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Right now it looks like even on the express trains, it will take about 45 minutes from Glen Ellyn.
The BNSF trains all take about 30 minutes on the express. Some of them have smaller downtowns like Clarendon Hills, while others like LaGrange are more vibrant. There is ample availability of parks. There are a lot of parks on Salt Creek, and once you get farther out on the BNSF line, it’s a quick drive to the Arboretum and the parks west of there. I live in Downers Grove, and we have several larger parks/preserves here. It really just depends on the vibe you are looking for. I think all the towns are safe. If you want newer construction, you are probably going to have to look at recent teardowns. In DG, we have a lot of newer homes from this, but it’s just going to be a matter of inventory and finding something that suits you in the area of interest. Even in the north suburbs, there are a few great towns like Evanston that would get you into downtown relatively quickly.
As for how fast the $1 mil+ homes move, I agree with the other poster that they tend to move more slowly. The home on my block that was over $1 mil took a long time to sell, and the other one down the road also took a while. I think Oak Brook and Burr Ridge have very low taxes, but they don’t have real downtowns. Burr Ridge has a little town center area and Oak Brook is the main shopping hub of the W. Suburbs.
Thank you! I think LaGrange and Downers Grove look great. I just learned the Metra is not currently operating on the normal schedule due to the covid. Any idea what the schedule is typically?
You've received a lot of great recommendations and advice from the other posters. It's important to note that the North Shore, Northwest suburbs, Western suburbs, etc. all have different vibes, so if it's possible to take a drive through many of these neighborhoods, I'd recommend doing that before you buy. You can't go wrong, but some people have different preferences than others. It's really hard to consider what defines a "good" investment. No one can tell the future. So consider looking for a home that you can see yourself living in comfortably for 7-10 years rather than a home that will be a good turnaround, although I understand the sentiment. The Chicago area has really desirable communities, so that's a positive aspect of moving here.
I cannot speak too much on the North Shore - Hiruko has chimed in with great insight for up north - but some areas that have very cute downtowns include: Clarendon Hills, Hinsdale, Western Springs, La Grange, Arlington Heights, Park Ridge. One thing I would consider is how much time your spouse wants to spend driving to the train station for a then 45-minute ride. For example, while Oak Brook has lower property taxes, you'd have to drive farther to the train station than if you lived in Clarendon Hills or Hinsdale, and that would just add more time to the commute. Here's a link to the Metra schedules. I'm sure you've already been here, but it might be worth perusing the schedules as well to help hone in on suburbs of interest.
As Curly Q said, someone will most likely advocate for Indiana. I suppose I'll do the honors of that one. Lol! Indiana does offer lower property taxes, and most likely a better chance for "investment" with how its growing, but it is farther away from convenient train stations. Munster, Schererville, Dyer, Saint John, Crown Point would be my recommendations. Crown Point is the only one with a "real" walkable downtown, but it's also the farthest away. The South Shore Line stops at Millennium Park and has stations in Hammond, East Chicago, and Hegewisch. They are building stations in Munster and Dyer, which will be very convenient, but those are still years away from completion. It would be possible to drive to a Metra station in Homewood, Flossmoor, University Park, etc. without too much hassle - but again, how much time does your spouse want to spend driving to the train station just to get on the train for more time? The commute would really be pushing 45 minutes and would realistically be over an hour.
This is great info. Thank you so much. Indiana sounds great after reading all of these posts lol. I don’t think it’s actually feasible unless the current Metra schedule is missing routes with it being an alternate schedule due to covid?
Good investment is subjective. I advise people buying real estate in the Chicagoland area to treat their primary residence as an expense rather than an investment. For all the hoopla about the 'hot market,' sales prices are still down from the mid-2000s. A lot of the homes that are finally selling in my area, Lake Forest, are still selling for less than they were purchased for in the '80s and '90s. I purchased my own home for almost $200k less than it sold for in 1991, and it is only 32 years old with mechanicals, a paver driveway, and a roof that have been done within the last 7 years. Carrying costs—taxes, utilities, maintenance, and insurance—in Illinois are about as high as you could possibly get. Understand, that $1 million home is typically going to come with an $18-20k annual tax bill—at the very least. Long story short, not losing a fortune should be your primary concern. Hitting the property jackpot is highly unlikely.
