Why is everyone so down on Homewood/Flossmoor? (Oak Park: mortgage, houses)

[Army_Guy]

The south suburbs seem to have the reputation of not being the more desirable suburbs from what I've seen. Shame because there are good communities in the south suburbs.

[PrairieGirl]

That is true Army Guy, it's because there are more blacks here than in N/NW suburbs. But HF*has a*reputation of being integrated, not segregated, and is solidly middle to upper-middle class.

[BRU67]

Originally Posted by Midwest Revival

Whites moving out makes the city go to crap? Take a hike.

Who REALLY cares about test scores? Blame common core for them being low.

People who care about home equity, that's who! I'm sure there's some who don't care but if I'm going to be shelling out $1,900-$2,500 per month for housing costs and subjecting myself to the mercy of property tax increases, then I want some prospect of increased value. Otherwise I'll just rent, or buy in a place where I can get equity so I don't have to work until I'm 98 years old.

You can rally about how unfair the common core is all you want but that's what home buyers have to go on, and it does very much matter (at least with suburbs).

[ChiAreaGuy]

I'd prefer Arlington Heights in every way you could try fool me into there. I'd prefer Antioch, Gurnee, Carol Stream, Schaumburg, Downers Grove, Naperville, Plainfield, Palatine, Barrington, heck, probs even STREAMWOOD, which is.... beugh.

Location is undesirable. Schools are average and below average. Large population on Welfare it seems. Elmwood Park/Oak Lawn is cheap, but more desirable even, although it is not a favorite.

Look, take any NW, N or W suburb. I'll take Palatine, not too poor, and not the NS either. Take your Homewood. Mmm, still prefer Palatine.

Let's take now.... Addison. Still more desirable. Roselle? Still better.

Sorry, the South had it's good times, now it is the North's time.

[Midwest Revival]

Originally Posted by ChiAreaGuy

I'd prefer Arlington Heights in every way you could try fool me into there. I'd prefer Antioch, Gurnee, Carol Stream, Schaumburg, Downers Grove, Naperville, Plainfield, Palatine, Barrington, heck, probs even STREAMWOOD, which is.... beugh.

Location is undesirable. Schools are average and below average. Large population on Welfare it seems. Elmwood Park/Oak Lawn is cheap, but more desirable even, although it is not a favorite.

Look, take any NW, N or W suburb. I'll take Palatine, not too poor, and not the NS either. Take your Homewood. Mmm, still prefer Palatine.

Let's take now.... Addison. Still more desirable. Roselle? Still better.

Sorry, the South had it's good times, now it is the North's time.

Large population in H-F on welfare?

You north burbs folk are so misinformed and very amusing, probably haven't been out here in years.

[Runuova]

Originally Posted by Midwest Revival

Large population in H-F on welfare?

You north burbs folk are so misinformed and very amusing, probably haven't been out here in years.

It's usually a generalization tossed out by whites who fear being housed near poor blacks and Hispanics. Doesn't really matter if they're affluent minorities or not because it's safer (in their opinion)to generalize them all rather than make a mistake.

[LIS123]

Originally Posted by OccidentExpress

Paying a $7k tax bill on a $200k house in a neighborhood that's experiencing white flight isn't exactly an appealing proposition.

This is pretty much it. We used to live in Flossmoor in the 1980s and it's far less desirable now than it was back then.

Peoples' attitudes towards Homewood and Flossmoor don't have much to do with emotion or hate. People who choose not to reside in those towns are not haters. The question isn't 'why the hate of Homewood and Flossmoor?' The question, to me, is 'Why should I buy a home in a town that's universally perceived as declining and has no business leading it to raise the already insane property taxes in perpetuity only to eventually sell the home for less than what I paid for it?'

I know someone who just sold his home in Flossmoor for $100K less than purchase price after only 3 years; if I had to guess, purchase price was <$500K so that's a huge percentage loss. We have family friends trying to sell their house (an upscale one) in Flossmoor now and they can't even give it away for 20% less than what it cost them to build 20-22 years back. That's 1 20% loss in nominal terms and a LOT more than that after adjusting for inflation. One reason is the taxes ($30K/annum) stay the same no matter how little they sell it for and buyers know the taxes will rise in perpetuity (at a fast clip). Unless the buyer gets the house for $500-600K (which is a 50% loss to the owners), it's unlikely that they will be able to break even when the home sells. Unless obtained at a fire sale price, buyers know homes in these areas are depreciating assets which, over time, become liabilities.

[silvertonesx24]

Originally Posted by OccidentExpress

Paying a $7k tax bill on a $200k house in a neighborhood that's experiencing white flight isn't exactly an appealing proposition.

This.

https://www.redfin.com/IL/Flossmoor/.../home/12849033

8200sqft custom house for $450k. You'd also be paying more in taxes per month than you would be on your mortgage. All that money for no equity, and it's only going to get worse.

Might as well buy a $1M+ beachfront home in Miller Beach or Pleasant Prairie. Your monthly payment would be less.

[BER78]

I agree with the comments above. We had seriously considered Flossmoor but just couldn't get past the high taxes and declining property values. It's sad so many people are losing money after 10-20 years in their home. We really wanted to make it work in Flossmoor, but couldn't take that risk.

[silvertonesx24]

Maybe people are down on H/F because it's just so fun to look at the prices of houses like you turned the clock back to 1992.

https://www.redfin.com/IL/Flossmoor/.../home/12661086

This 4400sqft McMansion would be $800k in any "desirable" suburb, yet in Floosmoor it's $359k- and you'd still be paying more to the government than to the bank.