Some questions about townhomes in Buffalo Grove and Arlington Heights. (Schaumburg: appointed, sales)

[purplesky]

I'm thinking of relocating with my 2 kids to one of the above areas. I live in Schaumburg, but all the townhomes with 3 bedrooms under 240 seem to need more work and are older. Also, I have had some job offers in the north shore area (Great Lakes, Highland Park) and I currently work in Skokie so the commute might be better. I don't want to go too much farther since my ex husband still lives in Schaumburg.

I was wondering if any one knows if the prices have bottomed out in those areas, or are they still projected to go down? The property taxes in Buffalo Grove are a bit high--has anyone gone to the County Assessor to try and get their taxes lowered since properties are worth less?

Also, any general information/advice regarding townhomes in these areas would be welcome. I used to work in Buffalo Grove, but that was years ago when Zenith Data Systems was still in existence. After perusing these forums, it seems like most of the schools in these towns are adequate. Are there any areas to be avoided?

[JerichoHW]

Well I don't know what to say about taxes as I don't live in that area but in terms of schools just go to Greatschools.net where you can look up the individual schools and get info such as test scores, racial makeup etc... In terms of home prices the drop is staggering. Between 2006 and 2007 your average house in buffalo grove went for $350,000 now your average house is worth $269,500 an amazing drop. Here is the link: Buffalo Grove Home Prices, Home Values, and Property Values in IL - Zillow Local Info

[chet everett]

I think it is vitally important that people NOT confuse the data for the "median value of recent sales" with the "average home value" -- certainly the assessors will not!

The MLS data that shows a huge recent bias toward "first time buyers" as well a large percentage of distressed sales IS NOT going to be accepted as basis to have one's property tax lowered.

Similarly if one "goes shopping" thinking that prices have fallen more than 20% across the board you will be sadly disappointed -- the real declines that some distressed sellers may be forced to accept may be that bad or worse, but few properties in good condition with sellers that are in normal circumstances are not going to part with their homes for an unrealistically low price.

As to the desirability of town homes in AH/BG there are definitely a large number of these that are now in need of some updates, yet the EMPLOYMENT BASE in northern Cook / southern Lake Co is perhaps the most SOLID of the whole region and there is a direct correlation between employment and housing prices.

The "crystal ball" is pretty foggy with regard to the potential for future price drops / increases -- if employment falls off in the places that are convenient to the Rte 53 corridor then prices will suffer. If more of the available office / warehouse that is currently under utilized in that corridor is filled I would expect prices to move up...

Like any other area there are places that are less desirable and those that more desirable -- the obvious signs of high numbers of transient renters along with unkempt complexes, and places that are too near undesirable zoning are to be avoided...

[chitown85]

Buffalo Grove is also located in two counties. South of Lake Cook Road has 15K people and north of LC Road has about 30K people. The Cook County side has lower median home prices than the Lake County side, but also lower property taxes. The Cook County side of BG is also older, as are parts of Arlington Heights, so the homes there may require more work.

If you commute to Skokie from BG/AH, you can hop on 41 or 94.

BG and AH are 15 minutes from Schaumburg down Route 53 so that shouldn't be a problem.