Affluent Naperville Subdivisions (Park Ridge, Washington: real estate, townhomes, neighborhoods)

[Citigurl]

It looks like we are headed to Naperville, and I know very little about the area. We've driven around, eaten downtown, walked along the beautiful riverwalk and that's about it.

Can anyone suggest subdivisions where the homes are $450+? Our budget is $500 to $550K and we would like to be where the schools are 9s and 10s since we will have kids soon. A sense of community is important to us as well as safety.

We don't have a realtor for Naperville yet because I would like to know about the neighborhoods first instead of relying on a realtor's suggestions. If I know abut the neighborhoods I will be able to give the realtor a better idea of exactly what we are and are not looking for.

Thanks for any suggestions!

[BrianHunter]

I guess affluent is subjective but $500k is about the norm in Naperville for a 2500 square foot home. Do you want to live with in walking distance to downtown? That will determine if you get a newer house or older house (Built in the 70s/80s). The further away from downtown you get the newer the house but than you lose what naperville is known for and that is the downtown and convinient train/expressway.

I lived in naperville walking distance to downtown and sold my house for $540k in 2010. It was a 2 story georgian built in late 70 and about 2400 sq foot. We lived in west branch subdivision which is little less than mile from washington west on jefferson.

[whakru]

Winding Creek and Farmstead have homes in that range that are in the 203 school district. Both have nice neighborhoods with pools and good schools. Close to 75th and Washington for easy access to downtown and trains, shopping, etc.

The previous poster is correct in saying that there are a lot of places in your price range as it is on the somewhat higher side of average for the area. Not necessarily affluent in the context of the 800,000 to 1 million plus neighborhoods in Naperville.

I think that you need to decide what geographic part of Naperville makes the most sense for you and then start looking at the subdivisions in that general area. It is a big place and it makes a difference where you land in terms of commute time and getting around in general.

Good luck!

[chet everett]

While they may homes listed at / above $1M in Naperville you'd have to a really love love love love the Riverwalk and carillon concerts to spend that kind of money when you'd almost certsinly get a better value in other towns at that price point...

[chisub]

Ditto to the others about wondering what kind of home you would like first. There are definitely cheaper homes around here, but that's a pretty modest budget depending on what part of town and what type of home you are desiring. I'm not sure where you are coming from, but make sure that you are taking real estate taxes into account with your budget when speaking with your lender. Your budget is pretty average in these parts and you shouldn't have any problem finding a nice neighborhood with good schools, so I would focus on where work is and what your wants/needs are so we can help direct you better.

[BrianHunter]

Originally Posted by chet everett

While they may homes listed at / above $1M in Naperville you'd have to a really love love love love the Riverwalk and carillon concerts to spend that kind of money when you'd almost certsinly get a better value in other towns at that price point...

Right around the downtown there are alot of houses well over $1m and also in Jefferson estates which is across jefferson from where I lived. If you want a new, larger house walking distance to naperville you will easily be looking at $1m+.

Its more than just the riverwalk and carillon concerts, it is a very convinient place to live, every store and restaurant is not far away and if you are walking distance to down town it is great. Wife and I were in 20s when we lived there so us and friends/relatives spent alot of time at the local watering holes. With the colleges in town it is a very lincoln park like atmosphere. Lots of young people.

[chet everett]

I know they exist, the question is "does it makes sense to spend that much in a town with a median price so much lower and so wide a range of options"...

The OP on this thread seems to be looking at a much more realistic price point and ought to have many homes to choose from -- the mapping function of any of the real estate search tools ought to give them plenty of info about how close to train / town prospective homes are. That information is probably the single most important factor in determining the likely price of otherwise similar homes in Naperville, of course there are some folks that will also want to live inside the attendance area of the highest rated schools in Naperville and that information is also readily found.

[whakru]

Originally Posted by chet everett

I know they exist, the question is "does it makes sense to spend that much in a town with a median price so much lower and so wide a range of options"...

The OP on this thread seems to be looking at a much more realistic price point and ought to have many homes to choose from -- the mapping function of any of the real estate search tools ought to give them plenty of info about how close to train / town prospective homes are. That information is probably the single most important factor in determining the likely price of otherwise similar homes in Naperville, of course there are some folks that will also want to live inside the attendance area of the highest rated schools in Naperville and that information is also readily found.

I think that they know that they can find price point information on the web but that is not what they are asking. There are other things to consider in a neighborhood that you cannot discern from the MLS. For instance, given that the price range is the same in two neigborhoods, I would choose one that is quiet, away from electric lines, sidewalks, mix of young families, not junky looking (well maintained), and about a dozen other subjective characteristics. Every neighborhood has a certain "feel" to it.

I think that they want to get an idea of the neighborhoods that are well regarded in their price point and then direct the realtor to those locations. As you know, given that you have been in real estate, this is not something that a realtor can do (steering). The OP is looking for opinions.....it is not always about how close to the train the house is.

[chet everett]

It is not just proximity to the train station itself, the various desirable parts of Naperville are pretty easy to map out based on price alone. There really are no "trashy" parts of Naperville, in fact the city owns the electric infrastructure and they even have maps online of where the high tension lines are...

Anyone shopping based on "where the young families are" is too clueless to help as the ubiquity of family oriented housing in Naperville is well known and has won the city many awards.

There are a wide variety of development patterns represented within Naperville, with eras from before the Civil War to the present all having been active. Most of the older neighborhoods / subdivisions have seen LOTS of renovation activity and even a fair bit of tear down activity.

Honestly there are only a few towns along the BNSF which need someone with "expert level" knowledge of the differences between similarly priced neighborhoods to "guide" shoppers and Naperville ain't one of 'em...

[Citigurl]

First, thank you for all of your responses.

Second, we are coming from the city and my husband works in the loop. I know that 500 - 550K is not necessarily "affluent" but I used that word to catch people's attention and there was already an old thread named Naperville Subdivisions that did not answer my questions.

We want a newer home (around 10 years old), relatively close to the Rt. 59 stop. "Relatively" meaning we won't have to drive 30 minutes to get to the train. But, of course, I have no idea if that is the norm. We prefer a subdivision because we are hoping it will be easier to meet people that way.

I'm going to quote what whakru said because some of it was spot on for what we are looking for. We would like a subdivision that is "away from electric lines, (has) sidewalks, (and is) ...well maintained," and has a mix of people in their 20s, to 50s with a friendly feel. I include an age range because we looked at two townhomes in Park Ridge that were huge which we liked, only to find that all of the neighbors were in their 70s, 80s and 90s and we are in our 30s and 40s.

There are some things that the MLS can't tell you and I am really grateful for all of your input since this will be a huge change for both of us.

If I need to provide more info to help you help me, please let me know. Again, thanks!