Brookfield?

[cmoscinski]

I am in the Brookfield area and without going in to see the home itself, you cannot assess the possibility of flooding. The only thing I could think of is home being on below grade ground level. I have not heard of any Hollywood homes flooding, but depends on what home you are talking about.

Every home has a possibility of flooding from backed up sewers or overload of rain water.

Some Brookfield homes have above ground sewers and installed drain tiles and sump pumps so as to lessen any possibility of taking on water. But again, down to the exact home LOCATION you are talking about...I don't think Brookfield is at any more risk than any other town.

To research more, enter the property address here: www.floodsmart.gov
or here http://msc.fema.gov/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/FemaWelcomeView?storeId=10001&catalogId=10001&lang Id=-1

[cmoscinski]

Update on Brookfield flooding. September 2008 storms did flood a large portion of homes along salt creek,along Prairie Avenue from 31st to Washington including north to 1st Avenue to just South to Ogden Avenue.

[Glamona]

With low taxes, convenient transportation, great schools, beautiful nature (named Tree City USA), famous zoo, Brookfield is a great place to live, raise a family, shop and do business.

[ihynes]

Flooding along the Des Plaines does occur once in a while, you can't rule it out. Flooding closed RB High School for one week last year, when those hurricane remnants hit the area. As far as the real estate agen'ts claim that Brookfield is the new "Oak Park," ha, that'll never happen - and why should we listen to those people anymore, now that they've given us the burst housing bubble? But that doesn't mean I don't like living there. It's the only affordable place we could find (during the height of the aforesaid bubble) that is reasonably close to the city and has good schools. The neighborhoods are very family-friendly. It's an easy commute downtown, and Oak Park is not too far away, if we want to do something there. I haven't picked up on any north/south snobbery in Brookfield, but maybe I haven't lived there long enough. At any rate, I don't feel like one side is better or worse.

[cmoscinski]

I absolutely agree that Brookfield is a very nice community. Near Metra, quick commute to Loop.

Close to very popular LaGrange shopping and entertainment. Many from nearby suburbs love it.

And I don't know if you follow any of my blogs, but I state that ANY community is only as great as the people that live in it "make it".

You have to be involved.

[Gunner0325]

Hello,

I realize this is an older thread but we are looking at houses in Brookfield as well, specifically around 31st and Forest right by the zoo. I am a little concerned because Salt Creek is right there. Does it flood often and should we stay away from looking at houses right there? We saw a couple of houses on Forest and 31st that we liked but want to make sure it doesn't flood easily when it rains...Any info would be great!

[cmoscinski]

Hi Gunner,

That area is fine. Although I would not recommend the area/vicinity too close to Prairie and Washington and Ogden and 1st Avenue because even though this past year many homes flooded in Cook and Dupage county (unusually so - forecasters now call it the 100 year flood/rain) this past July and August, most homes are safe from the rising waters and never reach that capacity in usual rainfall.

[cmoscinski]

"REALTOR'S" did not CAUSE the bubble. It was caused by the private lenders/banks and Fannie Mae & Freddie Mac lack of regulation and mortgage brokers who wrote loans with "NO MONEY DOWN" "No DOC" no "Income Verification"...

If anyone wants to read on how the bubble happened (greed, predatory lending and not so honest appraisers who agreed to over inflate a home's worth/value), please read below link.

OR you can Google "cause of united states housing bubble".

United States Housing Bubble

[linicx]

If you buy in a floodplain you can buy FEMA insurance for less than $200 per year. If the house does not have a basement, and does not have a raised crawl space where the house is, say three blocks off the ground, you might want to rethink the house and I will tell you why.

I lived in Chicago many years ago when it was hit with one of "those" storms when the sewer system was 100% overwhelmed. I lived in Berwyn. The yards were flooded ankle deep to the steps.

If your house is on a slab foundation and it rains like it did that night, you house will take on water, whereas if you have 3-4 steps to the door, it is unlikely. This applies to any city, any state that is subject to torrential rains.

[Gunner0325]

Thank you everyone...good info!