Photo: Dennis Rodkin

List Price: $369,000
The Property: In a just, fair world, North Park would be a much hotter neighborhood than it is. And this three-bedroom brick and stone cutie is one of the reasons why.

A homeowner who in 2005 paid $414,000 for this charmer with cove crown moldings, a stone fireplace, and a big backyard is now asking just 89 percent of that. Like a lot of sellers, this one tried to move the house at a profit a few years ago, but then she rented it out for a few years, says her present listing agent, Sarah Murray. But with for-sale inventory notoriously tight this spring, the seller decided to try again, and brought it back on the market May 31 at a “more current price,” Murray says. (She didn’t represent the house at its higher price.)

With arched interior doorways, vintage tile in the single full bath, hardwood floors and a homey covered back porch, the house “Is just so charming from front to back,” Murray says. It’s been maintained well, she says, and doesn’t demand a lot of work from the buyers. The only thing to do upon moving in, she says “is just enjoy it.”

The campuses of two colleges—North Park University and Northeastern Illinois University give the neighborhood an urban college town overlay. And there’s green space all around, in Gompers Park, the North Park Village Nature Center, the North Shore Channel bike and canoe routes and, if you’re not the type to be creeped out by it, the Bohemian National Cemetery.

North Park isn’t served directly by CTA rail or Metra, but it’s a short drive from the Edens and Lake Shore Drive. In the magazine’s April issue, I included a great place for down-sizers to buy, although it’s a smart place for first-time buyers to look, too. Particularly if a charmer like this one is on your wish list.

Listing Agent: Sarah Murray of Baird & Warner, 773-883-2179, sarah.murray@bairdwarner.com