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.

De-clutter... we're not kidding.

We'll de-clutter even if you won't.

My partner and I can be pretty demanding with a client when listing a home for sale. Recently, we required a client to take down more Elfa shelving than you can find at the Container Store and pack up all his books so we could paint. We put our money where our mouths are however. Last weekend I showed up with my truck and we hauled all the books to his storage unit. Somehow my partner Bob got out of this one.

Lincoln Park Rental: One bed plus den for office $1100

My partner has a super clean Lincoln Park rental unit available now! NOW! WOW!

Avaliable now as of 1/23/10
Lincoln Park Rental:

Call or text Bob at 773 621 6689

2340 North Southport Avenue, Unit 2F

$1100/mo. plus utilities. Available now for immediate occupancy, flexible lease terms, best location!

Beautiful, bright unit in a completely updated, owner occupied, 4 unit building.

Second floor with private entry. One bedroom with den, or small second bedroom, bath, eat-in kitchen with all new appliances and in-unit washer/dryer.

Super location on Southport off a Fullerton. Close to public transportation, restaurants, bars, shopping. Ample street parking, no permit required.

Call or text Bob at 773 621 6689 for an appointment to view this great unit!!

Baby food classes and much more: Fresh Ground Health

Maybe we should cut down on the Starbucks?

A client of mine has a unique healthy eating and wellness business here in Chicago. If it's any proof, they looked great and had a happy baby when I worked with them! Eating healthy, among other health habits, is difficult to get your head around. Try some coaching for you and your kids.

Check out Fresh Ground Health at this link

FHA loans opening more doors for Chicago buyers and sellers

From guest blogger, Ken Dickerson, Home Mortgage Consultant RWF Wells Fargo

I've seen a significant increase in FHA loan activity in the Chicago market over the past 12 months and with the announced enhancements from FHA coming on February 1st, I expect that activity to increase further. There have been regulations/guidelines that have kept clients from being able to use FHA on some developments which include; right of first refusal, new construction pre-sale, minimum number of units in a building of 4, FHA loan exposure of 30%, etc.

Below are some of the enhancements coming on February 1st.
-New Construction pre-sale lowered to 30%
-Right of first refusal allowed
-Projects may have as few as 2 units
-FHA loan exposure increases to 50% for new construction projects and 100% for established projects

With the low down payment minimum of 3 1/2%, flexible debt to income ratios, and more lenient credit score requirements, the enhancements for FHA loans will open doors for buyers and sellers alike. If you are interested in finding out more in regard to FHA loans feel free to contact me at any time.

Going for LEED: Green new construction condos rising in Lincoln Park

I took a quick mobile shot from the truck of a Green new construction condo development marketed by my homeys at Prudential Rubloff. Wrightwood Crossing is located at the 1300 block of west Wrightwood and is seeking LEED Platinum Certification (and it has nothing to do with how many records you sell).

Check the Wrightwood Crossing link above for pricing and floor plans. And, bring some greenbacks... you're gonna need them.

Town homes near Wrightwood Park in Lincoln Park

A popular place to look for town homes in Lincoln Park is near the equally popular Wrightwood Park. As a city parent, believe me, nothing beats living across the street from a huge park. Located in the far northwestern end of Lincoln Park, this immediate area has resale town homes from the low $400s to new construction up to $1,500,000. I took some clients there last weekend...a sunny ice cold last weekend... to view a couple places under $500,000. In fact, at the moment, you can get a very attractive two bedrooms, two and-a-half baths town home with a true family room and loft office for an asking price of $435,000 (outdoor parking space included).

The smart money was on staying inside on this freezing day.

Town homes as far as the eye can see at the corner of West Wrightwood and North Greenview next to the park. This stretch or West Wrightwood traffic can be busy, but your steps from a nice Jewel Food Store, restaurants and bars.

My clients check out the bonus loft office space... you better believe I held the ladder.

Winnemac Park on a snowy day

Winnemac Park in Ravenswood is a two minute walk (or sled ride) from my house. We love a snowy day and they must not be wasted.

I saw another lucky dad out with his son...we did that dad nod thing, happy we were not stuck at a 9 to 5 gig. But the park was pretty empty at 3PM. The nannies typically don't like to venture out in "bad weather".

Sizing up the slope.

Chicago loves spiral staircases

Not really.

I can understand, not accept, but understand a spiral staircase up to a rooftop deck or some extra loft room.... but if it's your main access to your living levels your in trouble.

This beauty above was spotted in an Old Town town house. It covered all three levels... yikes.

Lakeview, Lincoln Park town homes under $500,000? A face only a mother could love

Town homes under $500,000 are a great option in Lakeview and even Lincoln Park. You can get your two or three bedrooms, a flexible family room and perhaps a utility/storage room. Many times a garage too...attached or detached. But, shield your eyes... these brick boxes spared no utilitarian expense. Function over form for sure. These are a couple examples my clients and I viewed last weekend.

These aren't too bad. I forgot to shoot the real "lookers".

Mid-century modern Chicago home back on market

One of my all-time favorite Chicago homes has just come back on the market. 2939 W Catalpa in the Budlong Woods neighborhood is listed at $1,290,000. Watch this video shot by NBC of a tour given by the owner. The home sits on a terrific lot and is a joy to view from the street, let alone inside. The Budlong Woods neighborhood in far northwest Lincoln Square is a terrific destination for window shopping mid-century homes in addition to many other distinct styles. This is great little pocket of terrific homes few know about.

Forget a house, I want a condo!

How about a nice Lincoln Park duplex condo in Abraham Lincoln Elementary school district adjacent to Oz Park?

I had a refreshing conversation today with a relocating client from the East Coast. They were in Manhattan, had a couple kids and bought an ancient house in a tony suburb...and hate it.
Knowing their budget and emphasis on schools I began to mention single family homes on the North Shore and he stopped me right there. No houses! Turns out, these folks know themselves well and want the unique urban lifestyle Chicago offers on the North Side. Oh, and hold the house maintenance please.

Well, from one duplex condo owner with two kids shunning a house to another... let's do this! They'll see a steady diet of town homes and duplexes in the Blaine, Lincoln Park and Bell elementary school districts. We already opined coming from the East Coast, these will feel huge and luxurious. Amen to that.