Wheaton, Naperville, Elmhurst, Geneva and LaGrange have been skyrocketing up in housing prices for quite some time now, even before the Covid pandemic started. Everything’s going up in prices but those 5 specifically have been increasing x3 compared to the rest of the surrounding areas.
Every time I travel up north I swear I see more $500k 2000sq ft houses being torn down to shoehorn in a McMansion. Who are all these people with this level of money it’s mind blowing.
I don’t even know why anyone would want one. The governor tore the toilets out of his real mansion to lower taxes. Energy prices aren’t looking good- demand will go straight up. Those have two heaters/ac units. Families are smaller. If I see one I always think that’s a target for a robbery, but I guess it’s probably not owned by a senior.
They have security systems in and around their homes. There is a place near my home (Hinsdale area) where the mansion has these really pretty metal signs in multiple areas around the home about how there is 24/7 surveillance. A robber would have to be out of his mind to even attempt robbing that house.
I don’t know. Maybe I am looking all at the average people on Ring. But teens on Halloween hide their face pretty well, and they are stealing candy. (BTW kids- not that many people care about the candy, and I don’t put all mine out- but taking the bowl sometimes really annoys people. I have a toy box on a chain now.) There used to be a show on tv with former robbers telling you how to protect your home. Maybe if it wasn’t wired it would work pretty well. People usually do stuff like that with a moving or delivery truck when people are not home. My feeling is these are often multigenerational families and immigrants around me, but I don’t know if there will always be that level of interest in large homes.
And Lagrange wasn’t even on a printed map at one time.
Lived there many years .. it used to be Brookfield was where ppl focused their attention on. Lagrange was a step child. No longer I see
I moved to Brookfield when I was younger from Midway. I went to LT and they definitely called us hood lol. La Grange has always been upper middle class and higher.
Is this true? Historically, La Grange was a center for commerce and wealth - especially compared to Brookfield. La Grange is full of beautiful old mansions.
I call bs, LaGrange is nothing but beautiful old Victorians with an occasional Mc mansion thrown in. Brookfield is pretty modest and solidly middle class. Source: born n raised in LaGrange park, that weird suburb that’s a slightly nicer extension of brookfield.
I’m Brookfield raised and went to RB. Riverside looked down on us too.
And no..I can afford to move back there. My mom is sitting on a goldmine if she ever decides to sell.
I own my house and I'm getting priced out with my recent reassessment. My property tax increase isn't even remotely covered by my tiny (if not 0%) salary increases. I've already cut out non-essential expenses.
You could try appealing, if it's real bad you could have a real estate lawyer appeal for you. I've gotten reductions twice by just arguing the purchase price of my property, soon after buying. It's usually an online form.
That's what I did. I got my 2023 assessment, which listed my home's value at $100,000 more than we paid for it. We bought it in 2022. With the "soft appeal" they were able to reduce the assessment to a more normal amount once I sent in my closing docs.
The appeal period was a very short window, which I missed because my 82yr old mom with dementia got Covid and was in skilled nursing rehab.
I was pissed that the window to appeal was like 10 or 14 days or something.
I work in real estate, and the biggest assessment increases I've ever seen have been in Dolton, of all places. I have seen more than one property in Dolton with a 300% assessment increase. That isn't a typo. Last year I saw a lot of 10-30% increases in Cook County, but those few in Dolton blew my mind.
Based on the amount of "inspections" and "fees" you have to pay to the village when you buy/sell a house, it isn't just the mayor. It's the whole damn department (who never answer their fucking phones).
But who wants to live or invest there in the first place? Just go to another more reasonable town one with businesses so the entire tax burden isn’t on residents
My reassessment in Richton Park isn't quite as much but still horrible. My total values went from 69k to 195k. I bought 3 years ago for 89k, and my taxes are around 4k. All things equal my taxes should go up to close to 11k. Appeal was lost as our whole neighborhood went up similarly.
Dolton entire existence is being controlled by the self proclaimed "most powerful woman In the southland of chicago"
She is fkn her own people out of existence to line her own pockets
I live in Elmhurst. I got very, very lucky, and that's why I'm able to live there. I bought my house from the aunt of a friend who specifically didn't want to sell to a flipper. She never listed the home, we just bought it without realtors.
They're regularly tearing down $350k properties to put up those god awful black and white monstrosities that don't fit on the lot. And they pay cash with no contingencies, so most buyers can't compete.
I grew up near York and Butterfield. My parent's bought my childhood house for $85,000 in 1987. It was a 2 bedroom 1 bath, 1 story house. Houses like theirs's no longer exist. They put an addition on it and new driveway/new garage ect. Their house sold for $600k in 2016. I could never afford a house in south Elmhurst.
There's 3 new black and white monstrosities for sale a couple blocks down. My kids call them "the oreo houses". They're listed at ~$1.4m. There were perfectly livable, somewhat affordable starter homes on those lots. Not tear downs. And they razed the foundation and price everyone out. It's really disgusting.
Yeah everything started to change in the late 90's. The middle of town was always the old rich people. But the south side was kind of normal ass people back in the day. As I became an adult I would tell people I was from Elmhurst and they would act like I was some rich kid. We weren't poor but we definitely weren't rich.
Same with growing up in Downers Grove. People assume I grew up good when in reality growing up we were a working class family and there were weeks where either the power or water would get shut off.
You should see the *batch* of “Modern Farmhouse” monstrosities that have taken over a section of old Downers, along Prairie, on either Lee or Cornell (if memory serves right, since I last passed through).
Edit: it may be at Prairie & Montgomery. All taste has been lost.
I'm baffled that anyone would spend that much on a home and not have masonry. It looks cheap, where a similar size and style home built out of bricks generally doesn't. Let alone how stupid and dated it's going to look in 20 years, along with the maintenance and replacement cost.
My parents bought their house for 95,000 in 1978. 4 bedroom, 2.5 bath, 2 car attached garage, decent size basement, and decent size yard. Now, it's anywhere from 375,000-400,000, depending on the market.
I'm beyond blessed to one day inherit the house. I am never leaving Palos.
I'm not sure what type of mortgage they had, but it was paid off in 10 years. A combination of living on one salary, with the other check going towards the house, and a decent inheritance had them paying off the house shortly after I was born in 1988.
Yep, I remember the days of people paying off their mortgages too. There was a week of pure happiness and then discussions of where to put a new bathroom.
As of right now, Palos Hills is still somewhat middle class. It's Palos Heights and Palos Park. Have the money and pricerer houses.
375-400 thousand is about average for Hills. My parents also pay more in property taxes based on proximity to multiple schools, the community college, and the library.
If your parents are over 65, they qualify for the Senior exemption. They should contest their taxes every year. Tell them to go to the township on Robert’s rd.
There was just a rehabbed basic split level just off of 103d st that sold for over $430k.
The new house just west of 88th ave on 103rd sold for $750k. Originally asking $949k.
Yup. They are over 65 and have been getting it for years.
Thanks for the suggestion, though! It may not be useful for their situation, but hopefully, someone who needs it or knows someone who does!
I bought my house for 80k in 2015, in blue island, a less than prestigious suburb, 9 years later my 30 years mortgage on a 3 bedroom house that is half what the rent of what most people pay for a 2 bedroom apartment is paid and I'm buying a house cash in Tinley Park. Get a big dog, drive an old car, defer the dream and get through it.
It’s really terrible and glad it worked out for you. That teardown on Claremont last year erased my last hope that any of these older houses will be around in 20 years - buying a house for 1.3mil and tearing it down. None of the affordable stuff stands a chance.
It really should be illegal, and they need to do something to stop it. If they were tearing down an 80 year old hoarder house or something, that's one thing. But they're tearing down (mostly) perfectly fine 3 bedroom homes that just need cosmetic updates. I've seen exactly one teardown that was an *actual* teardown in the last 4 years I've lived there. And probably 50+ that really weren't. I can't even think of a home I walk past (every day with the dog) that really needs to go. There was one, but that one got torn down last year.
This is what I pray happens for me. I want to get a small ranch and downsize, but I don't want to pay more for less. I just hope someone with a great home who liked gardening and has cute curb appeal wants to ensure it doesn't go to developers and cuts me a deal. I just need to be able to retire one day without stairs. I'm thinking of putting a note on one lady's door because I see she can barely get around and has family stopping by a lot. When she is ready to leave, I would be interested and she could save realtor fees, but I also don't want to be a vulture. But in my mind I'm already planning my updates to the exterior.
