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

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hoover1060

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Apr 9, 2005
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I am disgusted.
I've been thinking of buying a house, so I've had a realtor checking for me.
I know where I want to be, and know how much space I need.
Last weekend I looked at 6 houses in the neighborhood I want to live in, of which one stood out.
It stood out because it wasn't a total dump.
Pics are in my album, have a look folks and please share your opinions. I took these today when I brought my parents over for a look.

http://HOOVER1060's Photos
 
The house doesn't look too bad from here. I always like split levels more than a two story house but now I'm more geared towards everything on one floor with a finsished basement. Pricey though isn't it...that house would sell here for about $200k USD with annual taxes of about $2000. in a better neighborhood How much are the property taxes?
 
Oh I forgot..whenever you're looking at a house during the daytime,, turn off the lights to see how bright it is during the day.. we made that mistake once, always needed lights on in the kitchen/family room no matter how sunny outside it was..
 
Dear Jeff....

Hi,

I think it's absolutly beautiful. I have loved tri-levels from my youngest memories, and think that they are JUSt awesome. However...the price. YOWWWWW!!!! I hope that you were sedated when you heard what they were asking. that price even made me sweat some.

I am in the process right now of allowing my brother Jeff, and his whiny, (she hates the interior decoration of my house) wife to buy my old house from me in Grand Ledge, which because of many unforseen circumstances..like job changes...that have taken me to another part of the state, and breaking off a longtime relationship...which makes me hate the house even more as so much time was wasted there with the puke.

A change was needed and becasue of my brother who has started a family...this allows him a perfect opprotunity to raise his twins in the town where we grew up. And it pleases my dad that he will NOT be indebted/owning two houses..as he was my co-signer for this property. It all owrked out rather well, and frees up my person to get another hosue here in the Southern Lower Michigan area.

On a lighter note..things are going very well for you, and you deserve a nice piece of the american dream. I am currently looking with a realator as well for soemthing in the burbs of Ann-Arbor, Ypsilanti and possibly Saline which has houses in the mid ranges ($ 90,000 dumpy- to $150,000 ritzy and unescesary). I have found one ranch with three bedrooms and a partially finsihed basement fro $129,900. IT WOULD TAKE ME 30 YEARS TO PAY IT OFF !!!!!! But it's beautiful, built in 1964, and has a central vac and intercom by Nutone. It also has the built in Nu-tone Multi Purpose appliance installed in the kithen counter and a Nutone Vent Hood. the appliances are all period 1980's Sears Kenmore tho and are a puky beige.

Again looks great, and it will be a place that will coninue for you to grow and prosper...and it will have a nice yard for Jack. That's another selling feature of the Saline house...it's situated on 3/4 acre on the outskirts of town and it's a totally fenced property. Perfect for Duke.

Anyway go you and let us know your outcome. Hopefully your parents liked the property. I know that from what we've discussed, they let you know EXZACTLY what they think and why...LOL

Yours

Chad
 
Thanks for that tip Pete...

My kitchen in this house is like that, always need a light on no matter what time of day...

Price: At $349K this is on the cheaper side for the neighborhood. This is one of the smaller models, the larger ones are getting to about $400K

According to the realtor sheet, annual taxes are $3300, not too bad...
 
oh I forgot to mention...

Model name: The Aspen
Built: 1975, by Centex Construction
Subdivision name: Winston grove
Bedrooms: 3
bathrooms: 1.5
LR/DR, kitchen, family room, one car garage, 1970's finished basement(paneling and ugly floor tile)
I'm guessing about 1800 square feet.
4 total levels including the basement
Fenced backyard
 
I was just going to ask if it was a 4 level split, see that it is. I'm guessing it's gas forced air heating and if so is it the original furnace. If you decide to get serious about it I would strongly recommend getting a certified home inspection company to go through it top to bottom, inside/out. It'll give you some peace of mind before signing on the big $350k X and you can always write it into the offer to purchase that it's subject to a satisfactory appraisal by "your" inspectors, leaving you an easy way out.
 
Jeff, that "RCA" dishwasher is a GE/Hotpoint. In 1977 or so, there was a builder that came to Houston and started building houses like these. They were called "Raised Ranch" style. The front door entered the house at the "anding" where one could go up to the main part of the house which was a living room, had an eat-in kitchen with space for a large table, a breakfast bar, and the kitchen was very similar looking to yours. Down the short hall was a hall bath, two bedrooms, and master bedroom & bath. Downstairs had a very large family room with very small laundry room off that. There may have been a 1/2 bath down there too. At the foot of the downstairs stairs, you turned right and went down a very short hall to enter the 2-car garage.
 
yes...

gas forced air heat, appeared to be the original furnace, and outside the original central A/C unit.
Newer water heater, Kenmore.
There was a 2nd stove in the basement furnace room, gas. It was connected too...
The original kitchen appliances were Hotpoint: double oven electric range, dishwasher, and 8000 rpm disposal. This has had everything replaced except the disposal which is a head scratcher. Why is it still working after 30 years?
Also included were a MOL belt drive Kenmore washer. and BOL Kenmore gas dryer
 
Jeff, those Hotpoint/GE garbage disposers were very long lasting. My parents had one put in about 1968 and it was still going strong when they moved out in 2002. OY, what a travesty. That Hotpoint double oven range was the 1970s version of the GE Americana Hi-Lo double oven range. What a loss. Now the original Hotpoihnt dishwasher?? almost as much a joke as a Frigidaier or Youngstown dishwasher.
 
