Moving to Chicago from NJ (Palatine, Des Plaines: foreclosure, power lines, for rent)

[chet everett]

As I said, that will move in the direction of the pretty much identical duplexes around it. Not a necessarily a bad thing, but I would be cautious.

With a SF detached home there is A LOT you can do to make your home appeal to more buyers. Much more limited with that kind of duplex. You will be competing HEAD TO HEAD with every other unit in that development. 3 bedrooms will be able to ask MUCH MORE. The "crummiest" unit will basically be your competition, and those can get REAL crummy real fast.

As a two bedroom there is MUCH smaller pool of buyers that will be interested in it. Do your homework and verify that you would not be better off renting that place... If there are any in that whole area that are rentals you better try and be sure that they are renting for at least $1500/mo or so because that is going to be about where you are at with PITI...

[Pete MUFC]

Ok, I have one more question.
Just found a condo within my price range, around 200k in Downtown AH.
It is not a newer building, it was built in late 70's, but it is only a 1/4 mile from Metra Station, it is spacious enough (around 1300-1400 sq/ft) and has everything I was looking for: laundry, garage, walk to train.... plus downtown AH looks wonderful.
Now the only thing that concerns me is that the assessments don't include heat and heating is electric.
Anyone with an idea (or experience) how much appx electric bill will be?
So far I never used electric as main heating source, so I really don't have a clue what to expect.
On the other side, what do you generally think of that area?
Is it worth investing there?
It looks good to me, school district also looks good and all the other surrounding condos are priced much higer.
Looks like a perfect set up for me, but I want to hear some opinion from people who are more familiar with this area.
Thanks a lot and all your input is highly appreciated.

[Drover]

Regarding the electric bill, get an address, call the electric company, and ask them what the average monthly bill is.

[Pete MUFC]

Originally Posted by Drover

Regarding the electric bill, get an address, call the electric company, and ask them what the average monthly bill is.

Thanks Drover, I didn't think of that.
Can you also help out with the other questions? It will be very helpfull.

[Drover]

Well, part of what you're asking is speculation ("is this a good place to invest?") and I try to avoid engaging in that kind of thing. I'm also not the best person to ask when it comes to opinions about suburbia, especially post-war suburbia. It would be all I could do to not slit my wrists if I had to live anywhere near AH. But obviously it suits a lot of people's needs just fine, so you'd be better off getting opinions from those who have a higher tolerance for suburbia than I do.

[Pete MUFC]

Originally Posted by Drover

Well, part of what you're asking is speculation ("is this a good place to invest?") and I try to avoid engaging in that kind of thing. I'm also not the best person to ask when it comes to opinions about suburbia, especially post-war suburbia. It would be all I could do to not slit my wrists if I had to live anywhere near AH. But obviously it suits a lot of people's needs just fine, so you'd be better off getting opinions from those who have a higher tolerance for suburbia than I do.

Ok, thanks again.
I will be waiting for other people's thoughts.

[cubssoxfan]

Pete,
That area as a whole is excellent and quite safe. There are some rentals on Dryden between Kensington and Miner that I would avoid. If it's closer to Arlington Heights Rd, should be OK. There is also a townhome/Condo? complex going up across from the mentioned apartments. Roads and utilities put in, but I haven't seen progress there in months. Maybe the builder is waiting to sell more units or is having issues?
I'm assuming walking distance to the train is important. If you're willing to drive 15 min to train, I saw a townhouse in Lake Arlington listing for 225K. 15-22 years old, but this complex is maintained exceptionally well. The monthly fees were also very low when I owned there in the 90's.

[Pete MUFC]

Originally Posted by cubssoxfan

Pete,
That area as a whole is excellent and quite safe. There are some rentals on Dryden between Kensington and Miner that I would avoid. If it's closer to Arlington Heights Rd, should be OK. There is also a townhome/Condo? complex going up across from the mentioned apartments. Roads and utilities put in, but I haven't seen progress there in months. Maybe the builder is waiting to sell more units or is having issues?
I'm assuming walking distance to the train is important. If you're willing to drive 15 min to train, I saw a townhouse in Lake Arlington listing for 225K. 15-22 years old, but this complex is maintained exceptionally well. The monthly fees were also very low when I owned there in the 90's.

