Good neighborhood for a 24 year old young professional? (Chicago, Lincoln: loans, house)

[Chicago87]

Hey man! I was just out in Pittsburgh, it is a cool little city!

You have a lot of choices with a $1,500 a month budget. What is your annual salary?

[Doglover5]

You didn't really mean to ask someone how much he makes, now did you?

[Vlajos]

Originally Posted by Doglover5

You didn't really mean to ask someone how much he makes, now did you?

It certainly appears so. Why?

[Backstrom]

Originally Posted by Vlajos

It certainly appears so. Why?

People probably have an easier time disclosing their income anonymously online. You'd obviously never pose the question in person.

[ajjg123]

Haha I don't mind. $65k

As someone who is relatively inexperienced with balancing a checkbook and handling tax deductions, please tell me if my high end estimate of $1,500 per month on rent is manageable.

Take home pay on $65000 should be around $45k?

45,000/12=3,750 per month

$1500 would be 40% of my monthly income going towards rent. I have minimal college loans and plan on leaving my car in Pittsburgh so those costs aren't really a factor. 30-35% seems more realistic now that I think about it though.

[marothisu]

Originally Posted by ajjg123

Haha I don't mind. $65k

As someone who is relatively inexperienced with balancing a checkbook and handling tax deductions, please tell me if my high end estimate of $1,500 per month on rent is manageable.

Take home pay on $65000 should be around $45k?

45,000/12=3,750 per month

$1500 would be 40% of my monthly income going towards rent. I have minimal college loans, so that's not really a factor. 30-35% seems more realistic now that I think about it though.

Is $1500/month fine? It depends on some things like debt. You said you don't have a lot, so you should be OK there. Your take home also depends on how much your insurances cost, how much you put into 401K, if you have the ability to purchase any stock, etc. Thinking back to when I made $65K, I'd say on the safe side after all of this, and taxes that your take home may be closer to say $42K/year. That was after putting like 5% of my salary into 401K, health insurances, putting a few percent into stock buying every paycheck, etc. That's just from memory but I could be wrong and I'm sure things have changed since then.

The good thing is that in the neighborhoods you want to live in, you don't have to pay $1500/month even for a 1 bedroom. You can go to $1000-$1200 and still find something decently good. Obviously it won't be luxury, but it won't be a dump. In the end, I always think of it like this: what are you getting out of spending $300-$500/month more for a place? It probably won't be THAT much honestly and just think of what you can do with that money, or save.

I'll show you a few examples of places. Like this is in Lakeview East and near a ton of stuff and under $1200/mo:
Chicago Apartments | 537 W. Melrose | Domu Chicago

Or in the same general area and a little more expensive ($1340/mo), but even nicer:
Chicago Apartments | Reside On Stratford | Domu Chicago

And you know, in an area like Ravenswood or Lincoln Square, not far from Lakeview, on the Brown Line and quieter, you could even get a 2 bedroom place for $1500/month:
* 4540 N Wolcott Ave APT 1W, Chicago, IL 60640 is For Rent - Zillow
* 4801 N Bell Ave, Chicago, IL 60625 is For Rent - Zillow

With those 2 bedrooms you just want to make sure it actually has some sort of AC. My ex had an apartment right near the first one - big 2 bedroom for under $1200/month and pretty decent, but the only AC she had was in her kitchen. It got pretty hot in there during the summer (yes a fan helped but still hot).

[ajjg123]

Originally Posted by marothisu

Is $1500/month fine? It depends on some things like debt. You said you don't have a lot, so you should be OK there. Your take home also depends on how much your insurances cost, how much you put into 401K, if you have the ability to purchase any stock, etc. Thinking back to when I made $65K, I'd say on the safe side after all of this, and taxes that your take home may be closer to say $42K/year. That was after putting like 5% of my salary into 401K, health insurances, putting a few percent into stock buying every paycheck, etc. That's just from memory but I could be wrong and I'm sure things have changed since then.

The good thing is that in the neighborhoods you want to live in, you don't have to pay $1500/month even for a 1 bedroom. You can go to $1000-$1200 and still find something decently good. Obviously it won't be luxury, but it won't be a dump. In the end, I always think of it like this: what are you getting out of spending $300-$500/month more for a place? It probably won't be THAT much honestly and just think of what you can do with that money, or save.

