waterman, il. (Chicago, Naperville, Wheaton: real estate, foreclosed, condo)

[tigerstar]

Is there anything that someone can tell me about Waterman, IL?

We are a family of three living in the mountains of Northern Arizona. My husband is from Chicago and we have decided to move "back home." All of the Chicago suburbs seem to be expensive; that is, if they have good schools and safe communities. So I've been looking for the seemingly impossible: a very safe town with great schools and house/condo prices $150,00-$175,000. In my search, I found Waterman, IL. Are there other towns?

[HOWELL_STREET]

Hello Pam:

I would highly recommend Waterman, IL providing someone in your family does not have to commute to Chicago or its suburbs. Other than a car / pick up truck, there is no viable public transportation out of Waterman. A very beautiful farming community town, near Waterman, would be Paw Paw, Illinois. However, that town is quite isolated and located out in the middle of farm land U.S.A.
The AMTRAK / BURLINGTON - NORTHERN / Santa Fe system, I believe, travels through nearby Earlville, Illinois. But it is not too viable for daily commuter service to Chicago.
To determine the housing market in both of these beautiful towns, log onto REALTOR.COM which is a free Internet website. I hope this helps you.

Best Regards,


CARTER GLASS

[gardener34]

Where is he going to commute to work? That is a deciding factor. Waterman is a bit in the middle of nowhere, but sprawl will build up to it quickly.

[Schmoo]

What do either of you plan to do for work? This needs to be your major deciding factor in even considering towns as far west as Waterman/Paw Paw. Commuting into the city is not an option, and with traffic right now, it's even 1.5 hours into DuPage County.

[tigerstar]

Howell Street:

We do have a truck. Currently, my husband commutes to the nearest city which is a 45 minute drive. He says he doesn't mind the drive since it is all forest, mountains, lakes, and elk to see. I am at home with our 4 yr. old son. I drive into town once a week. I checked school and crime ratings on Paw Paw and Earlville at Great Schools.com. Paw Paw's schools are rated 6 & 8 (10 being the best) and for crime it is rated at 5 (1-5, 5 being the worst.) Earlville's schools are rated 7 & 6 while the crime is 2. I know I wouldn't mind driving 20-30 minutes when I start working and I'm sure my husband feels the same.

Thanks so much for your reply, Pam

Gardener34 and Schmoo:

My husband drives for a living and he doesn't seem very concerned about having a job lined up before we get there since drivers are always needed. I am looking at NIU (farther west)for law school. How long is the drive to Naperville from Waterman? We have family in Naperville that we are trying to stay within an hour's driving time to.

[HOWELL_STREET]

Although I don't live in Paw Paw, I love the town since I dated a girlfriend, there, many years ago. So I am somewhat surprised about its crime rating.
My son owns a home in Cortland, Illinois which is only six miles from NIU. If you have questions about DeKalb, Sycamore or Cortland, I will be happy to answer them. Perhaps you can set up a new thread regarding any NIU questions you may have.

To 'Gardener': Thank you for your response to my Vermiculite comments. Yes, I believe you are correct that it was used through the 1970s.

Best Regards,

CARTER GLASS

[Schmoo]

That crime rating has to be wrong for Paw Paw. It's a tiny little town without so much as a stop light. Nothing happens ever. If your husband is a truck driver, yes, there is plenty of work here for that. Pretty much ALL the jobs are for drivers and/or nurses.

From Earlville/Paw Paw/Mendota into Naperville you are looking at 1.5 hours in traffic. Driving is pleasant enough until you hit the cusp of civilization, and then it's bumper to bumper and awful. To NIU, you are looking at 1/2 hour to 45 minutes, but not a bad drive.

You might consider Sycamore, Sugar Grove, Maple Park, and Hinckley too.

