Talk to me about taxes (Buffalo Grove, Buffalo: apartment complex, renters, mortgages)

[My Kind Of Town]

Originally Posted by Lookout Kid

Incorrect. DuPage County has a HEROIN problem, which is a very serious problem on its own. But meth isn't particularly common here compared to other areas.

LK, how are your property taxes trending in Glen Ellyn? Have they leveled off in recent years? I like Glen Ellyn and would consider if we decided to move rather than add on to our current home but the taxes on homes in the $600k-$800k range seem very high relative to many of the nearby affluent towns.

[RJA29]

Originally Posted by My Kind Of Town

LK, how are your property taxes trending in Glen Ellyn? Have they leveled off in recent years? I like Glen Ellyn and would consider if we decided to move rather than add on to our current home but the taxes on homes in the $600k-$800k range seem very high relative to many of the nearby affluent towns.

Compare your property tax rate (database) - Chicago Tribune

GE is somewhat high. It's why I bought in Downers Grove.

[spicy_guy]

Anyone has any opinion on Buffalo Grove, IL. I have been renting for the past 12 years and now we are considering buying a house for ~375K. But from what people think here in this forum, its not a good idea to buy a home here in IL.

The property we saw is around our price range $375. But taxes tops 11K/year which freaks me out.
How does this much tax is justified vs my friend with 1.1M home in Bay Area, CA (Fremont), pays about 8K property tax. His home is in the best school district and very nice neighborhood.

I can't wrap my head around this. Many people I talked to said, IL is broke and its only going to get worst.

I am at crossroads whether to go ahead and buy vs move out. I lived NW suburbs for 5+ years. Got used to cold and snow. BUT.. property taxes made me think to get out of IL.

[Lookout Kid]

Originally Posted by My Kind Of Town

LK, how are your property taxes trending in Glen Ellyn? Have they leveled off in recent years? I like Glen Ellyn and would consider if we decided to move rather than add on to our current home but the taxes on homes in the $600k-$800k range seem very high relative to many of the nearby affluent towns.

Mine increased by about $200 over last year, even with the recent re-assessment. I can't complain too much about that. According to property records, the taxes on my home have increased by about $1,500 over a five year period, with the largest increase happening between 2011 and 2012.

Yet on the positive side, an appraiser just appraised my house for about $90k more than we paid for it three years ago as part of a refi process (thanks Brexit). We have done some improvements, but nothing major.

[damba]

Buffalo Grove is nice and schools are good there. But I will be brutally honest with you regarding overall affordability. If the extra $300/month towards a tax escrow would affect your budget significantly then I'd wager that SFH ownership right now is not a good idea yet. That's too small of a comfort margin for my taste with all sorts of things that can pop up you have to fix owning a SFH. IMNSHO, you should be looking at less expensive homes to be able to pay taxes and save comfortably.

On that note, you might not be fluent in CA COL overall, or their school issues for that matter. Don't use the lower property taxes as the only factor. Read through some of the other threads in the CA sub-forums. COL is much higher in the Bay area (including Fremont), so that's not what you should be comparing with. And BG schools are more stable too. In CA even many good districts have done quite a lot of cutting in things like sports/band/STEM spending that just isn't happening in the same frequency in southern Lake/northern Cook county school districts, which are quite good. In any case, you better have two solid paying jobs in your household to be living a comfortable life in CA, especially if kids expenses are a factor. The same money goes a lot further here.

Originally Posted by spicy_guy

Anyone has any opinion on Buffalo Grove, IL. I have been renting for the past 12 years and now we are considering buying a house for ~375K. But from what people think here in this forum, its not a good idea to buy a home here in IL.

The property we saw is around our price range $375. But taxes tops 11K/year which freaks me out.
How does this much tax is justified vs my friend with 1.1M home in Bay Area, CA (Fremont), pays about 8K property tax. His home is in the best school district and very nice neighborhood.

I can't wrap my head around this. Many people I talked to said, IL is broke and its only going to get worst.

