Winnemac Park, Ravenswood: Better in the snow

See you tomorrow.

Lincoln Park Open House: Town home in Lincoln School District, Mid-Century Modern flair

1806 N Larrabee, Lincoln Park, Chicago

Asking $529,900
Open House Saturday 2/6/10 12PM to 4PM

I'll be hosting an open house for our new listing on Saturday 2/6/10 from Noon until 4PM. We already have over a dozen inquries for showings this first week, so the open house will be very busy. Traffic for homes in the best Chicago elementary school distrcts, and for three bedroom homes in general, has been really outstanding.

View more photos and 360 degree shots here:

Howe('d) they do that? 2002 N Howe, Lincoln Park staged and sold

Here's an example of an outdated, but beautiful vintage, Lincoln park condo staged and sold. As Realtors, my group makes recommendations for repairs and staging homes prior to selling. We handle the whole process and actual stage the home too... relatively "cheaply"!

This two bedrooms plus den, two baths home was staged and sold less than two months market time in the tough summer market of 2009.

Before in the bedrooms...

After...

Click the link for all the photos here:

Ravenswood, Chicago soon to be known as... Ravenswood!

Seriously folks... it seems our little burgh on the North Side has an identity crisis. So, Monday night members the Ravenswood Chamber of Commerce met to begin a really cool "branding initiative" to promote living and doing business in Ravenswood Chicago.

Seth Boustead, Chamber member and owner of Accessible Contemporary Music (shown speaking at O'Shaughnessy's , is leading a terrific campaign to "brand" the Ravenswood neighborhood making it easier for the public to identify with its unique offerings.

Ravenswood is often grouped into neighbors Lincoln Square and Andersonville.

The way it breaks down is this: "Lincoln Square" is one of Chicago's 77 Community Areas that is an umbrella for several sub-neighborhoods. Those include Ravenswood, Budlong Woods, Ravenswood Gardens and the commercial/residential neighborhood of Lincoln Square. The Andersonville neighborhood is in the "Edgewater" Community Area.

Lincoln Square and Andersonville are both associated with their vibrant and dense commercial strips full of retail and restaurants along with their European immigrant roots. In contrast, Ravenswood does not conjure up a ready image (outside of it's residents that is). It's sense of spaciousness is a great assets, but one of the obstacles to "branding" the neighborhood. Residents like the openness, yet convenience to it's own retail and proximity to busier areas. This is one of the messages we want to communicate.

Ravenswood features a long unique industrial stretch of businesses and mixed use converted warehouses. There is both residential and commercial living side by side featuring artists studios, furniture stores, advertising and media companies, architects, condos, manufacturing and restaurants. The transportation and parking are outstanding.

Here are some of the buzz words we associated with the neighborhood in a little brainstorming session: Green, eclectic, mature, parks, openness, transportation... sounds good to me!

Ravenswood as defined by the Chamber of Commerce is bordered by West Montrose to West Foster and North Clark to North Leavitt. Keep an eye out for the First Night Ravenswood being planned to roll out the branding initiative.

Decision time for fence sitters...Is the train leaving the station?

Our group is seeing a huge spike in showing and sales activity. I've even had a two flat listed for sale for a year just go under contract. Low interest rates, better pricing and various incentives have spawned an early, if not traditionally busy buying season. Move-up buyers are moving up. Some people are just finally "getting out" of their properties, accepting a loss to move on.

This is purely anecdotal and our personal experience (but will also be proven by unit sales numbers for first quarter 2010). Those looking to buy a home are much more confident, happier with their choices and finding values. They are also finding multiple offer situations on properties in this early 2010. In just the past week, I've had clients lose out on places and also beat others to the punch (with back-up offers waiting in the wings). So far, people are putting 20% down and using conforming loans.... representing very willing and able buyers. Our most active price-range has been $350,000 to $550,000 in Lakeview, Lincoln Park, Ravenswood and Lincoln Square. This is up from last year's early season bargain hunters on the lower end.

I'm biased, sure. However, no one can deny the increased activity in the market... any decent new property on the market is slammed with showings. Open houses are busy. Our job is to help our clients buy a home... and we (my partner and I) are racing against the clock to make sure our clients see the best values and have an opportunity to make an offer.

The beginning of 2009 was a much different story due to the bank crashes and economic uncertainty. Many sellers didn't get the memo on pricing. We were pretty dead until third quarter and we sort of experienced reverse market activity.

2010 was shot out of a cannon.

For Sale: Lincoln Park town home in Lincoln Elementary

Yes, located in the elusive Abraham Lincoln School district for $529,900, this town home has everything at a terrific asking price. My partner and I list this Lincoln Park home for sale on Monday. Here's a sneak peak.

1806 N Larrabee, Lincoln Park 60614

Asking $529,900, taxes are low at $5272.00, assessment is 321.00 per month; Three bedrooms up, two full baths and one half bath, large family room with wet bar, laundry room, all new windows, private garage parking, private deck and terrace, tons of storage room plus an attic!

Check out the photos below and click on the link for the virtual tour. Very functional layout, clean, stylish and move-in ready.

Large, flexible family room space with working wet bar. Make sure to see the virtural tour linked above to view the entire space. The family room has a real laundry room, mechanical/storage room and two more storage closets.

Private large fenced in terrace with deck.

Call or email for a showing.

Ravenswood Manor vintage condos will cost you

Pretty prairie style six-flat in Ravenswood Manor.

My clients want some well kept vintage near a train in the greater Lincoln Square area. So naturally, we've been mining Ravenswood Manor quite heavily.

Nice details throughout the building.

We really liked the original doors and window trim of the sun room.

This two beds, two baths plus den, top floor walk-up is priced at $349K with no parking included. Small deck. It has sort of two wings: living room/sun room in front and kitchen/dining room in back with two bedrooms off the hall in the middle. The kitchen layout was nice, but finishes pretty homely (that could be fixed).

Rumor has it two separate offers were made on the place right after it's re-list. The owners rejected them...whaaa, whaaa... I hope they were REALLY bad.

4934 N Hamilton...Sorry Lincoln Square, you'll have to wait for luxury

The market time for this home on the MLS suggested about 600 days. You'll have to wait a little longer.

This new construction big dog near my home and Winnemac Park went off the market the 1st of this year... at an asking price of $1,399,000. It fits nicely among the existing homes on the block. Great, family friendly block for sure. And with six bedrooms, you can have a few of those families move in with you.

We saw a few other million plus homes sell at the end of 2009 in Lincoln Square and Ravenswood... however, at $1,399,000 0n a 30x120 ft lot north of Lawrence, this may expensive among it's peers in 2010. A look at the market over the last year shows the highest closed home price North of Lawrence in 2009 for the Lincoln Square Community area 8004 at $962,000 (a modern converted two flat on a 30X150 lot at 4920 N Wolcott).

Anyone know what the status is? Will this be back on the market soon?

Clark Street in Ravenswood to get facelift

I missed an anticipated Ravenswood Chamber of Commerce lunch last Thursday... au pair was down and out with the flu, so I had the kids at home and had to cancel. Thankfully, a new blog is covering Ravenswood, Lincoln Square and Northcenter and one of the authors attended the lunch. Check out the latest street scape plans for North Clark Street and other neighborhood news at The Center Square Ledger.

"Kindle is looking pretty good right now..."

Heard from my client, after we took our second SUV load of books to his storage unit in Lincoln Park.