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We left the far Western suburbs (the Tri-cities area) 16 years ago for all the reasons mentioned in the article--real estate taxes and college tuition and college choices for our kids. We moved into a new, nicer, similar size home on 30 plus acres. We giggled like kids when the attorney apologetically told us at closing what he thought our taxes would be. It was less than 1/2 of what we paid in IL. It's still less than half of the old house.
I just checked the assessment on the old house. It went up for a few years, but it's not recovered still since the collapse. It's about the same as when we sold it.
The kids ended up at an instate, Big 10 university with scholarships that paid for their tuition. My best guess is we've saved at least $160,000 in 16 years. Even without the scholarships coming into play we've saved about $80,000.
I grew up in NWI. Mom was from that area and Dad was from the south suburbs. They bought the house in NWI because the taxes were lower even 50 plus years ago. I remember trying to convince a neighbor in IL years ago that they should consider a move to NWI since her husband worked there. They were happy paying higher taxes. It seems more Illinois people are now catching on to the convenience and cost of living there. It kind of makes me a little sad to see the influx of people from Illinois as it's changing some of the feel of the area, but life is about change so...
We miss many of the things in the Chicago area, but we sure don't miss the traffic and the taxes.
When even the Governor and the major newspaper slam the State, it looks bleak. But maybe take a contrarian view, that now is the time to get in. I believe Warren Buffet said to buy when everyone is selling. Remember Rauner and Madigan won't be in power that much longer.
I've been keeping an eye on and reading about this topic for 3 plus years. And lived it longer.
Ahhh this is hard and has been hard for me since the early 2000's . I'm third generation on both sides and they all came to Chicago to work hard. The city contains buildings etc built by my relatives. It is sad to see that parts/neighborhoods of a city my relatives built with their own blood, sweat, and tears that now their great grand daughter can't afford to live in. I had to leave and move around the state because it's too expensive to live near my roots. I can't afford the suburbs or city neighborhoods my older siblings \cousins can. I have a post graduate degree. The only debt I had was college loans.To put it bluntly it's not fair! I suspect many of you can relate. Some of you that are more fortunate as stated above don't, as its implied leaving Illinois is a middle class\poor issue . Please don't disregard generational factors as a factor as well.
Should she stay in Illinois ? for now yes, but it is tempting. We have made sacrifices, losing money on a home when the economy tanked as neighbors all around us foreclosed, we took the hit unknowingly buying at the high before the economy crumbled. Many who bought a decade before us heloc-ed and borrowed away, had job loss, or illness, and foreclosures began. -what choice did We have?
Born a certain class,wrong decade, wrong state? We downsized sold at a loss, and thought things would stabilize. Only to now find 7 years later people are running for Texas and Colorado and we have people younger than us moving in who seek the dream, but buy homes over budget. Some work an additional part time job to pay their mortgage. And some of the people who declared bankruptcy in our old neighborhood now own a house more expensive than the one they walked away fom !!!!
How does one accomplish that? Don't answer -I've read up on how.
It's scary .
Many are leaving, but just as I read your article , in my new neighborhood I have concerns and hope for the best. Others stretch to buy, over budget, to then find taxes etc increase as they did not predict. The cliche s of death and taxes not heeded. They buy a house before selling their existing home. Others bail for wisdom, survival, and better opportunities. Are we then left holding the bag again? Will foreclosures occur again ? Will it impact us again? Was that a one time thing a decade ago. I sure hope so. Does that not mean there are not problems at other levels in cities , suburbs, among the state? I am not that naive. I am lucky this neighborhood is popular and sought after the old one had houses overpriced and foreclosed that sat for years as it was cheaper for people to build new then buy existing .
I have concerns very much so , like my siblings, and the posters above state if your kids are college age (mine are not)
It maybe cheaper in the long run to move. For now jobs are limited in our industry so here we are. I hope the sacrifices we made break even for I suspected it mathematically to be a win. -in theory it should have been.
Sad from a third generation on both sides of family Chicago gal whose family helped literally build , house, and feed Chicago and inner burbs.
So what do I think?- I already went through this - I am not sure what the answers are,but we can't fix problems or find answers until the problems are honestly acknowledged or addressed. I certainly hope mistakes are not being repeated, but I won't be surprised if I begin to see a rerun of the last decade\last town.
I deserve to live here and so do you, but we did not create the problems of this state, logically if we did it would be individual not state wide. I see those who can afford to leave are starting to , those that are as another poster above pointed out are fortunate and buy an additional home elsewhere what will happen to the rest of us??
Perhaps as hinted at in an above post, certain classes socioeconomically are strategically being forced from Illinois-ouch. That thought was sponsored by one of the above posters above and ironically my years of reading, writing, and discussing socio-economic issues at an Illinois state university I paid to attend . Double ouch. ��
Will the haves stay and have nots leave or will it be the opposite? I am sure some Illinois college classes discuss just that. Likely we will do as we have and can only do as we have, look out for ourselves and ride the tide.
Good luck all
Last edited by Gladiator gal; 04-01-2018 at 01:13 AM..
