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Susannah Ribstein @susannahribs.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

Also in case anyone is wondering here are the precise addresses and current/proposed zoning.

Susannah Ribstein @susannahribs.bsky.social · 15/08/2026

You buried the lede with this mostly-original bathroom (many thousands of dollars in tile and ceramic fixtures probably headed for the trash 😞)

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Susannah Ribstein @susannahribs.bsky.social · 20/05/2026

FYI if you or anyone you know is using Zillow or Trulia to look for a house in Chicagoland, it's frozen in time as of last night. (There is a lot to say about this three-way slap-fight between MRED, Zillow, & Compass. Too much for Bluesky! But if anyone is interested in my perspective....lmk)

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Susannah Ribstein @susannahribs.bsky.social · 12/05/2026

Good values still very much exist in Chicago real estate: 3 large beds & 2 full baths, uninterrupted southeast views of the Lake, Promontory Point, & Harold Washington Park. $1697/mo covers property taxes & all utilities. $179,000. Spread the word! www.compass.com/app/listing/...

A view across a park with a blue sky, a body of water in the distance, and apartment buildings to the side.

An empty room with laminate flooring with a row of three windows showing a view of Lake Michigan under a blue sky.

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Susannah Ribstein @susannahribs.bsky.social · 30/04/2026

But JB is on the case... 🙏https://chicago.suntimes.com/environment/2026/03/27/climate-change-surge-home-insurance-rates-illinois

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Susannah Ribstein @susannahribs.bsky.social · 30/04/2026

This has been my personal experience & professional observation. Extremely climate-safe Chicago indeed seems to be subsidizing much higher-risk areas where insurance premiums are suppressed. Kinda stinks! www.wsj.com/finance/natu...

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Susannah Ribstein @susannahribs.bsky.social · 30/03/2026

As a South Shore (but not 7th ward) resident, "substantial societal issue" is precisely how I would describe it.

Screen grab from the re-posted article reading: "Ald. Greg Mitchell (7th), in whose ward the stretch resides, didn’t respond to a request for comment."

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Susannah Ribstein @susannahribs.bsky.social · 25/02/2026

I'm also very curious about the roof. The high fence visible on the outside indicates that it was in use, presumably accessed via this spiral staircase from the library (?).

A room with a spiral staircase leading up through the ceiling, and the walls are completely lined with empty wooden bookshelves.

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Susannah Ribstein @susannahribs.bsky.social · 25/02/2026

This building is on the alley, not the street, and was almost certainly built as a garage + driver housing for the multi-unit in in front of it. This picture caught my eye because of the (very large) attached garage space. Unusual & potentially very useful for the right person. Also.....a trapeze?

A room with plywood flooring, a large mirror, stairs leading up, an open door to an unfinished garage space, and what looks like a trapeze on the ceiling.

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Susannah Ribstein @susannahribs.bsky.social · 10/12/2025

Hey, it's in the email newsletter they sent out today, too! "Thank you for keeping our business district welcoming!" 😭😭😭

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Susannah Ribstein @susannahribs.bsky.social · 08/12/2025

Wednesday! 2nd monthly Home Buddies meet-up at Narrow Bridge w/ me n @brigidmania.bsky.social. A hard to define event I came up with because I wanted to. Real estate questions? Need home reno advice? Stuck picking paint colors? Come over, we have snacks & advice! www.eventbrite.com/e/monthly-ho...

Narrow Bridge Arts Club. Two arched stained glass windows in a synagogue with piles of floor boards and construction debris in front of them.

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Susannah Ribstein @susannahribs.bsky.social · 02/10/2025

I took this picture on 9/14 because the building had had so many unboarded shattered windows for weeks. The raid is obviously the main story here, but the condition of this building beforehand was like nothing I've ever seen in an occupied property. (Without being inside. I assumed it was vacant.)

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Susannah Ribstein @susannahribs.bsky.social · 02/10/2025

This story is shocking & horrible on every level, one of them being that there were (& are?!?) rent-paying human beings living in that building. I took this picture on September 14th, because so many windows had been shattered & unboarded for months at that point.

Photograph of an apartment building with 2nd- and 3rd-story corner windows shattered and blinds & curtains hanging outside.

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Susannah Ribstein @susannahribs.bsky.social · 04/09/2025

Hear me out: you want to own a home, learning about how to do it is a vote of confidence in the future of your city & world. This event next week is free & will be in this beautiful space, a model of carbon-negative adaptive re-use & shared resources. RSVP & share! www.eventbrite.com/e/how-to-buy...

Photograph of a large sunny room in a former church sanctuary with multi-story arched windows, unusual chairs, bookshelves, and a table full of potted plants.

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Susannah Ribstein @susannahribs.bsky.social · 15/08/2025

It's back to school season! ✍️ If you or anyone you know is homeownership curious, join me or share! Ben & I are nice and these are always a good time. Plus you get to see inside Woodlawn's beautiful Narrow Bridge Arts Club. 🙂 www.eventbrite.com/e/how-to-buy...

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Susannah Ribstein @susannahribs.bsky.social · 09/05/2025

As much coverage has noted, the new Pope's house is for sale. The listing was canceled yesterday. I'll be interested to see what Pope Price Bump they come up with!

Screen grab of a cancelled real estate listing for a small brick house at 212 E. 141st Pl., Dolton, IL at $199,900. It's been on the market for 119 days and the property taxes are $7,325 per year.

