Moving to Naperville by April 2019 - Need help!!! (Chicago, Warrenville: sales, real estate)

[PR84]

Hi there!

My wife and I are planning to buy our first home in Naperville. We have a 2 year old and #2 is due in April 2019 and we're hoping to find a house and move in time =).

As Naperville will most likely be where we'll settle long-term, I am looking to find a house that meets most of the criteria below (ranked by importance below):

1. Best schools within the best school district (I don't know if this would be 203 or 204?).
2. Low crime, good neighborhood with decent community/neighbors, activities for kids
3. My wife works near York Road and Ogden Avenue. Ideally we're wanting her commute to be under 35 minutes each way
4. Close to downtown Naperville for dining and entertainment

Our budget is between $350k - $400k. Also, if anyone can recommend or has used a realtor that is familiar/specializes in Naperville, please let me know.


Any input is greatly appreciated, thanks in advance!

[JoePO]

Originally Posted by PR84

Hi there!

My wife and I are planning to buy our first home in Naperville. We have a 2 year old and #2 is due in April 2019 and we're hoping to find a house and move in time =).

As Naperville will most likely be where we'll settle long-term, I am looking to find a house that meets most of the criteria below (ranked by importance below):

1. Best schools within the best school district (I don't know if this would be 203 or 204?).
2. Low crime, good neighborhood with decent community/neighbors, activities for kids
3. My wife works near York Road and Ogden Avenue. Ideally we're wanting her commute to be under 35 minutes each way
4. Close to downtown Naperville for dining and entertainment

Our budget is between $350k - $400k. Also, if anyone can recommend or has used a realtor that is familiar/specializes in Naperville, please let me know.


Any input is greatly appreciated, thanks in advance!

Brookdale might meet your needs. Housing costs are between say 350-450k$ for 4-5 BR SFH. It's an older neighborhood (ca 1985?), so has mature trees, sidewalks, etc. Reasonably close knit, low to zero crime. Has a community pool/clubhouse/tennis courts (which you have to join separately, not a HOA type thing).

Brookdale Elementary and Hill Middle schools are withiin walking distance. It's D204... and frankly I think the minor differences between 203/204 are not going to affect how well your kids do or what colleges they'll get into - at that point its much more dependent upon their own ambitions and factors like parental involvement, peer groups, etc.

Commute time to York/Ogden probably 15-25 min, depending upon traffic. It's about 9-10 miles, and you can use I-88, Warrenville Rd, or Ogden as potential routes. Nice to have alternatives.

Downtown Naperville is about 3 miles away, so an easy bike ride or very short car ride.

[BrookeBaker]

My family and I moved to Naperville from California last year in June, so I am familiar with the questions/concerns you are addressing! I work for a Realtor at john greene Realtor in Naperville - an amazing, local real estate company. I would love to help get you set up with a home search and share any lessons we learned in our move.

I was on the internet a lot when we were looking for our home and to find out which school district we liked the best. We also visited, stayed at Hotel Indigo (which is a great boutique hotel in the heart of downtown Naperville) and did school tours to become even more familiar with the subtle differences. You can check out GreatSchools.org to find out more information, but you really can't go wrong in Naperville. The schools are fantastic.

We were also concerned about safety when we moved. I think you will find that Naperville comes up in nearly every search as one of the most safe cities with the best schools in the Chicagoland area, if not the country!

You can definitely find a home in Naperville within your price range. There a lots of great neighborhoods that keep the commute short and within walking/biking distance of downtown Naperville. University Heights and surrounding neighborhoods are where I would suggest your start. Let me know if I can be of more help.

[PR84]

Originally Posted by JoePO

Brookdale might meet your needs. Housing costs are between say 350-450k$ for 4-5 BR SFH. It's an older neighborhood (ca 1985?), so has mature trees, sidewalks, etc. Reasonably close knit, low to zero crime. Has a community pool/clubhouse/tennis courts (which you have to join separately, not a HOA type thing).

Brookdale Elementary and Hill Middle schools are withiin walking distance. It's D204... and frankly I think the minor differences between 203/204 are not going to affect how well your kids do or what colleges they'll get into - at that point its much more dependent upon their own ambitions and factors like parental involvement, peer groups, etc.

Commute time to York/Ogden probably 15-25 min, depending upon traffic. It's about 9-10 miles, and you can use I-88, Warrenville Rd, or Ogden as potential routes. Nice to have alternatives.

Downtown Naperville is about 3 miles away, so an easy bike ride or very short car ride.

Thanks for the advice! I agree with you that sending a child to top rated schools doesn't guarantee anything.....it's as much responsibility on the parents and how much time and effort they put into helping with school work/activities.

We are aiming for 4BR SFH around 2,500+ sq. ft for our price range, but if we are wanting newer homes and not having my wife's commute exceed 30-35 minutes....where else else do you advise?

I know taxes vary, but we are wanting to be under $10k (more between $7,500 - $9,000)

[JoePO]

Originally Posted by PR84

Thanks for the advice! I agree with you that sending a child to top rated schools doesn't guarantee anything.....it's as much responsibility on the parents and how much time and effort they put into helping with school work/activities.

