A canopy of green in Oak Park

A huge sprawling tree covers the entire backyard of a prospective house. Mature trees and landscaping can be found in every direction on the 700 block of North Grove Avenue in Oak Park.

I was in Oak Park this past Saturday with clients looking for houses in the $500,000 range.  That brought us to one the greenest few blocks in Oak Park: North Grove Avenue in Horace Mann school district. I failed to get shots of the street this time around.  However, one could not imagine a more down home and attractive street of landscaped classic houses!  The blocks were a flurry of activity as owners cared for their trees, shrubs, flowers and homes.

You can really lose yourself in the yards these blocks and forget your in an urban environment.  It feels much more like a  Michigan vacation house when you step into the yards and see 
green in every direction (hiding any hint of the bustling village just yonder).

Step into the woodsy environs of Oak Park!

Big new house in Southport Corridor

New construction on the 3542 North Greenview... directly behind our latest listing at 3543 N Bosworth Unit C.  The original property here was sold in 2011 for $775,000. Size matters!

New construction houses are in high demand in popular neighborhoods like Lakeview's Southport Corridor.  If an existing property is torn down then almost exclusively a large, luxury house will be built.  It's fascinating that we never see a smaller home built keeping more of the lot for a yard.  Economically, the numbers would not work for a builder/ developer as demand is for more square footage.

Gut rehabs and renovations remain the option for keeping more modest houses around.

Sales! Lincoln Square condo sales looking up, inventory down

Suddenly the condo market inventory in Lincoln Square is tight with many units under contract at the moment.  There are a handful of new construction projects popping up.  Let's look at the sales numbers for 2013 thus far:

Farmers Market at Leland and Lincoln (Photo, Eric Rojas)

Lincoln Square Condo Sales Jan 1st through May 28th, 2013

105 condos (attached units, town houses) sold and closed thus far. This is up a little from the 93 units sold same time last year.  The median price of a condo is about $225,000 for the greater Lincoln Square community area this year.  Median price is up from the $212,000 about this time last year. The prices are generally higher in the southern locations and lower in the northwestern portions of the large community area.

The lowest sale is $25,000 for 2401 W Balmoral... a studio apartment in a former defunct condo conversion project.

The highest sale this year for an attached unit is 2002 W Sunnyside for $615,000. The four bedrooms row house/ town house offered newer construction with a single family feel.

Under Contract

It feels like all Lincoln Square condos are under contract.  There are 95 condos under contract at the moment with only 64 units actively for sale.  Asking prices for units under contract range from $45,000 to $575,000.  The median asking price of a condo under contract is $250,000.

264 condos closed in Lincoln Square in all of 2012.  I think we will surpass that number in 2013.  At the moment, about 199 condos are closed or under contract with 6 months to go in the year.

Dining in Giddings Plaza, Lincoln Square (Photo, Eric Rojas)

We've represented many condo buyer's and sellers in Lincoln Square. It is a relatively sleepy condo market.  There are much fewer units in general than a Lakeview or Lincoln Park while new construction and gut rehab projects have been virtually non-existent since the 2008 financial crash.

Prior to that, you would mostly see new construction built on the major streets of Lincoln, Western, Damen and Lawrence from 2000-2008. The residential streets have almost exclusively vintage gut-rehabs with 2 bedroom,  1 bath condos.  Very few three to six unit new construction buildings can be found in all of Lincoln Square despite the abundance of these buildings in Lakeview and Lincoln Square.

It pays to be prepared for the small number of excellent condo homes that do hit the market.

New for sale! Three bedrooms town house in Lakeview's Southport Corridor $449,000

Take our video walk-through of 3543 N Bosworth Unit C!  The updated Southport Corridor town house has a huge rooftop deck!




This three bedrooms, two baths town house has a large family room, garage parking, great closets and a terrific private rooftop deck.  Fantastic location near the CTA Brown Line, grocery, boutique shops and dining all within a few blocks.

The home lists on the market today for $449,000.

Here's a video I shot a few years ago just a couple blocks from this town house along Southport Corridor.



 The home is presented by Eric Rojas and Bob DePalma, Kale Realty

Northeastern Illinois University Campus Recreation

This way to the gym! (Photo, Eric Rojas)

The Northeastern Illinois University recreation complex offers affordable memberships to community members.  For discounted memberships as an alum contact the NEIU Alumni Association.   Contact the Campus Recreation at 773-442-4135 or stop in at 5500 N St. Louis Avenue in Chicago for program brochures and a facility tour.

The campus recreation center has tons of sports equipment to borrow for basketball, racquetball, soccer and specialized sports.  The gyms, indoor track and swimming pool facility are great and the fitness room well equipped.  The campus also host kid's summer camps and other third party programs on the NEIU grounds. 

NEIU also sponsors 5K runs, hosts various sports leagues and special events for adults throughout the year.

My love/ hate relationship with Chicago birds

I caught this scene of momma feeding her babies outside my bathroom window (photo Eric Rojas)

I mostly hate birds.  They make nests everywhere and in everything.  They zig and zag across my yard "doing their business" on my sidewalk, patio and furniture.  Every spring I wonder why it seems we have so many entitled birds in our yard... then I look across at the 100 bird houses in my neighbor's tree.

