UnReal Estate: How much would you pay to be President Obama’s neighbor?

Posted by Annalisa Burgos | October 15, 2009

president obama neighbor house for saleFrom our Cool Houses Daily files:

Live next door to the President of the United States — the Obamas’ Chicago neighbors have put their home on the market.

Apparently, Matt Garrison, the listing agent with Coldwell Banker, hasn’t put an asking price on the house and will let the market dictate its value. How appropriate.

According to a report in The New York Times, the current owners paid $35,000 for the 6,000-square-foot house at 5040 South Greenwood Avenue in 1973. Other homes in the Hyde Park area have sold for $1 million to $2.5 million. But surely the appeal of living next to the President should tack on a few more mil. I wonder what kinds of background checks you’ll have to go through to close this deal.

About the property: The turn-of-the-century home is directly next to the Obama’s home, and the neighborhood is filled with Chicago’s business, political and intellectual rock stars. From this distance, you could ask the President for his famous chili recipe, borrow a cup of sugar from First Lady Michelle, or watch “First Daughters” Sasha and Malia, as the current owners often did.

The home was built in 1906 by A.R. Clark, who was also the original owner of President Obama’s home at 5046 South Greenwood. During World War II, the home was used to house officers, and eventually became a boarding house for a small military school.

The current owners purchased the home from the Colonel who ran the school. The home needs a little restoration, but still has all the original woodwork, stained glass windows, 6,000 square feet of living space, and a hefty yard by Chicago standards. Plus, as long as you don’t mind the occasional security hassles and Secret Service agents milling about, you can’t beat the location.

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Vlog: Inside a condo for sale in Chicago’s Logan Square neighborhood

Posted by Annalisa Burgos | July 27, 2009

Social networking sites like Twitter and Facebook are a great resource for journalists like me, especially when you’re on deadline in a city where you don’t have very many contacts. Case in point — before a recent trip to Chicago, I wanted to connect with a local Realtor and film a home tour for FrontDoor’s vlog. The catch — I had a two-hour block in which to film.

Rather than google Chicago-area Realtors and filter through hundreds of agent profiles, I put a call out to our more than 1,000 fans on Facebook. Et voila! Scott Curcio of Coldwell Banker posted a reply saying he would be happy to help.

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Next month, I’ll be in LA, San Francisco, Boston and Seattle. If you have a great real estate story, share it with our Facebook community! I may even feature it in our vlog.

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UnReal Estate: Home from “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off” listed for $2.3 million

Posted by Annalisa Burgos | May 28, 2009

Ferris Bueller was that teen every kid wanted to be. Cool without trying and got away with everything.

I never dared to try anything Ferris did, but watching “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off” was like my own way of vicariously playing hooky from school, driving a 1961 Ferrari 250 GT California and singing on a parade float.

Well Ferris fans, you too can own a piece of pop culture history. Remember Ferris’ best friend Cameron? His Chicago-area home in the movie is listed for $2.3 million by Sudler Sotheby’s International Realty.

You also get the adjacent auto pavilion, which housed that infamous Ferrari that took a sad plunge into the ravine.

Located at 370 Beech St. in Highland Park, an affluent suburb on Chicago‘s North Shore, the 5,300-square-foot, contemporary-style house was designed by architects A. James Speyer and David Haid.

It features four bedrooms, four full baths, a fireplace, a three-car garage and incredible views of the surrounding woods. Vintage Ferrari sold separately.

As for the Bueller home, that house is actually in Long Beach, Calif., and not for sale as of yet.

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