Moving to the Elmhurst area (Chicago, Lombard: fit in, sales, real estate)

[gearhead2003]

Hi,

My spouse has found a job in the Elmhurst area and we plan to move near there. Ideally, we would like to buy in town since it appears to be a pretty nice town with a good school district and a decent town center. I have a few questions:

1. How much money do you think I'll need to buy a single family house in Elmhurst. The going rate for a 3-4 room house seems to be about $400-$500 (more like $500). I am concern since conforming loans only allow borrowing up to $417K, the interest on jumbo loans are actually a lot higher than conforming loans. Can one find a decent house at around $450K or even $400K? I don't think I can do 20% down at those prices.

2. Are there decent IT jobs in that area? My job will allows me to move to Elmhurst as long as I am willing to travel and I am OK with that, but I am always worry about the next job in the case the current one goes away.

3. What other area can I look into? So far, I looked around and like Glen Ellye, but that is even more expensive than Elmhurst. I was told by some local people in that area to avoid Lombard and Villa Park for some reason and that we should stay within DuPage county. Generally, I like some place with a decent towncenter, library and is walkable. This is why I typically don't like developments. Walkable means it's within a few miles of walking.

[chet everett]

There are IT jobs in Elmhurst, though the big IT employers are mostly in the large suburban office parks in more "non walkable" north / northwest suburbs, and downtown.

On all counts Elmhurst is a good option -- Train service is fairly good to downtown and the driving commute to N/NW burbs is pretty tolerable. Distance to O'hare also makes for easy drive for "road warrior" business traveler types.

Lot of good things to like about Elmhurst. Library, shopping, movies, art /gemston museums, gardens, college campus are all walkable from its town center.

Schools are not the highest performance in DuPage, but that is point of contention.

Housing costs are high-ish, but there is stuff that is in good shape for the less than "jumbo" territory. The key is to shop smart and try and find something that will make a good home for now AND either be esy to "add value" to should you want to move up OR "add on" to should you want to stay put for the long haul.

[Prairie]

Welcome gearhead2003, you will find a comfortable fit in Elmhurst. In your price range the homes are older, newer construction is much more expensive. Watch your taxes in the area you are looking, they range from low to high in areas. We were fortunate to enjoy extremely low taxes for most of our years here in Elmhurst. That all changed recently due to knockdowns and new housing.

A new hospital is in the process of being built near Butterfield Road. Finding housing in that area is also a possibility and you could walk to work.

I'm judging by your tag name you enjoy cars? Every summer Elmhurst sponsors Cool Cars Under the Stars in the downtown area. It is a great way to spend an evening.

[gearhead2003]

Hi,

What I don't understand is how the taxes are calculated. If it's based on property value, why do they vary so much in the same county.

[InformedConsent]

Homes that have been sold recently may have had their assessments bumped up closer to the sales price, while homes that haven't been sold within the past 10-15 years or so have been able to keep their underassessed values. Add to that the fact that the state multiplier was somewhat high in the years of the real estate boom, so the recent home buyers then got whalloped by a double whammy. A friend in Elmhurst had his assessment increase 38% the first year he owned the home (not new construction), and then got hit by subsequent revaluations every year compounded by a high state multiplier. His assessment, and therefore tax bill, has increased 83% in the 4 years he's owned the home. Other homes in his neighborhood haven't been hit nearly as hard. He's pretty miffed - I would be, too.

Appeals to his assessment to the DuPage Board of Review went nowhere. I don't see how they can assess similar homes (age, square footage, lot size, etc.) on the same street/in the same neighborhood so differently. Isn't that prohibited by Illinois law?

[cubssoxfan]

What about renting a decent townhome or single family until the economy improves? For all we know the housing market will continue to drop, so you may be "backwards" on your home if you need to sell quickly. Maybe someone is having a tough time selling and would do a rent to own option. Just make sure you have a strong contract drawn up for that scenario.

[Chummy Waters]

gearhead, just fyi, if you can't put down at least 10% on your purchase you might have a really difficult time. As far as non conforming, whatever down payment you put down brings the loan amount down. That is if you put $40k down on a $450k property your loan is conforming at $410. Hope that makes sense, good luck.

[gearhead2003]

I was under the impression that property tax are assessed every year and then you have to pay up on present value. This is not the case?

I do plan to stay for a long time, perhaps forever, so I am less concern that we are going to drop more. Besides, properties value have drop by quite a bit already.

I should be able to put 10% down on a $450K house, but $500K is really out of my price range. I was wondering if one can find a decent house for $450K that's 3-4 bedroom? Chicagoland is a definitely expensive area (though still cheaper than DC and Bay area).

[chet everett]

There are plenty of 3 bedrooms in that price range and maybe even some 4 br. In Elmhurst these are not going to be new, and if they are in a desirable section you are going to see some that need "TLC"...

Taxes in IL are an annoyance -- the assessor tries to keep the valuation on the houses close, but as I-C states with the huge numbers of houses and the variations the homes that don't sell tend to get under assessed and those that do get over assessed. The increase in LEVIES is capped at the LOWER of 5% or the rate of inflation, in towns that have NOT had refernda to increase their own taxes. In theory larger newer homes should carry a disproportionate 'burden' of taxes, but things don't always work out that way...

If your value AND EVERYBODY ELSES falls the rate can still increase to what ever the levy requires.

In generally if your total property tax is lower than about 2.0% of the REAL selling price you count your blessings. If goes over about 3.25% of the real selling price you might get a reduction...

[InformedConsent]

Originally Posted by chet everett

In general if your total property tax is lower than about 2.0% of the REAL selling price you count your blessings.

Very true!