Robert Darrow, @properties

Archive for the ‘Photographs’ Category

Your Guide realizes that to each man his home is his castle.  Of course every castle needs its throne.  Check out this unique interpretation of “The Throne.”  Found in the basement of our new two-flat listing in Rogers Park, 2811 West Lunt.

Note the quality workmanship.  The solid, sturdy platform.  The solid copper supply lines.  This fixture appears to be in perfect working order.  Your Guide did not have the opportunity to test this facility as the home has been winterized and vacant for a couple years.

512 W. Belden, #3C

List Price: $239,500

Taxes:  2,251     Assessments: $284

The roar of the lions and the allure of so many local restaurants will inspire you to get out &  enjoy the vibrant neighborhood surrounding this adorable condo. This vintage gem is tucked away on quiet side streets only steps from Clark Street, Lincoln Park & the lakefront.

Inside, an amazing new bath, wood floors, in unit laundry, a modern kitchen & good closet space will satisfy your desire for a modern lifestyle.

• Walk to Lincoln Park & Clark Street amenities
• Adorable vintage condo with modern conveniences
• Wood floors throughout
• Modern galley kitchen with dishwasher
• Separate living & dining rooms
• Amazing renovated bath with luxury finishes
• Great closet space plus extra storage
• In-home washer & dryer

Your Guide enjoyed a fun-filled evening on Thursday night at the @properties Holiday Extravaganza at the Winter Fest at Navy Pier.  Some highlight photos below.  Unlike other cruel @agents, Your Guide does NOT have compromising photographs of co-workers falling down the inflatable slide.  In skirts.  Or kilts.

Miss Kim and above referenced Kilt-wearing Hawk Durham.

Mister Steve and Kim holding court.

Photographic proof that Your Guide can and will do somewhat athletic endeavors. Occasionally.

During conversation with a client over the Holiday Weekend, the topic of Old Chicago Firehouses came up.  And not for the first time.  In the past, a handful of buyer clients have mentioned their dream of snapping up a historic old property such as an Old Chicago Firehouse to lovingly renovate and turn into their dream two-story loft. 

Often with a fire pole.  Your Guide does not understand the fascination with fire poles.  At my age, I am more fascinated with elevators (or firemen.)  There only so many years of stair climbing left in my knees. 

In the past, in the course of trying to burst these dreams as gently as possible, I have done some preliminary research on Chicago Firehouses.  Generally, they have not been as prevalent as my clients would like.  The City of Chicago is not frequently motivated to dispose of real estate.  In Chicago’s past, fire protection duties were provided by private contractors.  Upon the call of “Fire!” competing fire companies would all race to the scene of a disaster and the first company on scene was in charge of putting out the fire.  

But those days are long gone.  Most of the private fire protection companies were taken over by the City of Chicago before the middle of the last century.  Overlapping firehouses were sold off many decades ago.  Though many firehouses in Chicago are in desperate need of a renovation, the City usually keeps the fire house in the same location.

This makes the fabled Old Chicago Fire House a bit of a legend.  Even when one of these old Fire Houses was found, it often commanded the value of the land PLUS a generous premium because of the novel nature of the property.  In years past, the best price we could find was $350,000, and could easily command much more.

This example in Ravenswood, along Ravenswood Street, was listed for $1,275,000 back in 2006.  Already renovated, the building features a wine cellar, two bedrooms, two baths, and of course an amazing first floor perfect for entertaining with wide-open vistas.

More typical, this example on the border between Old Town and Lincoln Park featured 7 rooms, 3 beds and 2 baths.  A rooftop family room, wide open space on the first floor and a roof deck made this firehouse a great place for entertaining.  Not quite as traditional in style (a bit ugly?) the building sold for $552,000 in 2005.

But most surprisingly, when rummaging through the local MLS data today, I found the Old Chicago Fire House deal of the decade:  $90,000 for this building located at 3700 West Huron on Chicago’s West Side.  Not converted into a home, this building was used as a church for the past 37 years.  The first floor is still open raw space.  Upstairs, a 3 bedroom, 2 bath apartment is cobbled together, but not in any sort of livable condition.

So for you buyers out there that are still chasing the dream, and your Unicorn isn’t in your stable yet, give Your Guide a call!  We might be able to make one of those dreams come true.

Your Guide was tasked with selling this house in Lincoln Square about a year and a half ago.  The home itself was unremarkable, but the land was extraordinary by Chicago standards.  The lot was so spacious that it could support a house of 5,000 square feet or more. 

Well, the new house is finished and on the market.  It’s 6 bedrooms with four full and two half baths.  Currently on the market for $1,749,900.  Nice!

These photos popped up while Your Guide was doing a Market Analysis for a listing appointment today.  I’ll be visiting clients to discuss their combined one bedroom plus next-door-studio unit later today.

In these photos you can see the Realtor who has this unit listed took photos some time ago.  It is NEVER a good idea to leave old photos in your marketing as they can get stale.  And as this photo clearly demonstrates that there is SNOW on the ground, this listing is getting to be a year old since we haven’t experienced our first snowfall here in Chicago.  Yet.  (Close, though.)

Since digital photos are (1) limitless and (2) free, you can bet that any agent worth his commission really would pay attention and come back out to the property to re-take photos.  I might have even walked across the street for this particular picture as the building entryway is rather gracious from a little farther away.

This one’s just simply bad.  Fussing with the exposure can lead to some pretty good results when taking photos of a dark room with very bright windows.

Even better:  Hire a professional photographer to take photos of multiple exposures, and use HDR to blend the different photos together so that BOTH the room, and the super-exposed windows show up perfectly!

Tuesdays are for Broker Open House tours in Chicago.  On Broker Tour, agents host open house for other real estate pro’s to come out and preview property in the hopes that one of the attendees has a client that might like to see – and buy – the property for sale.

More often, it’s a chance to get out and socialize.  And get some free lunch.

To attract as many attendees as possible, it’s best to provide some sort of food.  Sandwiches.  Cookies.  Pizza.

Cupcakes

It’s always fun to play “Hey, what do they have?”  Oddly, my brother-in-law had the same coat of armor in his old apartment.  They’re practically the same.  I wonder who mass-produced these items for the “Frat Boy’s First Apartment” demographic?

Your Guide finds himself pressed for time on Monday evening before Boystown Pool League.  So will resort to posting some photos from the Halloween Parade last Saturday night in Lakeview.  (Hopefully a photo is worth a thousand words…)

With the insanity that’s a typical Chicago Halloween combined with the date falling perfectly on the weekend, the city should be pretty well bedlam.

North Halsted Halloween Parade

Kicks off an hour earlier this year – 6:00 pm at the corner of Halsted and Belmont and marching north to Broadway.

The parade caps off a full-day of Lake View activities, including activities at Agassiz School (10 a.m.), Center on Halsted (1 p.m.), Equality Illinois offices (3 p.m.), trick or treating with Northalsted businesses (3 p.m.–5 p.m.), and the Chicago Canine Rescue group (4-6 p.m.). All the activities are conveniently accessed from the Belmont ‘L’ CTA stop.

From Craigslist today comes this Posideon-eque kitchen in the Gold Coast.  In a twist of irony, Your Guide lived in this building on LaSalle Street back when Mr. Steve worked as regional manager for CAMCO, a property management company that sold off all its Chicago properties in the 1990′s.

Hold on, Ethel, she’s going over!

The management company for this property owns thousands of units throughout Chicago, and this building has several dozen units that this kitchen is a pretty good representation of.  You might think hiring a pro-photographer might be a worthwhile investment?