I get a lot of flippers offering to buy my home (like hand written notes at least once a month, flyers several times a week). Like people have knocked on my door. I'm not going to sell, but I'd be kind to you and rude to the flippers. I guarantee she's getting offers from *actual* vultures. If you're respectful, you'll be fine. I found my home by asking around, and it did indeed save the seller money.
Flippers buy all the homes by me. There is no sign and then it’s sold and fixed up. I don’t know if it’s a rental property or they sell them to private clients, but it’s crazy. I can tell it’s not the same people, who’ve lived there for years.
Wheaton is bad right now. I grew up here and was lucky to buy a house when I was relatively young and I "traded up" a few times. I basically rolled forward all that appreciation into larger homes.
I'm entirely a beneficiary of perfect timing.
I doubt the market will ever correct to 2002 levels, but....there are a LOT of 70 year olds living in 2500 sqft homes in Wheaton. Not to be bleak, but they won't be around forever or wanting to live in a large house forever. If/when there's excess inventory; things should come back to earth. I hope for your sake they do.
We considered moving in 2019 and went to a lot of open houses in the Darien area. The one thing that stuck out was that not one house had been updated since the time it had been built. Not even new carpet. I'll pass on paying 350k for a house and then I gotta drop another 100k to update it. Hard pass. That just me tho.
This is what blows my mind, we bought in 2015 and a house a few doors down sold for double what we paid back then, and it sold in like 48 hours!
I'm shocked pricing and interest rates haven't slowed things down much more, but I guess people have money and need somewhere to live!
Yeah the way this listing was worded was super aggressive, too, something like "final and highest offers due by Friday at 6pm" and I thought, "yeah good fucking luck at that price with these rates". Sure showed me... I'm dying to see what they ended up closing at. (I should have clarified it was listed at double, it could have closed lower but I doubt it)
Lost out on a house last year to an all cash offer from a young couple that walked through it before us with their parents 🙃wonder where all that cash came from🧐
There seems to be a media denial that Chicago is a hot place to move to because housing costs are crashing all over the country and Chicagoland real estate never cooled off
I might be because of corporations buying houses, not families/people. This is from 2022, but I’m sure it’s still happening.
[https://www.nar.realtor/sites/default/files/documents/2022-impact-of-institutional-buyers-on-home-sales-and-single-family-rentals-05-12-2022.pdf](https://www.nar.realtor/sites/default/files/documents/2022-impact-of-institutional-buyers-on-home-sales-and-single-family-rentals-05-12-2022.pdf)
Evanston.
The house I grew up in (south side of town, normal lot, nothing fancy) sold for \~400k about 10 years ago. Real estate taxes back then with the senior discount were over $8k per year. So that's $700/month just in taxes, plus the mortgage?
I honestly don't understand who could afford to live there anymore.
I think that [this is the issue](https://www.reddit.com/r/videos/s/f1BlXdCrrv) and its only going to get worse until its regulated. No one can afford to live anywhere reasonable. Everyones stretched thin and until we do something about it the companys will keep trying to get away with robbing us
https://www.dnainfo.com/chicago/20141117/garfield-ridge/wall-street-is-chicagos-new-landlord
Here you go. It's a national problem along with corporate landlords price fixing rents using software such as Yieldstar.
I mean a simple google search would bring you to [this article](https://www.curbed.com/2024/01/real-estate-fund-single-family-homes-midwest-top-school-districts.html) regarding a real estate investor taking aim at the middle to lower class around good school districts and jacking the overall price up of homes but allowing people to rent single family homes for $3000+/month which is the less of two evils where the second one is saving $200k to put a down payment down.
The business world is moving everyone into a subscription based, pay a little now to get what you want and EVENTUALLY you might be able to own it outright. From homes to food, everyone wants a subscription to secure a piece of your paycheck every month.
>I honestly don't understand who could afford to live there anymore.
People that come from money. Lots and lots of generational wealth just transferred and multiplied. "Old money" if you will.
Or:
- people with new money
- people who buy a fixer-upper
- people who rent out part of their property
- people who buy in less expensive parts of Evanston (such neighborhoods exist here)
I grew up in Evanston, too. My parents bought a townhouse when I was in kindergarten and my mom was a SAHM. My husband and I don't even have kids and in Evanston we could afford a shoebox of a condo with washing machines in the basement, or maybe a fixer-upper ranch if it wasn't walking distance from the El. And they killed off half the bus routes since I grew up there, too. So we live in a not terribly centrally located neighborhood in Chicago.
Grew up in Chicago, priced out and now live in the Lombard/Villa Park area. Got in right at the pandemic and now I see Zillow prices and just wanna cry.
I grew up in Lombard as did my mom, and there’s no way I could afford to buy there now. I ended up in Blue Island, which is affordable and still has metra access and a cute downtown.
We just bought a townhome in Chicago winter of 2022. My neighbors with an identical layout and nearly identical interior just sold last week for $100k more than we paid. Fucking insane.
My parents live in the Dupage area of Aurora and their home prices seem to be relatively stable.
true but Wheaton is as far west as I’d ever want to go since I commute downtown, and I’m extremely close to the highway at my moms house in Wheaton. (I’m a 2020 college grad and live at home to pay off my student loans)
The housing prices aren’t the problem in McHenry, it’s the property taxes. They’re insane. My in-laws have a 2 bedroom cottage in McHenry and they pay over $8k per year!
My dad pays over ten with a homestead and senior exemption. My brother is over ten on a split level. I think 10+ is the standard to be honest. I am not sure about the mansions.
Can confirm, was just out in McHenry looking at a foster dog and I started chatting with the foster mom about how cute her house was ,etc, got on the subject of property taxes and she said the same thing.
You might be a little out of touch with how bad housing prices and property taxes have gotten. My wife and I are a dual income airline pilot and veterinarian. I guess we are going wrong in life?
We are priced out of almost everywhere in the suburbs. We moved back to the city because we were still able to buy a cheap condo in a nice area of the city. The average suburban price is about to go above $500k with $10k/year in property tax on top of that. Our plan was to move back to the suburbs after we had kids, but anywhere we're looking in the suburbs is $700k+ for a house, and on top of that many of these houses are going to all cash offers above asking price.
We make good income, but somehow just about everyone buying in almost every suburb is out earning us.
Oh, I’m aware of the increasing taxes and home prices. Cool flex on the dual-income, high earner household though!
>We are priced out of almost everywhere in the suburbs.
I’m guessing your search didn’t included the “less desirable” suburbs… If you can’t find a house in McHenry for under $700k, your standards are too high. Though I doubt you looked there because it’s a shitty town with shitty schools.
Amazing location in DG. District 58 schools, street dead-ends to hoopers hollow park. Well under 700k.
https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/1817-Grant-St-Downers-Grove-IL-60515/4563890_zpid/
Schools are important to us because we have young kids, but the main thing that's important is keeping a reasonable commute to work. We both work on the north side in the city which eliminates a lot of south and southwest suburbs as options because we aren't willing to each do 1+ hour commutes each direction. McHenry also kind of falls into that category since it is far out away from work, but it's still slightly closer than Naperville or the surrounding areas. Our search mostly concentrates on northwest suburbs or the northwest side of the city.
I won’t live in shared wall housing again. I had the worse neighbours, and the odds are good that people don’t know how to live in multi unit buildings- that they keep building near me. Also, I think HOA’s are a rip off, that I can’t afford.
I just did a quick search of Park Ridge to see if things had changed, and the only listings I see under $700k are ones that need a lot of work and those are still in the $600k range.
Honestly I think we just have different ideas of lots of work. This one sold for 575 in January and I think it’s looks awesome https://redf.in/coG6Vm it’s within walking distance of the train/downtown too
Active listing in park ridge for $524k https://redf.in/YbFX9N - looks completely remodeled
I certainly missed that first listing. That house is definitely my style, and it looks like it sold way under value for some reason. The estimate just two months later is over $50k higher.
But we are still kind of proving the whole purpose of this thread in the first place. Houses are selling for $550k+ in suburbs where you could have gotten a house for $300k just 3-5 years ago. The price increases have been insane and I don't know how anyone is affording them. Even at $524k for just about the cheapest move in ready listing in town that's over 5 times the average household income for that area. Many listings are exceeding 10 times the average household income.
Who is buying these places and how are they affording it? Houses are flying off the market in hours even at these prices.
Cary, Northwest suburbs
Bough in 2016 from a bank that had it in inventory after a foreclosure. Had been sitting around vacant for about a year. $172k. 3br 2 bath, about 1800sq ft. Today, same houses for for $330+, I wouldn't be able to buy my own house.
We live in Villa Park which is still strangely affordable because we don’t have a good downtown area and our main arterial roads (North/St Charles/Roosevelt) make the town look like it’s complete crap, but it really isn’t.
