Where do tree hugging, vegetarian liberals belong in north Chicago? (Evanston: mortgage broker, estate)

[jaynetarzana]

Originally Posted by cohdane

1954 by Edward Dart. Some &^%$!! speculator bought it and left it vacant/unheated. It would need a LOT of work inside. (There used to be pictures of the interior.) But it's a big lot (so expandable) and it's priced at 350k, so maybe doable? I don't know enough about that stuff:

We looked at it today. As soon as we got the door open, the smell almost knocked us over. The pipes burst and the floor looks like rolling hills with carpet on top (seriously). We couldn't even walk into most of it. I spent about 10 seconds in there and ran out of air. It is a tear down.

[Calidreemer]

Hi Jay - did you see anything else? Anything good today?

[jaynetarzana]

Last night I went through all of the houses in our price range again and chose some to have a look at even though they weren't our style. So we spent the whole day looking at houses in HP. There was one decent house out of the bunch if we were seriously desperate (which we aren't). We're leaning toward Lake Bluff if we can get it at the right price (which is $89K less than asking). HP just isn't clicking for us. I guess I should start a LB thread so I can try to get some more input about the area. We're going to spend the day there tomorrow. Hopefully it will give me the answers I am looking for. We've pretty much decided that if the purchase on the LB house doesn't work out, we're going to find something to rent in Evanston for 6 months and see if we can get more comfortable with the area. So now it is in the hands of the universe! I'll keep you posted.

I appreciate the input on the market conditions.

[Calidreemer]

It takes time to find the right place for sure. Hang in there! I hope you guys have a great 4th! I've gotta get things prepped for tomorrow. Talk to you all later!

[cohdane]

Originally Posted by jaynetarzana

We looked at it today. As soon as we got the door open, the smell almost knocked us over. The pipes burst and the floor looks like rolling hills with carpet on top (seriously). We couldn't even walk into most of it. I spent about 10 seconds in there and ran out of air. It is a tear down.

They don't have a "smilies" option for how much that angers me. I wonder if any municipalities have put laws on the books to prevent speculators from leaving properties to become FORCED tear downs. It's awful. Neglecting a building like that should be considered a criminal act.

And what will they build when it gets torn down? Yet another stinking anonymous palace of conspicuous consumption. Rubber stamp, rubber stamp, rubber stamp. Can I get a "soaring foyer" please? How many gables can I get per sq ft? There'll be four of us living there, so we'll need at least 1,500 sq ft and a full bath each, plus a media room for our IMAX flat screen. And since I can't maneuver my Escalade worth a crap, I'll need a circular drive-- throw some money at the city and get those trees out of the way.

An awesome and architecturally significant home transformed to rubbish. I hope whoever owns it currently is losing a lot more than his shirt. I hope that bad karma lasts the rest of his life.

Apologies to all for the rant.

Jay-- Did you see anything worth getting your hopes up for?

[cohdane]

Saw your post after writing mine. Good luck w/ LB!

[jaynetarzana]

Originally Posted by cohdane

Jay-- Did you see anything worth getting your hopes up for?

Nope, I posted the happenings of the day above. We have a plan though and that is always a good thing. It makes me feel better.

[cohdane]

Originally Posted by chet everett

No one is going to argue that VERY different market forces are at play in the fringe of Joilet in Grundy Co. than in Highland Park or Glencoe. If so many people are willing to accept statement like "the rich get richer while the poor get poorer" and the "two Americas" thing then I would suggest that the pulling apart of house prices should also show this...

If one wants to live in an area of homes that cost more than half a million dollars one ought to be aware that your neighbors are effected by things in different ways than those whose homes are way down market.

There's also a statement about "all boats sink/rise together."

A solid proportion of the stale inventory I see is million+ homes. Mostly new construction. And if you look at "new listings" for Lake County (why would ANYONE list right now), there's a lot more of that in the pipeline. Too bad there aren't more buyers of million+ homes in the pipeline.

I'm not arguing that the North Shore is going to have anywhere near as many foreclosures as poorer neighborhoods, but there is no immunity or firewall here. From the LA Times, to the NY Times, to the Chicago Tribune, all have had articles about how the wealthy are also feeling the pain of the housing slump.

There are price reductions aplenty in "homes that cost more than half a million dollars." And when I see a price that has ceased to drop for quite a while, it's often associated with a seller who bought in the last four years. No room left to go down. Why? Home equity loans do strange things to people. Even well off people.

In the short time I've been here, I've met a woman driving an '01 Lexus SUV whose house was about to be sold at auction. Another woman who's husband was let go (she was applying for a job at a grocery store, but still holding out for a luxury SUV of her own). Another woman who was bearing the stress of two mortgages because they traded up, but-- INCREDIBLY-- no one had bought her old place (even though it was new with all the upgrades, etc, etc, would I like to see it?) I could go on. Really and truly, I've been here all of six months and have sooooo many examples. You can't throw a rock without hitting someone trying to unload a house out here.

