Far southern suburbs and housing prices...... (Chicago, Cicero: sales, foreclosures, rentals)

[Sandra<3]

Earlier today, I was browsing on a real-estate site and found some pretty nice homes. Many of these homes had all the modern updates and were beautiful. The thing that caught my attention was the fact that many of them were under 100k. These weren't fixer-upers either. Another thing that caught my eye was the high amount of property taxes. Most of the homes I peaked at were in Glenwood, Lynwood, Lansing, Hazel Crest, Country Club Hills, Matteson, Richton Park, and Park Forest. I know the south suburbs has its fair share of problems, but are these towns really THAT bad?

[gregbuck]

100k really isn't all that cheap for a basic house in this current housing market. The national sales average is up a bit this year. But still only at 152k. All the areas you mentioned are at or just below the national average. And have a lot of foreclosures. I would look in the nicest towns such as Flossmoor and Olympia fields first if you can afford the taxes. Prices are starting to firm up. But you can still find good foreclosure deals in those two areas. And they are pretty much the best two far south suburban towns.

[BRU67]

Some useful insights in this thread...

//www.city-data.com/forum/chica...ton-saved.html

Basically, the gist of it is that suburbs which tend to rebound tend to be ones:

-with historic housing stock and potential commercial districts you can't find in many (if any) other 'burbs at a remotely comparable price,
-near mass transit lines,
-near major employment centers that would appeal to middle income workers (a mix of both professional and skilled)
-have fallen on hard times, but aren't in complete disrepair

(Credit to Chicago76!)

The fear is that the south suburbs could continue to decline because of a general lack of attractive housing stock, lack of proximity to the regional job centers, and competition from western suburbs that are also presently cheap but are served by public transit, are closer to the Loop and the I-88 and I-294 job corridors, and have a better housing stock on the whole.

I recently reviewed some data on Building Blocks Illinois -- a down payment assistance program being administered in 14 communities. The western suburbs involved in the program (Cicero, Maywood and Berwyn) had higher income buyers than the southern suburbs and downstate communities did. And the homes are tending to sell for a bit more compared to the southern suburbs.

[gregbuck]

As far as comparing the hardest hit areas in the west suburbs to the hard hit south burbs. I wouldn't want to personally live in either. Most of the current buyers are investors purchasing rentals. And the sales prices reflect that. Look at the more solid middle class areas in both regions if you want to make a owner occupied purchase. I couldn't imagine buying a home in Markham, Harvey or cicrero, maywood to actually live in. Just my opinion.

[BRU67]

Originally Posted by gregbuck

As far as comparing the hardest hit areas in the west suburbs to the hard hit south burbs. I wouldn't want to personally live in either. Most of the current buyers are investors purchasing rentals. And the sales prices reflect that. Look at the more solid middle class areas in both regions if you want to make a owner occupied purchase. I couldn't imagine buying a home in Markham, Harvey or cicrero, maywood to actually live in. Just my opinion.

It's great that your financial situation allows you to make that choice! Some people don't have such an option and have to buy in cheap areas. Sometimes, their choice is either bad, or worse.

[urza216]

Home values have always been cheaper when you look south.

[Army_Guy]

Originally Posted by Sandra<3

Earlier today, I was browsing on a real-estate site and found some pretty nice homes. Many of these homes had all the modern updates and were beautiful. The thing that caught my attention was the fact that many of them were under 100k. These weren't fixer-upers either. Another thing that caught my eye was the high amount of property taxes. Most of the homes I peaked at were in Glenwood, Lynwood, Lansing, Hazel Crest, Country Club Hills, Matteson, Richton Park, and Park Forest. I know the south suburbs has its fair share of problems, but are these towns really THAT bad?

I can't speak for the areas other than Matteson and Park Forest but those 2 areas, more so PF than Matteson, have been hit hard by businesses leaving the area. PF doesn't even have a grocery store. Matteson isn't too bad but the dilapidated and nearly empty Lincoln Mall is a shell of a shopping center, Applebee's, Bakers Square, Best Buy, Sears and too much empty retail spots by Governors and Route 30 have left a hole in retail tax income for the village. The Auto Mall has also been a large failure, more spots are empty than occupied and the back end is totally empty except for Hyundai. Chevrolet has been gone for years and even then, it wasn't a very nice Chevrolet dealership.

Matteson does have some new, large and expensive housing along 30 and Ridgeland. However, a lot of those folks make the drive to Tinley Park and in particular the shopping center at 191st and Harlem to do their shopping. The Super Target there sells groceries while the only grocery store in Matteson is the overpriced Dominick's. I also believe that portion of Tinley is in Will County so taxes are slightly less but every dollar saved counts these days. Gas is also cheaper in Frankfort, which is right down Route 30.

Crime in Matteson is about average with little violent crime. However, the village does have a stigma that being almost majority (if not already majority) black, that the place isn't worth investing in by national retailers. The absence of retail tax income would have to be made up somewhere.

And the village just opened up a very large (expensive) community center a couple years ago that cost millions of dollars. I believe they sold bonds to fund that and they're about due to be paid but I'm not 100% sure.

[Sandra<3]

Originally Posted by urza216

Home values have always been cheaper when you look south.

That is true, but in my opinion, these homes should cost a bit more than $70,000-$100,000.

[urza216]

Originally Posted by Sandra<3

That is true, but in my opinion, these homes should cost a bit more than $70,000-$100,000.

Why do you want to pay more money? This is a GOOD thing. It's cheaper to live in the south suburbs.. This is why people go to Target instead of Sears.

I bet if you offered 100K, they'd accept it.

[Midwest Revival]

CC Hills isn't that bad, just the northern most part bordering Markham is somewhat rough. Though the part along Cicero going towards Matteson is beautiful, the school districts aren't too hot out in CC Hills either.

Park Forest is rough from what Ive heard and seen..