I don't trust the birds.  Any conspicuously close swoop can be deemed intentional.  But, how can you not love this little vignette above?  I opened the bathroom window just long enough to take this shot.  I figured if I took any longer that bird would be in the bathroom with me.

 

New contemporary house on traditional Lincoln Square block

We first mentioned this new construction on West Eastwood earlier this year.  The vast majority of new construction in the Lincoln Square neighborhood is very "American traditional" in exterior style and transitional in the interior.  This custom new build looks to be striking out on its own...which I think is great.

New contemporary construction on the 2100 block of West Eastwood

It may be following in the footsteps of double-lot contemporary home nearing completion of North Seeley Avenue pictured below.  I'd love to see the Eastwood house lean toward minimalist modern.

I spoke to some neighbors on this West Eastwood block last week.  Most seem to be happy with the way housing prices have been this year rather than concerned about the style of this house.  In any event, we wish the owners luck with their new dream house in a great location.  New construction houses in this area have sold from $1.3M to $1.8M in the last couple years.

Curious construction BOOM on West Farragut in Bowmanville

This standard lot home is being built at the corner of West Farragut and North Leavitt. The previous property sold for $250,000 cash and was quickly torn down (photo Eric Rojas)

2221 W Farragut was purchased this year for $250,000 cash and quickly torn down as well for a single family home development (photo Eric Rojas).

Two blocks of West Farragut Avenue in usually measured Bowmanville have gone willy-nilly with new construction.  The 2200 to 2400 blocks of Farragut have seen quite of action including re-sales and developments in the last year.

This exciting double-lot home above is a custom build by a current Bowmanville resident (photo, Eric Rojas).  The two separate lots sold for a total of $385,000.



This vacant lot at 2230 W Farragut was sold by the owners of the adjacent house for $190,000 last year.

It is rare to see so many new house being built at one time on a two block stretch. Bowmanville is very established and is not prone to quick turnover.  However, West Farragut has had far more sales and development than any other street in the neighborhood in the past year or so.  The sales are reflective of the current market demand for new construction homes and quality re-sale houses on the North Side.

 

 

 

There are a few gut rehabs in progress on adjacent blocks as well.  It's a big year for Bowmanville.

 Click the label link below for more of our posts on Bowmanville.  Check out our last single family homes sales on 2209 West Farragut and 4321 N Bell North Bell.

 

Under Contract! Buyers secure top floor unit in prime Lakeview location

The views from 2850 N Burling #4.  Our buyer clients are under contract on the home (asking price of the condo was $685,000).  The location on the border of Lakeview and Lincoln Park is outstanding!  Fantastic shopping and dining just around the corner...not to mention a Trader Joe's at the end of the street.

Tree-top views from North Burling in Lakeview...the trees in bloom are outstanding! (photo, Eric Rojas)

These large 3 bedrooms full-floor units on the 2800 block of North Burling in Lakeview are well sought after.  This in the second unit of this build and style we've sold as the buyer's agent within a year...both were very intense multiple offer situations.  Last year another one of our client's bought 2842 N Burling #2.  It was an almost identical layout to 2850 N Burling #4 with a few interior modifications and no front terrace.

Check out Video from Terrace

 

We had mentioned these buildings and layouts to our client's months ago.  Finally, a top floor unit in with great upgrades came on the market in early spring.  Our buyer clients were very prepared with excellent knowledge of the local market. We secured one of the first showings and had an offer in within a couple hours.  The home is pending closing and we are excited for our clients.
 

 

 

 The peaceful location is a half-block from the Diversey/ Clark and Broadway shopping and dining district.  The location is about 5-6 blocks from the lakefront parks.

Epic Blocks! Sold on West Bradley Place in North Center, Chicago

There are primo blocks in every Chicago Community Area.  They reach legendary proportions for any number of reasons... great school district, amazing landscaping, beautiful homes and real estate agent hyperbole (!).

We show and sell a lot of properties in North Center.  The 2000 and 2100 blocks of West Bradley Place in North Center (between North Damen Avenue and North Leavitt Avenue) has reached epic proportions for their reputations.  They are highly sought after blocks for all the reasons mentioned above a more. Homes priced anywhere within reason of the marketplace sell immediately.

We showed two single family houses on the 2000 and 2100 blocks last Saturday...both new for-sale listings just before the weekend.  2129 W Bradley was listed at $619,000.  The house is totally cool "as is" in my opinion.  A "smaller" two bedrooms house with nice main floor, partially dug-down finished basement area and really great family room addition. It's not big... but the asking price reflects that.  Our clients would add on to the house.

It's truly a move-in ready house with great curb appeal and attractive yard.  It's under contract and my guess is it will sell for closer to $650,000...well over list price.  I'd love to see someone just get it "as-is" and be able to live on a great block.  My guess is that even at $650,000, a developer may have made the best offer and will tear-down or rehab the house.  Expect a re-sell price of  $1.2M to $1.7M depending on new or rehabbed.

 The other home is a gorgeous fully renovated house at 2153 W Bradley Place.  The house was listed at $1,059,000 and quickly under contract after multiple offers. The home will most likely sell for over the list price.  Our clients were very interested in both options to get on the blocks.  But the reality is single family homes on these these blocks - and North Center in general - are very desirable and tough to get.