seeking info on Naperville/Woodridge and surrounding areas...moving from NE Ohio (Chicago: for sale, to rent)

[smartestblonde]

Hello,

I'm hoping to gain some general opinions on the nice but affordable areas to live around the Woodridge/Naperville area. My husband is being relocated to his company's Woodridge office, and we would like to find a burb with good schools where we could find a 4BR/2.5bath/at least 2500 sq ft home for under $400k. Obviously coming from NE Ohio, there's a decent cost of living difference....the home we are current in is around 2300 sq ft and we will be lucky to sell it for what we paid 8 years ago...$210k. We know nothing about Chicago having lived in Ohio our entire lives, so I'd love to get input from the locals. I like the size of home I've been able to find in the Plainfield area with its proximity to Naperville, but this leads me to think this community might have some less than desirable areas...as they say, if it seems to good to be true, it probably is???

Anyhoo, any info would be greatly appreciated!

[Moonpies]

Look at Oakhurst subdivision in Aurora. It's on the east side of Aurora, in the Naperville school district. We moved here in June and love it. We're 3-4 miles from the train. Perhaps not the best location if he's going to drive to Woodbridge. But workable if he's going to drive across 75th.
Also, recommend you look at Redfin for house listings. It's very current and will show recent sale prices so you can see what things are selling for compared to the list price.

[smartestblonde]

Many thanks...appreciate the response!

[chet everett]

I think you can definitely find some options in the areas closer to where hubby will be working. That would include Woodridge, Downers Grove, Darien, Westmont, Lisle and the eastern portion of Naperville. I would recommend against going all the way to the west edge of Naperville / eastern Aurora border -- traffic issues are probably not worth it.

If you shop really well you might find something that is older in Clarendon Hills too.

The trade-offs you will need to evaluate include the TOTAL cost of the new house (factoring taxes, potential maintenance/ remodeling, likely appreciation/price stability), relative school quality (schools in D181 rank higher than the other towns, though Naperville is well regarded, there are plenty of people happy with the schools in the other towns too), and a host of differences in family choices -- some towns simply do not offer as much in the way of parks and such, but each LOCALITY within a town is going to have to been scouted out, if you are very far from the center of a big town like Naperville will you really want to take advantage of the amenities it offers? While Darien & Woodridge have some good housing values neither town has a traditional "town" with a main street feel. Plainfield has some VERY spiky prices (mega houses are mixed in with tiny starters...) and some TERRIBLE taxes, as well some issues with differing schools. If you have the time to throughly determine what is really a good value you might do OK, but I think the research for some one with school age kinds and a new job / relocation is going to be easier in a more established town closer to the 'core' of south-central DuPage. Basically, with a job in Woodridge the commute to anyplace west of 83, east of 59 , south of Ogden and north of the DuPage country line would be most pleasant...

Right now $400K is going to go farther than it has in probably the last 6-7 years. If you want to move before the school year there is going to be a bit of intense pressure. You may have to rent.

[smartestblonde]

Chet,

Thanks for the thorough info, that's extremely helpful! Our kids are young and not even in preschool, but we really do want to find a place we can stay in for years to come. The other catch is my own preference....I want a larger house AND newish, built in the last 10 years, which I think is going to be much more difficult to find closer to Woodridge. People from my husband's work have suggested Plainfield, and I've been pleased with the houses I've seen online. I'm also looking at Lockport. My husband's current drive is about 30 miles, which in our area only equates to about a 40 min drive, so a 20 min drive isn't going to be an issue for him.

Honestly, I don't mind driving 15-20 mins to get to shopping, my only requirement is that there's a Starbucks within a 5 mile radius ;-)

Again, I appreciate your input!

[kirbsdc]

I live in North Plainfield (my fence is on the Plainfield/Napeville border). My son attends the Naperville 204 schools (nequa Valley HS, very desirable).This neighborhood is new and higher end. You can get a real steal right now for a home her. Builders are very negotiable. I LOVE Naperville schools and this area (There is a Starbucks 1 mile away) Also a Kohls,Walmart,Target and Barnes and Noble. Look between 111th street and 119th off of 248. You get the best of both worlds. The buying power of Plainfield (less expensiive then a Naperville address and the Naperville schools. Always ask which school districts. Becase soem parts of Naperville go to Boilingbrook and Plainfield schools around this area. Just south of 111th on the Eastside of 248 there is a subdivision that has homes in your price range. We live in the Reserve of Century Trace. There are two sides (one of each side of 248). I live in the newer side (on the West side of 248) we have two small lakes and the homes are less than 5 years old. There is a home accross the street that was about $600,000 (when they built it 3 years ago). They are asking mid $500,000 today. They have moved to Colorado for a job and are axious to sell. There are also newly built homes here that I know the builders would be negotiable on.RebardsCR

[chet everett]

I understand your desires. You may have some experience in the Ohio market that paralles some aspects of the "newer developments" in the "southwest suburban Chicago" region. The risk is that in a town like Lockport, where the older homes attract a very different mix of buyers than the new construction at the fringe of annexation it is very hard to predict future price stability. The same is true for parts of Plainfield, though the history there is even a bit more unusual, as large portions of that town were mass rebuilt after a devasting tornadoe several years back.

In more mature communities, closer to Woodrdige, there are some new homes that were done in a more "in fill" type development pattern. Prices may be comparable to true "new developments" and you would have less uncertainity about future price directions.


Since the kids are not preschool it would be easy to rent first to scout the various trade-offs. I think there are more Starbuck (and Caribous) in the the SW burbs that have drive-ups than almost any other part of the region so you should be able to have plenty of caffeine on your rides

[JustJulia]

Look in the Maplebrook division of Naperville. You can find houses in the size you want in the upper 300s and low 400s, and the schools around here are great. These homes are older (built in the 50s) and they kind of all look the same, but the neighborhood is wonderful for children. We LOVE it. It's a beautifully kept area with lots of stuff for kids to do. We see ourselves living here for many years. Also, because this is an older, more established area (District 203), our property taxes are lower than the newer part of Naperville (District 204). They aren't low, just lower. I remember looking at a few houses in south Naperville that had $9K in property taxes! Ours are about $6K.

Maplebrook, Naperville

[almost3am]

We just bought in Naperville (haven't even moved our stuff yet), but looked at a few different areas. There are options in naperville that are 4bd, 2.5 bath for ~$400K and under...both north & south naperville. I believe any house under $400K in the north part of Naperville will be older, though....we didn't see anything earlier than about 1990, and we looked at a lot of houses. My wife is really excited to live in Naperville, she kind of feel in love with the area.

Another area we liked, although there weren't new homes, was the Green Trails subdivision in Lisle. The homes were a bit bigger and go to Naperville schools. We almost put an offer in on a home there, but my wife liked were we bought better. There are 4bd, 2.5 bath homes for about $400K and it seemed like a nice place for kids.

I have to have relatively easy access to the Metra, so we limited ourselves to north of 75th St, therefore I don't know about any of the other areas.

[Mark Komo]

Downers Grove is really nice. Pretty close to everything, with expressways and good roads nearby. It also has that touch of fancy new homes, as well as decent mid priced homes. Schools are pretty good too. Plenty of homes for sale.