working in downtown... living in burbs (Chicago, Naperville: equity, relocating, real estate)

[eck1s]

Hello,

I will be relocating to the Chicago area soon. I've accepted an offer in downtown Chicago and will begin a house hunt soon. I am looking for an area that is no more than an hour commute by train. Will probably be looking in the 400-500k range. Any suggestions?

[emmi605]

These forums are filled with some great threads that are just like yours. You are in a comfortable price range that allows choices in many great suburbs. I am most familiar with the western area. Going west you have a few Cook County suburbs, probably the most sought after there are Oak Park and Forest Park. Then most would skip into Elmhurst, Glen Ellyn, or Wheaton with your price range. According to the train schedule Winfield/Wheaton is about an hour ride when making all the stops. How large of a home do you hope to get? Anyway, check out the other threads and you should come up with some options, then a realtor could help you narrow down some areas.

[Windy City John]

emmi605-- excellent, sound advice

Depending on demographics OP may want to checkout Downers Grove, Darien, Woodridge, Lisle. Naperville is always an option too if you can figure out Metra parking.

[vester72]

I'd look at Homer Glen, Orland Park, Mokena, Palos, Frankfort, Lemont, New Lenox - but all those mentioned above are great areas as well.

Hard to go wrong - but if you have kids, check out the schools - GreatSchools.net has a nice site with a ton of good info (just Google "great schools").

[Steve-o]

Naperville, Hinsdale, Geneva, Schaumburg, Wheaton, Glen Ellyn, etc, are great towns and are along the Metra lines. Im leaving out tons of great suburbs, but its early and my brain isnt up to full capability yet. lol

[NYrules]

Originally Posted by vester72

I'd look at Homer Glen, Orland Park, Mokena, Palos, Frankfort, Lemont, New Lenox - but all those mentioned above are great areas as well.

Hard to go wrong - but if you have kids, check out the schools - GreatSchools.net has a nice site with a ton of good info (just Google "great schools").

I would have to second this recommendation on the towns just listed. Orland Park and Homer Glen are both gold mines for making a nice return on your property. 355 was just put in right through this area and already home prices are responding. As the song goes, they are going "up up and away..."

Now, here is the one bad thing... Taxes. Will County has a bit of a tax problem now as litterally tens of thousands of people are flooding out into Homer Glen, New Lenox, Frankfort, and Mokena causing people to say, "hey we need schools, hey we need a library, more police, fire, better roads" and before you know it, you are paying $10K a year in property taxes on a $300K home! So, that being said, in your price range you can find some really nice houses right along Will-Cook Road on the east side of the street which would put you into Cook County allowing you to take advantage of Cook's lower property taxes. Also, by being on this side of Will Cook Road you will fall into Orland Park's boundaries allowing you to take advantage of all the city has to offer; like a muti million dollar library complete with video rental store upstairs The Orland Park Public Library : About Us, state of the art workout facility on 159th St and Wolf Road and waterpark on West Avenue Recreation ENTRE PRISES USA INC | List of Installations | Village of Orland Park, a top of the line police force Orland Park Police Headquarters as well as top of the line fire/medical rescue, and school district 230's award winning schools Carl Sandburg High School - Orland Park, Illinois - IL - school overview, not to mention the Orland Park property tax rebate where the village will write you a check refunding you any of the village paid portion of your property taxes (just a thank you for living in the town)! http://www.orland-park.il.us/village...e_app_2008.pdf

Even in today's poor housing market, home values in and around Orand continue to rise. A number of projects are slated or underway in and around the town too promising to only further increase home values in the area. Currently underway are a number of road improvement projects to lessen the burden of dealing with Orland/Tinley's traffic; widening of 159th and La Grange Road, widening of 94th and 159th Street, extension of Ravinia south of 159th to La Grange, widening of 153rd St. (completed), widenining of 143rd and La Grange (2008), reopening of the Southwest Highway Bridge over La Grange, widening of Oak Park Avenue at 159th Street, and the eventual widening of 143rd St from La Grange to Will Cook. There is a ton of construction going on, but once complete in the next few years, driving will be a pleasure again.

Next is the huge ongoing project at the north-west corner of 143rd and La Grange called the Main St. Triangle Project which promises new high rises, shoppes, coffee houses, the demolition of Orland Plaza Mall (Randy's Market) in 2008 to create a new downtown for the village. Here is a little view on what it is going to look like Main St. Triangle, Orland Park IL | Urban Design Architecture | SGW Architects BTW, this is also one of the locations of Metra's 3 Orland Park train stations and there is ample parking for everyone! Metra / 143rd Street Station Information

So, as you can see there are many things going on in the town to assure the village continues to be the star of the south suburbs assuring residents that their equity in their homes is safe.

