chickens and maybe more in Lake County (Chicago, Aurora: sales, mortgages)

[G in MP]

Hi guys, can we talk homesteading? Anyone doing this in these parts? We're in Mt. Prospect now, are looking to buy on some acreage (1.5+...I'll take as much as I can get) farther north in Lake county, allowing us to do a bit of gardening, duel-purpose chickens, and maybe a couple pigs down the road. My family is in Glenview and my wife's is in the city on the north side, and all our friends are in the city or the closer in north/northwest burbs, so we don't want to stray too far out. We're thinking Mundelein or Grayslake, maybe Wauconda although we would prefer not to get that far west. Don't know much about Wadsworth other than the ride into the city is probably quicker than from Wauconda. Likewise, I don't know much about Antioch, but same story for their eastern side. Where do those folks shop up there?


We have a budget of up to $400K which must buy us a decent house, preferably updated or at least updatable (and priced accordingly). My wife works from home, and I have the potential to with such a move, so no work commute requirements. Our kids are adults, so no school district concerns here. Must be close enough to big box shopping and well enough away from hicksville and gangbangerland, although we would definitely prefer the former to the latter. I'm purposely avoiding mentioning Island Lake and Round Lake for these reasons, but if somebody could correct me on that, I'd be much obliged. We're looking for a nice, private chunk of land well away from neighbors, so maybe those two areas can offer that after all.

[G in MP]

Should also mention, we would love nothing better than to get into Barrington, but that seems like a pricey proposition. Also, we would consider areas around I-90 corridor in McHenry county, ie, west end of Elgin or anything north of there that's within a 10 min drive of the 90 (which sadly rules out Crystal Lake).

[holl1ngsworth]

Since no one has offered up anything, I will, with something in DuPage. The Warrenville area has plenty of large lots and quite a few homesteaders. The elementary school assigned to this one is a serial underperformer, but the middle school and high school are excellent. Really outstanding area, close to amenities and one of the greenest strips in all of Chicagoland.

3S550 Briggs Street NAPERVILLE, IL 60563 | Redfin

Drive time to Glenview is about 35-40 minutes.

[holl1ngsworth]

Then there's this gem:

2888 N. Eola Road AURORA, IL 60502 | Redfin

What a perfect little set-up.

[linicx]

Probably some facts are in order. One acre (1.00)is 208.71x208.71 sq.ft. It is only large when you are walking behind a push mower. The half acre (0.50) is 104.35 feet on each side. The 1/4 acre (0.25)is 52.17 ft on each side.

To bring this into perspective, two acres (417.42 ft) with no trees or outbuilding like a storage shed, plus one house with a separate garage and finished driveway will take about 3 hour to mow using a rider and weed eat -- if the ground is level. I don't know if a 1 1/2 acre will be enough for a couple of hog houses and pen. Pigs can smell pretty rank.

[chet everett]

Lake County has a process /limits for chickens -- http://www.lakecountyil.gov/Planning...m_Chickens.pdf

I don't think you can have pigs or other livestock w/o true agricultural zoning / 200,000 sq ft of land. That is probably going to be prohibitively expensive in Lake Co...

[Lookout Kid]

Originally Posted by holl1ngsworth

Then there's this gem:

2888 N. Eola Road AURORA, IL 60502 | Redfin

What a perfect little set-up.

That is really cool, and a great price.

[pvande55]

Originally Posted by linicx

Probably some facts are in order. One acre (1.00)is 208.71x208.71 sq.ft. It is only large when you are walking behind a push mower. The half acre (0.50) is 104.35 feet on each side. The 1/4 acre (0.25)is 52.17 ft on each side.

To bring this into perspective, two acres (417.42 ft) with no trees or outbuilding like a storage shed, plus one house with a separate garage and finished driveway will take about 3 hour to mow using a rider and weed eat -- if the ground is level. I don't know if a 1 1/2 acre will be enough for a couple of hog houses and pen. Pigs can smell pretty rank.

You need to check your math. Remember from HS algebra, you must square the side dimension when figuring area. Therefore a quarter acre is 104.35 feet on a side, and 1/16 acre is 52.17 feet on a side. And of course that is assuming it is square. If the sides are at angle the area will be less.

[G in MP]

Guys, thanks for your input, didn't realize this had replies...thread was lonely for a spell.

Holl1ngsworth, those places look pretty sweet and yeh great price. I'm more open to Dupage co. than my wife is, you know what they say, happy wife happy life.

Linicx, we need some land because I want to do chicken tractors, those get moved up/down the lawn pretty often. Also, am thinking 2 separate pastures for the pigs, leave them in one while I plant on the other that they rooted/fertilized from the previous season.

Chet everett, that is so handy, thank you. I've yet to call Lake County. I talked to zoning in McHenry, they seem pretty lax, allow as many animals as you want so long as the neighbors don't mind and you could document $1K earned sales from whatever you grow on there. Unincorporated, on land that allows horses.

[Elly0408]

Ok, need to say that I live in Island Lake, on the lake, and work in Chicago. I have found it actually to be a wonderful place to live despite people's impressions. It as a very small town feel where everyone knows each other and neighbor's help each other. I grew up in military housing and am used to a close-knit community. My neighbor's have college degrees and are very interesting people. In addition, it does split between Lake and McHenry counties, so if you live on the McHenry side it can be a financial benefit. I know a house around the corner that has highland cattle, alpacas, and pigs. And several of the homes that are in unincorporated areas have horses. Maybe try Port Barrington if the extra time and distance is too much and school districts really matter. But I like it here and housing is VERY affordable. I shop at the it box stores in McHenry, Crystal Lake and Lake Zurich, and am home from any of those locations within 15 minutes.

I can tell you when I moved here was the height of the housing market, and all the home owners were getting home equity loans to fix up their houses, and they did a really nice job. There are a few of the old, postage-stamp sized cottages around, that are showing their age, but most have been through a full rehab. Property values really fell when the bubble burst (I am still underwater) and it was sad because many people had lived in their homes a long time, had their mortgages paid off or close to it and lost their homes for such a small amount and on home equity loans balances. A perfectly good 3 bedroom up the street went for $33K! I watched people who had worked hard and had fixed up their homes and yards loose it all - and they had done it the right way, save for a deposit, not buying more of a house than you can afford, etc. but many worked in housing construction so when the bottom fell out.. They lost everything. But my point is, don't discount Island Lake outright. You might find a hidden gem.