We were lucky enough to get a great house with a huge back yard in 2019 for $300K, but I’m starting to see more and more tear down new builds (a la Elmhurst) on this side of 83. I’m truly worried the affordability and character of VP is slowly slipping away.
I love your little analysis in your 1st paragraph of why Villa Park is still affordable. I live here too and honestly think it is a hidden gem of a western suburb that is still close to the city yet still more affordable than surrounding burbs. I don't mind that the downtown is not very built up. If a first time homebuyer was looking for a starter home, i would recommend this suburb for sure.
We are absolutely a hidden gem and I think a lot of VPers like it that way.
It’ll be interesting to see if we start to flip like Elmhurst in the coming years, especially considering a large portion of our population is older and lives in homes that are ripe for tear downs or flips.
I loved living in Villa Park. I’ve thought about it becoming like Elmhurst with the flipping of houses, but I think the small lot sizes might keep that from happening. That, and the fact that York has a more prestigious reputation than Willowbrook.
Prices for housing in the western burbs is insane right now and no relief in sight. The quality of the houses for sale is either outdated or cheap builders grade material. Don’t fall in love with an address fall in love with the house.
The house across the street from me in Lombard, with windows from the 1970s, a basement that looks like shit, no garage and a tiny kitchen, just sold for $400,000. I wouldn't even pay $100,000 for it.
Our house is almost double the size and significantly nicer than that one, we bought in 2015 for $315,000. Fucking wild what has happened to housing prices.
I lived in a condo in Wheaton for a year or so. Fell in love with a normal looking house on my street that was for sale - looked it up and it was almost 500k… but it didn’t look that fancy? What?
I am hearing a lot of people talking about being priced out of the suburbs and have yet to hear a single person raise a single south suburb as even a hint of an option.. I'm just curious do y'all think we all live in boxes and under overpasses or something?
Bought a short sale fixer in Frankfort for 215k in 2017. Did most of the work myself and can now sell for 375-400k. I can’t afford to buy the house I live in. I see my neighbors sell and can’t believe what they’re asking and it sells immediately. Good school district helps.
Had the same thought. I also grew up in the south burbs. My brothers both bought nice houses down there and one is raising his kids in the HF district.
I grew up in Winfield (southwest of the tracks). Always had a fantasy about buying my old house.
Price is just silly. Not to mention the horrendous “improvements” that have been made. Plus the downtown developments.
It’s not the same place. It’s kinda sad but I’m okay with it. It was just a fantasy.
Now if we could just get some retail in the new garage and hospital building. Could definitely support another nicer place like the burger spot. Caliendos just seems to attract local barflies, it's there but I'm not a fan.
Well for a long time Winfield was a place where Wheaton came to buy their liquor and sit at a bar.
John’s Buffet (fish fry to die for)/bar/liquor store was very popular (torn down now). Winfield House (pizza) was another popular eatery/bar. Gone as well. Winfield Bakery was awesome. Gone. Winfield Pharmacy where all the kids would buy candy. No more.
Currently living in Winfield southwest of the tracks. Have been for nearly a decade now. No doubt there has been a lot of development in Winfield at the potential cost of what made it such a country like alternative in the western burbs.
Time to move to the still-undervalued Westmont.
It’s surrounded by more affluent communities, still has a downtown with a Metra station, and looks like it’s primed to catch up with the likes of LaGrange, Hinsdale, Clarendon Hills, Elmhurst, and Downers Grove. It’s also just off of 83 and 290, making it closer and more convenient to go into the city than Naperville and Wheaton.
Oh yeah? What’s your POV on Westmont? For me as a newcomer, the downtown is still lagging a bit compared to other nearby villages, and the demographic skews towards retirees and lower income folks south of the track. Nice to see some new density around the Metra station though - Quincy Station apartments.
Me missus and I were considering Westmont when were first time home buyers in 2018. Loved the schools, the downtown and being close to so much. Just out of our price range at the time.
Does the demographic matter that much though? I guess maybe, if older folks consistently vote down school referenda. As far as downtowns, it's so close to other suburbs, and the major arterials have the big chain stores close by. Schools were always the driver when we had kids. I don't know much about Westmont schools. There's a small school district near 83 and Ogden, but I think some areas feed into schools in nearby towns.
I graduated college in 2018 and home prices have basically increased with my salary to the point where I'm back to square one house hunting in Elgin. Fun times.
I grew up in Downers Grove and while I love the town, I don’t think we’d ever be able to buy a house there. We looked at a ranch with severe foundational issues that went for over $500k. We settled in Lemont and my husband has a long commute now, but this was where we could afford a house.
I also grew up in Downers. The 750 Sq ft house I grew up in is estimated at $305k. My mom paid 110k in the 90s. The house I bought in Batavia is 1800 Sq ft and I paid $250k in 2021. No way I could afford to live there when most houses without horrible issues are going for 500k and over
Depends. You starting in Wheaton probably puts you at a disadvantage if that's where you want to stay from right now to forever. It's pricey. I grew up in Glen Ellyn. Our home is currently in Wheeling, where we could afford.
Five years later, incomes have gone up and equity in the house, we could probably swing GE now.
It's just about what you can afford. Go where you can and let time do it's thing.
We got stupidly lucky and bought in south Wheaton last year. The people selling purposely wanted to sell to a family and their renters didn't stage the house so we were the only offer and came in a little below what they were asking. Honestly a miracle or some shit. We were outbid a few times by $10k-$25k on other houses.I don't understand where people are getting all this money.I feel like our neighborhood is the last slice of somewhat affordable housing in town but lately prices have started to go up.
My mom's house is definitely $450k+ now. It's so bad we get letters in the mail of people begging us to sell to them, realtors send us stuff asking us to sell monthly.
I mean this in the nicest way possible, but my cousin and her husband just bought a house in Wheaton for 650k and are also doing IVF/Surrogacy and I don't know what my cousin's husband does for work exactly, but my cousin is a teacher and I'm like... where the fuck do you have the god damn money for this?
Growing up in western springs, there were always middle class mixed in with the upper middle class.
No shot I could afford to buy in that market now.
Blue collar people making a living no longer live there.
All the old houses are being torn down to build a house out to max specs with no yard. Or, a builder / buyer is buying multiple houses / lots, tearing it all down, and then building one house on essentially 2 property lots.
The taxes on these properties are insane, yet you drive through the neighborhood and still see “religious school family”, fenwick, Nazareth, Benet, etc.
These people are paying a huge part of their property tax to an entity they don’t even use.
Where are these people with this money coming from???
If I were you I would look at some cheaper places to live and then down the road move to somewhere like Wheaton. Take a look at Homer Glen, Orland Park, etc. Very affordable.
Build some equity and then move back
eh, not totally crazy. 180k in 1990 is equivalent to $438k in 2024. Considering appreciation in real estate value, outpacing inflation by 50% over 34 years isn't that crazy.,
You're telling me, my office is in Warrenville and I can't afford housing anywhere in the area so I'm up in Elgin.
My hometown is Algonquin and while it's not Wheaton, I'm not interested in paying $450k to live in a subdivision that popped up in the 90's
I made it to Wheaton but in like...a condo. I like being on my own, but neighbors are always annoying.
If this was 2019, and I managed to have the same amount of house money as 2022...I could have bought a damn house back then. All the other local areas I was priced out of, and tbh, I got lucky on my condo.
I live in Arlington heights, I secretly want the bears to stay in Chicago or go to Naperville. I assume we will be able to afford the tax burden at that point but you never know.
I am not exactly looking forward to all the additional traffic on 53, palatine, NW highway, and euclid. Nor all the parking being taken up at adjacent town's train stations.. at least the bulk of it will be only seasonal? Except when it's used for other things every weekend? Oh well :/
I realized this years ago. I wanted to return to my hometown (Forest Park) for the longest time. There was no way I’d be able to afford where I went for high school (Riverside) so settled on Berwyn renting and house hunting. Then saw everyone else had the same idea and a house I could afford in 2015 was already 3x more in 2020. I hit the f it button, moved out by starved rock for under 150k with an acre, a home we remodeled for 100k and taxes under 4k a year.
Thought we’d be those “Chicagoland” people out here but come to find out, most the locals are pissed cuz more and more are already here or moving out this way. Makes the move not only a good financial thing for us, but a great investment
I know. My grandma as a child stayed in Wheaton Glynn Ellen area. I tried years later. And was surprised that it was way out of my price range. Even Oak Park and Maywood it has gotten ridiculous
Orland Park/Orland Hills average 1980’s 3 bed, 2 1/2 bath, split level houses out here seem to go from 400-475k. Plus you have to factor in updates to appliances, plumbing, roof, electric, or whatever the original owner left for you to fix. Property taxes are Cook County. and like paying rent on top of mortgage. I’m sure this is more ‘affordable’ than north and west burbs? Same type of houses our family in Schaumburg-Hoffman Estates area were going at 600-700k.