Reason: Missing words
When we moved here from out of state - we were suprised how affordable Chicago (ie compare to a NY or a CA) is for a globally recognized top city... i dont think there is any turning back on that side - properties will get more expensive. I do believe taxes will level off and fiscal issues will get resolved one way or another very soon (then we will see renaissance period far greater then Detroits) but again property values/costs will continue to grow even now in this messy time for a world class destination...
I think for many of us Illinois is where we call home, it's where our friends and family are. In the grand scheme of things however our state and our region kinda sucks. Yeah Chicago is cool but for many people who don't take advantage of what the city has to offer what does Illinois really offer in the grand scheme of things? We don't have an ocean, we don't have any really cool outdoor areas to hike and bike and camp compared to Oregon, Washington, Arizona, etc, etc, etc. Our weather sucks as well.
For many people I think familiarity and family kept them here but seeing as how it's an expensive area to live and we don't get all that much for that money, and with things getting worse and the government not really having a plan besides make people pay more, it makes sense why people are leaving.
This is a bit of a side note but I attended EIU Eastern Illinois University. I was recently looking into buying a rental down there as when I was a student there years ago that was always a dream of mine to build up a rental portfolio there. I drive through town and stop at McCughs double Drivethru once a year when heading down 57 to go camping at SHawnee but aside from that havn't really been keeping up with the town.
Apparently enrollment is WAY down, the school is at risk of potentially closing down, I've heard the freshman dorm what used to be a 9 story dorm is basically boarded up and not being used because there's not enough students. That was really a surprise to me. That said I remember hearing on 890 talk radio in the morning tuition is going up at an alarming rate while the school is performing poorly and admins are collecting hundreds of thousands a year in salary for doing a poor job at their job but are still being rewarded. Typical of Illionis. I can see why people would leave to send their kids to better schools for less money in cheaper areas.
When we moved here from out of state - we were suprised how affordable Chicago (ie compare to a NY or a CA) is for a globally recognized top city... i dont think there is any turning back on that side - properties will get more expensive. I do believe taxes will level off and fiscal issues will get resolved one way or another very soon (then we will see renaissance period far greater then Detroits) but again property values/costs will continue to grow even now in this messy time for a world class destination...
The government continues to kick the can down the road and does nothing to reform the state so it's pretty nieve to think "somehow" it will get resolved. The current politicians and system isn't interested in fixing it. The plan is to keep taking more money from residents, thats not a sustainable plan and its not a plan that is going to "level off" taxes.
There is another tax that no one talks about but is a major factor in encouraging small and mid-size businesses and wealthy individuals to get out, and stay out of Illinois - the Illinois estate tax. The Illinois estate tax kicks in at a level well below the federal estate tax threshold, the exemption amount is not portable between spouses, it is not indexed for inflation, and can apply to individuals who do not even live in the state if they own any property in Illinois. These are exactly the people you want to stay in the state, but who are being chased out. Consider that in 2000, nearly every state had either an estate tax or inheritance tax. Now, only 17 states do - and several of those are very limited. When a business owner sees that nearby states like Indiana, Wisconsin, Michigan, and Missouri all have repealed their estate or inheritance taxes, that is a big strike against locating in Illinois. And when a retiree sees that while most retirement income is not subject to Illinois income tax, but that their estate may very well be subject to Illinois estate tax at a regressive marginal rate that can exceed 25% (without even getting remotely close to triggering federal estate tax), Florida and places like it without an estate tax start looking pretty good.
There is another tax that no one talks about but is a major factor in encouraging small and mid-size businesses and wealthy individuals to get out, and stay out of Illinois - the Illinois estate tax. The Illinois estate tax kicks in at a level well below the federal estate tax threshold, the exemption amount is not portable between spouses, it is not indexed for inflation, and can apply to individuals who do not even live in the state if they own any property in Illinois. These are exactly the people you want to stay in the state, but who are being chased out. Consider that in 2000, nearly every state had either an estate tax or inheritance tax. Now, only 17 states do - and several of those are very limited. When a business owner sees that nearby states like Indiana, Wisconsin, Michigan, and Missouri all have repealed their estate or inheritance taxes, that is a big strike against locating in Illinois. And when a retiree sees that while most retirement income is not subject to Illinois income tax, but that their estate may very well be subject to Illinois estate tax at a regressive marginal rate that can exceed 25% (without even getting remotely close to triggering federal estate tax), Florida and places like it without an estate tax start looking pretty good.
You bring up a great point which is being business friendly all around. Illinois is about as unfriendly to business as it gets, in terms of overregulation and fees. The cost to start an LLC or incorporate here is much more than many other states. Many industries that are not regulated in other states are regulated here. I had a buddy who lives out of state running a business that had Illinois customers. He was issued a cease and desist. When he attempted to get licensed they asked him "whats it worth to you". Rather than issuing a fine the basically said what's it worth to operate here. He said $2,000, they said $50,000. After about 50k in legal fees plus another 20k to Illinois as a fine he got it straightened out. That's not a fine that's flat out extortion and that type of thing happens everyday here in Illinois. I'm a business owner myself and while I can't do it right now I'm moving my business out of the state as soon as I'm able to. I'm also a landlord and will not be buying any more properties in Illinois, I'm sticking to SW Indiana
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