We are aiming for 4BR SFH around 2,500+ sq. ft for our price range, but if we are wanting newer homes and not having my wife's commute exceed 30-35 minutes....where else else do you advise?

I know taxes vary, but we are wanting to be under $10k (more between $7,500 - $9,000)

Not sure what you mean by "newer" homes - the really newer ones (built in the last 10-15 years, say) at that price point will be further south in Naperville, south of 95th street even, but that will be a longer more tedious commute and pretty far from downtown Naperville. Newer homes closer to central Naperville will be in the 700k$+ range. The homes in Brookdale and surrounding neighborhoods (e.g., down River Rd.) have for the most part been updated in the last 10-15 years. My home had a recently updated kitchen, MBath, and 2nd bath when we bought it in 2015. Also many of these homes have finished basements which add considerably to the living space (so that ~2500 sq ft home really has ~3200sq ft of finished living space). Taxes are just under 10k$, mostly in the 8-9k$ range in Brookdale.


There is not much inventory out there now, but I suspect it will pick up around February.

Here's some examples of recent sales that meet your criteria :

https://www.redfin.com/IL/Naperville.../home/18076057
https://www.realtor.com/realestatean...-90161#photo18
https://www.realtor.com/realestatean...-29141#photo14
https://www.realtor.com/realestatean...-87710#photo22

[Kmanshouse]

My house meets your needs exactly, and we are looking to put it on the market at the end of February.

Our asking price will be right in your range, exactly.

4BR/2.5BA/full basement (unfinished). Huge 1/2 acre yard with mature trees - a wonderful playspace for kids. Elementary school is visible from our house, 5 houses away.

We are empty nesters and are downsizing. We have loved our home for 14 years and have made many improvements.

I literally couldn't have written a more perfect buyer for it.

feel free to private message me and I can share more details - maybe we can avoid all the hassle. Your timing is perfect for us too.

[Kmanshouse]

To be more specific, we live 3 miles south of downtown Naperville, near 75th/Modaff. Takes us about 8 minutes to drive to downtown for dinner (or Uber home after drinks).

Culdesac lot.

We do not have a clubhouse in our neighborhood, which is actually great for saving money on HOA - we have a voluntary $25/month HOA for the grounds, and newsletter. Park district has tons of options.

Taxes are in the $7,800 range. District 204.

If you want to chat, email me at kmanshouse@yahoo.com

[PR84]

Originally Posted by JoePO

Not sure what you mean by "newer" homes - the really newer ones (built in the last 10-15 years, say) at that price point will be further south in Naperville, south of 95th street even, but that will be a longer more tedious commute and pretty far from downtown Naperville. Newer homes closer to central Naperville will be in the 700k$+ range. The homes in Brookdale and surrounding neighborhoods (e.g., down River Rd.) have for the most part been updated in the last 10-15 years. My home had a recently updated kitchen, MBath, and 2nd bath when we bought it in 2015. Also many of these homes have finished basements which add considerably to the living space (so that ~2500 sq ft home really has ~3200sq ft of finished living space). Taxes are just under 10k$, mostly in the 8-9k$ range in Brookdale.


There is not much inventory out there now, but I suspect it will pick up around February.

Here's some examples of recent sales that meet your criteria :

https://www.redfin.com/IL/Naperville.../home/18076057
https://www.realtor.com/realestatean...-90161#photo18
https://www.realtor.com/realestatean...-29141#photo14
https://www.realtor.com/realestatean...-87710#photo22

Thanks JoePO!

Yeah, we don't want her commute to be tedious and I know Rt. 59 can become a nightmare in the mornings and evenings. It seems the further south we go, the more home you get.........but you are further from things like DT Naperville, the airport, city, etc. We prefer a being closer to DT Naperville rather than more home, and I suppose it is better resale value if we ever decide to move into something bigger down the road.

[PR84]

Originally Posted by BrookeBaker

My family and I moved to Naperville from California last year in June, so I am familiar with the questions/concerns you are addressing! I work for a Realtor at john greene Realtor in Naperville - an amazing, local real estate company. I would love to help get you set up with a home search and share any lessons we learned in our move.

I was on the internet a lot when we were looking for our home and to find out which school district we liked the best. We also visited, stayed at Hotel Indigo (which is a great boutique hotel in the heart of downtown Naperville) and did school tours to become even more familiar with the subtle differences. You can check out GreatSchools.org to find out more information, but you really can't go wrong in Naperville. The schools are fantastic.

We were also concerned about safety when we moved. I think you will find that Naperville comes up in nearly every search as one of the most safe cities with the best schools in the Chicagoland area, if not the country!

You can definitely find a home in Naperville within your price range. There a lots of great neighborhoods that keep the commute short and within walking/biking distance of downtown Naperville. University Heights and surrounding neighborhoods are where I would suggest your start. Let me know if I can be of more help.

Hi BrookeBaker, please PM me.....I'd love to chat and pick your brain.

[PR84]

Are there defined parts of Naperville that are unincorporated?