Downtown Naperville v Oswego (Aurora, Arlington Heights: sales, real estate, rent)

[rm001]

Hi All,

I have a quick question and could use some guidance from others. Me and my family (wife and two kids 8 and 5) currently live in Oswego (near Wolf's Crossing and Rt 34) and we really like our house and lot (back to park, pond across the street, very open). We have been in the home for 12 years and recently performed some renovations (expanded kitchen, etc...). However, it is really far and takes quite a bit of time to get anywhere.

We have come across an opportunity to buy a place in downtown Naperville (small home, large lot, great location) in the 400K range. Could use some advice as to what we should do. These are the options we are considering:

1) Do nothing - Stay in our current home value @ 310K (we have ~100 in Equity)

2) Purchase home in downtown Naperville and rent out for 4-6 years and then consider expanding form 1500 sq ft to 3000 - 3500 sqft or rebuilding a new home on the lot. This would allow us to build equity in both homes and then we could sell our home in Oswego and use equity to help fund the remodel/rebuild

3) Purchase home, sell existing and perform remodel/rebuild immediately. This will be the most expensive approach in the short term, likely giving us the largest mortgage payment.


Any advice would be helpful. I currently do not commute to the city (commute via car to Palatine - 55 min each way w/ no traffic). My wife and I love the suburban/city lifestyle that downtown Naperville offers and at a minimum once the kids are in there tween years think it would be a great place to settle down.

Thanks.

[Joel67]

Interest rates my never be this low again. If you can afford it and feel that long term, Naperville is a better fit then I'd either take option 2 or 3. If you can lock in the home as well as any improvements at today's rates, I think option 3 is the best choice as you can get your kids into their new schools sooner. Your oldest will be a tween soon and I'm sure resistence to change will increase dramatically. It's anecdotal but I also feel like kids are more accepting of "new kids" in the younger grades, but I'm sure there are tons of exceptions to that.

Good luck with whatever you decide.

[4122]

I think Naperville will be a better option too. Schools are better and it's closer to work. You'll also get a better resale value on your house than you would in Oswego, especially if it's right by downtown Naperville. Although, it's still a far commute, but it's better than having almost an hour commute.

Explore some options up north by Palatine too. Some areas you should look at are, Palatine (Fremd district), Barrington and all of the towns with Barrington in the name, Deer Park, Hawthorn Woods, Long Grove, Kildeer, Arlington Heights, Mt Prospect, Vernon Hills and Buffalo Grove.

[MNick88]

I grew up in Oswego before it grew and I do think it's a great town to raise a family in. Personally, I've always thought Naperville a bit overrated as far as housing is concerned, but you cannot beat the downtown. Home values will increase in both towns. I do think investing in a home in Naperville can be a smart financial decision so maybe option 2 is a good idea. People love Naperville and want to be there. The only thing I dislike about Oswego is it is so difficult to get anywhere else in the chicago area from there. If it were me, I would choose which town I want to be in and focus on the house there. In your case I would stay in Oswego and enjoy the equity you have built!

[yousah]

FYI- yearly appreciation during the last year in Oswego from MRED MLS was 13.16%, Naperville 2.64%. Building/adding on will always be more expensive than buying an existing house that already suites your needs.

[aga412]

Oswego is the next Aurora, get out while you can.

[rm001]

aga412 - I am interested in your comment. Could you expand? Thanks.

[WilmaWildcat]

To me most of the time it seems like Oswego is the next Naperville. It seems like a lot of the people who moved here to Oswego in the 2000's were from Naperville (young people starting out with kids). The town is well run, and they made sure the infrastructure was in place to encompass the huge growth spurt we had from about 11,000 population in 2000 to about 35,000 today. Quite a feat; and yet it remains a sweet, little village in a lot of ways. Oswego was founded in 1833; so it's not a fly-by-night place. There is history here.

My husband works in the Loop and takes the Metra from Aurora, which is essentially what people in Naperville do, too. He drives a few minutes up Route 31 to the train station, with very little traffic. What I especially like is living on the Fox River; the natural areas along the Fox from Oswego down southwest to the Illinois River are beautiful and wild. We moved here from Hyde Park, where to go somewhere on the weekend first requires two hours just to get out of town, let alone get to open space. Here in Oswego, two hours on the weekend south, west or north will put you way far away; and you will see lots of open space.

P.S. I am not from Illinois; I'm from Arizona. My husband and I came here to the U of C for his grad school about 20 years ago. We bought a house in River Run, now just behind the Oswego Village Hall, in 2000.

[yousah]

Fortunately, the housing crisis put a stop on the out of control real estate building and kept Oswego from becoming the next Naperville. Other than numerous subdivisions that aren't completed, we've been given a reprieve from the massive over building that had taken place.

Oswego just increased their sales tax and is still trying to catch up on infrastructure improvements. However, they're not in any worse shape than most communities in Illinois.

[chet everett]

Oswego has nothing like the tax base of Naperville --

NAPERVILLE CUSD 203: District Finances

OSWEGO CUSD 308: District Finances

The peak EAV/student occurred in the 2009 tax year for both districts, over $298k for Naperville compared to $139k for Oswego. Tellingly though both declined, Naperville is still $280k while Oswego is only $110k

The net result is Oswego tax rate is about 25% higher, school performance is not really comparable...