Long Grove relocating (Barrington, Hawthorn Woods, Barrington Hills: HOA fees, big house, buying)

[sam2002]

My family currently live in the city, and are planning to move to the suburb. We like more country style. We are looking for a house with budget about 1m. We like sports, parks and country club. Long Grove does not have its own park district. We like Royal Melbourne country club houses with the view of golf courses, but the HOA fee is quite high without many amenities. Any comments about Long Grove and Royal Melbourne houses in particular?

[chet everett]

Like many "golf centric" developments that were hot in the 90s the HOA fees tend to depress the selling price of the homes. The other thing that I have noticed when showing homes in that area is that many / most have a lot of features that are dated -- kitchens that were "high style" 20 years ago now look very out of place with intricate carvings when simpler styles are now more stylish. Giant whirlpool baths look almost "porn star" like in some homes and use HUGE amounts of expensive to heat water. Built-ins sized for rear projection TV mean big costs to retrofit for a plasma set. Clunkly analog intercoms / whole house music are costly / ugly to upgrade to more modern iPod-friendly systems.

Stevenson High has very good performance numbers, but is about as big a high school as Illinois has, and that means a whole different level of competition for slots on the popular sports teams. A similar level of competitive filters down to younger levels and leads to a lot of early specialization / expensive travel team camps. Those costs are a lot harder to swallow because, unlike money spent on park districts via property tax, you get no break on income taxes for such expenditures. This reflects a sort of "old people"(who tend to have more assets than income...) mindset that is not uncommon in areas with the "big house, no sidewalk" development pattern...

[Decaf4me]

The homes there are very large, and the fixed costs high. Kildeer and Hawthorn Woods offer much better bang for Buck. Kildeer in particular has great access to shopping and the schools are excellent.

[middle-aged mom]

The monthly assessment at Royal averages about $475 per household. It's all about maintaining the grounds and the gated entrance. Country club membership is not included. Something like 75% of Royal owners are CC members, golf, social or club house.

Homes are huge and custom. Some indeed are showing their age with dated kitchens, baths and finishes.

Kildeer and Hawthorn are probably a better bang for the buck if you are willing to forgo living in a private, gated CC community. Pay attention to school districts in these towns as some areas feed in LZ schools. ( Not that there is anything wrong about Lz schools- they are simply not at the performance levels of Stevenson and Barrington.) Many in Kildeer belong to the Farmington Pool and Tennis Club. Hawthorn has a fabulous public pool.

Wynstone, in North Barrington, is another gated community. Properties feed into either LZ or Barrington, depending on location. Those in the Barrington Schools district tend to be pricer. Like Royal, CC membership, in all forms is separate.

Golf course communities in this area are all about lifestyle, not the best financial investment. The more over the top the finishes, the more it depreciates over time.

You may want to enquire of the demographics with the management company. Many of the established CC communities in this price range trend mature owners who live elsewhere during the winter. This may or may not appeal to you. Lastly, all these communities have more than their fair share of foresclosures, too. If you are into a major project, you can pick up a 90's Mc Mansion for a fraction of former resale values.

[GolfLover2]

sam2002: Nothing wrong with any of the areas mentioned above ... but a strong suggestion would be to work with a professional to find the home you want. Especially if you're buying in that price range. Work with someone that knows and understands the market well ... and is independent. You see all options that way. The point made above about Stevenson being a great school, but large ... and the problems that can go hand-in-hand with that ... are entirely true. Something to really think over, should you have kids involved in your decision. Please feel free to shout out for a referral, if you decide to go that route ...
Best of luck to you ...

[linicx]

I don't know if Barrington would work or not. This village has seven parks with many features that kids like such as a state park and aquatic park. Barrington Hills, Bitmore and Wynstone are private clubs with dress code, golf and club house that offers fine dining. Wynstone is not a full service club in the same sense as a counry club. As far as I can determine Bitmore and Barrington both have beach access and offer a non-equity course for members. Bitmore membership is by invitation only. Barrington has some surprises I didn't expect such as Mercedes-Benz dealer and the European Tailor.

[m3brt]

Or..look at country club estates on golf course with $50 annual fee. you get gold on back yard for free and reasonable prices and premier southeast LG location.

Originally Posted by sam2002

My family currently live in the city, and are planning to move to the suburb. We like more country style. We are looking for a house with budget about 1m. We like sports, parks and country club. Long Grove does not have its own park district. We like Royal Melbourne country club houses with the view of golf courses, but the HOA fee is quite high without many amenities. Any comments about Long Grove and Royal Melbourne houses in particular?