What a nice house! Hope it all works ourt for ya!

Housing prices, IMHO are realtive to the market in which they are located and the avaiable jobs in the local economy.

That house here would be at least $600,000.

The beauty of the northeast is, once you own a house here, you can pretty much move anywhere in the country and buy a house there CASH. But should you not like it, you would never be able to afford to move back.

A one -bedroom aparment around here, even in the least desirable area is $1,200 per month minimium. (heat & HW included.)

http://newyork.foxtons.com/search?m...earch_form=map&submit_type=search&per_page=40
 
for my next move....
I want to find a house or building that produces income.

If the hosue has gas, I'd separate the heat and hot water , giving the tenants their own gas meter. Since I like to cook electrically, my unit would be oil and electric.

NYS allows one electric meter beyond the number of legal units. So a legal single family home can have two lectrci meters. Logic is, when rented LL pays outslide lights, boiler electric etc.

Mortgage stays the same except for scrow acount (taxes insurances, etc.). Rents go one way-- up.
 
$350K is not super expensive around here...

Elk Grove Village has always been one of the nicer of the NW suburbs, and because of a huge insustrial park, the taxes have always been very reasonable, until a couple of years ago and the dreaded O'Hare expansion-reconfiguration will take some of that industrial park away...

My friend Janice lives in this subdivision, in fact she's an original owner from 1975. She was astounded at the price of this house(her model is similar, but larger and called "The Elm")
Of the original kitchen appliances, Janice still has the Hotpoint double oven range. The original Hotpoint DW expired sometime about 1990, and I replaced the disposal for her in 1998. Janice always took very good care of her stuff, so when she replaced something, it was dead from natural causes and not from abuse.
I'll see if I can get a pic of her stove, I can say its in very good shape and probably still works as new.

Toggle: very interesting comparison to the NY real Estate. SoCal is pricier yet, and for what?
I keep hearing the housing market is slowing and softening, but around here with the prices and how fast stuff sells, you'd never know it!
 
Jeff, is the house in Roselle? Have you expanded your search at all? I lived in Rolling Meadows until 1998 and had a very cute 3 bedroom ranch that I sold for $150k, although I understand they are going closer to $250k now. But anyway,RM is a cute town, LOTS of splits etc.... The house your looking at is very nice for 350, here in New Jersey (suburban NYC) you can't touch anything like that for that price. The house we bought in 99 for 379k is now going in the 800's.... good for us, crappy for people that want to buy though (unless the have $$$)
 
This might make you feel better...

Google up some Maui real estate listings. After a while you will dance for joy as the only thing you can get here for $350,000 is a termite infested Wailuku plantation style house on a flag lot with severe termite damage. Even modest, 50 year old hollow tile (read-cement cinder block) home here in Kahului run $450,000 to $600,000. Want to live in desireable south Kihei? $700,000 to a cool 1.5 mil for home that look like any typical suburban home on the mainland. You know you are truly kama'aina (local) when you hear a house sold for $650,000 and you think "Not too bad..."

Well, you know what they say-"Location, location, location!"
David-who will always probably be a renter here.
 
Good luck Jeff! Looks like a very cool house even if it needs a bit of a facelift on the outside...I like the split-level design as well, and the interior screams 70's which is OK with me! Have fun with that belt-drive Kenmore washer as it's probably from that time period as well, and hang on to those even when your Amanas are hooked up!! I am astounded at the asking price...since it's essentially a tract house (not custom-built), one like this down here would probably be in the $140-180K range. Centex was/is somewhat common in Houston (though their current homes are on the "starter" scale now, as is the case with many other builders around at that time, IMHO).

Our old house in Northwest Houston (built by Ryland Homes sometime in the 1980's) was a variation of what Bob was talking about. You walked up steps to the front door (pity the appliance deliverymen that had to bring the Plastic GE's up there and carry out the WCI's...LOL), and entered on the landing. From there you could either take a set of stairs upstairs (where the kitchen, living room, 1 bath, and 2 bedrooms were located), or downstairs (occupied by another living room, wet bar, 1 bedroom, and 1 bathroom). Turning right at the bottom of the stairs took you out to the attached garage. The house essentially had two master bedrooms, as the upstairs bath was the Hollywood/Siamese design, accessible by a door from the hallway and a door from the bedroom.

They definitely need to come off a bit from what they're asking, but if you really want it, go for it! It probably wouldn't be a bad idea to take your Kenmore with you and replace the BOL GE-design dishwasher once you move in...;-)

--Austin
 
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.
 
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.
 
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.
 
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. :)
 
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.
 
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
 
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!!!
 

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