Photo: Courtesy of Redfin/© VHT

List Price: $329,000
The Property: This four-bedroom in the northwest corner of Edgewater has been in the same family for two generations, so it’s no surprise that it needs updating. The surprise is how much space—and potential space—there is.

Several of the existing rooms are nicely sized, and expanding into the full attic would be easy because there’s already a staircase (instead of drop-down stairs or a ladder), so you wouldn’t have to sacrifice some second-floor living space for new stairs. The yard is spacious, too: The lot is 30 by 160 feet, typical of what you get in this home’s immediate vicinity west of Clark Street. The city norm is 25 by 125, and the home’s listing agent, John Robinson of @Properties, notes that in the better-known blocks east of Clark, many lots are a hair shorter than normal, at 123 feet.

The house is priced to move. Evidence: It went on the market Friday and had five showings by Monday morning. No offers were in by Monday, but if you’re interested, act fast.

The eventual buyers will need to do a lot of updating, as just one look at the listing photos points out. The kitchen has green countertops, yellow vinyl flooring that you last liked in the early 1980s, and dated cabinets. The one full and one partial bathrooms aren’t pictured, but they need work, too, Robinson acknowledged. (I haven’t been inside the house.) The roof, plumbing, and climate-control systems may also need replacing, although none of them has to be done prior to move-in, Robinson said.

“It’s a great home for a young family who’s not afraid to take on repairs,” Robinson said. With shopping, dining, and theaters nearby in Andersonville and Edgewater and a new Metra station coming soon just a few blocks south, the location is very good for buyers who can’t afford something closer to the center of the action. A few blocks east in Edgewater Glen, Robinson says, he’d have priced the house least $100,000 higher.

But these buyers won’t be lone pioneers taking the first risk on new territory. Robinson has been renovating his own house, located down the block, since 1999, and he notes that two others on the block have sold for considerably more than this one is asking (although both needed less work). They’re this five-bedroom that sold for $380,000 last month and this four-bedroom that went for $400,000 in 2011.

Finish the attic into living space and do a few other upgrades and “you can add so much value to the house,” Robinson says.

Listing Agent: John Robinson of @Properties, 312-506-0200, johnr@atproperties.com