Property taxes (Chicago, Orland Park, Mundelein: low income, sales, condo)

[tahoeman101]

Hello all!
Are there any suburbs (that are safe) worth looking at where the taxes are at least somewhat reasonable? I'll define reasonable as $4k or less annually. I'm not seeing anything out there worth looking at - may have to look across the border in Northwest Indiana as it seems the average property tax there is considerably less.

[ofcjim40]

Short answer is no, not any towns worth living in. Not unless you are talking townhouse or condo.

[pvande55]

Cook County has cheaper property taxes than the collar counties. Most of the lower tax rate suburbs are heavily industrial and not attractive to live in.

[tahoeman101]

So am I correct in thinking that I should look at NWI for Chicago burbs to save on taxes? I can actually get into the city just as quick if not quicker on the South Shore train depending where in NWI I live. Thoughts?

[chet everett]

Originally Posted by pvande55

Cook County has cheaper property taxes than the collar counties. Most of the lower tax rate suburbs are heavily industrial and not attractive to live in.

The absolute value of services for the amount you remit to the tax collector is what matters to some people.

Several very nice suburbs have remarkably low taxes, both in terms of rates and potential tax bills. One example would be the portion of Oak Brook that is served by District 53. For folks that don't mind an older townhouse or smaller single family in a less than estate like setting they might pay only a few thousand annually. They'd have access to first rate schools, tremendous Park District, lovely library, large professional police force / fire department, et cetera. In fact the Village of Oak Brook itself prides itself on operating it's municipal functions solely on revenues from Oak Brook's share of sales tax...

If one purchases a smaller home in many communities where larger homes are the norm, one can enjoy tax bills a half or less than ones neighbors.

Illinois' low income tax might very well offset some if not all of the difference, though with housing costs having an inverse relationship to tax rates the fact is that. For both to low requires ab unusual combination and/ or crummy services...

[ccjarider]

Own a very nice (albeit small) ranch home (3 Bd 2 BA) in a nice, quiet area of Arlington Hts. - Taxes $4100.

We don't use it, but people seem pleased with school district. The roads are plowed. There is a police presence to make one feel safe and the library is fantastic.

To me, $ for $, IL serves us better than WI did. Rates there were very high.

When we moved here 2 yrs ago, we were also told Cook County taxes are lower than surrounding counties.

I recommend considering more than just prop. taxes in your decision. Living in a crap area or having a long expensive commute to save a few $ per year seems like a poor decision.

Further you may want out someday and generally quality location has more effect on resale ability and price than a tax rate.

Good luck in your decision

[tahoeman101]

Well, at least initially my wife and I won't have a commute as we will be working from home but someday down the road, one or both of us could work in the city. Knowing that, would you opt for Northwest Indiana knowing taxes are so much cheaper, houses are larger, more land comes with the property, etc AND you still have the train to get you into the city in 30-75 minutes depending where you live along the South Shore.

[Chicago0304]

Originally Posted by tahoeman101

Well, at least initially my wife and I won't have a commute as we will be working from home but someday down the road, one or both of us could work in the city. Knowing that, would you opt for Northwest Indiana knowing taxes are so much cheaper, houses are larger, more land comes with the property, etc AND you still have the train to get you into the city in 30-75 minutes depending where you live along the South Shore.

I still would stick with a Chicago suburb, but that's just my opinion.. There are reasonable houses that you can take the metra to the city..

[PugMaster007]

I've lived in the Libertyville / Mundelein / Vernon Hills area all my life (44 years) and it is an absolutely beautiful area to live in.

Numerous public transportation options into the city (train runs very regular schedules into and back from the city).

Very nice, quiet and safe communities. Your about 45 minutes driving time into the city as they just widened and finished the Interstate, about the same to the airport (ORD), about 20 minutes from Lake Michigan and about 20 - 30 minutes to the Wisconsin border.

The only thing with some of the areas is the property taxes 'can' be really high. We pay ~$10k a year in property taxes, but the schools are pretty good and safe, and there are other areas within these communities that have lower taxes that aren't in a bad area.

Libertyville has just about every car dealer you could imagine down at the one end, but the other end is very nicely done as a nice hometown community.

Mundelein is a little higher in property taxes, but you can still find some nice places that aren't that bad. More homes than businesses.

Vernon Hills has allot of business and shops as well as a fairly large size mall, but there are also nice places surrounding that aren't bad tax wise.

Overall I have always loved living in this area as you have everything you need here, still have some nice quiet areas, nice forest preserves etc...

Here is a quick link to the area:

independance grove libertyville illinois - Google Maps

[knat_2]

I hate to say it but there usually is a trade off.

For example, I moved to Orland Hills, which has about half the property taxes of the surrounding Tinley or Orland Park. This is a very small little suburb that capitalizes on a large shopping district to offset taxes.

However our water bills are insane... we pay about $140 a month in water bills and was told this would go up again soon. I think almost any area will have drawbacks. I find the best thing to do is ask the neighbors. They are usually pretty honest!

For example on a 250k home, I pay about 3k in property taxes.

Knat