Seattle more expensive than Chicago? (Bellevue, Renton: sales, real estate, house prices)

[CrockettandTubbs]

This is just a simple question for you real estate experts out there. Is Seattle more expensive than Chicago?

[BellevueNative]

They're actually very comparable.

[WANative]

Originally Posted by BellevueNative

They're actually very comparable.

Your joking right?? Seattle's housing is 33% more than Chicago. Overall Seattle is about 15% more expensive than Chicago.

[Hemlock140]

Th median home price in Seattle is $465,000, Chicago is only at $250,000.

[Stonepa]

I'm assuming you mean the Chicago area. Income and property taxes are higher in Chicago and house prices are very comparable for the houses most of us would like to live in. Chicago (the city itself) has a lot of inexpensive, run down housing that pulls the average down. If you are talking the suburbs with good schools then Chicago/ Naperville / Deerfield / Barrington / etc is very comparable to their equivalent in Seattle from what I have seen.

[WANative]

Stonepa--I would love to hear how expensive Chicago property taxes are. My $300,000 house (thats the assessed value--market value is closer to $380-$400k) in Renton has property taxes that exceed $5000 per year. Your telling me Chicago's is significantly more?

[Stonepa]

I don't live there any more but from what I remember that sounds about the same. I pay closer to $7500/yr for a house with a market value of $300k here in the Cleveland area.

[RustinginSeattle]

It's a tough question, because the lifestyles seem so different. My inlaws are in Chicago and we live in Seattle. It seems that people in Chicago value living in the burbs more than Seattleites do, however Chicago also has a lot more big jobs in the burbs, so that could mean living closer to your work. I would say that housing prices are much higher in Seattle. That's because there is a big push to live closer in to the city and we are constrained by the geography of mountains and water. In Chicago they just keep expanding out, so housing prices don't rise as quickly.

One would probably spend a lot more on gas in Chicago, as it feels like things are spread out more and no one hesitates to drive 45 minutes to do something fun. Property taxes are also much, much higher percentage wise than we pay in Seattle, although, as a parent I feel like I can visibly see where a lot of that money goes.

Chicago people probably spend a lot more on heating and A/C as the weather is much more extreme than Seattle.

I'm not a real estate expert, but my feeling is that housing is much more expensive in Seattle (especially recently), but overall living costs may not be.

[eskercurve]

Insofar as Chicago's mean property value is lower than Seattle's, there's a very simple reason for that: ghettos. Take a trip (via Google maps) to the old Cabrini Green area, the housing projects, and vast swathes of the south side and near west sides to get my point. It's not quite as bad as say Detroit, but there's a reason why so many plots on the south side have run down houses and simply abandoned houses.

In the desirable neighborhoods and suburbs, the costs are about the same.

Don't forget that there's a 10% income tax AND a 10% sales tax there, AND taxes on property as well. And the majority of Chicago's public schools are a joke and many choose to send their kids to private schools, even blue collar folks. Story changes depending on which neighborhood you live in (usually affluent and white or asian school districts do well) or what suburb (far west, SW, and north are pretty good).

So while you may think that the base price in an OK neighborhood in Chicago is great at $275k or so, remember there's other costs as well. Overall it comes out about the same. What I will grant is that in Chicago you can usually get more for your money... but it's such a huge city you're bound to find contrary examples.

[analogkid84]

Originally Posted by WANative

Stonepa--I would love to hear how expensive Chicago property taxes are. My $300,000 house (thats the assessed value--market value is closer to $380-$400k) in Renton has property taxes that exceed $5000 per year. Your telling me Chicago's is significantly more?

Plop that house down in the Houston area and you're looking at $9000 to $12000 per year in property taxes. Yeah, these are some of the things you don't hear from people when they talk about the "affordability" of this area.