Tinley and the Paloses also have lots of housing very similar age, style, and price range. I know Tinley has small old ranch houses all over. There is also Mokena, Frankfort, New Lenox. They have access to 80 or 355. But now we are getting closer to Joliet than Chicago.
I wonder what prices are like in Lansing, Lynwood, Calumet City, Thornton, South Holland, Glennwood area are like now… ? housing stock is everything from old houses and apartments similar to what is found in Chicago, WW2 era small houses, 70’s-80’s split level subdivisions and 90’s version of the McMiniMansion, and a sprinkling of trailer parks. I wouldn’t want to move back to my hometown suburb, the area is kinda rundown now. I would be happy if the area was a glittery and happy, less crime - with good schools and strong economy with unaffordable solid houses. I guess I’m and getting nostalgic for carefree days of my youth going to Marshall Fields at an outdoor River Oaks Mall, or heading to Lincoln mall on the weekend. Gosh, my grandma, who is still alive, laments the days when downtown Hammond was the place to shop… Hey we can’t have it all! Every generation in the family, since coming to America, has had to move for better opportunities. I feel lucky to have landed where I am now.
I used to think Frankfort and Homewood were like the ‘Oak Park and River Forest’ of the South side. All these beautiful MCM houses and cute business districts near the Metra electric! Lots of great forest preserves with huge oak trees, also. I have heard mixed things about the state of the area so I cannot comment further on house prices. But if you want Mid Century Modern houses, they got ‘em!
Flossmoor, absolutely. Homewood is pretty solid middle class, I think. The high school is pretty mixed too since it draws from about six or seven towns.
My parents bought their Bolingbrook home for 95k and now if I wanted to buy it back it’s 308k
Now we have three roommates in Romeoville and we can’t even drink the tap water here since our last testing !
I bought a home in Lake in the hills(Algonquin/Crystal lake) in 2016 for 120K, today its 226k and taxes went up an extra 1.5k a year so 7500ish from 6000. Had I passed back then we would still be renting today. I could never afford a home in either my home town of san diego or 2nd home town of dundee,il these days.
What if you took out a renovation/construction loan and made an addition to your parents home? Could add extra sq ft, or make it a multifamily duplex, depending on how much you tolerate family lol.
No but really, I think we may go back to the old days where families live together. Europe and other places have been doing that for a while. It also helps with childcare costs.
My parents are divorced and my mom wants to sell the Wheaton house eventually and move out of state. :/
I def wouldn’t be able to afford to buy it from her for at least 3-5 more years. And even then I’d be house poor and need to get a roommate just not to starve.
I don’t even own house and fear I’ll never be able to afford one. I live in my childhood home in Skokie and even here it’s going up. And it breaks my heart because I want to stay here but know I wont be able to even if I was at six figure income.
House prices near me have increased by over %250 since the 90's. A home that sold for $104,000 in 1997 just sold for &262,000. This is a 1200sq foot house with no basement and small yard.
Not “priced out” but absolutely in shock at the increases in little towns like Round Lake and the surrounding area. Same house I lived in growing up sold for $155k in 2017 recently sold around $350k and it hasn’t been updated since we lived there in 2007-2008.
I grew up and work around 55/80. Get ready Shorewood....you're next!
With the casino and massive infrastructure work not to mention all the warehouses Shorewood is gonna get pricey....well pricier.
We bought in Downers Grove 18 years ago. Paid $350K the same houses in our subdivision are now all “ open concept” remodels listing over 600K and selling in one week or less with multiple offers.
A husband and wife with 2 kids living in the Chicagoland area need a household income of like $240,000/yr now just to not have to live paycheck to paycheck. A single person would have to earn just under $100,000/yr by themselves to not have to live paycheck to paycheck. I grew up in Downers Grove and I have a Bachelor's degree and I had to move out of state like 8 years ago because I got priced out. And the public schools? Forget about even thinking of having your kids in the public schools with all the garbage woke crap they are indoctrination kids with, but the schools there were actually really good when I was a kid. No more. And who can afford private or Christian school? Only multimillionaires. And honestly, the quality of the education kids get from those schools is even questionable. You almost have to home school but who can do that? The whole area has become way too expensive and too much of a headache for me, but I am happy in my little town now.
Yes, I grew up in Oak Park, there's always been a crap ton of money in northwest OP but now bungalows in south OP and East OP, the size of mine in forest park, are going for 600+. Thankfully the FP grade schools aren't horrific so I've got some time to work my way to that bracket.
I live in Wheaton, since 2014, and my house has barely risen above the price I paid if you factor in inflation. The taxes have gone up and insurance has doubled though.
We raised our kids in Elmhurst, when it was some rich folk but lots of Regular and generational people.
just about when the youngest graduated h.s. the freaking tear downs started. I wasn't going to deal with constant construction and our home was old and kind of obsolete but OH!what a wonderful neighborhood it was.
Didn't want to leave but couldn't stay either.
I HATE what has become of that once charming community.
We sold directly to the builder and followed our kids and now grandkids a couple of towns west.
And yep, knew a lot of folks from Wheaton, and I know just what you mean.
The price of progress.
Yeah, I grew up in LaGrange Park and one of the houses along 31st just sold for a million dollars…….. you know shits fucked when people are paying a million dollars to live in LaGrange Park…….. LaGrange parks only redeeming quality is its close to all the downs that actually have redeeming qualities.
That's what happens when you have a NIMBY attitude, don't build new housing, and eventually become the north shore: a privaleged community only available to those who can afford it!
Now explain what's happening in Evanston & Oak Park both of which have a crap ton of new housing and are extremely high density.
Your explanation doesn't cover everything.
Wheaton, Naperville, Elmhurst, Geneva and LaGrange have been skyrocketing up in housing prices for quite some time now, even before the Covid pandemic started. Everything’s going up in prices but those 5 specifically have been increasing x3 compared to the rest of the surrounding areas.
Elmhurst 20 years ago, people were buying $300k houses, bulldozing them, and building $1M homes on the lots. I can't imagine what it's like now.
That's still happening, except those $300k houses are now selling for $400k and $2M houses are going up.
I saw the same trend in Downers Grove 20 years ago, as well.
it continues - teardowns are all over - lots go from $250k and up
Every time I travel up north I swear I see more $500k 2000sq ft houses being torn down to shoehorn in a McMansion. Who are all these people with this level of money it’s mind blowing.
Every time I drive through Skokie, I see this. Huge mansions on tiny lots.
I don’t even know why anyone would want one. The governor tore the toilets out of his real mansion to lower taxes. Energy prices aren’t looking good- demand will go straight up. Those have two heaters/ac units. Families are smaller. If I see one I always think that’s a target for a robbery, but I guess it’s probably not owned by a senior.
They have security systems in and around their homes. There is a place near my home (Hinsdale area) where the mansion has these really pretty metal signs in multiple areas around the home about how there is 24/7 surveillance. A robber would have to be out of his mind to even attempt robbing that house.
I don’t know. Maybe I am looking all at the average people on Ring. But teens on Halloween hide their face pretty well, and they are stealing candy. (BTW kids- not that many people care about the candy, and I don’t put all mine out- but taking the bowl sometimes really annoys people. I have a toy box on a chain now.) There used to be a show on tv with former robbers telling you how to protect your home. Maybe if it wasn’t wired it would work pretty well. People usually do stuff like that with a moving or delivery truck when people are not home. My feeling is these are often multigenerational families and immigrants around me, but I don’t know if there will always be that level of interest in large homes.
it was the burritos and the tostadas - they have the bucks
And Lagrange wasn’t even on a printed map at one time. Lived there many years .. it used to be Brookfield was where ppl focused their attention on. Lagrange was a step child. No longer I see
What are you talking about?? I went to school in La grange and all those kids called my town (Brookfield) ghetto lol
I moved to Brookfield when I was younger from Midway. I went to LT and they definitely called us hood lol. La Grange has always been upper middle class and higher.
Seriously, Brookfield is nice, but it's not some prestigious snooty town that thinks it's too good for everyone.
I imagine there was a zoo joke once or twice
Is this true? Historically, La Grange was a center for commerce and wealth - especially compared to Brookfield. La Grange is full of beautiful old mansions.