That being said, you have a lot of options. With your preferences and constraints, I think that everything along the southern half of the North Shore are good candidates—Evanston, Wilmette, Kenilworth, Winnetka, Glencoe, Glenview, and Northbrook are worth a look. Communities away from the lakefront like Park Ridge, Arlington Heights, Palatine, Oak Park-River Forest, Riverside, La Grange, Western Springs, Hinsdale, and Clarendon Hills are also worthy of consideration. I'm sure there are others that people can opine on.
Agreed end to end with this.
What you're looking for, is what most buyers are looking for.. The closer the neighborhood is to the train/core of the town you choose, and the more established the neighborhood, the better you'll likely be from an investment perspective. I would have said this with a bit more conviction a year ago, as we don't know how the city will bounce back.. But, I don't see buyer behavior changing much in the next decade, we all want to walk to the core, to the park, and to the train for our commute.
We have gone through the exercise of moving to/back to Chicago, and took on a pretty serious town-->neighborhood hunt. Our budget was slightly less than yours, but the rest of your equation is near identical to ours.
Without reading other responses, you can really separate your target towns by North, Northwest, and West. This is how I would bucket my recommendations, based on towns that fit your requirements (commute time, schools, downtown/train area, nice neighborhoods, overall idyllic family environment) and budget:
North, $$$$$:
Wilmette
Lake Forest (commute may be a bit long, a bit more leafy, less grid format, very established)
North, $$$$:
Glenview
Northbrook
Highland Park
Northwest, $$$$:
Park Ridge
Elmhurst
Northwest, $$$:
Arlington Heights
West, $$$$$:
Hinsdale
West, $$$$:
Western Springs
La Grange
Clarendon Hills
There are many other nice suburbs that could be a fit, but might not be perfect... Winnetka, for example, is beautiful, but $1M wouldn't go too far, and luxury towns have had their issues since the recession in 07/08. Barrington is a great area, but it's a bit far, and the down has vast sprawl away from the core. Evanston is an awesome city, but it's $1M areas are fragmented (like any city) and it may not be for everyone. Ditto Oak Park. Glen Elyn is a nice suburbs, though is a bit removed from the highway and I didn't love the general area as much as other belts.
We chose the "Tier 2" northern suburbs twice now. Something about straight access to the city via express train and 94, the neighborhoods around the core, access to the Lake Michigan, modern conveniences everywhere.. Just a very nice area of Chicagoland, and the schools are second to none. A bit more diversity than other equally as desirable suburbs as well.. Asian, Jewish, Middle Eastern, Hispanic in particular. Park Ridge was very much on our radar, but in drawing a 1 mile radius around the core, houses that are <$900k are old and outdated. We considered La Grange/Western Springs, but due to distance from family and distance to the north side of the city/water, we decided against it. We looked at Elmhurst, but something about it never felt as "comfortable" as the others for us.
Last thing I would say, and it goes for most every community above- The closer to downtown, the more uniformly upscale the neighborhoods. E.g. in both Glenview and Northbrook, the neighborhoods that would fit your description surround the core (and East of the core). A lot has to do with when the further reaching areas were developed around here (60s 70s 80s). Also, the in town locations have seen heavy remodel/tear down investment, which gives it this old vs. new combo.
This is great info. Thank you so much. Indiana sounds great after reading all of these posts lol. I don’t think it’s actually feasible unless the current Metra schedule is missing routes with it being an alternate schedule due to covid?
It is a great place to live! My husband and I moved to Indiana from Illinois for a job opportunity in 1998. (Ironically, he's now back working in the Loop). It's where we raised our children and built a life for ourselves. We've never regretted it! But you have so many great places to choose from. Do you think it'll be a possibility to view the neighborhoods before you decide on a property? I know travel right now is a little tricky. Renting before purchase might be another consideration if you won't have time to view properties. That'll give you some more time to decide on where to live before you make a long-term investment.
