Possible relocate with high schooler, considering Naperville area (Chicago, St. Charles: to rent, mortgage)

[dockfam]

Hi there,

There is a pretty good chance we could be relocated with my husband’s job within a year which entails looking after a 31 unit district that covers KY, IN, TN and we just found out...IL as well with the concentration in and around Chicago. I've posted a similar post on other city boards to get info about all, since we can pretty much choose where we want to live. I didn't know IL was included until just yesterday.

We are coming from a suburb of Dallas with great schools, pretty affordable living and good shopping. I’m in the travel/hospitality industry and it fits nicely here, since we are only 10 minutes form DFW airport.

One of our kids will have graduated by the move (summer of next year) the other will be entering 11th grade and she is a competitive swimmer/water polo player both at the school level and with a national club. Having a great high school offering swim and club water polo would be a necessity. I see Naperville has a big water polo club with ties to USAWP. At this time, she plans to play in college.

We have 10 pets in the home (3 of them dogs) so renting might be a dream but I would personally prefer to rent rather than buy for the first year – if they accept the animals. The other 7 are either in tanks or cages  Right now we have a $2000 mortgage payment for a 2800 sq ft, $300k home (6100k tax per yr) but we would like to downsize and try to bring that down if possible since I’m not sure if I will be working right away. Suburban living with a little bit of space on the lot size would be ideal but most importantly, a safe area with a good high school.

Ive done some research into the other states but none have the high school water sports offerings that are a must for our kiddo. This brings us to look at the Chicago suburbs even if the cost of living is a bit higher. The things we do for our kids!

What are your thoughts? Thank you in advance for the feedback!

[MayaLucy]

You'll get some great feedback here; I'm new to the area but I think it will be a challenge to find your price point in Naperville or any top-tier school district here.

I was just curious if you've also looked at Nashville. I've heard good things as once upon a time I was exploring that area as a potential move.

[IrishIllini]

What is your household income? Do you need to be near O'Hare or Midway for the move? Where would your husband's job be?

[4122]

How big of a home do you want? What's your budget?

[rrah]

I'm not one of the posters that come into the IL suburban forum and tell people to go to NW Indiana. I lived in the Chicago suburbs for years. We left for a variety of reasons, but it's a nice place to live for many people.

This time I am going to recommend that the OP look at 2 Indiana schools--Munster (typically a good sports school in the state of IN) and close to Chicago. I'd also recommend you investigate Carmel H.S. Carmel is an Indianapolis suburb (since you can be anywhere). It's about 30-40 minutes from the Indianapolis airport. It has the top girls swim team in the state (and has for years). Just an fyi-- a lot of smaller colleges will recruit swimmers for water polo teams. My daughter was a 4 year varsity swimmer--a few schools recruited her for water polo. (She wasn't interested.) A third option near Indianapolis would be the Hamilton Southeastern School District (a couple of high schools). Very strong swim clubs there also.

You will definitely be downsizing on the house size in Naperville, but not necessarily the mortgage size or the taxes. In Indiana you won't get that much house for the price, but you will be able to find something similar more easily and with generally lower property taxes.

[dockfam]

We did look into Nashville, there are no high school water polo teams or clubs with USAWP affiliations there unfortunately.

As far as income, I'm not sure what the increase will be once we move. I'm going to guess about $120k for my husband and I make $50k here but my job isn't relocate-able. I would try to find something in the same range.

Not looking for a big house, I think something 1500-1800 sq ft would be sufficient. I'd like to keep the mortgage or rent payment under $2200.

As noted in my original post, he would be overseeing a 4 state district. We can live in any of those states. No need to be that close to ORD. He'll be travelling by car and plane to visit stores.

[IrishIllini]

Originally Posted by dockfam

We did look into Nashville, there are no high school water polo teams or clubs with USAWP affiliations there unfortunately.

As far as income, I'm not sure what the increase will be once we move. I'm going to guess about $120k for my husband and I make $50k here but my job isn't relocate-able. I would try to find something in the same range.

Not looking for a big house, I think something 1500-1800 sq ft would be sufficient. I'd like to keep the mortgage or rent payment under $2200.

As noted in my original post, he would be overseeing a 4 state district. We can live in any of those states. No need to be that close to ORD. He'll be travelling by car and plane to visit stores.

You could definitely find something in Naperville. There are quite a few town home developments throughout Naperville. Not sure if that's a fit for you with three dogs. At $2,200/mo you'll probably have dated appliances/finishes and the house will probably need some work.

[flamadiddle]

Considering all your pets and no need to commute downtown, I'd also look at St. Charles, IL. There are a ton of homes in that area on large lots at a reasonable price and St. Charles North / St. Charles East High Schools are highly rated. Also check out Geneva / Geneva Community High School, which is right next to St. Charles. Downtown Geneva/St. Charles is something right out of a Thomas Kinkade painting.

Just took a look and both St. Charles High Schools offer Water Polo!

http://north.d303.org/boys-athletics

http://north.d303.org/girls-athletics

http://il.8to18.com/scehs/activities/water-polo/g

[dockfam]

Thank you so much!

[MayaLucy]

Just a little tidbit to keep in mind regarding square footage--I don't know if basements are the norm in the Dallas area (there are virtually none in Austin area) but when you are looking at homes the basements, even if they are finished into living space, are not included in the square footage of the home.