What $350K will buy you in the Chicago burbs...

[whirlcool]

Overpriced and Overblown Housing Values!

We had a house like this as our first house in 1979. It was out in Woodridge, IL. I believe we paid $75,000 for it back then, and that was expensive! My sister recently told me that my "old" house was back on the market for $229,000.
After living in several cities around the country, Chicago has to have some of the highest housing values around, maybe with the exception of California and Metro NYC.
How do people just starting out get the kind of money to buy something like this? Are companies starting their fresh college new hires at $100K per year or what? I have a freind that's a stock broker/financial consultants and I asked him this same question. His answer? "Mommy & Daddy".
In Houston here you can find plenty of great houses for $200K or less. Even though I "offically" work out of MSP,(I commute)housing values keep us here. We'd have to spend $450K to have the same kind of house in MSP that we have here in Houston. We have grown accustomed to the wonerful winters down here and not having to shovel snow all the time.
Appnut:
Where in Houston are these raised ranch type homes? The only place I have ever seen this type of home has been the upper midwest.

 

[hoover1060]

answers...

To Jmm:
The house in in Elk Grove Village, off Meacham road. If you remember the Super Kmart on Meacham, it faced this subdivision.
A neighbor here just moved to RM back in June, bought in the subdivision by Algonquin road-Rt 53 for $320K

Austin:
Centex built darn near all of Elk Grove Village. I grew up in a Centex house. Depending on your taste, you can find 1957 vintage Centex all the way thru 1985 vintage, all in Elk Grove Village. They ranged in size from 1200 sq ft starter homes(now priced $275-300K) to 2500 sq ft "luxury" homes (priced $450 to 500K)
The house you describe is what we in Chicago would call a raised ranch. Looked at one of those today, nice but it looked like it just fell out of an issue of BH & G. Way too much FROO FROO for me!
I should have grabbed a pic of the belt drive Kenmore... it was in decent shape, almond color. Funny because the dryer was newer and really beat up compared to the washer.
Where ever I go, my Amana is going with me.

 

[toggleswitch]

Tom:

Strange? How so?
and what's w-rawng with LawnG-Island?

LOL.

Those houses in the $350k range may look nice. But believe me
unless your dealer won't come to you, you woudln't really want to go there at night to see him if you could avoid it.

 

[sikiguya]

Come out further west..................................

We just sold a 1 acre ranch in Yorkville (55 miles from downtown Chicago) for $300,000 and are buying a 4 br, 2 1/2 ba, house with a den, full basement and more for $384,000 in Oswego (near Aurora and 10 minutes from getting on I-88 at Orchard Road).
There are still some deals to be had out farther in the 'burbs but they are getting few and far between.
Your taxes in RM are great at $3300. Ours for the ranch were $4800 and the new house is going to run about $8000. High taxes are a way of life in Chicago. In Sun City, Arizona, my mom and grandma pay about $450 in taxes a year since they do not have to support the schools.

 

[hoover1060]

$8000???

THUD!

That was Jeff hitting the floor at the thought of $8000 a year taxes

 

[toggleswitch]

big deal.

HA HA HA HA.

Mine are $6,000 for a SHACK. a decent house here is $11,000.

(Teachers BTW make $80k. police and garbage P/U not far behind.)

 

[petek]

I'd expect streets paved of gold for that amount

 

[polkanut]

My great-aunt and uncle's home here in Wausau is assesed @ 132,600 for a 17yr. old ranch. It has all the original appliances, i.e., GE gas range, LK washer & gas dryer, and almond GE fridge. It has a 2 car attached garage, full basement, gas forced air heat w/ac, vinyl siding, 3 bdr., 1 3/4 bath, laundry room, and 1152 square feet. Our home is a 1925 bungalow w/gas forced air @ ac. We have vinyl siding, all new windows, 2 car attached garage, 3 bdr., 1 bath, full basement, laundry room. The hot water heater, stove, and roof were replaced by us just before we moved in ('98). Our home had the 3rd bdr., dinette, and basement family room, and garage w/ breezeway added in 1962. Our home is assesed @ 83,700. And before anyone asks, no I didn't want the old stove. It was electric w/ a smooth top that was really gross (lot's of cooked on stains). My wife and both grew up using gas ranges. We have a Magic Chef range & fridge in almond, and a 1 yr.old built-in Whirlpool d/w (almond). Our washer and dryer are "98 DC Maytag's w/ suds saver.

 

[toggleswitch]

Prices are relative.....

$132,600 ???

my "plain Jane" 4/2/1 coop sold for that +$50k
(rooms/beds/baths).

