Where to Buy Now
The silver lining behind the residential real-estate collapse is the opportunity for housing bargains. Here are 14 up-and-coming Chicago neighborhoods and suburbs where prices are relatively low and the promise for future growth is strong
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CITY NEIGHBORHOODS
ALBANY PARK
Situated roughly between Foster and Montrose avenues on the north and south, and Kedzie Avenue and the Chicago River on the east and west
In the 1890s, some big investors converted farmland northwest of the city into a residential area by stringing streetcar lines out to what is now known as Albany Park. In this century, there has been a different kind of conversion going on, as rental apartments were remade into spacious condos. "For a while prices kept going up and up," says Suzy Thomas, a Rubloff Residential Properties agent who has sold some of them. "Now we're back down to what you would have paid in 2004 and 2005."
Most condos here—the majority are in vintage buildings, though there are a handful of new ones—sell in the middle to upper $200,000s, even for three-bedroom units. And with the Brown Line terminus at Lawrence, and the Edens Expressway to the west, transportation remains an asset in this neighborhood brought to life by streetcars.
PLUS: Quiet streets, the North Park University campus along Foster Avenue, and the North Branch of the Chicago River winding along the neighborhood's northern edge
MINUS: Bargains on single-family homes are rare; for the most part, houses either sorely need rehab or, having been renovated, are saddled with a big price tag.
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Reader Comments:
Hi,
I like the concept of your article, reading with interest what neighborhoods will be up and coming in the near future, hoping that many realtors’ opinions would be shared as well. So, I examined with keen interest what the perspective is on Albany Park. However, this realtor finds your assessment of my neighborhood to be somewhat incomplete. Thank you for a great try, but maybe a little more substance is what is needed? For example, where but in Albany Park can you get a 3-4 bedroom, 2 bath home on an oversized lot for under $500,000? Smaller starter homes with 2 bedrooms, 1 bath are starting around $200,000 which is a resonable price for having your own home in the city. We are also close to some great trendy areas, like Lincoln Square and the Kedzie Brown Line stop, but yet close to the airport via Blue line or freeway and mall shopping in suburbs via the freeway. Thanks again.
Palos Heights is actually in the SouthWEST suburbs, a great area. The people are a lot friendlier than you will find on the north side and the areas and houses are overall not as old. Nearby Palos Park is one of Chicago's wealthiest and unknown suburbs and nearby Orland Park has everything!