Working in Deerfield, studying in the city (Chicago, Arlington Heights: fit in, short sales)

[mr roboto]

Yeah to get what you want for the price you are willint to pay you are gonna be way the hell out from Deerfield. That commute can really blow.

Lake Coubty prop taxes are bad. Cook county sales taxes are bad. Live in Cook shop in Lake. You can do that by living near county line.

[permamigrant]

I guess it's all the oak wood - I grew up being not fond of it. Maybe it's a personal association with the style of the 90s.

I don't know that I've seen a tax bill under $8k so far. I guess I've come to accept there is no way to win. I did see some rare homes under $260k that had proportionally smaller tax bills and are actually quite decent (generally smaller homes, but that works for us). Might have to see what else is wrong with them...

How is the general traffic in these areas? I just spent ~10 minutes with a screaming baby waiting to cross Rt 59 on a Sunday afternoon with light traffic. I did notice in Deerfield that rush hour traffic was absolutely brutal (took me 50 minutes to get to Elk Grove Village). Is this a general characteristic of life around Chicago?

[chet everett]

Originally Posted by permamigrant

I guess it's all the oak wood - I grew up being not fond of it. Maybe it's a personal association with the style of the 90s.

I don't know that I've seen a tax bill under $8k so far. I guess I've come to accept there is no way to win. I did see some rare homes under $260k that had proportionally smaller tax bills and are actually quite decent (generally smaller homes, but that works for us). Might have to see what else is wrong with them...

How is the general traffic in these areas? I just spent ~10 minutes with a screaming baby waiting to cross Rt 59 on a Sunday afternoon with light traffic. I did notice in Deerfield that rush hour traffic was absolutely brutal (took me 50 minutes to get to Elk Grove Village). Is this a general characteristic of life around Chicago?

One of the biggest negatives that comes with living further out is not just travel to / from work, but the total amount of time the whole family spends stuck in traffic . The closer in suburbs tend to have a more compact overall layout that means better travel options for moms & dads running errands like grocery shopping and doctors visits. I have met folks that realize they save dozens of hours a week living in a more traditional town than in areas that have the car-centric layout of outlying areas...

[4122]

I have noticed that Deerfield does have more traffic than surrounding towns. I assume you are working at one of the companies by Lake Cook and the 294. On Lake Cook, the closer you get to the Deerbrook Shopping Center (a strip mall on Lake Cook and Waukegan), the worse traffic gets.

[permamigrant]

After looking at homes and areas the past couple of weekends, I'm bumping our price limit up to $350k, though this requires lower taxes (closer to $6k). We've decided that buying a cheaper place for ~ 5 years only to get up and move to a better school district doesn't make sense when we want become more social and develop local friendships. We're going to prize areas with young families, inclusive diversity, and upwardly-mobile professionals. As far as the home goes, we're holding out for open floor plans, as our toddler demands constant supervision which is paralyzing if she can't be watched from the kitchen.

Area impressions:
Gurnee - Looks like one of the better commuting options, as there will be relatively little traffic on 94. Plenty affordable, but doesn't sound like the schools are really great.

Lake Zurich - we're finding a lot of options around here and the schools seem great. Don't know anything else about it, and the commute can be bad (30-60 mins).

Mundelein - haven't been out there yet; seems analogous to Gurnee, but worse commute.

Buffalo Grove - There aren't as many options for us, but schools are good and commute should be relatively good. Probably an area we could be longer-term.

Also looking at Palatine, Arlington Heights, Niles, Glenview, and other nearby areas, but not finding lots of appealing choices with regularity.

[4122]

Gurnee schools aren't top notch but they are still good and they're better than a lot of areas that far out and affordable. Gurnee or Lake Zurich would be the best options for you. Have tried looking at Vernon Hills? If not, you should. It's an affordable area with good schools and it's closer to both Deerfield and the city.

[ALemon]

Buffalo Grove in Lake County is the best. District 96 schools are exceptional and they feed into Stevenson. There is a mix of a lot of housing so you could buy a $350,000 now and if you outgrow it in 10 years there homes in the same schools that are varied like Long Grove, Lincolnshire with more land, or there are newer subdivisions in north Buffalo Grove with bigger yards. The park district is really good and the best part are all of the sidewalks/bikepaths that lead to anywhere in town. Also very safe, quiet, and there is plenty of shopping, conveniences in every direction (with easy no traffic shortcuts- my fave). I love it. Just my $.2 Let me know if you have any questions.

[permamigrant]

Can't find anything in Vernon Hills in our price range .

Top options seem to be Buffalo Grove, Lake Zurich, and Gurnee. Best home options seem to be Gurnee and LZ, best commutes in Gurnee and BG, and best schools in BG and LZ. Now we need to add in which places we can envision ourselves living by going to visit each. I personally want to make BG work for many of the reasons ALemon outlined; my wife is leaning LZ (sounds like it doesn't really resemble the rest of the Chicago suburbs, which to us is a great thing), but that commute worries me. Then again, Buffalo Grove taxes are a little higher, so we're going to be more stretched there.

[ChiAreaGuy]

How about Park Ridge?
Not that far from Deerfield, or Chicago.
Reasonable prices.

[permamigrant]

We were just talking about that yesterday. As my wife tells me, the homes we can afford in Park Ridge need more work than we can afford to have a home that would be comfortable for us. Not many homes there show up in our searches.