Thanks Cubssoxfan,

As a matter of fact the condos are on N Pine between Eastman and Miner and right next to the Arlington Heights Rd, so I assume it should be good then.
However, the rental complex that you've mentioned is only a few blocks away as I can see from the Google map.
Is that area not safe? Any gangs?
I would like to hear your opinion as it looks like you are a local.
As for the driving to station...I don't mind driving 15 min, no, but I didn't find much in my price range.
It will be my first buying, so I am looking to live there for a few years and then move to something bigger if I have a chance, ofcourse.
So it will be good if I can re-sell it more easily.
You never know about re-selling, but I assume if it is closer to Downtown in whatever city it will be easier to find a buyer.
Also there are a few apartments available on Shorley Dr in Barrington (which is also in my consideration), also same distance to Metra and again older buildings early 70's, but looks very well maintained complex.
Any thoughts about this?
Thank you so much for your help.

P.S. If you do know some properties that you think are good let me know.
Once again, I am looking in the northwestern and north suburbs; condo, townhouse or even single family might be considered.

[middle-aged mom]

Originally Posted by Pete MUFC

Thanks Cubssoxfan,

As a matter of fact the condos are on N Pine between Eastman and Miner and right next to the Arlington Heights Rd, so I assume it should be good then.

However, the rental complex that you've mentioned is only a few blocks away as I can see from the Google map. Is that area not safe? Any gangs?

Also there are a few apartments available on Shorley Dr in Barrington (which is also in my consideration), also same distance to Metra and again older buildings early 70's, but looks very well maintained complex.

I used to live a block away from the condos on Pine Street. The units were primarily owned by retired folk. I would not be concerned with the apratments on Kennisgton and Dryden. The area is safe. An express train puts you downtown in about 30 minutes !

The condos on Shorely, in Barrington, are well maintained. Again, many are owned by retired folk. Proximity to NW Hwy ( Rt 14) and Hough ( Rt 59) and the freight train tracks means that residents will hear it all. My sense of this place is that there is a struggle within the association as it relates to allowing/restricting units from being rented.

A real sleeper, in Barrington, is Provinicail Manor, on Eastern Street, off NW Hwy ( Rt 14). These units have the feel of single family homes. This complex requires units to be owner occupied and does not allow rentals.
Right now, there are no units for sale. When a unit becomes available, it tends to sell faster than most condos, anywhere.

[Pete MUFC]

Originally Posted by middle-aged mom

I used to live a block away from the condos on Pine Street. The units were primarily owned by retired folk. I would not be concerned with the apratments on Kennisgton and Dryden. The area is safe. An express train puts you downtown in about 30 minutes !

The condos on Shorely, in Barrington, are well maintained. Again, many are owned by retired folk. Proximity to NW Hwy ( Rt 14) and Hough ( Rt 59) and the freight train tracks means that residents will hear it all. My sense of this place is that there is a struggle within the association as it relates to allowing/restricting units from being rented.

A real sleeper, in Barrington, is Provinicail Manor, on Eastern Street, off NW Hwy ( Rt 14). These units have the feel of single family homes. This complex requires units to be owner occupied and does not allow rentals.
Right now, there are no units for sale. When a unit becomes available, it tends to sell faster than most condos, anywhere.

Thanks. That's what I thought, a lot of retired folks. But at least is close to downtown and all the amenities.
I forgot to mention in my previous posts that I am also going to check another locations in AH, on the N Kennicott Rd where many condos are available.
Some of them pretty good equiped but priced agressively.
I know that they are around 2-3 miles off Metra station (which is Ok to me), but there are other thing that concerns me.
Some of the condos have been on the market for too long (around a year) and some sellers are offering to pay up to 2 years assessments.
I checked the school district (that is the first thing I do) and it wasn't bad at all.
Are you familiar with the area?
What can you tell me about it?
Is there any problems there?
I checked almost all of the surrounding buildings and it was the same.

Thanks for your help.