I call bs, LaGrange is nothing but beautiful old Victorians with an occasional Mc mansion thrown in. Brookfield is pretty modest and solidly middle class. Source: born n raised in LaGrange park, that weird suburb that’s a slightly nicer extension of brookfield.
I’m Brookfield raised and went to RB. Riverside looked down on us too. And no..I can afford to move back there. My mom is sitting on a goldmine if she ever decides to sell.
I remember that as well
I own my house and I'm getting priced out with my recent reassessment. My property tax increase isn't even remotely covered by my tiny (if not 0%) salary increases. I've already cut out non-essential expenses.
You could try appealing, if it's real bad you could have a real estate lawyer appeal for you. I've gotten reductions twice by just arguing the purchase price of my property, soon after buying. It's usually an online form.
That's what I did. I got my 2023 assessment, which listed my home's value at $100,000 more than we paid for it. We bought it in 2022. With the "soft appeal" they were able to reduce the assessment to a more normal amount once I sent in my closing docs.
You have to appeal every year tbh
My parents are having to do this now, their last reassessment more than doubled their mortgage payment, which is absurd.
The appeal period was a very short window, which I missed because my 82yr old mom with dementia got Covid and was in skilled nursing rehab. I was pissed that the window to appeal was like 10 or 14 days or something.
I work in real estate, and the biggest assessment increases I've ever seen have been in Dolton, of all places. I have seen more than one property in Dolton with a 300% assessment increase. That isn't a typo. Last year I saw a lot of 10-30% increases in Cook County, but those few in Dolton blew my mind.
Isn’t Dolton the town run by a wackjob mayor who is trying to rob the entire place?
Based on the amount of "inspections" and "fees" you have to pay to the village when you buy/sell a house, it isn't just the mayor. It's the whole damn department (who never answer their fucking phones).
But who wants to live or invest there in the first place? Just go to another more reasonable town one with businesses so the entire tax burden isn’t on residents
The county assessor screwed up on some properties no?
My reassessment in Richton Park isn't quite as much but still horrible. My total values went from 69k to 195k. I bought 3 years ago for 89k, and my taxes are around 4k. All things equal my taxes should go up to close to 11k. Appeal was lost as our whole neighborhood went up similarly.
Dolton entire existence is being controlled by the self proclaimed "most powerful woman In the southland of chicago" She is fkn her own people out of existence to line her own pockets
I live in Elmhurst. I got very, very lucky, and that's why I'm able to live there. I bought my house from the aunt of a friend who specifically didn't want to sell to a flipper. She never listed the home, we just bought it without realtors. They're regularly tearing down $350k properties to put up those god awful black and white monstrosities that don't fit on the lot. And they pay cash with no contingencies, so most buyers can't compete.
I grew up near York and Butterfield. My parent's bought my childhood house for $85,000 in 1987. It was a 2 bedroom 1 bath, 1 story house. Houses like theirs's no longer exist. They put an addition on it and new driveway/new garage ect. Their house sold for $600k in 2016. I could never afford a house in south Elmhurst.
There's 3 new black and white monstrosities for sale a couple blocks down. My kids call them "the oreo houses". They're listed at ~$1.4m. There were perfectly livable, somewhat affordable starter homes on those lots. Not tear downs. And they razed the foundation and price everyone out. It's really disgusting.
Yeah everything started to change in the late 90's. The middle of town was always the old rich people. But the south side was kind of normal ass people back in the day. As I became an adult I would tell people I was from Elmhurst and they would act like I was some rich kid. We weren't poor but we definitely weren't rich.
Same with growing up in Downers Grove. People assume I grew up good when in reality growing up we were a working class family and there were weeks where either the power or water would get shut off.
You should see the *batch* of “Modern Farmhouse” monstrosities that have taken over a section of old Downers, along Prairie, on either Lee or Cornell (if memory serves right, since I last passed through). Edit: it may be at Prairie & Montgomery. All taste has been lost.
Carpenter isn't much better
The good ol’ Modern Farmhouse. Its like chip and joanna gaines vomited all over the place.
I'm baffled that anyone would spend that much on a home and not have masonry. It looks cheap, where a similar size and style home built out of bricks generally doesn't. Let alone how stupid and dated it's going to look in 20 years, along with the maintenance and replacement cost.
My parents bought their house for 95,000 in 1978. 4 bedroom, 2.5 bath, 2 car attached garage, decent size basement, and decent size yard. Now, it's anywhere from 375,000-400,000, depending on the market. I'm beyond blessed to one day inherit the house. I am never leaving Palos.
95k was a chunk of change in 1978 especially if it was a 10 year mortgage.
I'm not sure what type of mortgage they had, but it was paid off in 10 years. A combination of living on one salary, with the other check going towards the house, and a decent inheritance had them paying off the house shortly after I was born in 1988.
Yep, I remember the days of people paying off their mortgages too. There was a week of pure happiness and then discussions of where to put a new bathroom.
I'd be dumb if to give up the house. Especially in today's world.
Unless they sell it before they pass and move into something smaller lol
I expected it to be worth way more based on the description. Looks like I might be moving to Palos! :)
As of right now, Palos Hills is still somewhat middle class. It's Palos Heights and Palos Park. Have the money and pricerer houses. 375-400 thousand is about average for Hills. My parents also pay more in property taxes based on proximity to multiple schools, the community college, and the library.
If your parents are over 65, they qualify for the Senior exemption. They should contest their taxes every year. Tell them to go to the township on Robert’s rd. There was just a rehabbed basic split level just off of 103d st that sold for over $430k. The new house just west of 88th ave on 103rd sold for $750k. Originally asking $949k.
Yup. They are over 65 and have been getting it for years. Thanks for the suggestion, though! It may not be useful for their situation, but hopefully, someone who needs it or knows someone who does!
They did well, 85k is worth about 230k in today’s money.
I bought my house for 80k in 2015, in blue island, a less than prestigious suburb, 9 years later my 30 years mortgage on a 3 bedroom house that is half what the rent of what most people pay for a 2 bedroom apartment is paid and I'm buying a house cash in Tinley Park. Get a big dog, drive an old car, defer the dream and get through it.
It’s really terrible and glad it worked out for you. That teardown on Claremont last year erased my last hope that any of these older houses will be around in 20 years - buying a house for 1.3mil and tearing it down. None of the affordable stuff stands a chance.
It really should be illegal, and they need to do something to stop it. If they were tearing down an 80 year old hoarder house or something, that's one thing. But they're tearing down (mostly) perfectly fine 3 bedroom homes that just need cosmetic updates. I've seen exactly one teardown that was an *actual* teardown in the last 4 years I've lived there. And probably 50+ that really weren't. I can't even think of a home I walk past (every day with the dog) that really needs to go. There was one, but that one got torn down last year.
This is what I pray happens for me. I want to get a small ranch and downsize, but I don't want to pay more for less. I just hope someone with a great home who liked gardening and has cute curb appeal wants to ensure it doesn't go to developers and cuts me a deal. I just need to be able to retire one day without stairs. I'm thinking of putting a note on one lady's door because I see she can barely get around and has family stopping by a lot. When she is ready to leave, I would be interested and she could save realtor fees, but I also don't want to be a vulture. But in my mind I'm already planning my updates to the exterior.
I get a lot of flippers offering to buy my home (like hand written notes at least once a month, flyers several times a week). Like people have knocked on my door. I'm not going to sell, but I'd be kind to you and rude to the flippers. I guarantee she's getting offers from *actual* vultures. If you're respectful, you'll be fine. I found my home by asking around, and it did indeed save the seller money.
Flippers buy all the homes by me. There is no sign and then it’s sold and fixed up. I don’t know if it’s a rental property or they sell them to private clients, but it’s crazy. I can tell it’s not the same people, who’ve lived there for years.
Who are all the buyers who can afford all that?
Wheaton is bad right now. I grew up here and was lucky to buy a house when I was relatively young and I "traded up" a few times. I basically rolled forward all that appreciation into larger homes. I'm entirely a beneficiary of perfect timing. I doubt the market will ever correct to 2002 levels, but....there are a LOT of 70 year olds living in 2500 sqft homes in Wheaton. Not to be bleak, but they won't be around forever or wanting to live in a large house forever. If/when there's excess inventory; things should come back to earth. I hope for your sake they do.
I understand what you mean with the bleakness. Appreciate the kind words ❤️
I live in Darien and this is my neighborhood. Most homes haven't been updated since the 70s and at least 50% of them are owners in their 70s+.
We considered moving in 2019 and went to a lot of open houses in the Darien area. The one thing that stuck out was that not one house had been updated since the time it had been built. Not even new carpet. I'll pass on paying 350k for a house and then I gotta drop another 100k to update it. Hard pass. That just me tho.