Here is a link to the alternate schedule that Metra is using as of now. Metra Electric services Homewood, Flossmoor & BNSF services the Western suburbs (Hinsdale, Clarendon Hills, La Grange, etc). I'm not as familiar with the train lines to the north and northwest suburbs. Here's the South Shore Line schedule.
Thank you! I think LaGrange and Downers Grove look great. I just learned the Metra is not currently operating on the normal schedule due to the covid. Any idea what the schedule is typically?
Typically it looks like there are expresses every 20 minutes or so on weekdays, but the routes tend to vary on how express they are. I think there is only one express on the weekends that has a last stop either at DG Main Street and leaves at 9:40 and coming back at 5:35. Sunday there are trains around every two hours and no express routes. When you are looking, you also want to keep in mind that West Hinsdale and Highlands (also in Hinsdale) don’t have any weekend service. There are couple of others in the Brookfield area that also have intermittent/no weekend service. I think you can park in the permit lots on weekends though with no issue.
The only place I know with really strict weekend parking is Oak Park (on Saturdays), but taxes there are MUCH higher than they are in many of the other places listed and you’d probably have to reduce your price range sufficiently to take that into consideration. It is very vibrant and you can get to town via the CTA or Metra (UP West, I believe), but it’s one of those places that is a bit patchy in how safe it is. People who live there tend to love it. It is a very liberal area, which is good for some, but definitely not for all. In contrast, these days most of the BNSF towns tend to be more purple, so you’re more likely to find something for everyone politically.
What you're looking for, is what most buyers are looking for.. The closer the neighborhood is to the train/core of the town you choose, and the more established the neighborhood, the better you'll likely be from an investment perspective. I would have said this with a bit more conviction a year ago, as we don't know how the city will bounce back.. But, I don't see buyer behavior changing much in the next decade, we all want to walk to the core, to the park, and to the train for our commute.
We have gone through the exercise of moving to/back to Chicago, and took on a pretty serious town-->neighborhood hunt. Our budget was slightly less than yours, but the rest of your equation is near identical to ours.
Without reading other responses, you can really separate your target towns by North, Northwest, and West. This is how I would bucket my recommendations, based on towns that fit your requirements (commute time, schools, downtown/train area, nice neighborhoods, overall idyllic family environment) and budget:
North, $$$$$:
Wilmette
Lake Forest (commute may be a bit long, a bit more leafy, less grid format, very established)
North, $$$$:
Glenview
Northbrook
Highland Park
Northwest, $$$$:
Park Ridge
Elmhurst
Northwest, $$$:
Arlington Heights
West, $$$$$:
Hinsdale
West, $$$$:
Western Springs
La Grange
Clarendon Hills
There are many other nice suburbs that could be a fit, but might not be perfect... Winnetka, for example, is beautiful, but $1M wouldn't go too far, and luxury towns have had their issues since the recession in 07/08. Barrington is a great area, but it's a bit far, and the down has vast sprawl away from the core. Evanston is an awesome city, but it's $1M areas are fragmented (like any city) and it may not be for everyone. Ditto Oak Park. Glen Elyn is a nice suburbs, though is a bit removed from the highway and I didn't love the general area as much as other belts.
We chose the "Tier 2" northern suburbs twice now. Something about straight access to the city via express train and 94, the neighborhoods around the core, access to the Lake Michigan, modern conveniences everywhere.. Just a very nice area of Chicagoland, and the schools are second to none. A bit more diversity than other equally as desirable suburbs as well.. Asian, Jewish, Middle Eastern, Hispanic in particular. Park Ridge was very much on our radar, but in drawing a 1 mile radius around the core, houses that are <$900k are old and outdated. We considered La Grange/Western Springs, but due to distance from family and distance to the north side of the city/water, we decided against it. We looked at Elmhurst, but something about it never felt as "comfortable" as the others for us.
