A NOT SO GLAMOROUS LOOK AT THE UNDERBELLY OF CHICAGO'S HOUSING MARKET


All photos taken live from Chicago properties & environs

Showing posts with label three flat. Show all posts
Showing posts with label three flat. Show all posts

Friday, April 27, 2018

Tenants Help Seller Find the Right Buyer

The low rent paying tenants of this Logan Square three flat promised the out of state owner of their building that they'd be happy to assist with fixing up the basement and making sure prospective buyers had full access to the property. The seller's realtor has also been happy with this arrangement which has allowed him to charge a full commission while never having to actually go to the property. After sixty-seven weeks on the market, neither seller nor agent can figure out why their once 'hot' property is not selling.
LOGAN SQUARE

Wednesday, April 11, 2018

Jay-Z Reminds Male Buyers to Ask Wife First

A friend of Jay-Z's old neighbor's cousin's ex-girlfriend's brother-in-law wanted perspective buyers of his Lincoln Square three flat to know that all offers would require an extended period of time for a response as he'll need to wait for certain outside advice on how to counter.
Lincoln Square

Wednesday, March 18, 2015

Hockey Dad Promises Better Rink Next Year


A Logan Square father, hockey fanatic, and home seller has promised all interested parties including but not limited to his dear children and extremely irate wife, that he will not attempt to build an ice rink in their future basement. He has suggested that perhaps the new home might have space for an indoor pool.
Logan Square

Wednesday, February 11, 2015

Buffalo Threatens Buyers

A beheaded Cape buffalo overheard potential buyers discussing how he could be included with the sale of this historic three flat. Initially, he was peeved at being referred to as a mere 'bull', but what really enraged him was the buyers' decision to put their tv over the fireplace and move the buffalo to the future basement bar. "My master once had a tv over the fireplace, but when he brought me home from the auction, I told him, 'what kind of philistine are you? Don't you ever put a television over a fireplace! What kind of fu*#*@ idiot does that? And if somebody is going to be the center of attention, it's me godda$#%*!" The buffalo convinced the seller to get an additional five thousand dollars for the head so the buffalo could buy a 3D printout of his body and get the $#@! out of Lincoln Park."
Lincoln Park

Wednesday, October 29, 2014

Jury Summons for the Dead Sells Home

An elaborate home staging helped transform a neglected Uptown three flat into an empathy generating estate sale. The sympathetic buyer quietly asked, "does this mean we can low ball them?"
Uptown

Friday, September 12, 2014

Neighbors Sad to See Garden Tenant Moving


The seller of this Logan Square three flat was unable to resist increasing home prices in his neighborhood, and finally accepted an offer, confiding in his neighbors that, "it has been nice to provide affordable rents and all, but this is an incredible offer, and to just tear it down, can you believe it?". The shocked neighbor quickly responded, "Does this mean Jerry is moving from downstairs? We really enjoyed his bathing routine."
Logan Square

Friday, May 9, 2014

Buyer Still Looking for Bathroom


The In-Law apartment included with this Uptown multi-family building was touted as 'Euro style', and only when the buyer saw the toilet paper next to the kitchen sink did he fully understand the centuries old driving force behind U.S. immigration.
UPTOWN

Wednesday, March 19, 2014

Realtor Promises that Creepy Dolls Included


The listing agent of this Lincoln Square three flat assured all prospective buyers that the rare collection of assorted Pop icon Barbie dolls could be included in the sale price of the home, not to worry. However, she was unable to assure anybody if the roof was still leaking, or the basement remained dry, or the electric was updated, or that anything in the house worked at all.
Lincoln Square

Monday, January 6, 2014

Waterfall Feature Helps Owner Sell Dump

Lured by the promise of a "rare two story waterfall", a pair of new homebuyers were duped into overlooking various details of this poorly maintained Logan Square two flat. As soon as the potential buyer asked about low water pressure, the owner would say, "oh, yeah, the waterfall does freeze up in winter but it's still beautiful. The neighbors are jealous, for sure."
Logan Square

Wednesday, November 27, 2013

Thanksgiving Trix Tossed in Toilet

Two days before Black Friday and a day before that other holiday, a bowl of Trix cereal has found its way into the Glacier Bay Commode located on the second floor of this Edgewater two flat. The aggrieved party has threatened to eat those soggy little balls for Thanksgiving dinner, in front of Uncle Karl and everyone. The seller of the building, otherwise known as "cruel cruel mommy", has yet to respond.
Edgewater