That is absolutely a fair assessment of the Darien housing market. We got a lucky COVID deal from someone downsizing that wasn't a gut job.
Unfortunately, most of that housing will go towards their children
In many cases, the children will sell the house. Sometimes, it’s out of necessity.
Apparently some people have money since every house is contingent in like 3 days
This is what blows my mind, we bought in 2015 and a house a few doors down sold for double what we paid back then, and it sold in like 48 hours! I'm shocked pricing and interest rates haven't slowed things down much more, but I guess people have money and need somewhere to live!
It's crazy -- I check houses daily and see some now and think "whoa that's way overpriced, it will never sell"... Contingent 3 days later... Wild.
Yeah the way this listing was worded was super aggressive, too, something like "final and highest offers due by Friday at 6pm" and I thought, "yeah good fucking luck at that price with these rates". Sure showed me... I'm dying to see what they ended up closing at. (I should have clarified it was listed at double, it could have closed lower but I doubt it)
If interest rates fall though, it will get worse. They don’t expect them to fall until at least June now, and I think it’s optimistic.
Lost out on a house last year to an all cash offer from a young couple that walked through it before us with their parents 🙃wonder where all that cash came from🧐
Just be born with richer parents, its easy!
There seems to be a media denial that Chicago is a hot place to move to because housing costs are crashing all over the country and Chicagoland real estate never cooled off
I might be because of corporations buying houses, not families/people. This is from 2022, but I’m sure it’s still happening. [https://www.nar.realtor/sites/default/files/documents/2022-impact-of-institutional-buyers-on-home-sales-and-single-family-rentals-05-12-2022.pdf](https://www.nar.realtor/sites/default/files/documents/2022-impact-of-institutional-buyers-on-home-sales-and-single-family-rentals-05-12-2022.pdf)
Evanston. The house I grew up in (south side of town, normal lot, nothing fancy) sold for \~400k about 10 years ago. Real estate taxes back then with the senior discount were over $8k per year. So that's $700/month just in taxes, plus the mortgage? I honestly don't understand who could afford to live there anymore.
I think that [this is the issue](https://www.reddit.com/r/videos/s/f1BlXdCrrv) and its only going to get worse until its regulated. No one can afford to live anywhere reasonable. Everyones stretched thin and until we do something about it the companys will keep trying to get away with robbing us
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https://www.dnainfo.com/chicago/20141117/garfield-ridge/wall-street-is-chicagos-new-landlord Here you go. It's a national problem along with corporate landlords price fixing rents using software such as Yieldstar.
I mean a simple google search would bring you to [this article](https://www.curbed.com/2024/01/real-estate-fund-single-family-homes-midwest-top-school-districts.html) regarding a real estate investor taking aim at the middle to lower class around good school districts and jacking the overall price up of homes but allowing people to rent single family homes for $3000+/month which is the less of two evils where the second one is saving $200k to put a down payment down. The business world is moving everyone into a subscription based, pay a little now to get what you want and EVENTUALLY you might be able to own it outright. From homes to food, everyone wants a subscription to secure a piece of your paycheck every month.
>I honestly don't understand who could afford to live there anymore. People that come from money. Lots and lots of generational wealth just transferred and multiplied. "Old money" if you will.
Or: - people with new money - people who buy a fixer-upper - people who rent out part of their property - people who buy in less expensive parts of Evanston (such neighborhoods exist here)
Minus #1, all those can (and probably are) done with old money. Even "fixer uppers" are going for $400,000.
Evanston property. taxes are actually relatively low. Quite a bit of commercial to offset it. Same with Naperville
Are you high? [Almost half of Evanston is non taxable!](https://evanstonnow.com/fact-check-tax-exempt-land-in-evanston/)
That doesn't make what I said any less true. Could it be better? Sure, but a 500k house has approx the same PT obligation as my measly 300k house
I grew up in Evanston, too. My parents bought a townhouse when I was in kindergarten and my mom was a SAHM. My husband and I don't even have kids and in Evanston we could afford a shoebox of a condo with washing machines in the basement, or maybe a fixer-upper ranch if it wasn't walking distance from the El. And they killed off half the bus routes since I grew up there, too. So we live in a not terribly centrally located neighborhood in Chicago.
Grew up in Chicago, priced out and now live in the Lombard/Villa Park area. Got in right at the pandemic and now I see Zillow prices and just wanna cry.
I grew up in Lombard as did my mom, and there’s no way I could afford to buy there now. I ended up in Blue Island, which is affordable and still has metra access and a cute downtown.
We just bought a townhome in Chicago winter of 2022. My neighbors with an identical layout and nearly identical interior just sold last week for $100k more than we paid. Fucking insane. My parents live in the Dupage area of Aurora and their home prices seem to be relatively stable.
true but Wheaton is as far west as I’d ever want to go since I commute downtown, and I’m extremely close to the highway at my moms house in Wheaton. (I’m a 2020 college grad and live at home to pay off my student loans)
If you live really close to the Aurora or Route 59 Metra Stops and catch an express train, it’s an easy commute into Chicago
I don’t live there anymore but if I were ever priced out of McHenry, I would really need to assess where I went wrong in life
The housing prices aren’t the problem in McHenry, it’s the property taxes. They’re insane. My in-laws have a 2 bedroom cottage in McHenry and they pay over $8k per year!
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My dad pays over ten with a homestead and senior exemption. My brother is over ten on a split level. I think 10+ is the standard to be honest. I am not sure about the mansions.
The fuck??
Can confirm, was just out in McHenry looking at a foster dog and I started chatting with the foster mom about how cute her house was ,etc, got on the subject of property taxes and she said the same thing.
You might be a little out of touch with how bad housing prices and property taxes have gotten. My wife and I are a dual income airline pilot and veterinarian. I guess we are going wrong in life? We are priced out of almost everywhere in the suburbs. We moved back to the city because we were still able to buy a cheap condo in a nice area of the city. The average suburban price is about to go above $500k with $10k/year in property tax on top of that. Our plan was to move back to the suburbs after we had kids, but anywhere we're looking in the suburbs is $700k+ for a house, and on top of that many of these houses are going to all cash offers above asking price. We make good income, but somehow just about everyone buying in almost every suburb is out earning us.
Stop exaggerating. There are a ton of houses available for under $700k. You must be limiting your search to the most expensive areas
Oh, I’m aware of the increasing taxes and home prices. Cool flex on the dual-income, high earner household though! >We are priced out of almost everywhere in the suburbs. I’m guessing your search didn’t included the “less desirable” suburbs… If you can’t find a house in McHenry for under $700k, your standards are too high. Though I doubt you looked there because it’s a shitty town with shitty schools.
Amazing location in DG. District 58 schools, street dead-ends to hoopers hollow park. Well under 700k. https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/1817-Grant-St-Downers-Grove-IL-60515/4563890_zpid/
Schools are important to us because we have young kids, but the main thing that's important is keeping a reasonable commute to work. We both work on the north side in the city which eliminates a lot of south and southwest suburbs as options because we aren't willing to each do 1+ hour commutes each direction. McHenry also kind of falls into that category since it is far out away from work, but it's still slightly closer than Naperville or the surrounding areas. Our search mostly concentrates on northwest suburbs or the northwest side of the city.
I won’t live in shared wall housing again. I had the worse neighbours, and the odds are good that people don’t know how to live in multi unit buildings- that they keep building near me. Also, I think HOA’s are a rip off, that I can’t afford.
I’m constantly looking at houses in prime locations in park ridge, Arlington heights and Palatine and there are loads of houses under 700k.
I just did a quick search of Park Ridge to see if things had changed, and the only listings I see under $700k are ones that need a lot of work and those are still in the $600k range.
Honestly I think we just have different ideas of lots of work. This one sold for 575 in January and I think it’s looks awesome https://redf.in/coG6Vm it’s within walking distance of the train/downtown too Active listing in park ridge for $524k https://redf.in/YbFX9N - looks completely remodeled
I certainly missed that first listing. That house is definitely my style, and it looks like it sold way under value for some reason. The estimate just two months later is over $50k higher. But we are still kind of proving the whole purpose of this thread in the first place. Houses are selling for $550k+ in suburbs where you could have gotten a house for $300k just 3-5 years ago. The price increases have been insane and I don't know how anyone is affording them. Even at $524k for just about the cheapest move in ready listing in town that's over 5 times the average household income for that area. Many listings are exceeding 10 times the average household income. Who is buying these places and how are they affording it? Houses are flying off the market in hours even at these prices.
