Hey Chicago/northern IL...how is your home selling going? (Highland Park: foreclosure, home sales)

[numberfive]

It's tough to say, it varies from city to city. Here in Lake County, we were going to list our house, but our neighbors on the corner lot listed theirs about 130 days ago, still no contract. Then right across the street from us, a non-corner lot, it sold in 2 days. Both are around the same age, same square footage, but the lack of a yard is probably the killer. We've held off since we don't want three neighbor houses for sale, makes the neighborhood look bad for selling price.

About taxes, it's not just property taxes that kills us in IL. As the saying goes, "they'll tax you somehow", but "they'll tax you somehow MORE" here in IL. Looking at the overall tax burden by state (all taxes including property, income, sales, etc), Illinois is one of the most heavily taxed states in the country. Last time I checked, IL is tied for third at 11.0% overall taxes, just behind NJ (#1) and CA (#2).

We crunched the numbers, and for us, moving to another state to a comparable house saves us almost $2,000/mo, with the majority of that being tax savings.

Bye bye, Illinois. We can get the same for cheaper in another state, no sense in staying.

[redshoe]

I think we just passed NJ as the highest right?

[damba]

Yes, I am aware of that <looking at my Lake County bill that arrived last week>

Which LC suburb is giving you the 12% rate?

Originally Posted by redshoe

2015 we paid 9463.00 I think ..give or take a few cents. So they basically take 33.33 of your assessed fair cash value with equalizers and that is multiplied by the 12.17%. At least that's how I understand it.

[RJA29]

Originally Posted by redshoe

2015 we paid 9463.00 I think ..give or take a few cents. So they basically take 33.33 of your assessed fair cash value with equalizers and that is multiplied by the 12.17%. At least that's how I understand it.

Even if you're assessed at 340K, ~$9500 of that value is 2.7%, not 12.17%. Taxes divided by value = effective tax rate.


9500 (numerator)
over
3400000 (denominator)
equals
.027

[IrishIllini]

Originally Posted by RJA29

Even if you're assessed at 340K, ~$9500 of that value is 2.7%, not 12.17%. Taxes divided by value = effective tax rate.


9500 (numerator)
over
3400000 (denominator)
equals
.027

Shh...people love to make things sound like they are worse than they actually are. IL's property taxes are high, but the COL overall is much lower than comparable parts of the country.

[RJA29]

How are the schools?

[Daze55]

Originally Posted by RJA29

How are the schools?

Where? If you're referring to NW Indiana, the schools are all good. I live in the Lake Central School District, which is great education-wise, though large by Indiana standards. The Munster School Corp I'd say has the best schools, which is what makes Munster the most desirable in NW Indiana. Munster is as good as (or better than) most highly-desirable school districts. What makes NW Indiana so desirable is the taxes (obviously) as well as the location. You can be in Chicago in a much shorter time than most suburbs throughout Chicagoland. Moving to NW Indiana was the best decision I've ever made.

[numberfive]

Originally Posted by IrishIllini

Shh...people love to make things sound like they are worse than they actually are. IL's property taxes are high, but the COL overall is much lower than comparable parts of the country.

I wish you were right about that. But you're not.

All of the data (not opinions) shows that the cost of living in the Chicago/Northern IL area is much higher than the national average. Take your pick:

Expatistan
Moderator cut: link removed, linking to competitor sites is not allowed
Pew Research
Tax Foundation

Those organizations aren't "anti-Illinois" or "pro-other state". They just report the cost by metro area, and Chicago ranks among the highest.

[damba]

Sure, but he wasn't referring to the national average, but to comparable parts of the country (e.g. in context here, established cities where the big paying jobs are). Boston, DC, NYC, SF, LA. COL cheaper here overall.

Cheers

Originally Posted by numberfive

I wish you were right about that. But you're not.

All of the data (not opinions) shows that the cost of living in the Chicago/Northern IL area is much higher than the national average. Take your pick:

Expatistan
Moderator cut: link removed, linking to competitor sites is not allowed
Pew Research
Tax Foundation

Those organizations aren't "anti-Illinois" or "pro-other state". They just report the cost by metro area, and Chicago ranks among the highest.

[amd555]

Someone please list a reasonably priced house in Highland Park, around $350k..