Moving to Chicago from NJ (Naperville, Arlington Heights: real estate, rental, condo)

[Pete MUFC]

Hi,

We are moving to Chicago from NJ soon.
I will work downtown on S Wacker. What will be the best area to live or buy something?
We don't have any kids yet, but expecting one so we will prefer an area which is good for raising kids.
I will be the only one working for now (salary around $75k) so is there anything good we can afford in Chicagoland?

Thanks.

[tolovefromANFIELD]

Originally Posted by Pete MUFC

Hi,

We are moving to Chicago from NJ soon.
I will work downtown on S Wacker. What will be the best area to live or buy something?
We don't have any kids yet, but expecting one so we will prefer an area which is good for raising kids.
I will be the only one working for now (salary around $75k) so is there anything good we can afford in Chicagoland?

Thanks.

Well if MUFC stands for what I think it does, stay in Jersey, too many Manc wankers around here anyways

[Pete MUFC]

Well, there will be one more MU fan (not wancker) in Chicago then
And since you love the fields of anfield, you probably don't know where MU fans are hanging out. But if you do, let me know.
However it will soon be 18:18.
Glory, glory...

[Drover]

The Chicago area is about 7,500 square miles comprised of the city itself and about 300 suburbs. You're asking a very broad question that's bound to get a very broad range of answers unless you can help us narrow it down a bit more. Since there's a kid on the way and you're working downtown, we can surmise schools are an issue and you probably want to live near a train line.

So other than that, what are your other criteria? Do you like new construction or older, established neighborhoods? How long of a commute time can you deal with? Do you want to be close to the city or are you more comfortable being out in a more suburb away from the urban scene and urban issues? Are you looking to rent or buy? If the latter, what kind of housing stock are you looking for and what is your purchase budget? The more information you can supply about your wants and needs, the better chance we have of narrowing it down so you don't get scatter-shot responses.

[UrbanQuest]

Being I lived in the Chicago area in the past and now live in NJ maybe I can sort of grasp what your looking for. Try these suburbs with your income range

Naperville
Arlington Heights
Geneva
St. Charles
Wheaton
Crystal Lake (a bit far out)

These should give you a start anyways..

[tolovefromANFIELD]

Originally Posted by Pete MUFC

Well, there will be one more MU fan (not wancker) in Chicago then
And since you love the fields of anfield, you probably don't know where MU fans are hanging out. But if you do, let me know.
However it will soon be 18:18.
Glory, glory...

Don't worry we all hang out at the same bars in the city....when you get here and settled I shall give you couple of names. But you would be surprised who is at the top of the food chain down here You guys aren't even in top three....

And don't be so sure about the Premiership, but the Reds are primarily built for one thing, the European Cup. Soon it shall be 6:3 in that department.

[Pete MUFC]

Originally Posted by Drover

The Chicago area is about 7,500 square miles comprised of the city itself and about 300 suburbs. You're asking a very broad question that's bound to get a very broad range of answers unless you can help us narrow it down a bit more. Since there's a kid on the way and you're working downtown, we can surmise schools are an issue and you probably want to live near a train line.

So other than that, what are your other criteria? Do you like new construction or older, established neighborhoods? How long of a commute time can you deal with? Do you want to be close to the city or are you more comfortable being out in a more suburb away from the urban scene and urban issues? Are you looking to rent or buy? If the latter, what kind of housing stock are you looking for and what is your purchase budget? The more information you can supply about your wants and needs, the better chance we have of narrowing it down so you don't get scatter-shot responses.

Well, I'll try to be more specific this time.
First of all, as I will commute daily to downtown, I need to be close to transportation.
We prefer newer construction in the area not more than 45 minutes commute to downtown.
I would be interested in buying, but didn't have a chance to check the housing market there yet, but I assume it is better than NJ.
For now (probably about 6mo-to a year) we will be only on my salary (about 75k) as my wife will stay at home taking care of the baby, so I really have no idea if we can afford something decent.
And of course, we need area with good schools and without (low) crime.
Thanks.

[Drover]

In that case, you may want to rent until you get your income situation more sorted out. That will also give you more time to get a feel for the lay of the land. It will also give you a chance to discern, perhaps with the help of a realtor, how much you can afford to spend on a house because it doesn't sound like you're terribly sure right now.

I'm sure the housing market is less expensive here than NJ, but East Coasters and Californians who assume real estate is a raging bargain everywhere in the Midwest just because it's the Midwest may find it doesn't always work that way, especially in the Chicago area. Any chance you have equity (ha! who does these days ) or some other form of down payment to bring with you?

If you do take up the rental suggestion, I suggest looking in Tinley Park or Orland Park. There is train access to downtown from there and they are mostly shiny newer suburbs which seems to fit your preference/comfort level. Schools are good in those towns too if you decide you like what you see when it's time to buy.

[Pete MUFC]

Originally Posted by UrbanQuest

Being I lived in the Chicago area in the past and now live in NJ maybe I can sort of grasp what your looking for. Try these suburbs with your income range

Naperville
Arlington Heights
Geneva
St. Charles
Wheaton
Crystal Lake (a bit far out)

These should give you a start anyways..

I will take a look at these places and try to get more info on the forum. Do you think I can afford buying a condo or townhouse with my salary range there?

[middle-aged mom]

I lived in NJ/NY, 3X. What area are you currently living? What do you like/dislike about it?

So much of what might be suitable depends on how much you have for a down payment and how much of a loan you can qualify for versus your own comfort level.

Given the ole bun in the oven thing, you need not be concerned about schools for quite some time. So why not rent something in Chicago and take your time getting to know the area. You might love city living, as opposed to suburban. Living in the city, close to downtown is not like living in NYC.