Help on Bensenville Rental (Chicago: rentals, crime rate, buying a home)

[hotwingsmadison]

My fiance and I are considering a rental in Bensenville and I was hoping some folks could provide some insight into the neighborhood.

The home is a brand new construction property (priced really well) but we (well more me then my future hubby) are concerned a bit with the area. It is located near Briar and Red Oak Ave right off RT 83.

The location itself works very well us (near ORD, work, Chicago, etc) but I am not as sold on the area itself. The homes for a few blocks around us look really shoddy and a few looked abandoned (I am sure they are not - they just looked that way ).

The home we are considering is really nice and looks like the Taj Mahal in comparison to its surroundings (not quite sure what the builder was thinking here - I think he has a huge white elephant on his hands).

We are just looking to rent for one year (no kids - 1 dog) as we plan on buying a home next year and just need a nice rental as a bridge until then.

Words of advice? Stay clear of this area? Nothing to worry about? I like run a few miles in the early morning before work; any safety concerns?

Thanks to all in advance for any feedback!

[pvande55]

If you are only going to be there a year you are probably OK. The ongoing O'Hare expansion and ring road construction will put this area into a state of flux for some years, but as you are renting you would not be concerned with the resale values. I have personally gone running in this area, but watch out for traffic.

[chet everett]

Sorry pvande you are way off -- the O'hare related stuff is NEVER going to effect that far south and just east of Rt 83.

The reason that area looks a little run down is becuase it is old. In general the turn over in Bensenville and the lower performance of Fenton HS has made other towns a better value. There has been a boomlet of sorts with places closer to the golf courses getting some tear downs, and that made everybody thing that they could sell for "top dollar". As the OP has found the developers that misjudged how valuable/marketable stuff away from the golf courses are now are stuck with unsellable McMansions.

Safety is OK, and convenience to O'Hare is first rate. Noise issues are pretty well known. Renting for a year is fine. Long term there are better places to put down your dough...

[Gin Gin]

My husband and I are also renting a new construction house in Bensenville. We're about a mile east of where you're looking. Our little street of 3 new construction houses is also right in the middle of older houses, there seems to be a lot of that around here. I think it's a bit strange too. I wonder if the builder of your house is the same as ours? While our house is new it seems to have been built very cheaply, with a few nicer surface finishes to make it appear like a high end house. I would never in a million years buy this house, but it's fine for a rental. We too were planning on only renting for 1 year, but we are into year 2 and it's probably going to wind up being at least 3 years before we can get out of here. (Can't sell our very upside down house in FL) We are directly in line with a runway, and the airplane noise can't be ignored. It's not too bad inside the house with the windows closed, but there are some planes that shake the house a little. There are times when we're outside that we have to pause conversation for a minute while the plane passes over. When the weather is nice and we want to have the windows open it can be an issue.

When we were looking into the area we found that the crime rate in Bensenville was actually lower than some of the "nicer" towns. Most of the older homes right around us are pretty well maintained, but there are a few run down ones. We also have some warehouses/industrial stuff a few blocks away (County Line Rd.) but I've never felt unsafe here. I don't go walking in the middle of the night by myself, but I wouldn't do that anywhere. I do go for walks during the day and have never felt uncomfortable. Again, I'd never ever buy this house or probably any other in this area, but for renting a year or 3 it's fine. Feel free to PM me if you have any other questions (and I'm really curious about the builder).

Gin

[sandstorm93]

we live on briar right at the top of crest. the white pines subdivision is a great area to live. it's generally quiet, and calm. safety is really not an issue at all. some of the houses are old, but other than that everything else is fine.

[hotwingsmadison]

Thanks to everyone for your feedback. It is really appreciated. Unfortunately, we have passed on the rental. The owner refused to budge from his asking monthly fee, despite our presenting a very analytical case for why his asking price was not inline with the market (we showed comps, current listings, etc) to support our position to no avail

Gin Gin - there were some clear cost cutting moves in this home too; I agree we would never have bought it but for a rental it was fine.

There are simply too many other rental options out there right now (in much nicer neighborhoods/areas) to overpay on this one, especially when the builder refuses to accept the reality of his situation. He is caught with a white elephant in a so-so area/street, in the middle of a severe market correction, but still refuses to acknowledge it.

Oh well. Good luck to everyone else out there looking for a home (rental or otherwise!).

[Gin Gin]

Well you'll find something. I saw some interesting stuff when I was searching for rentals. One older house we saw would've been perfect. Nice neighborhood, large house, etc. but the carpeted basement smelled like there had been 100 cats using it for a litter box. The ammonia smell was so strong our eyes were watering & we couldn't stay down there. Asked our realtor to tell the listing agent we were interested but they'd have to rip out the carpet and clean the slab, whatever it took to get rid of the smell. Heard back from the the listing agent, the owners were willing to clean up the basement for an extra $200 a month in rent!! Uh, no thanks. I'm not paying you to clean up your stinky basement. I couldn't believe they listed it in that condition in the first place. It's just as well, I'm not sure you could ever really get rid of that smell.