This isn't just a California/Florida/Nevada/Arizona housing crisis. It's not even just a national housing crisis. It's a global housing crisis. Check the Google news and count how many countries are breaking records out there. Some have it worse than others, but everyone is getting hit.

No one is immune. No matter what tax bracket.

[jaynetarzana]

Originally Posted by cohdane

There's also a statement about "all boats sink/rise together."

A solid proportion of the stale inventory I see is million+ homes. Mostly new construction. And if you look at "new listings" for Lake County (why would ANYONE list right now), there's a lot more of that in the pipeline. Too bad there aren't more buyers of million+ homes in the pipeline.

I'm not arguing that the North Shore is going to have anywhere near as many foreclosures as poorer neighborhoods, but there is no immunity or firewall here. From the LA Times, to the NY Times, to the Chicago Tribune, all have had articles about how the wealthy are also feeling the pain of the housing slump.

There are price reductions aplenty in "homes that cost more than half a million dollars." And when I see a price that has ceased to drop for quite a while, it's often associated with a seller who bought in the last four years. No room left to go down. Why? Home equity loans do strange things to people. Even well off people.

In the short time I've been here, I've met a woman driving an '01 Lexus SUV whose house was about to be sold at auction. Another woman who's husband was let go (she was applying for a job at a grocery store, but still holding out for a luxury SUV of her own). Another woman who was bearing the stress of two mortgages because they traded up, but-- INCREDIBLY-- no one had bought her old place (even though it was new with all the upgrades, etc, etc, would I like to see it?) I could go on. Really and truly, I've been here all of six months and have sooooo many examples. You can't throw a rock without hitting someone trying to unload a house out here.

This isn't just a California/Florida/Nevada/Arizona housing crisis. It's not even just a national housing crisis. It's a global housing crisis. Check the Google news and count how many countries are breaking records out there. Some have it worse than others, but everyone is getting hit.

No one is immune. No matter what tax bracket.

I completely agree. People really like to think that it is a California/Florida/Nevada/Arizona housing crisis, but the fact of the matter is, there doesn't seem to be many markets that are immune. Whenever I tell our agent that I think a house is overpriced, she feeds me a bunch of garbage about how this area doesn't need to correct because it never went up like California. My answer to that is, when the majority of homes are over a million dollars and there is no ocean nearby and it isn't beautiful 12 months out of the year, things have gotten out of hand. This house we are looking at is overpriced. No one can justify the price to us, yet both agents (yes mine too) say the house is worth it. Based on what? Opinion? A gut feeling? The sellers attachment to the house and unwillingness to accept the reality of today's market? Sorry, but when my money is on the line, I need more than that. I don't see people lining up to put offers on this house. When I tell our agent what we want to offer, she tells me she will submit it, but it isn't going to go anywhere. I have actually built a pretty solid case for the $ amount we are going to offer them. I can't say the same thing about the other side. We really love the house though and we'd appreciate the heck out of it if they decide to accept our offer. I know what it is like to have to accept that your house isn't worth what it once was. We lost everything when we had to sell our house at the price the market would bear. So it isn't like I don't have compassion for sellers, but if we had to face reality so do they.

[chiados]

Originally Posted by jaynetarzana

We've pretty much decided that if the purchase on the LB house doesn't work out, we're going to find something to rent in Evanston for 6 months and see if we can get more comfortable with the area. So now it is in the hands of the universe! I'll keep you posted.

Odds are you won't need to spend much time near Evanston high school for at least 10 years given your kids' ages. So, it might not be that big of an issue for you. There are some interesting things going on in that area though. The BooCoo Cafe was started near the high school as a cafe and community center. They had been offering all sorts of California liberal type classes, serving organic food, etc. We went there a few times when they first opened but had a number of slow service issues which made it hard with little kids and so we just haven't gone back for awhile now. It's an interesting effort to spruce up the area though. I believe there's also a new soul-food type vegetarian restaurant and cafe on Emerson in one of the "less desirable"-labeled areas.

FWIW, we live just inside one of the "meh" labeled areas and actually find it to be a very good place; although there's no architecture of your style. There are lots of young families in our neighborhood, most with an attachment parenting bent. Also, our nurse midwives for the birth of our second child here in Evanston were better than the one we had in California for the birth of our first child. Admittedly, I don't notice breastfeeding in public all that much, but my wife never felt uncomfortable doing so in Evanston.

Neighbors who moved from a condo in the frequently praised Lincoln elementary school area have actually been happier with Washington school for their second grader. Oakton school has its problems as I understand it although I'm told they have an outstanding chess program and camp in the summer. So, there are some interesting things going on all over.

In any case, best of luck in your search and transition. If Lake Bluff doesn't work out, you will certainly be able to find some similar-valued folks in Evanston and might find it more appealing than you think.