The Suburbs

[Jenksismyhero]

So, hopefully the board is diverse enough for this topic.

 

The scenario: My fiancé and I are young (27), professionals, about to be married. She works just west of the Loop, I'm in the Loop. We're looking to move out of the city (currently living in Wrigleyville) and purchase a home within the next 3-4 months to take advantage of the 8k federal tax credit. We're looking for a single family house (no townhouse/condo thank you) under 300k that's big enough for the two of us with some extra room. Green is a must (lawn/trees/shrubs/whatever, we're tired of looking at cement and brick). Would like to be as close to a Metra line as possible, or if not, an interstate without a crazy commute (45 minutes max). Basically looking to find something for the next 5-7 years that we can build up and make our own while we start a family, and then maybe (unless we find our dream home) sell it and move once the kid(s) would start school.

 

We both grew up in central Illinois so we have zero knowledge of the suburbs, including which ones are good, bad, expensive, cheap, safe, not safe, up and coming, on the way down, etc etc. I think ideally we'd like to find a neighborhood with people like us (25-35 year olds that just started, or are about to start, families). I think we'd also like a mix between having a close knit neighborhood, without living on top of other people (i.e., more than 5 feet between each neighboring house).

 

Any suggestions? Any advice on where to go to research this further? Is there some sort of suburban magazine/website for this? Has anyone recently made a similar move?

 

Thanks!

[GoSox05]

First step would be to pick which general area you would like to live in. North suburbs, West suburbs and south suburbs.

 

I just moved to the south suburbs. Mount Greenwood. It's a nice town. You get the best of both worlds. A little city and a little suburbs. Close knit, but you still can have a yard and some space. You could find some nice places for 200k - 250k.

 

Try using www.redfin.com. Its a cool website to look up houses for sale.

[HuskyCaucasian]

I grew up in Schaumburg and while I wouldn't call it a "close knit neighborhood", the peopl are pretty friendly. House prices are in the general area of what you are looking for. My parents sold their 3 bedroom house for $350,000 about 3 years ago, before the market tanked. So, I;d imagine you could get a nice sized house with some land for around $300,000.

 

Roselle is also a good option.

 

FWIW, this is what you get for 300k in Schaumburg.

Edited January 8, 2010 by Athomeboy_2000

[southsideirish71]

I would take a look at the Metra schedules in the suburbs you are looking at as well. If you can find a suburb that has express trains you will save a lot of time on your commute. I can get downtown from the BNSF Metra train on Main Street in Downers in 30 minutes on an express. Also take the time to hit the website for the town you wish to live in and peruse their laws/utilities/by-laws. Coming from the Southside the biggest thing I had to adapt to was the silly western suburb garbage sticker policy. In the city, growing up, whatever you dragged to the alley just magically got picked up. In the western burbs, you have to sticker everything at a price per sticker. I got around this years ago by purchasing contractor grade garbage bags. I pretty much have garbage bags that are the size of people I can drag down to the curb. Also make sure that whatever house you look at, get a Radon test. We had 2 deals go south when the Radon results came back scary, and the owners didn't want to do anything about it.

 

[Jenksismyhero]

I grew up in Schaumburg and while I wouldn't call it a "close knit neighborhood", the peopl are pretty friendly. House prices are in the general area of what you are looking for. My parents sold their 3 bedroom house for $350,000 about 3 years ago, before the market tanked. So, I;d imagine you could get a nice sized house with some land for around $300,000.

 

Roselle is also a good option.

 

FWIW, this is what you get for 300k in Schaumburg.

 

Ugh. All that room. I grew up "in the boonies" (according to people that live here) with 4 acres of forest around me. I know I can't get that without moving way out, but man I can't wait to have a yard and space like that.

 

Another question to add is what do people think about their commutes on the Metra? Currently we're spoiled. We car pool down Lake Shore. On the worst days it may take 40 minutes to an hour (less than 5 times a year). The majority of the time it takes about 20-25 minutes for me and another 10-15 for her, so pretty ideal. But i'm not looking for ward to shelling out 120 bucks per month per person, plus whatever they charge to park at the station.

[jasonxctf]

Grew up in Schaumburg.. its fine, most of the houses there are 20-35 years old though.

