Bungalows, Cape Cods and two-flats in Community Area 19
Belmont Cragin is Chicago's Community Area 19, on the Northwest Side. It breaks into four neighborhoods: Belmont Central, Cragin, Hanson Park and Brickyard. A shopping district called Belmont Central grew along Belmont Avenue.
Builders poured in to house the area's factory workers, and they mixed bungalows, Cape Cods and two-flats. CMAP's snapshot of 2020-2024 census estimates puts the median year built at 1936, against 1953 citywide, and 54.0 percent of units predate 1940. Detached single-family homes make up 40.2 percent of units, well above the city's 25.6 percent. Two-unit buildings add 25.5 percent and three- and four-unit buildings 17.2 percent, while just 3.7 percent sit in buildings of 20 or more units (27.0 percent citywide).
Owner families and bills that pile up
More than half the homes here are owner-occupied, 52.3 percent against 46.0 percent for the city. If a parent's house came to you, an independent representative of the estate can sell it without a court order.
If the mortgage falls behind, the case goes to Cook County's Chancery Division, and once you're served the free mediation line is (855) 452-2637. The Cook County selling guide covers the court deadlines. You have 90 days from service to reinstate by paying the missed amounts and costs. Redemption lasts until the later of seven months after service or three months after the judgment, and it runs out before the sale, not after. On taxes, the second installment of the tax year 2025 bill is due October 1, 2026, and the Treasurer lists December 15, 2026 for the next annual tax sale.
The paperwork a Belmont Cragin flat needs before closing
Chicago won't issue transfer stamps without two city certificates. The Certificate of Zoning Compliance covers residential buildings of five or fewer units and confirms the legal unit count. It costs $120, and the city may inspect if its records can't back up your count.
The Full Payment Certificate shows the water account is clear. It's $50, and any balance gets paid first. Illinois's disclosure report must reach the buyer before the contract is signed. It asks what you actually know, lead paint and lead water pipes included. Roughly four in five units here were built before 1970, so most sellers also owe the state lead brochure and the federal lead disclosure, with a window for a lead inspection.
Cragin and Brickyard prices, and the wider DePaul group
No single price series covers all of Belmont Cragin. For March through May 2026, Redfin's Cragin pocket posted a $420,000 median on 34 sales, down 0.4 percent from a year earlier. Single-family homes there sold at a median $410,000 on 15 sales, two-to-four-unit buildings at $488,999 on 13, and condos at $173,950 on 6. The median home took 52.5 days to sell. Brickyard came in at $355,000 on just 7 sales.
DePaul's Institute for Housing Studies groups Belmont Cragin with Humboldt Park, Hermosa and Montclare. That group's 2025 median sale was $345,000. Its price index rose about 3.0 percent over the year, sits 26.6 percent above its bubble-era peak, and is up 55.6 percent from the start of the pandemic. Sales have thinned, though, to 1,060 in 2025 from 1,486 in 2022.
Running $420,000 through both routes
Say your place would list near Cragin's $420,000 median (a single-family home might land nearer $410,000, a two-flat nearer $488,999). Commission at about 4.9 percent, Clever's Illinois average (updated September 2026), is roughly $20,600. Closing costs near 1.2 percent add about $5,000. Chicago's transfer tax totals $5.25 per $500. In general the buyer pays the $3.75 city share and you pay the $1.50 CTA share, about $1,260. The Cook County Clerk lists the seller as liable for the state stamp, about $420, and the county stamp, about $210. Add $50 for the water certificate and $120 for the zoning certificate and you're near $27,700, before any repair an inspector finds in a house built around 1936. For carrying costs, Chicago's median residential tax bill was $4,457 for tax year 2024, about $370 for each month the place sits.
Or, if the property is a fit, a cash buyer may make an offer, the closing date can be worked out around your plans, and an as-is sale may be possible. A cash sale still pays your stamps, but it can drop the commission and the repair back-and-forth. Plenty of owners list instead, and on a well-kept bungalow that can be the right call. Run both numbers first. There's more on selling a house in Chicago.
Sources: CMAP Community Data Snapshot, Belmont Cragin; 755 ILCS 5/28-8, independent administration; Circuit Court of Cook County, foreclosure mediation; Cook County Treasurer, due dates; City of Chicago DPD, Certificate of Zoning Compliance; City of Chicago Department of Finance, Full Payment Certificates; City of Chicago Department of Finance, Real Property Transfer Tax; Cook County Clerk, transfer fees; Cook County Treasurer, 2024 tax bill news release; Redfin Data Center; DePaul Institute for Housing Studies, Cook County House Price Index; Clever commission survey
