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Old 07-30-2013, 05:12 PM
 
10 posts, read 43,361 times
Reputation: 19

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Hello everyone...

I'm an independent contractor and have 2 small kids, currently live in Frankfort...great schools and nice area but taxes are insane. I pretty much work from home and if I do have to drive I go to Chicago so the drive really wouldn't change much. Currently paying about 9K in property taxes and thought about looking into St John or Schererville area for either a lot or new home. Since Lake County has a 1.5% tax increase coming, is it worth crossing the border any longer? I know I may save a little on the property tax side but I was wondering if anyone else has gone through this or a similar experience?

Thanks
KH
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Old 07-30-2013, 07:34 PM
 
29,507 posts, read 19,608,209 times
Reputation: 4534
Yes, get out of this god forsaken state. Our politicians have driven this great Land of Lincoln into the ground. I have no idea why we keep voting in the same a&sh*les over and over again. I moved out of Chicago and now live in Bourbannais where taxes are much lower.

Madigan should join the line of governors in the bighouse. He's the worst one.


Quote:
Illinois Credit Rating: State's Worst-In-Nation Rating Costing Taxpayers Millions
Illinois Credit Rating: State's Worst-In-Nation Rating Costing Taxpayers Millions



Quote:
Legislative leaders sue over pay freeze
By Jamey Dunn

Democratic legislative leaders filed a lawsuit today to halt Gov. Pat Quinn’s move to suspend lawmakers’ pay until a pension reform bill is passed.


Quinn used his veto pen earlier this month to strike out the money for lawmakers’ pay from the budget. At the time House Speaker Michael Madigan’s public reaction to Quinn’s decision was not negative. He noted that lawmakers had made much effort to try to get pension legislation passed. “The governor’s decision follows my efforts, and I understand his frustration. I am hopeful his strategy works,” Madigan said in a prepared statement. Senate President John Cullerton called Quinn’s splashy strategy “unproductive.”
Illinois Issues blog
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Old 07-30-2013, 08:40 PM
 
28,455 posts, read 85,346,203 times
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I know a handful of folks that have moved from the south suburbs to NWI. If you do it solely as some kind "spreadsheet for reduced living expenses" you have to factor in many variables that are sort of hard to quantify -- factoring things like reduced fuel costs vs higher income taxes is going to requiring offsets like more driving and potential for different lifestyle.

Lifestyle really has to be the driver-- if you ate always trekking around to visit family / friends over here you might end up spending too much. OTOH if you are happy to take advantage of pluses of wherever in NWI you move it could work...
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Old 07-31-2013, 05:31 AM
 
2,156 posts, read 5,489,551 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by kevhead77 View Post
Hello everyone...

I'm an independent contractor and have 2 small kids, currently live in Frankfort...great schools and nice area but taxes are insane. I pretty much work from home and if I do have to drive I go to Chicago so the drive really wouldn't change much. Currently paying about 9K in property taxes and thought about looking into St John or Schererville area for either a lot or new home. Since Lake County has a 1.5% tax increase coming, is it worth crossing the border any longer? I know I may save a little on the property tax side but I was wondering if anyone else has gone through this or a similar experience?

Thanks
KH
Many residents over the past 20 years or so have been moving from the closer in south suburbs (Dolton, South Holland, Calumet City, Lansing) to NWI in search for better quality of life and lower taxes. For many, the move was a no brainer because the difference in school quality, safety, and amenities could easily be seen. However in more recent years, we have been seeing more residents from areas such as Orland Park, Tinley Park, and Frankfort which are areas that hardly anyone would describe as declining, but rather, getting more costly.

It all depends on what you want. Moving here, you will still save money, however depending on your lifestyle, you may miss some things. For example, most people in he Chicago area would state that the most upscale area is either the North Shore or some west suburbs such as Oak Brook and Hinsdale (even Naperville further out) and each of these areas have amenities to match. In NWI, we are still trying to attract more upscale amenities and so far, it is has been quite a task. You may find yourself driving out to Orland to satisfy some needs as many residents here do. On the other hand, you may find that you don't need to drive there. All depends on your lifestyle. The great thing is that you work from home so you don't have to worry about taking the train as the Tri-town area (St. John, Schererville, & Dyer) relies on Hammond or East Chicago for train service which is a little ways away depending on where you live.

Frankfort would be most comparable to St John, IN in terms of housing stock and. Schererville probably more similar in demographics. Frankfort has higher income levels but that may even out due to differences in cost of living.