 

If you want a newer place, probably bigger, but farther away from downtown, check out the Fox Valley area. You've probably got a 45 minute Metra train drive (on expresses) but St. Charles, Geneva, Batavia, North Aurora are great areas.

 

Out here you've got a little bit of everything. Randall Road has your "big box" retail stores, but then go 10 minutes west and you are out in the "country". You're right off 88 too, so you're a 20-25 minute drive to Naperville too.

[jasonxctf]

I grew up in Schaumburg and while I wouldn't call it a "close knit neighborhood", the peopl are pretty friendly. House prices are in the general area of what you are looking for. My parents sold their 3 bedroom house for $350,000 about 3 years ago, before the market tanked. So, I;d imagine you could get a nice sized house with some land for around $300,000.

 

Roselle is also a good option.

 

FWIW, this is what you get for 300k in Schaumburg.

 

holy sh*t. Parker Drive. I remember that street.

[tonyho7476]

North Riverside/Riverside area is close to the Metra...close to 290 and 55 for getting to Sox games (20 minutes)...and you can get a solid place under $300k...with some of the lowest taxes in cook county...thanks to our mall.

 

You would want to live on the west side of town...where the streets are numbered 2nd through 17th.

 

And if you stayed...Riverside Brookfield is a top public high school...

Edited January 8, 2010 by tonyho7476

[RockRaines]

LOL, Schaumburg, didnt the guy say he wanted to be CLOSE to work. That is the absolute boonies. And much farther than a 45 min drive in traffic.

 

Try westchester on the west side. Its become somewhat affordable and is a good starter area. Hell for that money you can get a good place in Forest park and still have a good nightlife in your city as well as even an El ride to downtown. Since we are almost the same age, Forest Park would be my choice if I was transitioning to the burbs without children.

Edited January 8, 2010 by RockRaines

[BigSqwert]

LOL, Schaumburg, didnt the guy say he wanted to be CLOSE to work. That is the absolute boonies.

Yeah and St Charles?! Might as well move to Tennessee.

[NorthSideSox72]

My wife and I are in a very similar position - we put our condo up for sale recently, and are looking to move to the suburbs.

 

I will PM you more specifics, but, here is what I looked at:

 

--Metra schedules, as SSI said - we set a boundary of 1 hour train ride (average). Anything outside that circle, forget it.

--Further narrowed to suburbs that actually have, or are very near, Metra stations. The housing market is so weak, we have our choice of homes, including many in WALKING distance to a Metra stop. That is huge, as it means we don't have to buy a second car, which is a big cost.

--Then there were schools - narrowed to suburbs with the better school districts. You can research this online. We have a daughter and will probably have another kid, so, this was important for us (also tends to help home values)

--Further narrowed it down based on my wife having to drive to work in Northbrook, so that eliminated the south, southwest and most west suburbs.

--Eliminated suburbs where the home values were so much higher than our range that we knew they weren't realistic (North Shore).

 

That established our list, which I will PM you, of suburbs to look at. We sent that list, with our other requirements (number of bedrooms and bathrooms, garage, basement, price range, etc.), to our realtor, and she set us up on a website that sends us listings that fit our criteria automatically. We just go on the site once a week, and rate the homes (interested, maybe, not), and keep a running list of the ones we like.

[Jenksismyhero]

My wife and I are in a very similar position - we put our condo up for sale recently, and are looking to move to the suburbs.

 

I will PM you more specifics, but, here is what I looked at:

 

--Metra schedules, as SSI said - we set a boundary of 1 hour train ride (average). Anything outside that circle, forget it.

--Further narrowed to suburbs that actually have, or are very near, Metra stations. The housing market is so weak, we have our choice of homes, including many in WALKING distance to a Metra stop. That is huge, as it means we don't have to buy a second car, which is a big cost.

--Then there were schools - narrowed to suburbs with the better school districts. You can research this online. We have a daughter and will probably have another kid, so, this was important for us (also tends to help home values)

--Further narrowed it down based on my wife having to drive to work in Northbrook, so that eliminated the south, southwest and most west suburbs.

--Eliminated suburbs where the home values were so much higher than our range that we knew they weren't realistic (North Shore).