I'll show you a few examples of places. Like this is in Lakeview East and near a ton of stuff and under $1200/mo:
Chicago Apartments | 537 W. Melrose | Domu Chicago

Or in the same general area and a little more expensive ($1340/mo), but even nicer:
Chicago Apartments | Reside On Stratford | Domu Chicago

And you know, in an area like Ravenswood or Lincoln Square, not far from Lakeview, on the Brown Line and quieter, you could even get a 2 bedroom place for $1500/month:
* 4540 N Wolcott Ave APT 1W, Chicago, IL 60640 is For Rent - Zillow
* 4801 N Bell Ave, Chicago, IL 60625 is For Rent - Zillow

With those 2 bedrooms you just want to make sure it actually has some sort of AC. My ex had an apartment right near the first one - big 2 bedroom for under $1200/month and pretty decent, but the only AC she had was in her kitchen. It got pretty hot in there during the summer (yes a fan helped but still hot).

Thank you man, I can't tell you how much of a help you've been!

It probably makes sense to start out on the lower end of my budget until I get a year under my belt in Chicago. I know I'll need to visit these neighborhoods myself before I actually make a decision, but which parts of Lakeview and Lincoln Park do you consider to be "douchey"? I'm also liking Wicker Park and Bucktown... I kind of like a neighborhood with some grit to it.

[marothisu]

Originally Posted by ajjg123

Thank you man, I can't tell you how much of a help you've been!

It probably makes sense to start out on the lower end of my budget until I get a year under my belt in Chicago. I know I'll need to visit these neighborhoods myself before I actually make a decision, but which parts of Lakeview and Lincoln Park do you consider to be "douchey"? I'm also liking Wicker Park and Bucktown... I kind of like a neighborhood with some grit to it.

I'm glad I can be of some use LOL. Which parts? I (and most sane people) consider Wrigleyville to be pretty douchey. Wrigley Field is just like one giant beer garden - so many people just go there to drink and the bars around there...so many are a **** show full of the same types of people. If you want to see a backwards cap wearing bro, you go to Wrigleyville. Other than that in Lincoln Park near DePaul University can be like that. Southport is kind of in the middle on that scale. I like Lakeview East because it's not that fratty or anything and there's a lot to do. Boystown to the west kind of filters out that type of thing from Wrigleyville.

Wicker Park and Bucktown are cool. There's now some bro stuff moving in but not that much. I wouldn't call it 100% gritty but there is definitely some grit there. The thing is that I like about Wicker Park is the fact that you could be at a really nice cocktail lounge, walk 500 feet and be at a bar/club that is notorious for hard rock concerts, then go to a nice Greek restaurant a few doors down, and then walk across the street and be at a 5am bar that may be playing Slayer. The area around North, Milwaukee, and Damen is happening big time on the weekends especially when it's nice out.

The area can have some really nice housing too. The thing is that there might be a lot more 2+ bedrooms than 1 bedrooms in that area. The 1 bedrooms may cost more money than you'd think on average. This for example is $1500/month and near that happening area, but this would cost less in most neighborhoods. The one bedrooms are actually more like $1700+ on average in that area, but you can find a 2 bedroom for like $2000-$2500/month total. Odd but true

1620 N Winchester Ave, Chicago, IL 60622 is For Rent - Zillow

The people who live in Wicker Park definitely have more personality on average than your typical Wrigleyville type of resident.

[M_Life]

Spending $1,500 for rent on a 65k salary is pretty reckless in my mind. That is unless you don't go out much or like to travel.

[MannheimMadman]

Originally Posted by M_Life

Spending $1,500 for rent on a 65k salary is pretty reckless in my mind. That is unless you don't go out much or like to travel.

I would agree. That would be about 44% of pay dedicated to housing.

Here's the ACTUAL paycheck you'd see (from ADP payroll calculator)


Your Pay Check Results

Bi-weekly Gross Pay

$2,500.00
Federal Withholding

$443.99
Social Security

$155.00
Medicare

$36.25
Illinois

$125.00


Net Pay

$1,739.76

So, if we took net pay and doubled it (monthly pay) and then used the standard rule of 33% of income on housing, we'd arrive at a maximum housing (rent, utilities) limit of $1148.24