Last thing I would say, and it goes for most every community above- The closer to downtown, the more uniformly upscale the neighborhoods. E.g. in both Glenview and Northbrook, the neighborhoods that would fit your description surround the core (and East of the core). A lot has to do with when the further reaching areas were developed around here (60s 70s 80s). Also, the in town locations have seen heavy remodel/tear down investment, which gives it this old vs. new combo.
Really helpful info. Thank you. Where did you choose in the tier 2 northern suburbs? Happy there I’m assuming? Any preference with La Grange or Western Springs? We do like Elmhurst - any idea on what made it not as comfortable for you? One thing to add - I’d prefer the area not be too “uppity” or keeping up with the joneses... We make a good living and can afford more than our budget but we are very down to earth and that is important for me.
It is a great place to live! My husband and I moved to Indiana from Illinois for a job opportunity in 1998. (Ironically, he's now back working in the Loop). It's where we raised our children and built a life for ourselves. We've never regretted it! But you have so many great places to choose from. Do you think it'll be a possibility to view the neighborhoods before you decide on a property? I know travel right now is a little tricky. Renting before purchase might be another consideration if you won't have time to view properties. That'll give you some more time to decide on where to live before you make a long-term investment.
Here is a link to the alternate schedule that Metra is using as of now. Metra Electric services Homewood, Flossmoor & BNSF services the Western suburbs (Hinsdale, Clarendon Hills, La Grange, etc). I'm not as familiar with the train lines to the north and northwest suburbs. Here's the South Shore Line schedule.
I hope that helps answer your question.
Thank you! I’d love to buy in Indiana. Wondering what the commute looks like with the regular (not alternate) schedule and if it’s doable. We actually visited last week. But it left more questions than answers in some ways! But it was nice to tour different areas. We can choose an area for corporate housing for 1.5 months so that should be beneficial.
Typically it looks like there are expresses every 20 minutes or so on weekdays, but the routes tend to vary on how express they are. I think there is only one express on the weekends that has a last stop either at DG Main Street and leaves at 9:40 and coming back at 5:35. Sunday there are trains around every two hours and no express routes. When you are looking, you also want to keep in mind that West Hinsdale and Highlands (also in Hinsdale) don’t have any weekend service. There are couple of others in the Brookfield area that also have intermittent/no weekend service. I think you can park in the permit lots on weekends though with no issue.
The only place I know with really strict weekend parking is Oak Park (on Saturdays), but taxes there are MUCH higher than they are in many of the other places listed and you’d probably have to reduce your price range sufficiently to take that into consideration. It is very vibrant and you can get to town via the CTA or Metra (UP West, I believe), but it’s one of those places that is a bit patchy in how safe it is. People who live there tend to love it. It is a very liberal area, which is good for some, but definitely not for all. In contrast, these days most of the BNSF towns tend to be more purple, so you’re more likely to find something for everyone politically.
Thank you . This is so helpful. Are the public schools in DG and LG all pretty good?
Thank you! I’d love to buy in Indiana. Wondering what the commute looks like with the regular (not alternate) schedule and if it’s doable. We actually visited last week. But it left more questions than answers in some ways! But it was nice to tour different areas. We can choose an area for corporate housing for 1.5 months so that should be beneficial.
I'm glad you were able to visit last week and that corporate housing offers that benefit. That will help some I imagine, although 1.5 months is really not too long, especially in this market. I understand the more questions than answers. There really are a lot of options, it's hard to keep your head from spinning.
I'm not sure what the regular schedule on Metra looks like (I can't find it online either for some reason - hopefully someone else will provide input) but I can't imagine it would be too terribly different in commute from what the regular schedule says. It looks like the South Shore line is back to a near normal schedule.
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So consider looking for a home that you can see yourself living in comfortably for 7-10 years rather than a home that will be a good turnaround, although I understand the sentiment. The Chicago area has really desirable communities, so that's a positive aspect of moving here. 
I understand the more questions than answers. There really are a lot of options, it's hard to keep your head from spinning. 
