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Old 05-28-2016, 03:55 PM
 
182 posts, read 239,382 times
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8006 Bellvue Ave, Spring Grove, IL 60081 | MLS #09223314 | Zillow



This is a cute house in a quiet neighborhood--I drive by it almost every day...sort of a fixer upper- but i would totally live in it as is.
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Old 05-28-2016, 04:39 PM
 
Location: Bloomington IN
8,590 posts, read 12,334,693 times
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You might also look in Antioch and Lake Villa. Parts of Lake Villa is assigned to Antioch schools. Good schools and more choices in your price range. I'd also suggest looking just over the Wisconsin border--depending where your husband will work.

BTW--boaters I knew when we lived in the area and had family near the Chain hated boating on the Chain. Lots of crazy, drunk boaters and very crowded.
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Old 05-28-2016, 06:44 PM
 
Location: Crook County, Hellinois
5,820 posts, read 3,870,206 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by amd555 View Post
I will go out on limb an suggest Gurnee. Based OP's profile zip code 46237, I'm guessing they want some of that city feel. Vernon hills and others while Gurnee has a lot of those weekend activities, social and events.
Gurnee is anything but "city feel". It's got 8-lane roads, a giant shopping mall surrounded by a sea of parking lots, nonexistent public transit, isolated housing subdivisions, and corporate chains for restaurants. Ditto for most nearby suburbs that developed in the automobile age. You don't get a bona fide city feel unless you head eastward and reach Waukegan.

I know I came up with my screen name for a reason, but if the OP wants city feel, Gurnee ain't it.
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Old 05-28-2016, 08:39 PM
 
Location: Sweet Home Chicago!
6,721 posts, read 6,474,525 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by rrah View Post
BTW--boaters I knew when we lived in the area and had family near the Chain hated boating on the Chain. Lots of crazy, drunk boaters and very crowded.
That sounds like my kinda lake! Different strokes for different folks I guess.
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Old 05-29-2016, 10:03 AM
 
Location: Lake County, IL
46 posts, read 66,828 times
Reputation: 15
Quote:
Originally Posted by Lanna20 View Post
Hello all! I need your Illinois expertise. My husband and I and our three kids are moving somewhere near the fox lake area due to his promotion and I have no idea where to begin. I definitely need great schools for the kids and I'm also a high school teacher so someplace great to work would be cool too. My 10 year old son plays rec football and my girls play softball. I would like a community that has things to do on the weekend also. We own a speed boat so close proximity to a lake would be amazing. Zillow.com does not say great things about the schools around fox lake so I wanted to see if that was true or ridiculous.

Thanks in advance for all of your help and advice. :-)
Since I read later that your budget is over 200k, I say, WHAT ARE YOU DOING IN A PLACE LIKE FOX LAKE?

Lemme explain. Fox Lake is a place where people(mostly drunks) go on the dirty lake and party loud. The schools are bs, and the town is really only ok if you stay for a week or a couple days. No offense, but it is what you call a white trash, dirty town. People really only buy summer homes here, or if they have an extremely low budget.

You could go a bit north to Lake Villa and Emmons Antioch. Emmons Grade School is probably the best performing school in the area. Mainly kids from the Lake Marie subdivisions and Grass Lake area go here, but Emmons I think is ANTIOCH ONLY. Emmons is the second most expensive place however, with the avg house selling for around 260-270k.

Or as stated, you can head east to Lake Villa. It is generally a nice place, many subdivisions around Grass Lake Road, and the LV Baseball Complex is also over there. Some parts of it belong to Lakes Community High, some don't. Lakes Community is a better high school then Antioch HS or Grant HS, NO DOUBT.

Lakes Community also serves some of Antioch(correct if wrong, sent kids to private school, even when I used to live in Vernon Hills lol).

Then you get into East Antioch(counting Old Mill Creek with it), with all the new developments such as NeuHaven, Red Wing, Clublands, Eagle Ridge etc. Obviously newer homes are more expensive, averages ranging at around 270k, pretty much at Emmons price. It is just east of the Walmart/Menards, and extends all the way to I-94, a convenient traffic free highway extending to Milwaukee and Chicago. The con is, no lakes for you, except a very small part of the Clublands subdivision.

