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Apartment/Condo/House Thread


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QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jul 29, 2014 -> 01:54 PM)
Indiana's tax caps prevent the taxes on your primary residence from going above 1% of your property value. If you have a $150k house, you can't pay above $1500 annually for property taxes.

 

Sigh, that'd be nice.

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QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jul 29, 2014 -> 01:54 PM)
Indiana's tax caps prevent the taxes on your primary residence from going above 1% of your property value. If you have a $150k house, you can't pay above $1500 annually for property taxes.

 

Wow, that would be nice. I pay at least 2-2.5% on my properties now.

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QUOTE (bigruss22 @ Jul 29, 2014 -> 12:42 PM)
I'm moving to Southport (just west of Wrigleyville) this month, seems to be a solid area and rent really isn't much more for what you get. I currently live in Rogers Park and pay about $600 for my portion for a much smaller apartment, whereas I'll be paying $850 in Southport.

 

And yea, avoid the frat havens every time, but plenty of good places still out there. The biggest thing for me is just being closer to all my college friends so I can more easily hang out with them because right now it takes about 45-60 minutes to get to them (I live about 15-20 mins from the red line currently). So playing basketball, watching games, etc will be much easier.

 

Southport is solid, it's funny how different it is just a few blocks away from Wrigleyville.

 

QUOTE (IlliniKrush @ Jul 29, 2014 -> 12:43 PM)
Definitely look into the west loop, especially if you're working in the loop. It's really a great area, without the wrigleyville douche-yness. Just depends what you are looking for.

 

Are people under the age of 25 even allowed to live in the West Loop?

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QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jul 29, 2014 -> 01:51 PM)
This. And The Region is as close to downtown Chicago by train as most of the suburbs are. Closer in many cases. It is a fraction of what it costs to live in the City.

definitely if we worked in the city or SW burbs ... but hard to get to anywhere else other than the city (which is already a bit of a stretch of a commute from NWI) or SW burbs so it really limits work options. I'm guessing that's one of the biggest reason RE is much more affordable in the NWI region

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QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ Jul 29, 2014 -> 02:20 PM)
Southport is solid, it's funny how different it is just a few blocks away from Wrigleyville.

 

 

 

Are people under the age of 25 even allowed to live in the West Loop?

I believe so, just depends if you're a 23 year old looking for the party scene of Wrigleyville or not.

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I'd recommend Lincoln Park for a 23 year old or south Lakeview for slightly better pricing. You're right in the middle of everything then. Morr than anything, just make sure you live as close as possible to the brown/red line. That is the absolute best advice I can give.

 

 

 

Wrigleyville gets old really fast. Just reminds me of Western Avenue now if you're coming from the Southside. Despite being pretty close the Lincoln Park scene seems a lot different than Wrigleyville and I much prefer it. Either way if you're in Lincoln Park you're close to both, as well as being a short cab ride to River North which IMO is by far the best nightlife in the city (as well as being expensive as hell for a 23 year old to live).

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QUOTE (JUSTgottaBELIEVE @ Jul 29, 2014 -> 02:26 PM)
definitely if we worked in the city or SW burbs ... but hard to get to anywhere else other than the city (which is already a bit of a stretch of a commute from NWI) or SW burbs so it really limits work options. I'm guessing that's one of the biggest reason RE is much more affordable in the NWI region

 

Also very true. Interstate traffic just sucks through NWI. It is train or nothing for me.

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QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ Jul 29, 2014 -> 02:20 PM)
Southport is solid, it's funny how different it is just a few blocks away from Wrigleyville.

 

 

 

Are people under the age of 25 even allowed to live in the West Loop?

 

The West Loop is amazingly different from how it was in the late 90's when I started working in the city. You didn't even really want to walk around there if you didn't have to. Now with all of the condos and businesses that have gone in over there, is a great neighborhood, and it is a 10 minute walk from the financial district. Really in terms of what things cost in Chicago, it isn't even really expensive.

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QUOTE (JUSTgottaBELIEVE @ Jul 29, 2014 -> 10:19 PM)
Anyone else?

