Relocating to Deerfield,Riverwoods area- looking for family friendly suburb (Chicago: short sales, rentals)

[dimples0927]

We are looking to relocate to the Chicago area from Indianapolis. My husband's new job is in Riverwoods and I was wondering if anyone could please give us any advice of what suburb area would be good to look in that would be a relatively decent commute to work. We have a 5 year old,3 year old, and 6mth old so we are concerned about an area that has good school and is family friendly and safe.
Our housing budget would be approx 350k and I have been trying to research transit to see if that would be an option- depending on where we would live.
Thank you so much for your advice!

[chet everett]

Riverwoods itself is a very attractive area, though most homes tend to be scattered through the forest preserves and pricey. Due to the way houses and offices are both spread out there are not too many good transit options -- cars rule in that part of the region.

A budget of $350k won't go far in northern Cook Co / southern Lake Co even with price erosion due economic downturn. If you are hoping for a bigger home (with three kids I doubt you'd be eager to move into something with less than four bedrooms...) you may have to make some hard choices -- longer commute to a town further away might yield more housing options, though the nature of Illinois' property tax structure tends to have direct correlation between school quality and residential housing prices, renting might be a smart move, but becuase there tends to be more transferees than rentals anything close to Riverwoods won't be a bargain, if you're up for a challenge there are probably some older homes that in years past would have been candidates for "tear down" that might represent the best long term value. Deerfield, Northbrook,Glenview, Libertyville and Lake Bluff were all pretty active in that regard. Now realize, that some of these places are going to be way beyond a simple "update" -- if your budget max truly is $350k and you spend $299k to acquire a place that technically is habitable but might be a two bedroom one bath ranch that NEEDS a full second story, new kitchen and general overhaul you better be able to swing $100k or more of renovations. If you buy in the right neighborhood your investment could result in a finished product that is worth $600k++... Frankly, given howling the economic expansion lasted finding a good "candidate for easy expansion" has gotten pretty hard too, but there are some out there.

With the ages of your kids it might not be realistic to tackle too big a project -- there are certainly towns where your money will buy more. Lake Zurich has a nice mix of housing and tendsmto be fairly family oriented. It is fair distance from Riverwoods. Parts of Vernon Hills, Palatine, Buffalo Grove, or Arlington Heights might work. Further out towns like Barrington do have some older homes that are surprisingly affordable with all the short sales and such, though adding 10-15 miles can push commute times up by quite a lot -- not uncommon for 30 miles to take over an hour with heavy traffic...

[cubssoxfan]

Buffalo Grove is a good option as well. Great schools, good park district and library. If not a home, you can find a VERY nice townhouse within your budget. Find one within a close walk to a park and you might not miss having the upkeep of a yard. Very reasonable commute to Riverwoods as well.

[dimples0927]

I really appreciate your input and your time. I apologize, because I am not very familiar with the area really at all. Let me ask you this, what abou the Grayslake or Waukegan areas? Too far of a commute? Thank you again so much for your help!

[Vlajos]

watch out, Broadrippleguy will be posting in a minute that Indy is hosting the Super Bowl. why would you ever want to leave that?

[chet everett]

I would not recommend Waukegan. Even the handful of neighborhoods that are "acceptable" in terms of housing stock suffer from years of neglected schools -- it is the rare lakefront town in the region that once had heavy industry, and major containimantion. Legaccy of failed manufacturing haunts the town. Schools are signficantly worse than others in the region.

Grayslake is a kind of spread out, parts might be within 30 minutes or less of the major employment corridors in Riverwoods/Deerfield, but parts might be almost double the distance. There has been a decade or more of growth with new homes and families. Schools are not as well funded as those in more mature communities, but that is pretty common in "boom" areas. Probably need to compare "the total package" of what you need in terms of commute / home size / relative school priority...

[dimples0927]

Oh that is great to know! Waukegan may not be exactly what we are looking for! You are right we would have to evaluate the overall package. Looks like I'll really need to research the area a little better! Thanks so much for your help!

[mufcinchi]

Having lived in Deerfield for a number of years, I agree with @Chet about parts of Vernon Hills and would add parts of Gurnee to that list. If you are willing to go further north, Libertyville is perhaps an option, some even escape to Kenosha, WI for lower prices. The immediate area around Riverwoods is quite pricey, high taxes and, unfortunately, a good bit of the pretense that comes with an affluent community. It is also a very car-dependent area unless you are commuting in and out of the city, as you will not find the number of bus routes that probably exist in Indy.

[chicagojlo]

Grayslake has lots of affordable homes but their property taxes are frankly insane.

There are lots of homes in the area surrounding Riverwoods in your price range, that aren't tear downs. Almost all of the towns nearby including Deerfield, Buffalo Grove, Vernon Hills, Highland Park, Libertyville etc have great school districts.

Transit however is not going to be much of an option, the only public transportation in the area is the Metra commuter rail line that is Chicago-oriented, and the Pace buses that ferry people from the commuter stations to their offices during rush hour.

[crazynurse64]

deerfield is great for small kids. schools are awesome. low crime. lived here 19 years. love it