We also have Gurnee. It is mainly also developed with nice developments, and the big busy mall and six lane roads. However, despite the high prices and many subdivisions, schools are not that good. Also, no lakes for you!

I would also suggest Pleasant Prairie, right over the WI border. It is similar to Gurnee but less busy, and smaller taxes. Also, it has better shopping options. Schools are also at an amazing level. Lakeside houses on Lake Michigan are also available, but most are well over your budget, as all Lake Michigan Lakeside places are.

Since schools and seemingly the lakes are your main factors, I would go with Emmons Antioch Area, with it's near-lake proximity and good schools. You may get a job at Lakes or Antioch HS, but your kids would go to Emmons.

If you can sacrifice a bit more money, check out Lakeside Pleasant Prairie.

Sources:
http://local.niche.com
GreatSchools - Public and Private School Ratings, Reviews and Parent Community
My own knowledge.

Last edited by LakeCountyBang; 05-29-2016 at 10:08 AM.. Reason: Fixing some stuff I left out
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Old 05-29-2016, 10:04 AM
 
Location: Lake County, IL
46 posts, read 66,828 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by MillennialUrbanist View Post
Gurnee is anything but "city feel". It's got 8-lane roads, a giant shopping mall surrounded by a sea of parking lots, nonexistent public transit, isolated housing subdivisions, and corporate chains for restaurants. Ditto for most nearby suburbs that developed in the automobile age. You don't get a bona fide city feel unless you head eastward and reach Waukegan.

I know I came up with my screen name for a reason, but if the OP wants city feel, Gurnee ain't it.
Well it is more city-feel than any nearby areas except Wauk-town.
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Old 05-29-2016, 06:34 PM
 
Location: Sweet Home Chicago!
6,721 posts, read 6,474,525 times
Reputation: 9910
Quote:
Originally Posted by LakeCountyBang View Post
I would also suggest Pleasant Prairie, right over the WI border. It is similar to Gurnee but less busy, and smaller taxes. Also, it has better shopping options. Schools are also at an amazing level. Lakeside houses on Lake Michigan are also available, but most are well over your budget, as all Lake Michigan Lakeside places are.
Re: Pleasant Prairie. I took a look at homes there based on a prior recommendation and unless I'm missing something, the schools there are rated very poorly?
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Old 05-29-2016, 10:22 PM
 
Location: Schererville, IN
143 posts, read 217,719 times
Reputation: 128
Quote:
Originally Posted by flamadiddle View Post
Re: Pleasant Prairie. I took a look at homes there based on a prior recommendation and unless I'm missing something, the schools there are rated very poorly?
The high schools do suck, but the elementary and middle schools are okay. Not a school system I would send my kids too, but it's not the worst school district ever.
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Old 05-30-2016, 07:30 AM
 
Location: Bloomington IN
8,590 posts, read 12,334,693 times
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About Pleasant Prairie--My brother just sold his house in Pleasant Prairie--in 10 days. His wife is a former grade school teacher. Their oldest of the three kids was in one of the grade schools for a couple of years. Granted, his wife supplements school stuff (as I said former grade school teacher), but they were generally happy with the grade school. They figured that by the time the kids were ready for high school they would have moved or the school would improve with all the newer building that went on there.

They really enjoyed their time there. It was very family friendly with lots of activities, proximity to the Lake, and easy drives to other places for fun things to do--Chicago and Milwaukee. Being 6-8 hours away from most of their families made it hard with 3 young kids (all under 7).

Although Indiana has a reputation for having inexpensive real estate, they've had to spend more to get the same amount of space in their new southern Indiana town.
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Old 07-13-2016, 07:50 AM
 
Location: Saint John, IN
11,583 posts, read 6,729,146 times
Reputation: 14786
I know you said you're husband is getting a promotion to transfer to Illinois, but I hope it makes sense with the difference in the housing and taxes. Anywhere in Illinois that has good rated schools will have high property taxes. You really need to search and you will eventually find a deal. The fact that you are willing to buy a fixer upper is good as that will probably be your best bet. The ratings on schools are pretty accurate and you really don't want any school rated lower than a 7, IMO; however, I would look right over the border in Wisconsin as you will get more for your money there. Illinois as a state is in a fiscal mess and there's no end in sight. Property taxes will have to go up in order for the state to survive. Good luck!!
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