Real Estate in your city

[sopas ej]

Check out the house Leonardo DiCaprio bought for his mom...

From Forbes:

Leonardo DiCaprio Buys ‘Modern Family’ Star’s Los Angeles Home For $7.1 Million

Brenda RichardsonSenior Contributor
Real Estate


Leonardo DiCaprio dropped $7.1 million on this Spanish Colonial home in Los Angeles previously owned by actor Jesse Tyler Ferguson. | TODD GOODMAN

Actor Leonardo DiCaprio recently shelled out $7.1 million for the Los Angeles home of Modern Family star Jesse Tyler Ferguson. The elegant Spanish Colonial-style mansion, which previously belonged to singer Gwen Stefani, is for DiCaprio’s mother, Irmelin Indenbirken. A few years ago, he purchased a home for his dad, George DiCaprio, for $4.9 million.

DiCaprio has acquired a real estate portfolio that might make Ellen DeGeneres envious. Part of his collection: a Los Angeles home he bought in the 1990s from Madonna, a mid-century modern home in Palm Springs built for entertainer Dinah Shore that he snapped up in 2014 and a $23 million Malibu home he bought in 2017.

But all of his purchases don’t stay in his portfolio. Some are given as gifts to family members. Like many Hollywood celebrities, where to invest their money has always been an issue, and many have opted for the security of real estate.


The Spanish Colonial-style home features traditional elements like round arch openings and carved wooden doors. | LA LIGHT PHOTO



Almost all the rooms open to colorful gardens, courtyards and fountains. | LA LIGHT PHOTO


While some stars have taken their real estate investments out of California due to the high taxes, DiCaprio has the bulk of his properties in The Golden State except for a New York City apartment and an island in Belize. He still lives at his two-compound property on Sunset Strip — only a 30-minute drive to his parents in Los Feliz.

The gated Spanish Colonial-style home in the Los Feliz neighborhood spans nearly 5,000 square feet with four bedrooms and six bathrooms. The property has formal living and dining rooms with soaring ceilings and romantic Juliette balconies overlooking each. Built in 1928 and completely updated, the careful execution of the work retained and enhanced its period details, according to TopTenRealEstateDeals.com.


Luxurious eat-in kitchen | TODD GOODMAN


Family room | TODD GOODMAN

Arched doorways, tiled roof and floors, multiple fireplaces, stylish bathrooms, sweeping staircases, an intricately carved entry door and inlaid ceilings add to the rustic, chic style. Stained-glass windows add color and character. The eat-in kitchen has all the bells and whistles that make it both pretty and functional, and the family room can alternatively be used as a media room with its drop-down screen.


Mosaic tiles enhance the pool. | TODD GOODMAN


Terrace on the hillside enclave | LA LIGHT PHOTO

Almost all the rooms open to the landscaped terraces, colorful gardens, courtyards, fountains and views of the Griffith Observatory. There is also a detached bathroom by the pool and spa and a detached zen-meditation-yoga room. Enjoy a guided tour of the property here:
• Video Link

Following in the path of other Hollywood A-Listers such as Scarlett Johansson, Kurt Russell, Keanu Reeves, Anne Hathaway and Ben Affleck, DiCaprio has made a Netflix sci-fi comedy film with Jennifer Lawrence, Don’t Look Up, which will be released in late 2021. The film tells the story of two low-level astronomers who must go on a giant media tour to warn humankind of an approaching comet that will destroy Earth.

Link: https://www.forbes.com/sites/brendar...h=12bf11f25268

[homebucket]

^ Beautiful home. And it's got the quintessential Californian mission revival design.

[sopas ej]

Agreed. And it has the indoor/outdoor thing I love so much.

[the urban politician]

^ I would live there. Damn!

[Kngkyle]

My mom lives down in Florida but with me living in Chicago and my sister a relatively short drive away she's decided to get a studio here where she can stay when she visits.

Let's see if you guys can guess the price. Here's the listing description:

Fantastic beach side renovated studio condo in Edgewater Beach. Updates include plank vinyl flooring, updated kitchen with stainless steel appliances, backsplash and granite counters. Large walk-through closet with additional shelving and updated window treatments. Great layout that feels really spacious. Hollywood Towers is a fantastic, full amenity building on the beach, with heat, air conditioning, cable (including HBO & HBO Max) and internet included in the low assessments! Building features an outdoor pool open during the summer, laundry room, dry cleaning lockers, gym, and Amazon lockers for secure package delivery. The building also has a full-time doorman, building management is on-site M-F, and maintenance on-site. The BEST part - step right outside to enjoy the beach & the lakefront! Easy access to public transit with the Bryn Mawr Redline stop . 25 miles; Thorndale Redline stop . 3 miles and buses 136, 147 and 151 less than a block away. Parking is available from the building for $170/month. Cats only, no dogs. Investor friendly building. Indoor, heated valet parking is $170/month. Available furnished as well.

HOA dues are $279/mo and property taxes are about $900/year.

Location:


Floor Plan:


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Views:

[Crawford]

100k?

Vintage unit in older building in non-prime area, and studios are the toughest resale of all. Also no parking included.

Nice low assessments, though. The property taxes don't sound accurate, or at least won't be accurate going forward.

[the urban politician]

^ Yeah, I would say about $100k as well

[dave8721]

I was going to guess $300k, guess I am way off.

[Steely Dan]

With that insanely low property tax, it might even be under $100K, like maybe $89K.

