Moving to Mokena, il please help (Chicago, Orland Park: rent, houses, transfer)

[gag]

My wife is a nurse being transferred to a facility in Mokena to work with covid patients next week. I'm retired, and we decided to move nearby since we have family near there. Our problem seems to be our budget is about 350K, and I'd like less stairs now. I see the LW schools are good, and there are a few houses to see right now but not much. I'll read more in the forums, but I have no idea if Mokena can be a good investment or not so please tell me any info. you can about it. We can live in any suburban town, and only go in to Chicago infrequently. Thank you

[BOBNCHI]

Why not rent first to get a feel for the area then look at permanent housing?

[deeman7]

Frankfort seems nice. I know the LW schools had a lot of financial issues in the recent past, not sure if that's still an issue or not.

[RamenAddict]

Originally Posted by gag

My wife is a nurse being transferred to a facility in Mokena to work with covid patients next week. I'm retired, and we decided to move nearby since we have family near there. Our problem seems to be our budget is about 350K, and I'd like less stairs now. I see the LW schools are good, and there are a few houses to see right now but not much. I'll read more in the forums, but I have no idea if Mokena can be a good investment or not so please tell me any info. you can about it. We can live in any suburban town, and only go in to Chicago infrequently. Thank you

Orland Park has a lot of good schools, but my understanding is that there is not a whole lot there in terms of ranch houses. I had a coworker buy a few years ago and she said she really struggled to find something. I have a few coworkers who live in Frankfort and New Lenox with school aged children and they generally seem happy with the schools.

[gag]

Thank you all. Yes, ranches are very tough and this is the land of split levels.

We actually live 20 mins away now in Oak Forest and she could easily commute, but we'd like to move out of a split now anyway. I just don't know much about the Mokena area or areas west to us other than Orland Park. I've been looking in OP and Tinley but they don't have much in our range. I also have asthma so I'd like to stay away far as I can from farmlands.

I need to learn more about Frankfort, New Lenox, and even Homer Glen. Are any young families still moving to these areas we mentioned. I'm trying to get a sense where would be the best place to drop 350K on a house near here.

[gag]

Originally Posted by deeman7

Frankfort seems nice. I know the LW schools had a lot of financial issues in the recent past, not sure if that's still an issue or not.

Thank you, I'll look into the current LW financial issue you mentioned.

[RamenAddict]

Originally Posted by gag

Thank you all. Yes, ranches are very tough and this is the land of split levels.

We actually live 20 mins away now in Oak Forest and she could easily commute, but we'd like to move out of a split now anyway. I just don't know much about the Mokena area or areas west to us other than Orland Park. I've been looking in OP and Tinley but they don't have much in our range. I also have asthma so I'd like to stay away as I can from farmlands.

I need to learn more about Frankfort, New Lenox, and even Homer Glen. Are any young families still moving to these areas we mentioned. I'm trying to get a sense where would be the best place to drop 350K on a house near here.

My coworkers in New Lenox have school age/preschool age kids. They seem very happy. Homer Glen has *very* expensive water, so you need to be careful about that. I am talking $300-400 a month for a regular house. Any savings you get going there would be eaten up by water bills. Just keep in mind that the options might improve once this crisis is over and we really get the spring offerings. Usually this time of year is low, and you might find more in Tinley and Orland. That said, they do tend to lean heavily toward splits or very tiny, outdated ranches. I had another friend who ended up giving up on the area entirely because she did not like what she was able to find in her price point, which I can assume based on what we make, is probably comparable to yours.

[gag]

Originally Posted by RamenAddict

My coworkers in New Lenox have school age/preschool age kids. They seem very happy. Homer Glen has *very* expensive water, so you need to be careful about that. I am talking $300-400 a month for a regular house. Any savings you get going there would be eaten up by water bills. Just keep in mind that the options might improve once this crisis is over and we really get the spring offerings. Usually this time of year is low, and you might find more in Tinley and Orland. That said, they do tend to lean heavily toward splits or very tiny, outdated ranches. I had another friend who ended up giving up on the area entirely because she did not like what she was able to find in her price point, which I can assume based on what we make, is probably comparable to yours.

All good info., thank you. I'll skip Homer ty. I hope ur right about after this virus more inventory.

It's amazing really. Even giving up just ranches, with the low profile splits that have 6 up 6 down stairs, we couldn't find more than a handful houses (that sold fast) that was clean and somewhat updated in our range in a desirable location in TP or OP. I saw a house for 269K in Frankfort Square but it wasn't for us. I'll look in the 300+ range in Frankfort and take a look at NL. There is a step ranch 4 blocks from the train in Mokena, but I have no idea if that's a desirable pocket where people buy to commute to the city.