relocation for job in des plains il (Chicago, Elgin: motels, houses)

[kellib]

It is a real reality check trying to find a newer home in the chicago area under 700,000. I am thinking we may also be out in the abbott park area so am now lookin into grayslake, libertyville, antioch, vernon hills. My new question is how far from a metro does this put me and which is the most desirable?

[chet everett]

Not sure what your question is -- you can determine where all those towns are with maps.google.com . When you look at the satellite photos it is pretty easy to tell how developed those area are. New homes in Antioch or Grayslake are a heck of lot less desirable than those in Libertyville or Vernon Hills, further out, schools are not as good, neighborhoods are not as well developed, longer commutes. You'll almost certainly get more house out there. Of course the other thing to be careful is that when you spend $700K in any of those town you are pretty far over the "median" -- while Libertyville has some close-to-town historic district homes and some estates that have sold for well above $700k and some new construction too, the other towns have far less in that price category. It not just size of the houses either. In Antioch and Grayslake there were some large tract builders fairly active, not so much in Vernon Hills or Libertyville.

3,200 is a really BIG house in any town in Illinois. Even among other big houses in like Long Grove or South Barrington it will NOT be common. You will pay a HUGE premium to have BIG house in a top notch area.

You might be better off trying to just locate a 4-5 bedroom house with a 2-3car garage, if that is what you currently have and want to replicate. In fact if you are familiar with the housing stock in Illinois you might recall that with a basement for additional below grade living/storage space you could be happy with a much more common but still spacious 2300-2500 sq ft.

[nanannie]

Originally Posted by chet everett

3,200 is a really BIG house in any town in Illinois. Even among other big houses in like Long Grove or South Barrington it will NOT be common. You will pay a HUGE premium to have BIG house in a top notch area.
.

I'm sorry but I disagree. Yes its a big house but it is not uncommon at all. I have been in Barrington and now Barrington Hills for 20 years and know the different burbs around here very well. The homes all over here are very big, and 3200 is common. I hope one of our local realtors will comment.(''middle age mom''?)

To Kellib, yes, Libertyville/vernon hills would be more desirable then Antioch or Greyslake,you would have to see what you like and what feels like home to you, but 700, for a house still gives you plenty of choices in nice places. A metra is in both of these towns. Please keep checking.

[chet everett]

Look at the data provided by our gracious hosts:

Barrington, IL (Illinois) Houses, Apartments, Cars, Mortgage Status, and Residents Info
Libertyville, IL (Illinois) Houses, Apartments, Cars, Mortgage Status, and Residents Info

It is NOT uncommon to find four bedroom homes in either town, but believe me MANY of those homes are considerably less than 3200 sq ft.

Now, don't get me wrong, these places are NOT the upper limit, at all (there are plenty of homes that are over 10,000 sq ft) all I was suggesting was that if the OP wants a house with 4 or 5 bedrooms it is a more achievable task to find that ESPECIALLY when considering her budget. Is she is worried about having more storage /a big play area for her kids then the basement is a great option, and generally NOT part of the experience in SC homes.

[mia220]

I'm a teacher in Des Plaines and think the school district is great! We do have lots of English Language Learners from all backgrounds and I feel that they really add a lot to our district.

You can definitely find a nice home in your price range. It's true that some parts of the city have a lot of noise from O'Hare. So do many parts of Park Ridge.

I don't think Des Plaines is crowded at all, but I guess that depends on where you're coming from. The downtown is cute and has a bunch of newer restaurants and a very nice library.

I also know that some places closer to the river in Des Plaines are very prone to flooding.

[Joe107]

I like the western suburbs the best: Glen Ellyn, Wheaton, Geneva, St. Charles, Elmhurst.....but if I had to live in Northwestern suburbs I'd pick Park Ridge or Arlington Heights............if you want to go to city more I'd pick Park Ridge

[kellib]

I am orignally from St.Louis. I always had a basement home. Now moving to the carolinas I have not had one and adapted but if coming back I would want the basement again but needs to be a true livable space, not dark and dreery! As for sq.ft. I have over 3000 Sq. ft. now. I would want the same if n ot slightly bigger liveable space. I am discouraged by the lack of new homes in a good school district. I appreciate all this input and will keep searching.

[kmwheel]

Hi kellib,

I saw that you were asking about Antioch. We've lived here for 12 years. My husband worked in Waukegan but was command directed to a new duty station in Des Plaines. It takes him about 1.5 hrs. to get to and from work in the morning (in very frustrating traffic). I just wanted to let you know that. Traffic is pretty bad around here with all the construction.

Lots of the newer homes have English basements or daylight basements with walkouts, so that will be good living space! I hope that you find a place that works for you soon.

[kellib]

Thanks for the postive comments. I need to refine my search yet again! Could someone give me input of the drive from abbot park to barrington?

[chet everett]

Barrington to Abbott Park is going to be about 45 minutes. A lot depends on the choice of surface vs expressway -- it is one of those of commutes that has about 15 alternatives that MOSTLY are with 5 minutes of each other BUT sometimes can shave off or add on 20 minutes either way. Personally I prefer that to a commute where you "locked in" to one route that goes from horrible to intolerable...

You gotta know though that Barrington itself is just one town that is more traditional -- North Barrington, Lake Barrington, Barrington Hills and South Barrington are all going to have different twists on the commute...