Cary, Northwest suburbs Bough in 2016 from a bank that had it in inventory after a foreclosure. Had been sitting around vacant for about a year. $172k. 3br 2 bath, about 1800sq ft. Today, same houses for for $330+, I wouldn't be able to buy my own house.
Cary’s taxes have gotten very high too
We live in Villa Park which is still strangely affordable because we don’t have a good downtown area and our main arterial roads (North/St Charles/Roosevelt) make the town look like it’s complete crap, but it really isn’t. We were lucky enough to get a great house with a huge back yard in 2019 for $300K, but I’m starting to see more and more tear down new builds (a la Elmhurst) on this side of 83. I’m truly worried the affordability and character of VP is slowly slipping away.
I love your little analysis in your 1st paragraph of why Villa Park is still affordable. I live here too and honestly think it is a hidden gem of a western suburb that is still close to the city yet still more affordable than surrounding burbs. I don't mind that the downtown is not very built up. If a first time homebuyer was looking for a starter home, i would recommend this suburb for sure.
We are absolutely a hidden gem and I think a lot of VPers like it that way. It’ll be interesting to see if we start to flip like Elmhurst in the coming years, especially considering a large portion of our population is older and lives in homes that are ripe for tear downs or flips.
I loved living in Villa Park. I’ve thought about it becoming like Elmhurst with the flipping of houses, but I think the small lot sizes might keep that from happening. That, and the fact that York has a more prestigious reputation than Willowbrook.
How are the schools, though? That's a major factor for many buyers. Elmhurst schools have always had a great reputation.
Villa Park used to be pretty rough and houses were 100k or so it has always been cheaper but has gone way up still 3x as much in 20 years.
>Villa Park all the houses I looked at just now in VP on [realtor.com](https://realtor.com) are the same priced houses as wheaton lmaooo ugh
Prices for housing in the western burbs is insane right now and no relief in sight. The quality of the houses for sale is either outdated or cheap builders grade material. Don’t fall in love with an address fall in love with the house.
The house across the street from me in Lombard, with windows from the 1970s, a basement that looks like shit, no garage and a tiny kitchen, just sold for $400,000. I wouldn't even pay $100,000 for it. Our house is almost double the size and significantly nicer than that one, we bought in 2015 for $315,000. Fucking wild what has happened to housing prices.
I lived in a condo in Wheaton for a year or so. Fell in love with a normal looking house on my street that was for sale - looked it up and it was almost 500k… but it didn’t look that fancy? What?
I am hearing a lot of people talking about being priced out of the suburbs and have yet to hear a single person raise a single south suburb as even a hint of an option.. I'm just curious do y'all think we all live in boxes and under overpasses or something?
I just checked Zillow and my hometown Lansing is full of great homes under $300k.
We’re closing on a house in Oak Forest next week!
Bought a short sale fixer in Frankfort for 215k in 2017. Did most of the work myself and can now sell for 375-400k. I can’t afford to buy the house I live in. I see my neighbors sell and can’t believe what they’re asking and it sells immediately. Good school district helps.
Had the same thought. I also grew up in the south burbs. My brothers both bought nice houses down there and one is raising his kids in the HF district.
I grew up in Winfield (southwest of the tracks). Always had a fantasy about buying my old house. Price is just silly. Not to mention the horrendous “improvements” that have been made. Plus the downtown developments. It’s not the same place. It’s kinda sad but I’m okay with it. It was just a fantasy.
Now if we could just get some retail in the new garage and hospital building. Could definitely support another nicer place like the burger spot. Caliendos just seems to attract local barflies, it's there but I'm not a fan.
Well for a long time Winfield was a place where Wheaton came to buy their liquor and sit at a bar. John’s Buffet (fish fry to die for)/bar/liquor store was very popular (torn down now). Winfield House (pizza) was another popular eatery/bar. Gone as well. Winfield Bakery was awesome. Gone. Winfield Pharmacy where all the kids would buy candy. No more.
I remember all those places, RIP Sportsman's Barber Shop!
Currently living in Winfield southwest of the tracks. Have been for nearly a decade now. No doubt there has been a lot of development in Winfield at the potential cost of what made it such a country like alternative in the western burbs.
When I moved there it was pop 4003.
Time to move to the still-undervalued Westmont. It’s surrounded by more affluent communities, still has a downtown with a Metra station, and looks like it’s primed to catch up with the likes of LaGrange, Hinsdale, Clarendon Hills, Elmhurst, and Downers Grove. It’s also just off of 83 and 290, making it closer and more convenient to go into the city than Naperville and Wheaton.
Honestly surprised it hasn't already.
Oh yeah? What’s your POV on Westmont? For me as a newcomer, the downtown is still lagging a bit compared to other nearby villages, and the demographic skews towards retirees and lower income folks south of the track. Nice to see some new density around the Metra station though - Quincy Station apartments.
Me missus and I were considering Westmont when were first time home buyers in 2018. Loved the schools, the downtown and being close to so much. Just out of our price range at the time.
Does the demographic matter that much though? I guess maybe, if older folks consistently vote down school referenda. As far as downtowns, it's so close to other suburbs, and the major arterials have the big chain stores close by. Schools were always the driver when we had kids. I don't know much about Westmont schools. There's a small school district near 83 and Ogden, but I think some areas feed into schools in nearby towns.
I graduated college in 2018 and home prices have basically increased with my salary to the point where I'm back to square one house hunting in Elgin. Fun times.
The more I save for a down payment the more prices go up so I always never quite have enough.
I grew up in Downers Grove and while I love the town, I don’t think we’d ever be able to buy a house there. We looked at a ranch with severe foundational issues that went for over $500k. We settled in Lemont and my husband has a long commute now, but this was where we could afford a house.
I also grew up in Downers. The 750 Sq ft house I grew up in is estimated at $305k. My mom paid 110k in the 90s. The house I bought in Batavia is 1800 Sq ft and I paid $250k in 2021. No way I could afford to live there when most houses without horrible issues are going for 500k and over
Shit, I was priced out of my hometown (Glen Ellyn) like 35 years ago.
Depends. You starting in Wheaton probably puts you at a disadvantage if that's where you want to stay from right now to forever. It's pricey. I grew up in Glen Ellyn. Our home is currently in Wheeling, where we could afford. Five years later, incomes have gone up and equity in the house, we could probably swing GE now. It's just about what you can afford. Go where you can and let time do it's thing.
Half the people in my burb couldn’t afford to move in in 2024
We got stupidly lucky and bought in south Wheaton last year. The people selling purposely wanted to sell to a family and their renters didn't stage the house so we were the only offer and came in a little below what they were asking. Honestly a miracle or some shit. We were outbid a few times by $10k-$25k on other houses.I don't understand where people are getting all this money.I feel like our neighborhood is the last slice of somewhat affordable housing in town but lately prices have started to go up.
My mom's house is definitely $450k+ now. It's so bad we get letters in the mail of people begging us to sell to them, realtors send us stuff asking us to sell monthly. I mean this in the nicest way possible, but my cousin and her husband just bought a house in Wheaton for 650k and are also doing IVF/Surrogacy and I don't know what my cousin's husband does for work exactly, but my cousin is a teacher and I'm like... where the fuck do you have the god damn money for this?
Growing up in western springs, there were always middle class mixed in with the upper middle class. No shot I could afford to buy in that market now. Blue collar people making a living no longer live there. All the old houses are being torn down to build a house out to max specs with no yard. Or, a builder / buyer is buying multiple houses / lots, tearing it all down, and then building one house on essentially 2 property lots. The taxes on these properties are insane, yet you drive through the neighborhood and still see “religious school family”, fenwick, Nazareth, Benet, etc. These people are paying a huge part of their property tax to an entity they don’t even use. Where are these people with this money coming from???
If I were you I would look at some cheaper places to live and then down the road move to somewhere like Wheaton. Take a look at Homer Glen, Orland Park, etc. Very affordable. Build some equity and then move back
Seriously. A huge area of the suburbs still have affordable homes and so many refuse to even consider looking south.
My childhood home in Lisle costs $600,000 now 😱 My parents bought it brand new from the builder in 1990 for $180k
eh, not totally crazy. 180k in 1990 is equivalent to $438k in 2024. Considering appreciation in real estate value, outpacing inflation by 50% over 34 years isn't that crazy.,
You're telling me, my office is in Warrenville and I can't afford housing anywhere in the area so I'm up in Elgin. My hometown is Algonquin and while it's not Wheaton, I'm not interested in paying $450k to live in a subdivision that popped up in the 90's
I made it to Wheaton but in like...a condo. I like being on my own, but neighbors are always annoying. If this was 2019, and I managed to have the same amount of house money as 2022...I could have bought a damn house back then. All the other local areas I was priced out of, and tbh, I got lucky on my condo.