No garage
no central air
no basement
W&D squeezed in a 7 x 9 kitchen

 

[polkanut]

P.S. Our home has 1140 sq. ft.

 

[hoover1060]

this is how crazy it all is:

My taxes now are about $2500 a year... not bad
My current place is a 3 bdr 1.5 bath townehouse, about 1600 sq feet built 1972.
In 2002 I paid $146K for it.
On the next block over, one just like mine, same model, just differences in decor and stuff sold for $210K last spring...

Realtor told me I could easily list my place for $230K

THUD!!!

 

[westtexman]

What $350K buys you in West Texas!

I guess we are "small time" here in West Texas. One of the homes listed here is in the neighborhood where Bob Knight (College Basketball Coach) lives. As you can tell, $350K goes a LONG WAY here, and taxes are pretty low, which makes for an excellent standard of living. Only problem is, just imagine trying to cool down a 4200 sq ft home in the dead of summer?

Tex

http://www.coldwellbankerlubbock.com/property/proplist.asp?PRM_PropertyTypeCode=RES&PRM_City=Lubbock&PRM_Minimum_Price=325000&PRM_Maximum_Price=350000&PRM_Minimum_Beds=&PRM_Minimum_baths=&pagestart=1

 

[DADoES]

First house I bought in Sept 1991, paid $56K, sold it Jan 2005 for $98K. I thought that was an outrageous inflation. 20 years old, 3/2/1, 1,278 sq ft. The particular buyers were hot after the location. But I had about $10K work done before I sold, foundation leveling, roof, painting and trim. And spent $6K on replacing the air conditioning several years prior.

Same as what Tex says for Lubbock, $350K makes for an upscale property over here. Real estate agent a few lots over from me sold her own place in the last couple weeks for $350K (link below, but it may not work for long). Taxes are fairly high. My valuation of $221K will be around $6K tax. And that doesn't consider provision for the bond issue passed last month for a new school. Ugh.

http://www.beckywied.com/content/listdetail.html/29860518?proppos=37&ag_id=1380807&pageclicked=4&RowCount=40&startpos=31&endpos=40&ids=22923511,26607533,18202858,29693690,27562341,30899412,29860518,29315020,30410338,27445656&propertyCount=40

 

[hoover1060]

lotsa bang for the buck in Texas

The company I work for has a corporate facility in Plano, TexaS, and there have been a few people from here who have transferred down. They've pretty much all said the same thing, namely they sell more typical homes here, and are able to purchase much larger homes in TX.
I've no idea what I would do with a 4000 sq ft house, except Jack would have lots of space to roam, and I would have tons of room for more Hoovers!

 

[gansky1]

What $350K will buy in Omaha near our house. This house is only a few blocks away and doesn't even have the best curb appeal from the pictures. There are quite a few houses that have sold for this amount and are torn down immediately replaced with much larger, more expensive homes.

ICYMI: Propertybase GO is now Lone Wolf Front Office

Propertybase users: Log in here

www.cbshome.com

 

[gansky1]

When Anderson calls...

Here's where we'll live! ;-)

http://www.brownharrisstevens.com/detail.aspx?id=401185

 

[hoover1060]

Anderson??

Who's Anderson?

I know I am mising something...

I like that area of Omaha, my organ professor played at Pacific Hills Lutheran church, 90th and Pacific ave...

 

[retromom]

Bigger is better in Texas!

For the money, Texas is a great value! We do everything bigger here; especially homes. People love to talk about their 4000 square foot plus McMansions! LOL

Our property values here in the 'burbs have gone up considerably. However, I see a little tapering off because of gas prices. It just doesn't make sense to drive to Houston from here when you have to fill up every other day! OY

 

[westtexman]

Suburban Houston -

Venus -

Is Bellville considered suburban Houston? Are there many people who live there and commute to Houston everyday? Although I've not been to Bellville, my aunt lives in North Spring/The Woodlands (30 miles from downtown), and it takes my uncle about an hour to get to work everyday. How long does it take to get from Belville to Downtown?

Tex

 

[frigilux]

hoover 1060--- I have a similarly-sized home; 3 bdrm, single car tuck-under garage, 1.5 bath, etc. My garage has a floor drain and is heated and air-conditioned, just like the house. There is a woodburning fireplace in the family room. The yard is fenced-in. I live in a very small town in rural Minnesota (pop. 4,500) and paid $73,500. And my friends in town scoffed at me because they said I overpaid!!

So, while housing is cheap, it also means I have to live in the boondocks...