 

That established our list, which I will PM you, of suburbs to look at. We sent that list, with our other requirements (number of bedrooms and bathrooms, garage, basement, price range, etc.), to our realtor, and she set us up on a website that sends us listings that fit our criteria automatically. We just go on the site once a week, and rate the homes (interested, maybe, not), and keep a running list of the ones we like.

 

 

How'd you get in touch with your realtor? And how do they work generally? Do most of them have specific zones, or can I literally tell them "anywhere within an hour train ride without getting shot or mugged" or something and they could have homes in every direction?

[NorthSideSox72]

How'd you get in touch with your realtor? And how do they work generally? Do most of them have specific zones, or can I literally tell them "anywhere within an hour train ride without getting shot or mugged" or something and they could have homes in every direction?

Ours was the agent for the condo we bought, we didn't even have one before that. But she's been awesome, she's helping us on selling and buying this time, and has worked with other friends and relatives now. I can PM you her info if you want it.

 

The agent could give you ideas based on those criteria, but, I preferred to do some of that research myself. I felt it was more reliable. Then gave her the criteria to search for. She then gives us tips and advice, helps on looking at homes and selling ours, suggests ideas, refers to mortgage people, etc.

 

 

[Controlled Chaos]

Well IMO, if you're looking for a fast commute, nice neighborhoods and good schools I would say Downers Grove/Darien/Lisle for your price range. You might be hard pressed to find something in Downers at 300, but you could probably get something in Darien. The BNSF metra is the best line for going downtown. Also, having various expressways in the area I355, I88 & I55 is nice. At 300 or less you're going to get an older house. It will probably need a lot of updating/fixing, but if it has some good bones and is in a good neighborhood with good schools, thats what matters.

 

P.S. I don't live in any of these cities, but did move last summer and did a lot of research. I used to live in a townhouse in Lisle.

[Jenksismyhero]

Well IMO, if you're looking for a fast commute, nice neighborhoods and good schools I would say Downers Grove/Darien/Lisle for your price range. You might be hard pressed to find something in Downers at 300, but you could probably get something in Darien. The BNSF metra is the best line for going downtown. Also, having various expressways in the area I355, I88 & I55 is nice. At 300 or less you're going to get an older house. It will probably need a lot of updating/fixing, but if it has some good bones and is in a good neighborhood with good schools, thats what matters.

 

P.S. I don't live in any of these cities, but did move last summer and did a lot of research. I used to live in a townhouse in Lisle.

 

I want to put some sweat equity into whatever we get and hopefully make some good money by the time we move out of it, so that's not a huge deal. So long as it doesn't become a project after project after project. And serious ones at that.

[Controlled Chaos]

I want to put some sweat equity into whatever we get and hopefully make some good money by the time we move out of it, so that's not a huge deal. So long as it doesn't become a project after project after project. And serious ones at that.

http://www.city-data.com/ - Also has some valuable information about the area and it's residents.

 

http://iirc.niu.edu/Default.aspx - Is good for finding info about schools.

 

Good luck...it's a difficult process from start to finish.

[smalls2598]

Try westchester on the west side. Its become somewhat affordable and is a good starter area. Hell for that money you can get a good place in Forest park and still have a good nightlife in your city as well as even an El ride to downtown. Since we are almost the same age, Forest Park would be my choice if I was transitioning to the burbs without children.

i agree; it's a great place for a starter home. i just purchased a house on the west side of Westchester in October. I really like the area, and you can find nice houses exactly in your price range mentioned. I have a friend who works for the village, and he mentioned that alot of police officers live in the area, so that was a little more refreshing to know it may be 'safer'. And you are right by 290, 294, and 88. The Blue Line EL is only about 10 minutes away in Forest Park. Also, LaGrange is just south of the town, and i hear they have a good amount of bars in the area (i haven't been to them yet).

 

I would recommend staying south of Roosevelt, though; you'd be a little further away from 290, so less noise, plus it just seemed a little more 'shady' north of Roosevelt.

[Steve9347]

Come on out to Lombard. Right by the train to the city. My wife and are are 26 and bought a house a few years ago. Make sure you're close to a Metra station.

[Harry Chappas]

First step would be to pick which general area you would like to live in. North suburbs, West suburbs and south suburbs.