[Kngkyle]

Checked county records to verify property taxes, yea they screwed up on the listing, it's more like $1,600/year with no exemptions.

Also I should have said no guesses from our resident Chicagoans who know the market. More interested to see what out-of-towners would think.

[Crawford]

Those property taxes can't be real, I don't think. And this would be a non-primary residence.

I know someone who paid 750k recently for a residence in Chicago and they pay 15k in property taxes, so this property would be like a 40k valuation? Or are the tax rates more complex?

[Steely Dan]

Originally Posted by Kngkyle

Checked county records to verify property taxes, yea they screwed up on the listing, it's more like $1,600/year with no exemptions.

Oh, ok, then I'll up my guess to $115K.

[Kngkyle]

Originally Posted by Crawford

Those property taxes can't be real, I don't think. And this would be a non-primary residence.

I know someone who paid 750k recently for a residence in Chicago and they pay 15k in property taxes, so this property would be like a 40k valuation? Or are the tax rates more complex?

I think it's more complex. A 750k single family home in theory should pay more in property taxes than a 750k condo in a 300-unit highrise. (not sure how it actually works though)

[Steely Dan]

Originally Posted by Kngkyle

I think it's more complex. A 750k single family home in theory should pay more in property taxes than a 750k condo in a 300-unit highrise. (not sure how it actually works though)

yeah, i'm not exactly sure how cook county's property tax system works either, but it's definitely not a linear value equation.

condo units in large buildings seem to pay less in taxes as a percent of value than SFHs, or even condos in smaller unit-count buildings.



for example:

we own a studio condo downtown in Marina City (1,000 units) that's worth ~$200K with $2K/year in taxes.

but our condo home in a 3-flat up here in Lincoln Square is worth ~$475K with $8K/year in taxes.

so our 3-flat condo is worth 2.4x more money than the highrise studio, but the tax bill is 4x higher.



i think it might have something to do with the tax due on the land itself being divided by more units or something like that?

[Crawford]

Interesting. In NYC, the property taxes favor SFH and small-building homeowners over large-building homeowers. Supposedly this is a populist thing, as large buildings are associated with the core and SFHs/small buildings with the fringe, so it's intended to favor the "common man" in the Outer Boroughs. So, like all things here, the city core subsidizes the city fringe.

They've been trying to fix the property taxes for more equal share, but haven't been able to close the deal. But lots of silly rhetoric over Staten Island civil servants and Park Avenue plutocrats.

But residential property taxes in NYC are pretty low, actually. Commercial property taxes are sky-high, however, especially for Manhattan commercial RE, which has additional taxes on top of taxes.

[Kngkyle]

Originally Posted by Crawford

Interesting. In NYC, the property taxes favor SFH and small-building homeowners over large-building homeowers. Supposedly this is a populist thing, as large buildings are associated with the core and SFHs/small buildings with the fringe, so it's intended to favor the "common man" in the Outer Boroughs. So, like all things here, the city core subsidizes the city fringe.

They've been trying to fix the property taxes for more equal share, but haven't been able to close the deal. But lots of silly rhetoric over Staten Island civil servants and Park Avenue plutocrats.

Yep, another case of the government subsidizing the least efficient form of development. Not a surprise since this has been the go-to policy across the United States since WWII.

[Steely Dan]

Originally Posted by Kngkyle

Yep, another case of the government subsidizing the least efficient form of development. Not a surprise since this has been the go-to policy across the United States since WWII.

it is weird that chicago somehow came up with a property tax system that actually punishes SFH owners, because that goes so directly against the grain of a couple centuries worth of "american dream" crap.


anyway, what was the sale price for your mom's new cozy little "home away from home" condo over in edgewater?

[the urban politician]

Originally Posted by Steely Dan

for example, we own a studio condo downtown in Marina City (1,000 units) that's worth ~$200K with $2K/year in taxes.

but our condo home in a 3-flat up here in Lincoln Square is worth ~$475K with $8K/year in taxes.

so our 3-flat condo is worth 2.4x more money than the highrise studio, but the tax bill is 4x higher.



i think it might have something to do with the tax due on the land itself being divided by more units or something like that?

^

My SFH in Libertyville was purchased in 2013 (huge yard, also) for $500k. It's probably up to the low $600k level by now in value, but my property tax bill is about $15-16k

That means that we pay relatively high property taxes in the burbs compared to the city. So the city doesn't "penalize" home owners as much as the suburbs do.

[Steely Dan]

^ Libertyville is lake county, so it's got its own property tax system that's separate from cook county's.

but yeah, property taxes up there seem even worse than cook.

my sister has a SFH (also w/ huge yard) in Lake Villa that's worth ~$325K and they pay $10K/year in taxes.



aside: you've been in your Libertyville home since 2013; hard to believe that "the urban politician" has been a full-blooded suburbanite for nearly a decade now.

[Investing In Chicago]

Originally Posted by Steely Dan

it is weird that chicago somehow came up with a property tax system that actually punishes SFH owners, because that goes so directly against the grain of a couple centuries worth of "american dream" crap.


anyway, what was the sale price for your mom's new cozy little "home away from home" condo over in edgewater?

The property tax system actually makes no sense in Chicago, I've asked multiple real estate attorney's and even have met with the Cook County Assessor's Office, and nobody can give a clear, simple explanation of how property taxes actually work in Chicago.

I paid...$44K in property taxes my last year living in my Chicago SFH (Lakeview, Southport/Grace). My taxes DOUBLED in a matter of a handful of years, while the value of my property went up MAYBE 7% in that same time frame.