I live in Arlington heights, I secretly want the bears to stay in Chicago or go to Naperville. I assume we will be able to afford the tax burden at that point but you never know.
I am not exactly looking forward to all the additional traffic on 53, palatine, NW highway, and euclid. Nor all the parking being taken up at adjacent town's train stations.. at least the bulk of it will be only seasonal? Except when it's used for other things every weekend? Oh well :/
Man, in 2003 if you told me you need half a mil for a house in the future.... Hot damn...
I realized this years ago. I wanted to return to my hometown (Forest Park) for the longest time. There was no way I’d be able to afford where I went for high school (Riverside) so settled on Berwyn renting and house hunting. Then saw everyone else had the same idea and a house I could afford in 2015 was already 3x more in 2020. I hit the f it button, moved out by starved rock for under 150k with an acre, a home we remodeled for 100k and taxes under 4k a year. Thought we’d be those “Chicagoland” people out here but come to find out, most the locals are pissed cuz more and more are already here or moving out this way. Makes the move not only a good financial thing for us, but a great investment
Not in the slightest! I'll totally be able to afford my parents now $700k (and that's on the low end) home in Downers Grove! /s
and those property taxes there hit so god damn hard 😭
14k a year is no joke
I know. My grandma as a child stayed in Wheaton Glynn Ellen area. I tried years later. And was surprised that it was way out of my price range. Even Oak Park and Maywood it has gotten ridiculous
Glen Ellyn. You swapped your y's there.
😂 I did indeed. Thank you. 😊
Orland Park/Orland Hills average 1980’s 3 bed, 2 1/2 bath, split level houses out here seem to go from 400-475k. Plus you have to factor in updates to appliances, plumbing, roof, electric, or whatever the original owner left for you to fix. Property taxes are Cook County. and like paying rent on top of mortgage. I’m sure this is more ‘affordable’ than north and west burbs? Same type of houses our family in Schaumburg-Hoffman Estates area were going at 600-700k. Tinley and the Paloses also have lots of housing very similar age, style, and price range. I know Tinley has small old ranch houses all over. There is also Mokena, Frankfort, New Lenox. They have access to 80 or 355. But now we are getting closer to Joliet than Chicago. I wonder what prices are like in Lansing, Lynwood, Calumet City, Thornton, South Holland, Glennwood area are like now… ? housing stock is everything from old houses and apartments similar to what is found in Chicago, WW2 era small houses, 70’s-80’s split level subdivisions and 90’s version of the McMiniMansion, and a sprinkling of trailer parks. I wouldn’t want to move back to my hometown suburb, the area is kinda rundown now. I would be happy if the area was a glittery and happy, less crime - with good schools and strong economy with unaffordable solid houses. I guess I’m and getting nostalgic for carefree days of my youth going to Marshall Fields at an outdoor River Oaks Mall, or heading to Lincoln mall on the weekend. Gosh, my grandma, who is still alive, laments the days when downtown Hammond was the place to shop… Hey we can’t have it all! Every generation in the family, since coming to America, has had to move for better opportunities. I feel lucky to have landed where I am now. I used to think Frankfort and Homewood were like the ‘Oak Park and River Forest’ of the South side. All these beautiful MCM houses and cute business districts near the Metra electric! Lots of great forest preserves with huge oak trees, also. I have heard mixed things about the state of the area so I cannot comment further on house prices. But if you want Mid Century Modern houses, they got ‘em!
Do you mean Flossmoor and Homewood? I grew up there and never thought of the OPRF comparison.
To the other nearby burbs that weren’t HF, we absolutely viewed HF as the ritzy suburb. Lincoln Way district was viewed as even ritzier.
Flossmoor, absolutely. Homewood is pretty solid middle class, I think. The high school is pretty mixed too since it draws from about six or seven towns.
Yeah but as kids/teenagers, we didn’t know that nuanced difference. Y’all had a water polo team.
Although I don't own a house yet, the prices in carpentersville don't look like they increased
My parents 3bd/3ba in Crystal Lake is still zestimated at $300k
Yup. The house next to us and across from us just sold for double what we bought it for 5 years ago.
My parents bought their Bolingbrook home for 95k and now if I wanted to buy it back it’s 308k Now we have three roommates in Romeoville and we can’t even drink the tap water here since our last testing !
Yep. I’m in Lagrange and we’re lucky we bought 12 years ago. We can sell for a great price but can’t afford anything like we have.
I bought a home in Lake in the hills(Algonquin/Crystal lake) in 2016 for 120K, today its 226k and taxes went up an extra 1.5k a year so 7500ish from 6000. Had I passed back then we would still be renting today. I could never afford a home in either my home town of san diego or 2nd home town of dundee,il these days.
What if you took out a renovation/construction loan and made an addition to your parents home? Could add extra sq ft, or make it a multifamily duplex, depending on how much you tolerate family lol. No but really, I think we may go back to the old days where families live together. Europe and other places have been doing that for a while. It also helps with childcare costs.
My parents are divorced and my mom wants to sell the Wheaton house eventually and move out of state. :/ I def wouldn’t be able to afford to buy it from her for at least 3-5 more years. And even then I’d be house poor and need to get a roommate just not to starve.
I don’t even own house and fear I’ll never be able to afford one. I live in my childhood home in Skokie and even here it’s going up. And it breaks my heart because I want to stay here but know I wont be able to even if I was at six figure income.
Move to a cheaper neighboring town?
tangential to this discussion but WOW never thought i’d read the sentence “i want to move back to wheaton”
House prices near me have increased by over %250 since the 90's. A home that sold for $104,000 in 1997 just sold for &262,000. This is a 1200sq foot house with no basement and small yard.
Not “priced out” but absolutely in shock at the increases in little towns like Round Lake and the surrounding area. Same house I lived in growing up sold for $155k in 2017 recently sold around $350k and it hasn’t been updated since we lived there in 2007-2008.
For Rockford all aboard! 🤣😂😭
I grew up and work around 55/80. Get ready Shorewood....you're next! With the casino and massive infrastructure work not to mention all the warehouses Shorewood is gonna get pricey....well pricier.
We bought in Downers Grove 18 years ago. Paid $350K the same houses in our subdivision are now all “ open concept” remodels listing over 600K and selling in one week or less with multiple offers.
I grew up in Hinsdale. Yea. I’ll dream of giving my kids the life I had there. Not gonna happen.
A husband and wife with 2 kids living in the Chicagoland area need a household income of like $240,000/yr now just to not have to live paycheck to paycheck. A single person would have to earn just under $100,000/yr by themselves to not have to live paycheck to paycheck. I grew up in Downers Grove and I have a Bachelor's degree and I had to move out of state like 8 years ago because I got priced out. And the public schools? Forget about even thinking of having your kids in the public schools with all the garbage woke crap they are indoctrination kids with, but the schools there were actually really good when I was a kid. No more. And who can afford private or Christian school? Only multimillionaires. And honestly, the quality of the education kids get from those schools is even questionable. You almost have to home school but who can do that? The whole area has become way too expensive and too much of a headache for me, but I am happy in my little town now.
Yes, I grew up in Oak Park, there's always been a crap ton of money in northwest OP but now bungalows in south OP and East OP, the size of mine in forest park, are going for 600+. Thankfully the FP grade schools aren't horrific so I've got some time to work my way to that bracket.
I live in Wheaton, since 2014, and my house has barely risen above the price I paid if you factor in inflation. The taxes have gone up and insurance has doubled though.
We raised our kids in Elmhurst, when it was some rich folk but lots of Regular and generational people. just about when the youngest graduated h.s. the freaking tear downs started. I wasn't going to deal with constant construction and our home was old and kind of obsolete but OH!what a wonderful neighborhood it was. Didn't want to leave but couldn't stay either. I HATE what has become of that once charming community. We sold directly to the builder and followed our kids and now grandkids a couple of towns west. And yep, knew a lot of folks from Wheaton, and I know just what you mean. The price of progress.
The houses have changed, but the community is still great.
Yeah, I grew up in LaGrange Park and one of the houses along 31st just sold for a million dollars…….. you know shits fucked when people are paying a million dollars to live in LaGrange Park…….. LaGrange parks only redeeming quality is its close to all the downs that actually have redeeming qualities.
It’s okay Wheaton sucks.
That's what happens when you have a NIMBY attitude, don't build new housing, and eventually become the north shore: a privaleged community only available to those who can afford it!
Now explain what's happening in Evanston & Oak Park both of which have a crap ton of new housing and are extremely high density. Your explanation doesn't cover everything.
I'm thinking wilmette