Thursday, October 24, 2013

Buyer Sees the Light

After ten grueling minutes slogging through a dilapidated Pilsen foreclosure wondering why his realtor brought him to such a place, the exasperated buyer finally saw the light. And the rat holes. And the dusty stack of unpaid bills. And, the exit.
Pilsen

Thursday, May 23, 2013

Federal Reserve Sells Penny to GE


Buyers of this still under renovation Lincoln Park two flat were surprised to find GE's newly released penny-light, which has promised users that the recent surge in Chinese toggle sales with not affect Americans' ability to use their lights because it's new switches have been specifically designed to turn on with your "now worthless pennies." Critics have complained of GE trying to capitalize on the popularity of Steven Spielberg's "Lincoln".
Lincoln Park

Tuesday, May 14, 2013

Roman Hero Struggling in Chicago Basement


After slaying hydras, lions and other assorted monsters, Italian immigrant Hercules has found life in America quite difficult as he struggles to provide heat for a presumably cold trio of families in this rapidly aging Lincoln Square brick three flat.
Lincoln Square

Friday, April 26, 2013

Pescatarians File Fair Housing Violation


Proclaiming they were no longer willing to sit back and accept the blatant discrimination they have faced in the Chicago housing market, a young Northside couple has decided to file a Fair Housing complaint against the seller of this Edgewater three flat for refusing to acknowledge fish eaters as people who also deserve a place to cut in the kitchen.
Edgewater

Tuesday, April 23, 2013

Mayor Proposes Foreclosure Target Shooting


As the city of Chicago continues to search for creative ways to bring more revenue into city coffers, one new suggestion has been allowed a trial period: Foreclosure target shooting. The program is already receiving backing from the NRA who applauded the decision stating, "'bout time those liberals understood the value of a gun." And one outspoken alderman remarked, "you know we got so many guns in this city here, and da feds won't let us ban 'em, and we got all these empty buildings, so why don't we just put 'em all together and make a few bucks."
Ukrainian Village

Tuesday, April 9, 2013

Owner Demonstrates Structural Integrity


The potential buyers of this Logan Square three flat were without words, but clearly satisfied, after the extremely confident owner demonstrated that the home's smaller than usual support posts were nothing to be concerned about. She also informed the buyers that she would be willing to perform the same tests during their home inspection, and if they were really interested, she could attempt a similar test at other properties for a nominal fee.
Logan Square

Tuesday, April 2, 2013

Penitentiary Chic Replaces Travertine Oasis


In an effort to woo sophisticated urban buyers sympathetic to the plight of marginalized prisoners, home sellers have begun to discard their glass mosaics and tumbled travertines for an aesthetic one Chicago realtor described as, "artist loft meets abandoned cellar with a sprinkle of post-millennial apocalypse".
Andersonville

Friday, March 22, 2013

Hybrid Flooring Relieves Buyer's Insomnia


After viewing too many run down properties, a buyer became incapable of making a decision when the rehab seller of this Albany Park brick two flat actually offered her a choice of hardwood floors or wool carpeting. Four evenings of online research and a litany of calls to close friends and family further incapacitated the buyer. "No problem. I am make for you special floor. Maybe you like dance, and child is play on floor. I making many floor like this. Buyer like."
Albany Park

Friday, March 15, 2013

Wife's Visualization Not Always an Asset


She has spent the last two months helping her husband understand how dilapidated foreclosed kitchens can transform into their dream kombucha brewing pizza baking oasis, and gone through elaborate pantomime to demonstrate how an outdated smoke stained living room can become the mid-century masterpiece they have dreamed so long about.

Now, this rabid visualizer is having to confront her own lethal skills, which she carefully whispered to her sympathetic buyer's agent, "I saw us getting ready for work in the morning. He was on the toilet and I was brushing my teeth, when I looked up in the mirror and our eyes made contact, the Tom's organic mint sprayed across the vanity. It was frightening. We have to go."
Lincoln Square

Tuesday, March 12, 2013

Sinkwashers Boosting Lincoln Park Prices


In an effort to increase rent, and not turn off would-be renters in one of Chicago's toniest neighborhoods, the owner of this Lincoln Park three flat has transformed his sink cabinet with a used dishwasher panel. When asked about potential tenants feeling deceived by his non-functioning dishwasher, the three flat owner tersely remarked, "I not do such thing. You not know nothing the dishwash! I am leave open drain pipe. Renter only putting dish in dishwash, then open water, and he wash dish, then take dish from dishwash CLEAN. This is dishwasher, yes? Yes, this is dishwash."
LINCOLN PARK