Barrington / Port Barrington (McHenry, Lake Zurich, River Grove: fit in, HOA, insurance)

[cpm314]

I was looking up houses at realtor.com for Barrington between the price range of 350K - 500K and noticed I was getting alot of nice looking results but in the city of "Port Barrington". Can anyone tell me the pros and cons of this city vs. Barrington? (i.e. Schools, Taxes, etc)

Thanks in Advance!

[middle-aged mom]

Port Barrington is in the 60010 zip code which covers all the Barringtons, Tower Lakes, Timber Lake, Deer Park and a part of Inverness, Hoffmann Estates and Fox River Grove.

Until 2002, Port Barrington was known as Fox River Valley Gardens. The name was changed in hopes of boosting property values by associating with the Barrington name.

The majority of tiny Port Barrington is in Mc Henry County with a residual in Lake County. Riverwalk is a large sub division within Port Barrington and no doubt where the majority of homes are that you see on Realtor.com.

Port Barrington feeds into Wauconda school, district 118, not Barrington schools. It has its own small Police Department and arrangements with Island Lake.

Residents of Port Barrington do not qualify as residents at the Barrington Park District or library.

The area has plenty of inlets leading to the Fox River and some properties or parts of the lot are in flood plaines and may require flood insurance.

Property taxes can be relatively substantial, especially in McHenry County.

Here is a link to the village web site for further information:

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[Anthera]

Originally Posted by middle-aged mom

Port Barrington is in the 60010 zip code which covers all the Barringtons, Tower Lakes, Timber Lake, Deer Park and a part of Inverness, Hoffmann Estates and Fox River Grove.

Until 2002, Port Barrington was known as Fox River Valley Gardens. The name was changed in hopes of boosting property values by associating with the Barrington name.

The majority of tiny Port Barrington is in Mc Henry County with a residual in Lake County. Riverwalk is a large sub division within Port Barrington and no doubt where the majority of homes are that you see on Realtor.com.

Port Barrington feeds into Wauconda school, district 118, not Barrington schools. It has its own small Police Department and arrangements with Island Lake.

Residents of Port Barrington do not qualify as residents at the Barrington Park District or library.

The area has plenty of inlets leading to the Fox River and some properties or parts of the lot are in flood plaines and may require flood insurance.

Property taxes can be relatively substantial, especially in McHenry County.

Here is a link to the village web site for further information:

Home

Great post, I had wondered where "Port Barrington" came from!!

[mkl34]

Where do I begin? Oy! DON'T make the mistake of buying here esp, if you're looking for a good school district. You can get a lot of info at trulia.com about this place and specifically about the Riverwalk subdivision. This town changed its name a few years ago to try and "fit in" with the other Barringtons--it doesn't. If you don't mind living in Wauconda or Island Lake then it's ok. But if you're looking for the "real" Barringtons and all of their amenities, then don't buy here because it's deceiving. You pay for what you get. Location, location, location. Also check out the website of realtor Corrine Guest. You can get that through trulia.com. She has info regarding the Barringtons. I live in Riverwalk and am very sorry we moved here. Now that the kids are school age we have to pay for private school and it's in Lake Zurich. High School, if we're not fortunate enough to be able to leave, will be Carmel. Look for an existing neighborhood with a good chunk of land and no HOA if possible. Houses in Riverwalk pay $600/year and we are embroiled in a lawsuit with the developer. I steered a friend away from her recently and she got a great house in dowtown Barrington on a half acre for under $400,000. She's within walking distance to the grammar school, library and Langendorf Park. Just be sure to check it all out carefully. In this market you have so many choices at such great prices. You can even get into Stevenson school district uner $400,000.