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Old 03-20-2017, 09:31 PM
 
Location: Florida
11,669 posts, read 17,823,351 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by BobNJ1960 View Post
If they are interested, you should ask the recruiter for a Skype interview before flying out. In this case, it would work like a screening phone interview.
Well tomorrow I have a skype interview with a recruiter from another agency in Chicago. But also tomorrow, I will wait to hear from this recruiter regarding whether this employer thinks my background may be a good fit.
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Old 03-20-2017, 09:55 PM
 
33,734 posts, read 16,721,651 times
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May want to try DC and Baltimore also. Both would offer either short flight or Amtrak as options besides driving.
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Old 03-20-2017, 10:17 PM
 
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Regarding the property values not bouncing back very fast, part of the problem may be property taxes being so high. I have a family member whose Lake County house is valued at just under $300,000 but whose property taxes are about $10,000 per year. It's a big house in a newer subdivision, but still...

I believe Illinois' property tax rate is the 2nd highest in the nation, right behind New Jersey's rate.

As for rentals, I just checked Zillow, which states that the current median rent price in Lake County is $1525/mo. I'm sure you can find something closer to your target price range, but you might need to make some trade-offs. If you can get an apartment close to a Metra station and if your job is close to a Metra station, you might be able to ditch your car and save a LOT of money.

I really like most of Lake County, though I'm more familiar with Cook County. I've known people from CT who have moved here and haven't had any problems fitting in. I moved here from NY as a kid and got a bit of teasing about my accent, but that was junior high stuff.

Other people more familiar with particular suburbs in the county can help with choosing a place, if you decide to move here.

Good luck!
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Old 03-20-2017, 10:19 PM
 
Location: Florida
11,669 posts, read 17,823,351 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by BobNJ1960 View Post
May want to try DC and Baltimore also. Both would offer either short flight or Amtrak as options besides driving.
Maybe if my search slows down more, I will consider. I have been targeting Chicago and Milwaukee because of the more reasonable COL and surprising abundance of opportunities, along with 2 hr nonstop flights, and my brother up in Sheboygan.
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Old 03-20-2017, 10:22 PM
 
Location: Florida
11,669 posts, read 17,823,351 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Ellabella2 View Post
Regarding the property values not bouncing back very fast, part of the problem may be property taxes being so high. I have a family member whose Lake County house is valued at just under $300,000 but whose property taxes are about $10,000 per year. It's a big house in a newer subdivision, but still...

I believe Illinois' property tax rate is the 2nd highest in the nation, right behind New Jersey's rate.

As for rentals, I just checked Zillow, which states that the current median rent price in Lake County is $1525/mo. I'm sure you can find something closer to your target price range, but you might need to make some trade-offs. If you can get an apartment close to a Metra station and if your job is close to a Metra station, you might be able to ditch your car and save a LOT of money.

I really like most of Lake County, though I'm more familiar with Cook County. I've known people from CT who have moved here and haven't had any problems fitting in. I moved here from NY as a kid and got a bit of teasing about my accent, but that was junior high stuff.

Other people more familiar with particular suburbs in the county can help with choosing a place, if you decide to move here.

Good luck!
I noticed that Zillow tends to overstate median rent prices. And the Census data tends to understate them. The Census (as of 2015) says it is $1,069. So it's probably realistically somewhere around $1,300.
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Old 03-21-2017, 06:54 AM
 
903 posts, read 854,690 times
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Nep,

If you haven't yet, hit up Zillow and Craigslist to get a more accurate picture of rental rates. I'm a landlord so I keep a close eye on rental rates in my area. They have gone up in the last year by 5-10%.

Lake Forest is somewhat pricey but that's the trade off you would have to make for being able to bike to work. If you're willing to drive, stay away from Waukegan, Zion, Round Lake, Round Lake Park, Round Lake Beach, Ingleside, and North Chicago.

If you accept a job offer in the area, just come out a few days early and check out the area. Find a good enough rental for a year and by that time, you will have it all figured out. Sheboygan isn't so far away that you couldn't crash at your brother's house while home hunting down here.