 

I would say the systems to avoid over there are East Chicago, Hammond, and Merrillville. Other than that, there are a lot of nice towns through that area. Depends on where exactly you want to be in relations to schools, train, interstate etc.

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QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jul 30, 2014 -> 10:32 AM)
I would say the systems to avoid over there are East Chicago, Hammond, and Merrillville. Other than that, there are a lot of nice towns through that area. Depends on where exactly you want to be in relations to schools, train, interstate etc.

I'm petty much ruling NWI out due to location. Anything within a 30 mile radius of the loop is fair game. Any suggestions?

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I should probably be more descriptive than the 30 mile radius parameter since technically parts of NWI are just within 30 miles of the loop. I guess 30 mile radius west and north of the loop and 15 mile radius south of it would work. that would make for a reasonable commute to both downtown as well as the northwest burbs for my wife

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La Grange is nice. Great schools. Great downtown area with some Chicago quality restaurants. And easy commute on Metra. You could probably rent a house for under 2k. There are a couple multi-unit condo buildings within walking distance to the train and downtown area too. No idea what rent is like there though.

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QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ Jul 29, 2014 -> 02:31 PM)
At your age I'd say Wrigleyville or Lincoln Park would work well too party-wise, but they might be a bit pricier than the West/South Loop. Either location gives you easy CTA access to work.

I agree with this for a different reason. One, you are 23 and your idea of a nice place is skewed enough to think the s***hole housing stock of lakeview is live able. But second, it's more dense, there are more grocery stores that are walkable. It's just a lot easier when you first live there. Then you'll move to the better neighborhoods.

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  • 2 weeks later...
QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jul 29, 2014 -> 02:36 PM)
The West Loop is amazingly different from how it was in the late 90's when I started working in the city. You didn't even really want to walk around there if you didn't have to. Now with all of the condos and businesses that have gone in over there, is a great neighborhood, and it is a 10 minute walk from the financial district. Really in terms of what things cost in Chicago, it isn't even really expensive.

It's increasing in price and will be much higher in the next 2 years. Time to move there is now as many of the original folks who started the growth are leaving.

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QUOTE (RockRaines @ Aug 12, 2014 -> 05:27 PM)
Black mold in the ceiling of my detached garage. Big deal or no?

 

Kinda depends how the moisture got in there. Moisture has a lot more ways to enter a garage than a house, if it's just from normal usage, you can probably just clean it down with bleach. If it is coming in from outside leak, you probably need to address that.

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QUOTE (bmags @ Aug 12, 2014 -> 12:48 PM)
Kinda depends how the moisture got in there. Moisture has a lot more ways to enter a garage than a house, if it's just from normal usage, you can probably just clean it down with bleach. If it is coming in from outside leak, you probably need to address that.

Its probably a small leak in the roof as the mold is in the ceiling drywall and only in two spots. I called a mold remediation guy and it seems kind of pricey for a garage.

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QUOTE (RockRaines @ Aug 12, 2014 -> 06:58 PM)
Its probably a small leak in the roof as the mold is in the ceiling drywall and only in two spots. I called a mold remediation guy and it seems kind of pricey for a garage.

 

You may want to try multiple estimates here, mold is big money nowadays. I'd be more worried about the water damage getting worse after a bad fall/winter/spring.

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  • 5 months later...

Forgot about this thread. We are in the middle of a short sale purchase.

 

When we started looking for houses, I did not seek out a short sale by any means. We put in an offer on a house that had been on market for a while and it was accepted, but it put it at a price requiring bank approval. Lots of waiting so far. We actually paid for a home inspection right away, as we didn't want to be tied down for months to find out it required a new foundation which would obviously be ours to pay.

 

That said, very excited, but also trying to put it out of my mind for another 30-45 days.

 

Question for Home improvement stuff. If you start acquiring tools, do you get pretty brand loyal? I want to use a gift card to buy a handheld jigsaw tool, but feel like as soon as you buy one with a battery you are going to buy them all. With that in mind, is there a good quality/value brand people swear by?

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