I am at crossroads whether to go ahead and buy vs move out. I lived NW suburbs for 5+ years. Got used to cold and snow. BUT.. property taxes made me think to get out of IL.

[RJA29]

Originally Posted by Lookout Kid

Mine increased by about $200 over last year, even with the recent re-assessment. I can't complain too much about that. According to property records, the taxes on my home have increased by about $1,500 over a five year period, with the largest increase happening between 2011 and 2012.

Yet on the positive side, an appraiser just appraised my house for about $90k more than we paid for it three years ago as part of a refi process (thanks Brexit). We have done some improvements, but nothing major.

I've been wondering if I should refi a purchase from April. Might make sense if I can roll closing costs into the refi, or is this just silly? Initial purchase appraisal was 30K over, and I've put about 60K into the house.

Thoughts?

[knitgirl]

Yes, it might be a good idea, rates are still very low. There should be calculators online that let you figure it out. I can give you some potential fees based on what we charge at the bank I work at. I am a loan processor. We charge a $975 Admin fee. There is also an appraisal fee that can vary but is generally $375 or so. The credit report is about $30 and the flood cert is $6. We have relationships with several title companies, so those fees are WAY less than for a purchase. I'd say title would run you between about $550 and $700. Because you just bought your house in April, you may need to document the improvements. (I'd need to check the guidelines/have more info.) Also, just because you put $60k in, doesn't mean your value will go up that much. I periodically see articles in the real estate section of the Trib that gives an average of how much various types of remodeling adds to the value. It's almost never 100%.

[spicy_guy]

Originally Posted by damba

Buffalo Grove is nice and schools are good there. But I will be brutally honest with you regarding overall affordability. If the extra $300/month towards a tax escrow would affect your budget significantly then I'd wager that SFH ownership right now is not a good idea yet. That's too small of a comfort margin for my taste with all sorts of things that can pop up you have to fix owning a SFH. IMNSHO, you should be looking at less expensive homes to be able to pay taxes and save comfortably.

On that note, you might not be fluent in CA COL overall, or their school issues for that matter. Don't use the lower property taxes as the only factor. Read through some of the other threads in the CA sub-forums. COL is much higher in the Bay area (including Fremont), so that's not what you should be comparing with. And BG schools are more stable too. In CA even many good districts have done quite a lot of cutting in things like sports/band/STEM spending that just isn't happening in the same frequency in southern Lake/northern Cook county school districts, which are quite good. In any case, you better have two solid paying jobs in your household to be living a comfortable life in CA, especially if kids expenses are a factor. The same money goes a lot further here.

Thanks. Our house hold income is a little above $200K.
So are you implying that high taxes worth it in BG? My thinking is, shoving money into taxes for nothing much in return. In Bay Area, CA (inc Fremont), home prices go up crazy even with that crazy high prices. That is not true for BG, IL.

[damba]

Originally Posted by spicy_guy

Thanks. Our house hold income is a little above $200K.
So are you implying that high taxes worth it in BG? My thinking is, shoving money into taxes for nothing much in return. In Bay Area, CA (inc Fremont), home prices go up crazy even with that crazy high prices. That is not true for BG, IL.

Most people would pause before placing so much of their cash in a non-liquid asset (e.g. extremely high priced CA real estate). Buying anything around the Bay area would do just that. Unless your household income went up quite a lot, you would be not necessarily hedging anything by buying there.

Perhaps you know something about the CA RE market, property taxes and overall COL situation in 20 years that I don't when you are going to try to sell the CA home? <rhetorical>

Please focus on my comment above in the thread regarding school comparison and COL. You make plenty of money to be able to afford a really nice house here in a nice suburb, unless you are heavily in debt.

[damba]

Everyone's 'net' is different. It cannot be authoritatively answered here w/o knowing all your personal particulars.

Might be cutting is close though unless you plan on staying in the house for awhile. Interest rates now so low already as it stands.

Originally Posted by RJA29

I've been wondering if I should refi a purchase from April. Might make sense if I can roll closing costs into the refi, or is this just silly? Initial purchase appraisal was 30K over, and I've put about 60K into the house.

Thoughts?