Englewood, where $315K snags a “well-maintained” six-flat

7332 S Lowe Ave, Chicago

Ten years ago, more than 43 percent of Englewood’s residents were living below the poverty level, according to the new quality-of-life tracking tools at MetroPulseChicago.org. We’ll have a better sense of where the neighborhood stands now once MetroPulse, MCIC, and other organizations get their hands on the latest census data, but you can get one hint of its condition simply looking at the properties for sale there.

The average sale price of an Englewood single-family home between July 1, 2009, and June 30, 2010, was just $25,882; only Riverdale and West Englewood were lower. The average list price of a single-family as of this morning was a slightly higher $35,000. But single-families make up just a third of the Englewood market — almost everything else for sale is a multi-unit building.

Multi-families in Englewood can range anywhere from $7,300 for a Cape Cod-style two-flat in need of a “savvy investor,” to half a million for a 45-unit a courtyard building carrying $9,000 in code violations and in need of $800,000 in repairs. The median is back down around $79,000.

For right around $315,000 — still well on the high end of the price spectrum for Englewood — you can pick up a six-flat that might actually be in decent condition. The listing for 7332 S Lowe Ave says the building isn’t a short sale or foreclosure, and has been “well maintained by the long time owner,” which hopefully means it doesn’t need six-figure repairs. (I’d wonder whether it’s really within a buyer’s rights to rent out the basement an an extra apartment, as suggested.) For the sake of comparison, $315,000 would also buy a 650 square-foot studio at the old Outer Drive East or a recently updated Georgian-style four-bedroom in Beverly.

Apparently someone’s spending that kind of money in Englewood. According to Redfin’s records, 35 multi-family buildings have sold for $315,000 or more in the past 12 months.

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