Young Family of 4 Relocating to Chicago. Need Advice! (Arlington Heights, Schaumburg: middle-class, extended stay)

[cjohnson03]

Hi,

I have 2 boys (4 1/2 yr old and 3 yr old). I accepted a job in the greater chicago area. My husband and I will be relocating with our boys in about a month. We prefer quiet suburbs with lots of living space and a considerable yard size for our kids to run around. We will be renting for a year first prior to buying. Our boys have gone to a private preschool for the past year. We would like to be in an area that has top elementary public schools (with private school options). I have done my research about the North Shore area but I like newer homes (anything older than 2000 that has not been remodeled doesn't suit me). A lot of the areas around the Chicago area seemed to have the beautiful older homes but that is not my personal style. I also travel for work so I need to have good access to O'hare. I lived in MD/DC area for 8 years so commuting is familiar territory. I just don't know how the traffic is in that area. Now that you know the background information, here is what I'm looking for:
Single family home for rent 4 bedroom (min) or 3 with and office, large living space and green space
Price range $1700-$2200
Safe neighborhood (relative newer homes)
Great school district is a MUST (I'm willing to increase rent for better school districts)
Reasonable commute to O'hare (I can do up to 1hr)

I'm welcome to any advice you may have.

PLEASE.....Do NOT tell me what areas to NOT live in as that is not going to be beneficial for me at this point. I'm interested in someone truly willing to guide a middle-class, young family of 4, make a well-informed decision.

BIG THANKS!!!!

[cubssoxfan]

Where is work located?

[cjohnson03]

I work remotely from my home office and travel an average of 3 days per week.

[threeboys123]

Elmhurst, Wheaton, Glen Ellyn or a bit farther...Geneva/St. Charles. All towns are exactly what you described. Elmhurst being the closest to O'hare. Largest yards are in Geneva/St. Charles. Good luck!

[cubssoxfan]

Originally Posted by cjohnson03

I work remotely from my home office and travel an average of 3 days per week.

Candidly, I'm not well informed about home rental options. But as far as desirable neighborhoods with good access to O'Hare, I would suggest Glenview, Northbrook, Arlington Heights, Prospect Heights and Mt. Prospect. There are others, but I try to list areas I'm familiar with. In AH, PH, Mt. P stay in elem/HS districts: AH: 25, 23-Hersey-Prospect, PH-23-Hersey, Mt.P: 26, 57-Prospect. There are private school options for both preschool, kindergarten, all the way through high school. There is very little closer in that will be newer than 2000 build. But there are many remodeled homes. I would be a bit more flexible in the type of house and age of the house and focus more on being in an area that will keep work travel time to a minimum and provides good schools. Sure Geneva and St. Charles are very nice areas; quite charming. But driving 45-75 minutes to get to O'Hare versus keeping that drive to less than 30 minutes is not worth it.

[cjohnson03]

Thank you both for your suggestions. I will definitely look into those options. I appreciate your time and feedback!

[acdevane]

I ran a quick search for you in the MLS for Geneva, Elmhurst, Wheaton and Glen Ellyn between $1700 - $2200/mo for a 4 BR and only came up with 3 homes. Here's a start.

1 08468917 ACTV 678 S Fairview Ave 126 $2,000 7 4 1.1 Split Level w/ Sub


2 08492488 ACTV 2959 Husking Peg Ln 134 $2,000 10 4 3 2 Stories


3 08490496 ACTV 626 Anderson Blvd 134 $2,100 8 4 2 2 Stories

Now, that's not to say that there aren't other homes out there, but that's all that's in the MLS. You might need to look at Rent by Owner on something like a Craigslist or HotPads. Inventory is somewhat limited due to time of year as well.

If you're looking for updated you may need to expand where you're looking by driving a little further or up your price point.
Good Luck.

[nikitakolata]

Originally Posted by acdevane

If you're looking for updated you may need to expand where you're looking by driving a little further or up your price point.
Good Luck.

I agree. I think a new home, near O'Hare with good schools is going to be very difficult on the OP's budget. But, of course you could get lucky.

[minhan]

Hi, we are relocating to Chicago in March. We currently live in Singapore. Have 2 kids (6,5). Because school year starts in january, my girl will start grade 1 next week. It means she will only have 3 months in her grade 1.

I would love to get your advice in many areas:

1.Are there any Service appartment near Schamburg? My husband office is there. We need 2 months full service appartment while waiting for our shipment to arrive from Singapore.

2. Can we enroll our children to Elementary school right upon our arrival and they can go to school right away?

3. How easy to change to another school once we settle to a new area?

4. Best area to live for family of 4, near good school, 30' to Ohare airport?

5. My kids learn Chinese and Taekwondo in Singapore. Love to live in area that they can continue those activities.

Thank you so much for your suggestions.

[chet everett]

If work is in Schaumburg you might look for "corporate apartments" in Park Ridge, Northbrook, or Oak Brook. The nicer corporate apartments are usually in condo developments. Such units come fully furnished and with all the basic linens / kitchen gear you'll need. Another option is an "extended stay hotel" though with school aged kids that set up would get much more claustrophobic in short order...

Suburban schools will need you to verify the children's ages with birth certificate / passports, provide documentation about vaccination (obtain health records from your physician at home before leaving), and then verify your place of residence. If you call the district office ahead of time you may be able to get kids into school upon arrival but more realistically the school will have a day or so of paperwork time...

There are supplemental Chinese language schools available in various locations throughout the area. If you have no contacts here it might be possible to track down an acceptable situation through the local ethnic markets.

Many kids of all backgrounds take martial arts classes in the store front studios but there are also options in the YMCA, park districts and more culturally oriented sites too.