Advice for Western NYers moving (Chicago, Elgin: city hall, motels, new home)

[NYrules]

Originally Posted by chet everett

I have friends that live in the southern and near-in SW burbs (specifically Oak Lawn and Olympia Fields), the housing prices are probably inline with other older burbs, from Harwood Heights, Northlake ,Berkley,and Berwyn.

While these areas offer some good values I think it is fair to say that they are not traditional 'commuter towns' with a large percentage of people headed to downtown offices. Many of the folks who live in these areas work nearby, perhaps at hospitals, or drive to areas other than downtown Chicago -- frankly driving into the central Loop and surrounding areas is prohibitively expensive because of the parking costs.

If one were to look at the pattern of employment in the north/northwest it is striking how much more commuting is geared toward the trains OR people driving to suburban office campuses. There is a lot less of this in the south/southwest.

Thats why I always say on these posts, that Chicagoans love their cars... Good luck getting them out of them. This is not NY nor will it ever be. Sorry, our trains here suck plain and simple as does the CTA, but I have to say, the roads while still lacking, are getting better! The Ryan is beautiful now, something all us southsiders can be proud of. The Borman was an amazing feat of how IN and IL both were able to for once play nicely together and complete a project in a timely manner and that too is a work of art over there allowing southsiders to FINALLY be able to get from Hammond to Chicago Heights in under an hour at any time of day also without taking your life into your own hands everytime you use it. 355! WOW, FINALLY that is done! Thank GOD! I can now make if from Orland Park to Elk Grove Village in about an hour now, where it used to take me about 90 minutes. Then there is the improvements made to the surface roads as well. La Grange Road from I-55 south down to 111th Street. WOW again! That is just like a little mini freeway with stoplights. Traffic usually is doing about 65 MPH on that thing. Nobody pays any attention to the 55 MPH speed limit. LOL! There is too much more to name, so at least if the state isn't going to help out mass transit, they are focusing on the alternative (the roads).

[chet everett]

Originally Posted by NYrules

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Heres just a glimpse of what Frankfort is boasting these days. Frankfort, IL Homes for Sale on Yahoo! Real Estate: 1-10 of 664 listings

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Not going to help the OP find their $250K home to transfer into...

The challenge of Frankfort and similar towns on the edge of development, (from Elburn to Johnsburg, Bull Valley, Mokena etc) is that some folks have clearly 'overbuilt' -- there simply is not enough of an income base to support so many towns having so many very expensive homes. Neither is there some irreproducible geographic feature (like Lake Michigan, Long Island Sound or Aspen Mountain) to get people to flock to one of these millionaire rows.

This leads to the oversized homes that are priced in the stratosphere having similar stratospheric tax bills and almost setting up a "moat" mentality against all the other homeowners in more modestly priced/sized homes.

Diversity is a good thing -- having a range of homes with a spread of say $200K on the lower end to perhaps 2.5 -3x on the upper limit gives people a starter and one or two "move up" levels. In areas where the older homes may be out in the middle of nowhere or part of farmstead and the new homes sell for 10x++ there is instead disparity -- short of winning the lottery there is no way to move from the lower tier into the stratosphere.

I suppose the same could be said for parts of NW Indiana too, after all doesn't Oprah have an estate out there?

[skbs]

It isn't the home price that is a challenge for us, we could actually manage more... but I don't want to be house poor becaus I am forced to live in a McMansion Factory either and pay an inflated amount in property taxes. Living in NY State our taxes are through the roof, but at least I can live in a new home for under 200K! I am finding only older homes in need of serious renovation or are lacking in square footage... I don't need a downgrade. Thanks for the advice... but since my husband will only need to head into the city three times a week, the train from NW Indiana doesn't look so bad.

[NYrules]

Originally Posted by skbs

It isn't the home price that is a challenge for us, we could actually manage more... but I don't want to be house poor becaus I am forced to live in a McMansion Factory either and pay an inflated amount in property taxes. Living in NY State our taxes are through the roof, but at least I can live in a new home for under 200K! I am finding only older homes in need of serious renovation or are lacking in square footage... I don't need a downgrade. Thanks for the advice... but since my husband will only need to head into the city three times a week, the train from NW Indiana doesn't look so bad.

Be careful of the neighborhoods over there. There are some REALLY bad areas, but there are some that are really good too.

[skyeINIL]

Originally Posted by NYrules

Be careful of the neighborhoods over there. There are some REALLY bad areas, but there are some that are really good too.

Outside of Gary, North Hammond, and East Chicago, what are the "REALLY" bad areas?

[creekwalker]

Ah my NY State friends! I so dearly sympathize with your sticker shock... (I was born in Batavia, outside of Rochester. My Grandma lives in Pavilion. My folks live in Ithaca... kiss the NY soil for me).

