370k Buffalo Grove home or 310k Palatine home (Arlington Heights, Schaumburg: real estate, 2014)

[jobseeker2013]

Both homes are similar sizes, features, age, shape and yard. Literally no difference. The BG location is 10 minutes shorter commute from the 35 minute commute from Palatine. BG links to Stevenson High, Twin Groves Middle, and Ivey Groves Elementary. Palatine links to Palatine High, Walter R Sundling and Lincoln Elementary. Is 60k and an extra 1k in property tax a year worth the better schools in BG?

[Lookout Kid]

The market says it is… Do you agree?

Plenty of people have reservations about Palatine High School, but it's far from a failing school. It's more diverse than Fremd, Hersey, or Prospect--and the test scores are noticeably lower.

[wjj]

Originally Posted by jobseeker2013

Is 60k and an extra 1k in property tax a year worth the better schools in BG?

Well.......The Daily Herald just ranked all the high schools in their circulation area based on various ACT metrics. 70 high schools were ranked.

Stevenson was ranked #1.
Palatine was ranked #42

Therein may lie your answer.

BTW, Palatine is a place where one needs to be careful where they buy if schools are a primary concern. While Palatine was ranked #42, Fremd was ranked #5 (third when you look at only the northwest suburbs behind only Stevenson and Libertyville). But buying in Fremd's district will put you in a higher cost area just like buying in northern BG will.

What about a middle ground? You could look just south of Lake Cook Road between Arlington Heights Road and Weidner. Same houses that you are looking at now (I am guessing based on the schools you mentioned) by the same builder, but they cost a little less on average and have lower Cook County taxes. The downside (and it is not a big downside) is that area feeds into Buffalo Grove HS (which was ranked #17). That would add only a couple minutes to your commute.

[chet everett]

Although I can see the logic in wjj's post about "splitting the difference" in my experience the bigger trend is that school quality will continue to a be the largest factor in residential real estate values for the foreseeable future.

So long as you can afford the intial price difference and the $1k/yr in property tax difference (which may grow wider, but I see nothing to really hold back the property tax increases more in lower priced towns vs more costly towns...) I would go with the highest rated schools district I could afford.

[jobseeker2013]

Originally Posted by wjj

Well.......The Daily Herald just ranked all the high schools in their circulation area based on various ACT metrics. 70 high schools were ranked.

Stevenson was ranked #1.
Palatine was ranked #42

Therein may lie your answer.

BTW, Palatine is a place where one needs to be careful where they buy if schools are a primary concern. While Palatine was ranked #42, Fremd was ranked #5 (third when you look at only the northwest suburbs behind only Stevenson and Libertyville). But buying in Fremd's district will put you in a higher cost area just like buying in northern BG will.

What about a middle ground? You could look just south of Lake Cook Road between Arlington Heights Road and Weidner. Same houses that you are looking at now (I am guessing based on the schools you mentioned) by the same builder, but they cost a little less on average and have lower Cook County taxes. The downside (and it is not a big downside) is that area feeds into Buffalo Grove HS (which was ranked #17). That would add only a couple minutes to your commute.

Do you have a link to the Daily Herald story. I can not find it.

[jobseeker2013]

Thanks for the info. We are thinking Buffalo Grove as well. We can afford it, so it will be a good investment.

[Sundecker]

Originally Posted by jobseeker2013

Do you have a link to the Daily Herald story. I can not find it.

https://www.dailyherald.com/article/...hics/acdafdf0/

[Mid America Mom]

Jobseeker. I can look at your question from different perspectives.

Does being in one of the best schools important for your family?


If not I wonder about what else you can do with that money. You save at least 1k in tax a year and about 4k in principle so 5k. That can help with paying kids tuition, paying down debt, or thrown into investment or 401k.....

Also northern BG can be far to get to places. Palatine is quicker to Ohare, downtown, woodfield.

[wjj]

Originally Posted by Mid America Mom

Jobseeker. I can look at your question from different perspectives.

Does being in one of the best schools important for your family?


If not I wonder about what else you can do with that money. You save at least 1k in tax a year and about 4k in principle so 5k. That can help with paying kids tuition, paying down debt, or thrown into investment or 401k.....

Also northern BG can be far to get to places. Palatine is quicker to Ohare, downtown, woodfield.

Good point - and why I suggested a middle of the road approach. Save some money but still be in a very good, but not great, school district. But there is a big difference between BGHS and Palatine HS and I just do not think it is reasonable to compare the two, let alone compare Stevenson to Palatine. The point I was trying to make is that one should move into the best school district that they can afford. If northern BG is too pricy, then I suggested a certain section of southern BG where they can get the same house for less with lower RE taxes but still get a very good school district. I also agree with Chet that Stevenson drives higher real estate prices than BGHS (there are identical sub divisions on both sides of Lake Cook Road and the Lake County sub divisions have higher prices despite the higher real estate taxes that come with Stevenson). Northern BG is a better investment than southern BG. It has been that way for a long time. But I agree there is more to this decision than purely real estate investment returns.

As for getting other places.......O'Hare drive times are virtually the same (as a consultant, I drive it pretty much every week). The North Central Metra Line that runs through BG has a stop at O'Hare (the only Metra line that does) which allows for additional options. Driving downtown is the same - a mess from either place during rush hour, a breeze otherwise). Palatine does have the edge in taking Metra downtown with all the express trains on the UPNW line vs the North Central Line (UPNW has a better schedule as well and runs on weekends whereas the North Central Line does not. But the Milwaukee North line is less than 15 minutes from BG for weekend trips). Getting to Woodfield I think is irrelevant as those who live in Lake County would go to Vernon Hills and the Hawthorne Mall and not to Schaumburg. I live in northern BG and I have been to Woodfield just a handful of times in the past 10 years and even then, I only stopped at Woodfield if I was in the area for another reason.

[jobseeker2013]

What is considered northern BG?