Moving to IL - is there any future? (Chicago, Naperville: crime, houses)

[MSchemist80]

Originally Posted by ChicagoDavid

Haha No he’s not. I did the same.

I’ve yet to meet a person that moved away due to taxes. I hate taxes but I lived here btching n moaning. My reason for the move is weather and new opportunity. I am taking a big risk but I can’t stand the bad traffic and the weather anymore. People I know moved because of weather or new jobs.

Umm Indiana and Wisconsin have nearly identical weather and they are a recipient of a major % of the Illinois exodus.

[GoCUBS1]

Originally Posted by ToriaT

I would stay away from Schaumburg and not a fan of Vernon Hills particularly. I like Naperville, Downers Grove, Wheaton and Glen Ellyn. Beautiful towns, parks, libraries, good schools, low crime rates.
re.

There’s absolutely nothing wrong with Schaumburg. I have no idea why one needs to “stay away from it.”

Schaumburg schools are good (look at the ratings). Housing stock/resale values, parks/forest preserves/green space, town amenities (e.g. library, park districts, performing arts center, festivals), shopping, restaurants, location to highways/airport/public transportation for work/commuting are all very good too...

[MSchemist80]

Originally Posted by GoCUBS1

There’s absolutely nothing wrong with Schaumburg. I have no idea why one needs to “stay away from it.”

Schaumburg schools are good (look at the ratings). Housing stock/resale values, parks/forest preserves/green space, town amenities (e.g. library, park districts, performing arts center, festivals), shopping, restaurants, location to highways/airport/public transportation for work/commuting are all very good too...

OP said not Cook Co. I lived in N Cook and recently moved to DuPage and prefer it. It is a better run county without all the corrupt Dem trash from the city "helping the working people."

[Drewjdeg]

Chicago property values may be bad for boomers, but they are good for millennials in their 20s. So many of my peers that work in finance and tech have chosen to move to Chicago for more work life balance and a cheaper cost of living.

If you want a home in a suburb with rail access to a global city and good public schools, Chicago is basically your only option in the US. Forget about finding something comparable in Boston, New York, or San Francisco.

[Sunbiz1]

Originally Posted by Liledgy

Illinois is great, great schools ( higher taxes), parks, the lake. World class city, great employment opportunity’s (unless your a chemist, lol). Great wages. Affordable housing.

Unless it's rural Illinois, housing isn't all that affordable.
The minimum wage I believe is going up, to a whopping $11/hr; not even enough for a single person.
Most, if not all of us posting here; are privileged.
The weather sucks here for 9 months of every 12, I mean really sucks.
And much like Florida, Illinois residents are more self-absorbed than states such as Iowa.
Of note, Florida tags in Illinois come in second on volume; see above sentence.
There's too much road construction, on the same roads over and over; as every municipality awards low bidders who use cheap materials.
The traffic is constant, and so is pollution.
And there's too much government telling me what I can and cannot do.

I am smiling as I type this, as many other states aren't all that much of an improvement.

[Liledgy]

Originally Posted by MSchemist80

No 20 years ago I knew the Dems were idiots but I never imagined they could cause this much damage where they are taxing families and grannies out of their homes, driving businesses and residents into exodus and getting reelected instead of dodging people wanting to kill them.

Houses are selling like hot cakes! I may even list a few of my rentals with a inflated price to see what happens. It’s a great time to be selling a home in the Chicagoland area.

[Curly Q. Bobalink]

Originally Posted by dtcbnd03

This is not a good way to look at it financially. A homeowner ALWAYS wants property appreciation because inflation and maintenance costs are gradually eating into that "investment". My parents have lived in Rockford 25 years and their home is worth about the same as what they bought it for back in 1995. And yet they've updated the kitchen, baths, basement, roof, siding, yard, etc. and keep it immaculate almost as a hobby. That's money down the drain with no property appreciation. Sure they enjoy the house but financially it's a complete waste. Had they lived in Nashville they could have cashed out refi'd the property and retired earlier or used that equity to buy their dream lake house. In Illinois we're using our wage growth to pay for tax appreciation instead of property appreciation and that's why our home prices are lagging. Moving will absolutely provide you a financial benefit in areas that are appreciating.