[HOWELL_STREET]

Hello Again Pam:

Since I live in Wheaton, IL, I am quite familiar with Naperville. From memory, I believe at one time NIU had an extension college facility just north of Naperville. From memory, the building was (is?) located at the intersection of Herrick Lake Road and Warrenville Road. The building is part of the old Amoco facility. I just checked our local telephone directory, and no NIU facility is listed there. However, there are several NIU facilities on Diehl Road in Naperville.
Since my son is currently a graduate student at NIU, at one time I had asked him if he wanted to live in Wheaton and attend that extension of NIU. So perhaps you can question NIU to see if any extension schools would fit your requirements? You can visit "Map Quest" to locate the intersection that I am referring to.
If you will visit the Fannie Mae website, you can look at one foreclosed condo under "REO". That stands for "Real Estate Owned" (by Fannie Mae). That particular condo is located on South Lorraine Avenue on the border between Wheaton and Glen Ellyn. Their asking price for that foreclosed property is about $190K. And that seems a bargain around here. That's all for now.

Best Regards,

Carter Glass

Wheaton, IL
Cortland, IL

[tigerstar]

I got my statistics from Great Schools.com who claim to get their statistics from Sperling's Best Places who claim to get their statistics from the FBI. I got the distances from Rand Mcnally.com. I should look at other sources for a comparison, but that is also why I am posting here; to get "real world" reviews. I have an "A" list of cities/towns which include Lombard, Batavia, Naperville, and Waterman. I also have lists "B" and "C", but I don't remember which cities were included and those lists are already packed. I would like to be in a small town since I know how crazy urban sprawl is (I grew up in Phoenix during the '80s.) Finally, we will probably stay with family for awhile until we have seen these places with our own eyes.

Although, we have family in Naperville, it seems quite expensive. We could make it work, but I don't want to put that kind of strain on our finances. We are in our early 40's and we still need to start retirement accounts plus it would be nice if we had a college account for our son.

Howell Street:

I looked at the statistics for DeKalb, Sycamore, and Cortland.

DeKalb schools: 8,7, & 6; crime: 2; and distance to Naperville: 38 miles and 53 minute drive

Sycamore schools: 7 & 6; crime: 2; and distance to Naperville: 42 miles and 1 hour drive

Cortland school: 5; crime: 2; and distance to Naperville: 39 miles and 53 minutes.

Thank you for your reply, I will post a new thread about NIU, Pam

Schmoo

Here are the statistics for Sugar Grove, Maple Park, & Hinckley:

Sugar Grove school: 8; crime: 1; and distance to Naperville: 20 miles and 30 minutes

Maple Park schools: 9 & 8; crime: 1; and distance to Naperville: 37 miles and 57 minutes

Hinckley schools: 8 & 4; crime: 1; and distance to Naperville: 30 miles and 45 minutes.

I will be put Maple Park on my list and I think I have Sugar Grove on my "B" list.

thank you for your reply, Pam

[HOWELL_STREET]

PAM:

For a moment, let's assume that you and your family have purchased the South Lorraine Road Condo in Wheaton. In my previous thread, I mentioned about it on the Fannie Mae.Com "REO" listing.
So you decide to drive to NIU - DeKalb on a daily basis. The distance to Cortland will be 38 miles (avoiding Interstate 88). Stay off of I -88 because the tolls are out of sight in price.
Even in rush hour, the trip to Cortland won't take more than 75 minutes. From Cortland to DeKalb will be an extra six miles, West. We also know about a short-cut that avoids much of the traffic congestion. So that is what I am basing the total time element on.
IF you need to acquire general courses for your NIU law school degree, then why not consider Kishwaukee Community College? It is in Malta, Illinois and six miles West of NIU. The nice feature about this reverse scenario is that you can transfer 'general' classes back to NIU and the Kishwaukee tuition is much cheaper.
So in our quest to help you, this subject becomes more complex. I'll plan to look for your new thread on NIU and then help you there, if you wish.

Best Regards,

CARTER GLASS