Here are some of the wonderful homes currently for sale in the town that are in your price range. Real Estate at Homes.Com for ORLAND PARK, IL

Here is some more info on the town. Orland Park, IL - Presented by Village Profile

[eck1s]

this is awesome! i'll check out all the areas that have been suggested.

[Big TR]

One thing: don't think you need to buy the instant you set foot in the Chicago area. Renting for a year will give you a chance to check out all the towns mentioned to make sure you truly like the area you are going to live in.

Waiting will also allow you to ride down the housing market and get a better price on a home. The market up here has not yet reached bottom.

My wife's cousin was relocating with her husband to Chicago. They wanted to live in the city, but he has to commute to the northern suburbs each day to his office. They were dead set on buying a place, but after I explained the market situation to them and how bad his commute would be they decided to rent for a year to make sure that this was what they really wanted to do.

[NYrules]

Originally Posted by NYrules

I would have to second this recommendation on the towns just listed. Orland Park and Homer Glen are both gold mines for making a nice return on your property. 355 was just put in right through this area and already home prices are responding. As the song goes, they are going "up up and away..."

Now, here is the one bad thing... Taxes. Will County has a bit of a tax problem now as litterally tens of thousands of people are flooding out into Homer Glen, New Lenox, Frankfort, and Mokena causing people to say, "hey we need schools, hey we need a library, more police, fire, better roads" and before you know it, you are paying $10K a year in property taxes on a $300K home! So, that being said, in your price range you can find some really nice houses right along Will-Cook Road on the east side of the street which would put you into Cook County allowing you to take advantage of Cook's lower property taxes. Also, by being on this side of Will Cook Road you will fall into Orland Park's boundaries allowing you to take advantage of all the city has to offer; like a muti million dollar library complete with video rental store upstairs The Orland Park Public Library : About Us, state of the art workout facility on 159th St and Wolf Road and waterpark on West Avenue Recreation ENTRE PRISES USA INC | List of Installations | Village of Orland Park, a top of the line police force Orland Park Police Headquarters as well as top of the line fire/medical rescue, and school district 230's award winning schools Carl Sandburg High School - Orland Park, Illinois - IL - school overview, not to mention the Orland Park property tax rebate where the village will write you a check refunding you any of the village paid portion of your property taxes (just a thank you for living in the town)! http://www.orland-park.il.us/village...e_app_2008.pdf

Even in today's poor housing market, home values in and around Orand continue to rise. A number of projects are slated or underway in and around the town too promising to only further increase home values in the area. Currently underway are a number of road improvement projects to lessen the burden of dealing with Orland/Tinley's traffic; widening of 159th and La Grange Road, widening of 94th and 159th Street, extension of Ravinia south of 159th to La Grange, widening of 153rd St. (completed), widenining of 143rd and La Grange (2008), reopening of the Southwest Highway Bridge over La Grange, widening of Oak Park Avenue at 159th Street, and the eventual widening of 143rd St from La Grange to Will Cook. There is a ton of construction going on, but once complete in the next few years, driving will be a pleasure again.

Next is the huge ongoing project at the north-west corner of 143rd and La Grange called the Main St. Triangle Project which promises new high rises, shoppes, coffee houses, the demolition of Orland Plaza Mall (Randy's Market) in 2008 to create a new downtown for the village. Here is a little view on what it is going to look like Main St. Triangle, Orland Park IL | Urban Design Architecture | SGW Architects BTW, this is also one of the locations of Metra's 3 Orland Park train stations and there is ample parking for everyone! Metra / 143rd Street Station Information

So, as you can see there are many things going on in the town to assure the village continues to be the star of the south suburbs assuring residents that their equity in their homes is safe.

Here are some of the wonderful homes currently for sale in the town that are in your price range. Real Estate at Homes.Com for ORLAND PARK, IL

Here is some more info on the town. Orland Park, IL - Presented by Village Profile

Here is more on the Main St Triangle Project I mentioned so you can have an idea what our downtown is going to look like. http://www.orland-park.il.us/econdev...onceptplan.pdf Its obvious this is going to be a huge money maker for all the residents near this (equity).

[jessiegirl_98]

I would check out Evanston, Oak Park, Downers Grove, and Naperville.