Also a primary home is usually not an "investment" without leverage so anyone who has a high interest rate, lots of equity, or their home paid off needs to cash out refinance into a 30 year fixed loan immediately with rates at record lows. But that's for another discussion...

I understand what you're saying, but my situation is a bit different from what a younger person with a family might experience. I only want to move one more time in my life (with the exception of having to spend some months in an old folks home, which I plan to avoid if possible). However, I do want to upgrade to a larger, nicer home, so yeah, that would take IL off the table due to having to pay ten grand a year in taxes vs. my current six grand bill, I refuse to pay that much simply on a philosophical level.

For instance, I saw a really nice, recently built brick home on a nice lot with an attached 3-car garage in East Peoria some months ago for $225K asking on Zillow. Sounded cheap, plus I have good friends there. Unfortunately, it also had a $10,000 tax bill associated with it, and it wasn't up on the bluff with a "million dollar view" of the Illinois River. Now, a similar home in a place like Overland Park, KS would probably be in the 300K-plus range, and the difference would provide a lot of years' of tax payments (and Kansas isn't typically considered "California"). But since IL is in so much trouble financially, and they keep going back to homeowners to get money, I wouldn't trust them not to increase the rate by fifty percent in the coming two decades (going from a 4% to 6% "actual" rate on that home in East Peoria doesn't seem so far fetched). So yes, you're right, even if it might make sense initially to purchase my "final" house in IL, there's too much risk in the long term to do so. Those willing to purchase 400 and 500K houses in Chicago at this point either have way more confidence, or way more cajones, than I've ever had. WAY too much risk for me, and I'm a cash buyer on my next place.

As I stated, Chicago is more of a liability than a positive at this point in time, especially when my income is no longer dependent upon living near it. I used to work with a guy (Engineer) whose retirement plan was to avoid any state with "an older, larger Rustbelt or even Sunbelt city with high legacy costs for deteriorating infrastructure, pensions, and generations of welfare recipients". Cities (and regions) including Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Louis, Kansas City, Memphis, Cleveland, Quad Cities, Louisville, Toledo, Peoria, etc. went right off the table for him. The recent Covid and civil unrest has shown me that he was a smarter dude than I gave him credit for. There was a scene in "Mad Men" where the senior partner derided "People who will bet against America", he had nothing but contempt for them. I guess that was true in the 1950's, but in 2020? I see a lot of potential hardship in the coming years (no matter WHO is president), and places like Chicago and St. Louis are harbingers for what's coming. Maybe this paragraph belongs in the "Preparedness" forum, but it's pertinent here as well. So yeah, I guess I'm agreeing with you.

[mwj119]

Originally Posted by MSchemist80

Like what California, Conneticut, New Jersey, New York all states hemorrhaging working/middle class residents because the Dems did such a bang up job representing them.

I was thinking more Washington State, Massachusetts, Colorado, Vermont, Maryland (despite Baltimore). Some of the most prosperous States in the United States, with the highest educational attainment rates, and huge p/capita GDP.

Now if you want to die on that hill, and blame a party... That's fine. Icould throw this right back over the fence.

"Those darn Republicans that hold States down from growth".. Mississippi, Kentucky, Arkansas, West Virginia, Alabama, Oklahoma. Some of the most impoverished States with the lowest levels of education and the poorest services.

Can't have it both ways.

[flamadiddle]

Originally Posted by Liledgy

Houses are selling like hot cakes! I may even list a few of my rentals with a inflated price to see what happens. It’s a great time to be selling a home in the Chicagoland area.

This is true, at least in the suburbs. We recently listed one of our homes and I was prepared for it to be on the market for ~6 months. To my shock, it sold Day 1 and for over list price. We actually had a bidding war! I thought that stuff only happened on TV, lol. Agent told us they are selling more homes than ever right now and said it's a combination of low interest rates and residents leaving Chicago and heading for the suburbs.

[MSchemist80]

Chicago is sinking faster than the rest of the state. They are more financially insolvent than most places, have a worse run government, have leftist barbarians causing massive unrest and property damage, crime is spiking, and with more businesses offering remote work there is less incentive to put up with it anymore.

The police, fire, and teacher pensions are nearing collapse, their bond rating is near junk, Lightfoot is proposing massive property and gas and other tax increases.