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Susannah Ribstein @susannahribs.bsky.social · 19/04/2025

One of my best Powell's finds ever. Kerfoot Avenue was always one of my favorite street names. TIL it is only 1.5 blocks long and named after a "pointy-bearded realtor" who aggressively marketed land to East Coast speculators in the immediate aftermath of the Chicago Fire. 🔥🔥🔥

The cover of a book called STREETWISE CHICAGO: A History of Chicago Street Names

Book entry about Kerfoot Avenue, which is at 700W from 8300 - 8444 S, and is named after William D. Kerfoot (1837-1919).

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Susannah Ribstein @susannahribs.bsky.social · 28/01/2025

I missed this post & now it's already been moved to "temp not showing" status. My big contribution is that (based on previous listing pics) the kitchen appears to have *two* ranges, one of which is a 44" Aga (retail ~$14,000). The agent knew it was important enough to photograph, but not identify!

Badly-lit photo of a maroon stove in a corner

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Susannah Ribstein @susannahribs.bsky.social · 28/01/2025

The map doesn't have street names on it, but this is 6700-7000 S. Ashland. The amount of influence a *single* absentee property owner has had on the streetscape across the city is mind-boggling. Hilco notes that all 812 parcels can be sold as a group. Great idea, what could go wrong? 2/5

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Susannah Ribstein @susannahribs.bsky.social · 28/01/2025

Are there any publications or orgs working on disseminating the auction/bidding instructions for the Wilson/Dass bankruptcy auction beyond the world of RE investors & tax buyers? cc @blockclubchi.bsky.social @stevevance.net @illinoisanswers.bsky.social 1/5 blockclubchicago.org/2025/01/22/h...

Screen grab of a Google map showing a dense layer of dozens of multi-colored property markers on the southwest side of Chicago, including Englewood. Each marker is a property owned by Bass & M. Inc., which is being forced to auction them off in their bankruptcy proceedings. The map is from the Hilco Real Estate auction website.

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Susannah Ribstein @susannahribs.bsky.social · 24/01/2025

It was, in many places. But still holding on generally. I was thinking of your tin ceiling while looking at it! Also you could see where there was some sort of fixture (service counter?) on the floor.

A former storefront space with peeling paint on a tin ceiling, glass block windows, and hardwood floors.

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Susannah Ribstein @susannahribs.bsky.social · 23/01/2025

Saw a good old fashioned Bridgeport weirdo today 🏠👌 (explanations in the alt text)

A person descending into a basement via floor hatch with a vintage White Sox pennant on the radiator

White paint peeling off a decorative pressed tin ceiling, revealing an interesting rainbow oxidation on the metal surface

An electrical pole with transformers and a large amount of high-voltage wiring very near the building's garage roof deck - including this building's main electrical surface line within arm's length.

The home's brick exterior wall from a gangway showing that the building extends all the way from from the front of the lot to the back, 150 feet.

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Susannah Ribstein @susannahribs.bsky.social · 04/01/2025

I finally finished my new website, just in time for the traditional new year's inquiry surge. January is always the ideal time to prep for spring. If buying or selling property is on the 2025 agenda for you or anyone you know (esp. on the South Side), here ya go! --> www.susannahribsteinrealty.com

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Susannah Ribstein @susannahribs.bsky.social · 03/01/2025

I didn't look at it 😅 Had a bored child to deal with so I had to prioritize. I did pass this photo on the outside of the gallery of him at Taliesin in 1945 with his filthy shoes.

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Susannah Ribstein @susannahribs.bsky.social · 03/01/2025

The show is organized around different speculative ideas for improving or repurposing Brutalist designs, but the Metro is presented with no suggestions for improvement. Too bad we don't (yet??) have the Diller Scofidio Renfro Hirshhorn bubble (proposed in 2009, killed in 2013).

A still from a video of someone blowing up a plastic bag inside a model of the Hirshhorn Museum

Two renderings of a bubble-shaped addition in the center of the Hirshhorn Museum

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Susannah Ribstein @susannahribs.bsky.social · 03/01/2025

I saw the Capital Brutalism show at the National Building Museum today. Having spent too much time thinking about this subject I find most examinations of it to be boring & full of errors. But I genuinely enjoyed this one. It's up for another month. nbm.org/exhibitions/...

Wall text with a quote from architect Harry Weese about the DC Metro: "We wanted people to be respectful of their surroundings and of each other "

Photograph of a mock-up of a DC Metro platform and train

Photograph of a DC Metro station under construction from inside with only part of the coffered ceiling finished

Photograph of a DC Metro station under construction from above with one section of coffered ceiling in place, and the Pentagon visible in the background

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Susannah Ribstein @susannahribs.bsky.social · 14/12/2024

This also seems to be receiving zero press coverage. Cc @blockclubchi.bsky.social @wbez.org Months ago @theartnewspaper.bsky.social reported the RBSC would reopen in 2024 or '25 after "long-planned renovation." Maybe this story needs an update. www.theartnewspaper.com/2024/04/10/r...

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Susannah Ribstein @susannahribs.bsky.social · 14/11/2024

Hello BlueSky. I'm still figuring out what real estate content I'm gonna post here. Starting easy with what seems to be Hyde Park's most beloved boiler (the log book is footnoted).

An 80+ year old Kewanee boiler painted silver.

A boiler information book with facts dating back to 1945

Note reading NEVER OVERPRESSURIZED NEVER on a notepad from Fewer Boiler repair service

Two old boiler pump motors with notes written on them about when they were installed, by who, and when they failed

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