I will continue the trend of suggesting what I know. I know this: I am selling my 1300 sq ft Late Queen Anne home on Grand Ave in the historic district of Aurora this spring. We'll be asking just under $200K, taxes are around $3,000 a year. Aurora is a "neighborhood in transition" but in the 4 yrs we've lived here, the street has gotten quieter, half a dozen homes have been painted and fixed up, and there are big plans to improve the downtown area in the near future. We are 4 minutes from the Metra Train Station - a 45 minute trainride to downtown. My neighbors are all very kind and wonderful people. I can refer you to neighbors who have had their kids in the elementary school in our neighborhood - our address feeds into a newly built elementary school. I'm also certain that our home will continue to grow steadily in value, as this area never went through the "bubble" that inflated prices most everywhere else in Chi-land.

OR if an older home is not your cup of tea, 6 miles west of us, in Sugar Grove is the place to be. 1.5 minutes off of I-88, you can purchase a brand spankin' new home right around $250K. Then it's a 10 minute drive to the train station, or a commute of about an hour (I would heartily suggest the train: drink coffee, read a book). Google "Kimball Hill Homes Sugar Grove" to get all the info about the homes they are selling there. We're buying one. I will be crying big, big crocodile tears to leave my historic home that we've poured our hearts & hands into restoring. But my husband's feet get cold in the winter (he's made of softer stuff than us rugged NYers...)

[creekwalker]

Sorry, I went back and read your comment about older homes... ; ) We have fixed ours up very nicely but the refinished hardwood floors may not win you over the lack of central air, which we're kindly waiting for the next owners to install. So a little more info on the newbies in Sugar Grove -- $250K will buy you around 2500 sq ft right now. (The builder just dropped the prices by $30K each a few weeks ago, which may not last if the market picks up soon). Prices go up if you require vaulted ceilings, hardwood flooring, etc etc.

[skbs]

Thanks for your suggestions... I will check that out!

There is much debate about the Southern Suburbs on here... Is there much crime? I see there is a bit of frustration from Southern inhabitants and am wondering if it would be something I should really look into. I am currently in Rochester NY- but I live in an Eastern Part of the county... far, far, away from crime. Rochester is the murder capitol of NYS... not something I am bragging about... believe me. I don't want to live anywhere near such an environment (the reason I live in one of the better Roc Suburbs)... I have two kids and I don't want a home that is smaller than the 2000 sqft we are familiar with.... and I don't need anything bigger either. But I don't want to live in close proximity to crime... even if the town is lovely. Don't mean to be a snob, but I have experienced much to much spill over from Rochester, enough to learn that living in the next town over isn't always a great idea....

[chet everett]

I think the raw numbers suggest there is more crime per capita than in the northern & western burbs, but this not tell the whole story.

You really have to look at a lot of things to get a complete picture. In general the southern 'burbs have been a bit more urban, a bit more hemmed in and developed in less systematic manner. The big driver for the northern burbs was O'Hare Airport -- that REALLY created a corridor of development. Most of that development happened with help/input from urban planner types. In some ways this resulted in good things (like big regional malls, office parks, well defined park districts or large tracts of forest preserve) but it is also means a lot of these towns lack a downtown or other traditional "character". The best thing may be that there are zones from R-1, R-2, et cetera that makes the rougher dense rental neighborhoods a bit less intrusive. In general the souther burbs don't have as many options to do this. Though the land area might be there on paper if you have canals/rivers/bridges crisscrossing towns it makes it much harder to have uniform logical zones of development. Through in the generally more constrained roadways and you could probably map out where the crime is most likely to occur.

The southern suburbs have had a spotty record of doing a good job of balancing rougher neighbors. Too often these become racially isolated, sometimes one or two landlords overload their rentals one or another and whipsaw a rental market. In general there are PLENTY of very nice, very quite neighborhoods in the south suburbs where crime is not an issue at all. Typically these are areas with LOTS of homeowners who are in it "for life".

People in transition are just more involved to get involved in petty crime (from bar room tiffs to having shop lifting issues with unwatched kids) and you have to be smart about choosing the right place to live.

Finally when I think of 2000 sq ft homes I have to tell you that VAST stretches of the Chicago 'burbs (north, west, and south) were ALL developed at same time. And during that time (50's & 60's) homes were ALOT smaller than that. Of course with remodeling/teardowns and infill construction there are no shortage of homes MUCH bigger but that redevelopment happened after homes changed hands several times, thus those homes are A LOT more than $250K.

While I don't doubt that there are homes that size that can be had for that, they are going to come with "challenges" -- maybe the stately but drafty Vistorian, maybe it is the odd old farmhouse in a neighborhood of bungalows, maybe it'll be in the noisiest part of neighborhood (nothing like being right next door to the fire station...) maybe it'll be in the one block that does have a bunch of dive bars around the corner (with the increase in crime et cetera...).

I think that if you REALLY want a BIG new house in almost crime free area you are going to have plan on a LONG commute. Either a "brand new" town on the edge of development or maybe something quite a ways into Indiana, like Chesterton or Griffith...

[prairiestate]

Do a search for Oak Lawn, a near SW 'burb, and you'll see from my glowing reports you'll find everything you're looking for.