone could pick up a deal here. Impress your sphere in a wonderful house and enjoy urban amenities like Old Town School of Folk Music, Winnemac Park and Welles Park, easy transportation and fantastic Lincoln Square community events year round. (This is not our brokerage listing).

More posts on Ravenswood HERE

More posts on Lincoln Square HERE

Mortgage: Introducing HARP 2.0! (Home Affordable Refinance Program)

How do you take advantage of today's low interest rates if your property has fallen in value? Steve Dunnett introduces the new HARP program.
 

You may have heard about the different programs available to help with refinancing and thought that it was not for you. Up until now, you were probably right. The newest version of the HARP (Home Affordable Refinance Program) may change that. The first version of HARP allowed borrowers to refinance if their loan to value ratio was at 125%... at least on paper. But many factors led to super high interest rates or lenders not even participating in the program...it was ineffective.

The new version of HARP keeps the risk of the loan with the original loan, so new lenders are more enticed to participate. Also, we may not even have to do an appraisal at all because the limit for loan to value is no longer an issue for the refinance. The idea is that no matter what someone owes, if they have been paying their loan on time they will be less likely to walk away from their house if the payment is even lower. Less homes going into foreclosure is better for the real estate market and lenders.

The updated HARP goes into affect March 17th. Things will be very busy after that because of the backlog of people that could not refinance under the previous program.. I’ve been preparing to work with many people who will qualify for the new HARP. If you think you might be able to benefit from the new HARP, please give me a call or shoot me an email. I’d be happy to go over the program with you and answer any questions you might have. Of course, if you’d like to check out the program as it is now, you can access information about it on the governments HARP program website here: http://www.makinghomeaffordable.gov/programs/lower-rates/Pages/harp.aspx
Let me know if there’s anything more you’d like to know!

Steve


Contact:
Stephen Dunnett, Loan Officer
NMLS ID: 755940
PH: 1-708-289-3408

Home buying tips: CPS School Locator for attendance boundaries

We often have clients looking to buy in a specific elementary school attendance boundaries. This makes buying a house or condo easier for our clients in one aspect (decision making), but also makes the few homes that come on the market very competitive. One tool we use to verify a school's attendance area is the Chicago Public School's "Geographic Information System" or "School Locator".



The CPS School Locator is a great way to double check addresses to make sure they fall in the attendance boundaries you want.  You should always triple check with the school itself if you are going to purchase the home. The Locator site allows you to choose all kinds of information and color keys to display on a map relative to addresses.

Want to move into Coonley school boundaries?  We use the CPS School Locator to help set up our property searches.

Often times, listing agents do not provide the name of the public school (or correct school for that matter) that corresponds to their listing. The CPS Locator site is in my favorite bookmarks so we can double check the school when searching for clients or when compiling home sale statistics in a particular school boundary. The school boundary feature on the site also helps us set up our automatic "map searches" for all homes listed for sale in a particular school attendance area.

85 "new" two and three bedroom condos hit the market in Lake View, Lincoln Park

We are working with a higher percentage of condo buyers (including first time buyers) this season than in a couple years past.  Several of our clients are looking in Lincoln Park and Lake View.  A quick look of newly listed two and three bedroom condos shows about 85 have been listed as NEW today through the past 7 days in the Lincoln Park and Lake View neighborhoods.  I can see where people can get a little overwhelmed when searching condos on brokerage sites and 3rd party real estate sites.

Great locations are still in demand and more affordable...like these Lincoln Park condos at Howe and Armitage.

Obviously, the majority these will not all fit the bill for our buyers. But it's just an example of what you have to sift through in Chicago's more popular neighborhoods to get to what you WANT.  The market here is very dynamic...from 900 unit high rises to intimate, two unit luxury condo buildings to town homes organized in a condo association.  The listing prices this week for two and three bedrooms attached units range from $95,000 to $1.4 million.


More Lake View posts here!

More Lincoln Park posts here!

Photos: Church construction making big splash on Mag Mile

A modern new construction building is taking shape at Chestnut and Michigan Avenue along Chicago's Magnificent Mile.  The Fourth Presbyterian Church addition muscles in between some prime real estate.

Iconic John Hancock tower looks over the new addition while Ditka's gets a new neighbor to the Magnificent Mile.

With the Super Bowl over, real games begin for buyers and sellers

Chicago will see a heavy and steady stream of listings hitting the market now that the Super Bowl is over.  Traditionally (not necessarily rationally), folks wait until after the Super Bowl to list their homes for sale.  With the traditional spring market already in swing (READ: buyers are looking now) combined with decent unit sales numbers from last year, we look for a good number of available units coming on at attractive market prices.

There are more new construction choices in Lake View and Lincoln Park this season

We have already seen several "market setting" sales and contracts this past January- especially in two-flats and single family homes- that will help guide home sale listing prices this year. Our advice for buyers is constant: know what you want and be ready to jump on a good property.  With a little education, it becomes a lot easier to feel comfortable about offering on a "value".


For sellers looking to get offers on their homes in a reasonable amount of time, they must be aggressive and price at what we consider market value and a little below.  This will make strong offers that will close the deal a more likely outcome. You should be educated on the really true market value so you may look at ALL options available to sellers.

Lincoln Park 2520 deliveries and available units will pace the top of the condo market

It will be a dynamic market for 2012.  New construction and new gut rehab options are back.  Listing prices are looking better to buyers in all budgets. 

Gone renovating: Tile Outlet and Crest Lighting

I've been through another round of renovations the last couple months at our house.  Tile Outlet and Crest Lighting are two of my "go-to" stores in Chicago for home improvements and decor.

I bought this pendant and ceiling light fixture below at Crest Lighting in Lake View for our last bathroom renovation.