Relocating to Chicago area - need help! (Orland Park, New Lenox: houses, neighborhoods)

[mochalatte628]

Howdy,

We currently live in a very good suburb of Houston TX. My husband is looking at taking a job with BP in Whiting. We have a little baby girl, so we need some help identifying neighborhoods that meet a criteria similar to what we currently have. We prefer a good school district and newer construction housing. We are looking to pay around $400,000 for a house, and prefer it to be on the larger size (currently we have a 3800 sq ft house). Property size isn't super important, but a yard is a must with a baby and several dogs. Reasonable driving distance to shopping/dining are fairly important, as well. Do you have any suggestions on where we should look? My husband will be going there briefly this week, so we could really use some direction, as we've never been to the area.

I'd appreciate any guidance you could provide us with. He is willing to drive up to 45-50 minutes each way.

[chet everett]

On the Indiana side of the border you could look at Merrillville, Schereville, Munster, Griffith or surrounding areas. Your money will go farther and commute will be easier.

On the Illinois side towns like Frankfort and New Lenox are not too bad a drive and mostly in you price range, though property taxes are higher. Towns like Flossmoor might also be worth be considering, though homes are older and probably rarely in the 3800 sq ft size. Another option might be Olympia Fields but houses there are also not as new as Frankfort / New Lenox...

[holl1ngsworth]

Originally Posted by mochalatte628

Howdy,

We currently live in a very good suburb of Houston TX. My husband is looking at taking a job with BP in Whiting. We have a little baby girl, so we need some help identifying neighborhoods that meet a criteria similar to what we currently have. We prefer a good school district and newer construction housing. We are looking to pay around $400,000 for a house, and prefer it to be on the larger size (currently we have a 3800 sq ft house). Property size isn't super important, but a yard is a must with a baby and several dogs. Reasonable driving distance to shopping/dining are fairly important, as well. Do you have any suggestions on where we should look? My husband will be going there briefly this week, so we could really use some direction, as we've never been to the area.

I'd appreciate any guidance you could provide us with. He is willing to drive up to 45-50 minutes each way.

How important are schools?

If important at all, I would avoid Olympia Fields, Schererville and Merrillville. I could be wrong, but I don't think the towns have a great rep for their schools.

Down in the S/SW suburbs Orland Park (Sandburg HS) has a good rep, as well as Frankfort. Both have plenty of large, new(er) homes under $400k. Not much beyond those two if you want "top" schools.

You could expand your search to the Western suburbs. Towns like La Grange and Western Springs are less than 30 miles from Whiting, have some of the best schools in the state, and are typically much more desirable than the S/SW suburbs. But you would have to settle for an older, much smaller home.

[flamadiddle]

I think your best bets are the answers you got in the NW Indiana forum. > http://www.city-data.com/forum/north...ease-help.html

Make sure to compare the property taxes between Illinois and Indiana.