 

I just moved to the south suburbs. Mount Greenwood. It's a nice town. You get the best of both worlds. A little city and a little suburbs. Close knit, but you still can have a yard and some space. You could find some nice places for 200k - 250k.

 

Try using www.redfin.com. Its a cool website to look up houses for sale.

 

Look in Mt. Greenwood, Beverly/Morgan Park area.

 

The ride to the Cell is a hop skip and jump away and metra is right there.

 

The neighborhood/community atmosphere is pretty cool there as well.

Edited January 8, 2010 by Jenks Heat

[Jenksismyhero]

lol, this is the difficulty (and benefit) of having so many houses available. There's like 30 different suburbs that I've been told are nice and great for what we want. But what makes suburb X better than suburb Y?

 

Someone with time should create a website devoted to this.

[NorthSideSox72]

lol, this is the difficulty (and benefit) of having so many houses available. There's like 30 different suburbs that I've been told are nice and great for what we want. But what makes suburb X better than suburb Y?

 

Someone with time should create a website devoted to this.

The Chicago Metro has something like 300 different municipalities. Lots of suburbs. But if you narrow down your choices based on some of the thoughts expressed in here first, that will help you dig deeper into a few specific ones. Researching 300 of them would be a bit difficult.

 

[RockRaines]

lol, this is the difficulty (and benefit) of having so many houses available. There's like 30 different suburbs that I've been told are nice and great for what we want. But what makes suburb X better than suburb Y?

 

Someone with time should create a website devoted to this.

You gotta just make a list of areas that are the right distance for you. Then search housing prices, if they fall out of your range, cross it off. Lastly, take a weekend and explore the towns, walk around, grab some food, speak with the locals. Its all about taste and each person has their own. For me, I like nightlife and eating out and dont mine sacrificing a yard for the location nearest to the city which is why I like Forest Park, Oak park and even Evanston. Some people prefer getting a castle for their money and will move to plainfield or Bolingbrook. Its going to be a long process for you.

[Pants Rowland]

LOL, Schaumburg, didnt the guy say he wanted to be CLOSE to work. That is the absolute boonies. And much farther than a 45 min drive in traffic.

 

Try westchester on the west side. Its become somewhat affordable and is a good starter area. Hell for that money you can get a good place in Forest park and still have a good nightlife in your city as well as even an El ride to downtown. Since we are almost the same age, Forest Park would be my choice if I was transitioning to the burbs without children.

 

Yeah, I tend to agree with Westchester and Forest Park based on the description. They are very convenient to the loop and get even better if your wife works west of the loop. Brookfield is also a decent option. Further west is Downers Grove, Lombard, Western Springs, Westmont, La Grange (probably too pricey), I think all of which have Metra stops, but it makes enjoying the city prior to having kids a little more difficult. Oak Park is also a great option with both CTA and Metra nearby but it might be tough to swing a house at $300K. Who knows though, in this depressed market there are a lot of good opportunities.

[farmteam]

What about somewhere like Morton Grove? They have a Metra Line (Milwaukee North I think, it goes into Union), and 94 runs through it (or just next door in Skokie, I can't remember). In good traffic, it's 20 minutes to the loop, tops. In rush hour, probably more like 40 or 45. A quick glance at prices makes it seem like it's in your price range, depending how big of a house you want (it looks like there are some places between 250-300K with anywhere from 1200-2000 sqft).

 

It's a nice town, not really far from anything. If you want night life, Evanston is 10 minutes away, and Chicago is either a quick Metra ride or a not too bad commute on the Edens. It's not a dangerous or crime ridden town, either -- I'd feel safe walking the streets at night.

[NorthSideSox72]

What about somewhere like Morton Grove? They have a Metra Line (Milwaukee North I think, it goes into Union), and 94 runs through it (or just next door in Skokie, I can't remember). In good traffic, it's 20 minutes to the loop, tops. In rush hour, probably more like 40 or 45. A quick glance at prices makes it seem like it's in your price range, depending how big of a house you want (it looks like there are some places between 250-300K with anywhere from 1200-2000 sqft).

 

It's a nice town, not really far from anything. If you want night life, Evanston is 10 minutes away, and Chicago is either a quick Metra ride or a not too bad commute on the Edens. It's not a dangerous or crime ridden town, either -- I'd feel safe walking the streets at night.

Morton Grove also has very good schools.