If you get a job in Milwaukee, Sheboygan is a bedroom community for that city. Good luck with the interviews.
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Old 03-21-2017, 07:07 AM
 
Location: Chicago
2,884 posts, read 4,953,783 times
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There are huge differences within Lake County. The towns along the Lake Michigan are beautiful and upscale from Chicago up to and including Lake Bluff. (The more southern towns are in Cook County.) Towns like Libertyville, Lincolnshire and Vernon Hills are also nice. You want to stay away from the northwest sections which are just too far for you if you'd be working in Lake Forest, and some of them can be a bit trashy. Depending on how much of a commute you want, you could look in Evanston which would have the most apartment options, but all of the towns along the lake would have some, though they might be harder to find since some of them will be in 2 or 3 unit buildings. Vernon Hills is more of a middle class town than the lakefront towns and there are plenty of apartment complexes there.
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Old 03-21-2017, 09:21 AM
 
28,455 posts, read 84,914,994 times
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Default BIG question: What are your SKILLS???

Quote:
Originally Posted by nep321 View Post
This job is located in Lake Forest. I am aiming for $70-72K. I would be renting and hopefully able to find a place for no more than about $1,600. Just a small 1 bd apartment in decent shape, decent neighborhood.

Again, nothing is certain. Just been working with a couple recruiters in Chicagoland. No interviews yet, but just doing my due diligence now just in case.

Is Lake County a transplant friendly place or is it hostile to newcomers? Do any east coast transplants live there?

I honestly don't know what communities to consider, because I simply am not familiar with the area. I suppose I could live down in Cook County and commute north though. I like short commutes. I do not need to be around a lot of LGBT people, because I believe in being myself, regardless of where I live.
Lake County has an interesting mix of firms -- there are several well known pharmaceutical / medical products headquartered in Lake Co and many of them have very large demand for traditional IT and audit staff. There are a handful of investment oriented firms, most of which are rather small. There are also a SHRINKING number of firms that are in other sectors, some of which have relocated to the Loop while many of which have downsized...

The overall desirability / cost of living in Lake Co also varies quite widely -- towns on Lake Michigan generally are very expensive even for homes well inland. This is not unlike the towns in CT on Long Island Sound where affluent workers commute into NYC. For towns with more of a "rust belt" heritage there are very different problems -- folks with limited skills and often of limited proficiency in English are unlikely to ever see the kinds of opportunity of better educated workers. So too do towns like Waukegan or Round Lake Beach suffer from the other downsides of large underclass -- higher crime, deteriorating housing, poor schools...

If you do have skills that are both currently in demand AND LIKELY TO INCREASE in desirability then maybe it makes sense to consider applying for jobs in Lake Co., but if the job is easy to outsource / eliminate the high COL in Lake Co would put you at risk are being forced to relocate again. I know several people in IT with skills that are no longer "in demand" who've been in that situation and it is a bad way to see your earnings potential slip away while you are also spending your own money to move. Very hard to stomach...

I would also caution that even towns that once experienced good growth in Lake Co are now facing some very negative pressures of escalating property taxes and declining household income -- that rapidly drains the pool of potential buyers of even affordable homes and completely destroys what used to be the #1 way for middle income families to build wealth -- and don't assume that sort of downward spiral is not also a negative for renters: as landlords see their net income fall they are forced to accept lower quality tenants. Such tenants put additional strain on things like local police, fire, EMS, schools, etc. Even worse those landlords who see falling rental income will quickly ask the assessor to reduce their property value and that means less tax money to support those needed services. It is a terrible spiral that has been devastating to areas on Chicago's south side and the poorer suburbs of Cook Co that very well may be repeated throughout Illinois as the depth of our budget crisis grows in seriousness...

Last edited by chet everett; 03-21-2017 at 10:25 AM..
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Old 03-21-2017, 10:00 AM
 
4,011 posts, read 4,192,808 times
Reputation: 3118
Quote:
Originally Posted by Campfires View Post
If you get a job in Milwaukee, Sheboygan is a bedroom community for that city. Good luck with the interviews.
Not really. The WI folks don't typically drive an hour to work like the people commuting to Chicago.

Smaller towns closer to Milwaukee proper do serve as bedroom communities though.
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Old 03-21-2017, 10:11 AM
 
4,011 posts, read 4,192,808 times
Reputation: 3118
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ellabella2 View Post
Regarding the property values not bouncing back very fast, part of the problem may be property taxes being so high. I have a family member whose Lake County house is valued at just under $300,000 but whose property taxes are about $10,000 per year. It's a big house in a newer subdivision, but still...
See Chet's post. Lake County has some communities that are very different in that regard.
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