On this House Hunters, Chicago native Timmy brings his friend and realtor, James, along as he searches for a Chicago home in the Lincoln Park area. Timmy is a lawyer who grew up outside of Chicago, but fell in love with the city when he moved there for college. The lawyer is tired of renting and wants a home of his own.
Timmy is single, but he’s letting his friend James give him a lot of guidance and advice. James is a realtor and newly dabbing in construction. He tries to sell Timmy on finding a fixer-upper, but Timmy isn’t sure about James’ suggestion: He wants something move-in ready.
Wish List
His: Timmy wants something more vintage and traditional. However, James suggests that he gets a more modern place. Timmy wants a place that has at least two bedrooms and a home office area. He would like outdoor space, a huge master bedroom, and a nice view of Chicago. Timmy also wants a washer and dryer built-in to the unit.
Timmy’s budget is $450,000. He works downtown but doesn’t want to live in the high-rises; he wants a home in the Lincoln Park area.
House #1, $340,000
This is home is located in the Lincoln Park area. One of the negatives is that it’s right by the L-station, so it’s very noisy. It’s a two bedrooms, two bathroom old style home. It has some cool features like pocket doors and large windows. The bathroom is very small, and it has no washer and dryer.
The kitchen has been newly remodeled but still doesn’t have enough of a “wow” factor for Timmy. The backyard patio is nice, but it’s view isn’t too far from the loud L-station. It would need a lot of work to give it more of the look Timmy wants, but it’s very much under budget so renovations are possible.
House #2, $425,000
This home is in the River West area, so closer to downtown. The unit is a very modern high-rise, so Timmy is automatically ify about it. However, he changes his tune a bit when he sees all the windows. The windows gives the place a lot of natural lighting.
It’s a lot bigger than the last place.Timmy feels that it is too much like the places he has rented around Chicago. This place does have a nice spacious guest bathroom, and a washer and dryer. He sees the second bedroom as possible office space.
House #3, $379,000
This is a two bedroom, two bathroom in the Rogers Park area, which Timmy thinks is too far from work. This place has a fireplace, a small noke which can be converted into an office, and a newly remodeled kitchen.
Timmy doesn’t like the color scheme and feels the rooms are kind of small. It doesn’t have its own backyard space, but it does have a shared patio.
To us, the third house looked the best. It had a little more character than the first two places. However, Timmy picks house #1. He plans to renovate a lot of it, including making the bathroom a lot bigger. James and him estimate an additional $40,000 needs to go into the house for remodeling.
Timmy bought the home for $337,000, so he saved a little and bought it way under his budget. It’ll probably look a lot better once it all comes together.
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