In my opinion, if you truly do not have anything linking you to Frankfort and would not miss amenities in nearby Orland (and also would not take a big loss on your home sale), then maybe you should consider the move now as your children are still young. However, do realize that many of us in Indiana that have been promised that "Illinois decline will lead to Indiana's prosperity" are still kind of waiting for that to happen. Most of the wealth that comes to Indiana goes right to he capital, Indianapolis.

If you have any more questions, let us know!
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Old 07-31-2013, 07:45 AM
 
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I feel your frustration ChicagoGeorge...thanks for the info Chet and Northwest Indiana. I know there are many factors to consider when doing this type of move. We don't venture too far out (even Orland anymore, just too congested) but most of our family is still in Illinois and that would be an adjustment. From a financial and business standpoint I think it would be a good move, I could still service clients in Illinois AND Indiana but get away from the heavy tax burden. My main concern is my kids obviously, I want them to be in a good area with good schools and not regret moving them from where they are at. Lots of things to consider here, convincing my spouse will be the hard part...
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Old 07-31-2013, 08:40 AM
 
811 posts, read 2,336,815 times
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Kevhead- if you're looking to take it down to dollar for dollar comparison where you're literally comparing expenses living in IL vs expenses in IN, it'll be tough as there are a lot of variables that would go into that. However I think it's fair to say that a comparable standard of living will be less expensive in Indiana, primarily due to the tax difference. You can ballpark the property taxes on houses in St. John and Schererville to be 1% of the house's assessed value. If your property taxes are $9k in Frankfort, I'm assuming your house is in the $375k range? A house with that assessed value in NWI will have property taxes right around $3800, so right there is a savings of $400-500 per month. Also worth pointing out if comparing apples to apples, a home in Frankfort is almost surely more expensive that the same house in St. John or Schererville. So you could realize a cost savings there or if purchasing a home for the same price, get more of a home than you currently have. If you have a truck or SUV, don't underestimate how much can be saved on gas living in Indiana. The Lake County income tax sucks yes, but again that is going to be based on your income so without knowing yours it's hard to know how much that would offset any cost savings. Schools in this area are strong, that shouldn't really be a worry of yours to be honest. Do a quick search for "Lake Central" on the search function and you'll see the several threads that have discussed the schools. Let me know if there's anything else we can help out with to convince your spouse!
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Old 08-01-2013, 08:10 AM
 
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We would probably take about a 30K hit on our house unfortunately...but I think we would make that up if we bought in Indiana?
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Old 08-01-2013, 09:26 AM
 
811 posts, read 2,336,815 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by kevhead77 View Post
We would probably take about a 30K hit on our house unfortunately...but I think we would make that up if we bought in Indiana?
Well I am by no means qualified or licensed to make any professional prediction or recommendation on what housing markets may offer good investment opportunities. All I was trying to demonstrate was the plus side of savings of buying a house in NWI vs your home in Frankfort. A house in Frankfort assessed around $375k (again using this amount for sake of example) would probably not be assessed at $375k in St. John or Schererville. The point I was trying to make was that when trying to stack up cost/benefit of a move to Indiana from IL, this might be something to take into consideration as well. If you sold your house for that $375k in Frankfort and wanted the exact same type of home in NWI, you would probably spend somewhere in the low to mid 300s, give or take. Rough estimate that of course has other variables, but you get the point. Hopefully one of our realtor friends on this board will correct me if I'm dead wrong. But you could realize savings there, perhaps. Or, say you wanted to stick around the $375k mark for buying a home in St. John or Schererville. You would probably get more home for that price than your Frankfort house. That's all I was saying.

Last edited by svillechris; 08-01-2013 at 09:36 AM..
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Old 09-13-2013, 02:34 PM
 
10 posts, read 24,983 times
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Default yes

Do it! We were same boat; I got sick of living downtown and western burbs as well. You get nickled and dimed to death there. And, for what?? Illinois is in a heap of trouble. For the most part, NW Indiana is well-managed, alhtough not always in Lake County's northern part. Munster is close to downtown, although getting to the trains is not real easy. Hopefully they will go through with the addition of a South Shore train stop in Munster soon, as I have heard. It is a quick drive as well. We do not regret the move at all. The people in Indiana are more "real" than Illinois. Schools are great in many areas, although look into that before you make a move.
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Old 09-23-2013, 07:10 AM
 
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Yeah, I think we finally decided to do it...we still haven't decided exactly where but St John is probably where we will end up. Did some research on schools and living areas, just seems to be the right move for us. The more I talk to people who made the move the more people are glad they did it...
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