Illinois......are you staying or leaving? (Chicago, Naperville: low income, car insurance, neighborhood)

[Bellamouse]

Originally Posted by EddieOlSkool

If church is life I agree the South is better for you. Those of us who don't dedicate our life to groupthink prefer to stay in the cold liberal wasteland.

Liberalism is the epitome of groupthink. And my life is dedicated to God, not to other people and what they think, tyvm.

[IrishIllini]

Originally Posted by Taco1234

Repeat after me: to live in a four bedroom 3000 square-foot house with excellent schools where we are moving we will be spending close to $2000 less a month for housing and making the same salaries that we make in Illinois. So, you are wrong. Our cost-of-living will be drastically lower. May not be the same for everyone, or if you take a huge pay cut, but you cannot make a blanket statement and say that cost of living is on par. Especially not when you're going from $17,000 property taxes to $2500 property taxes.

You've explained your situation ad nauseam, Taco. Enjoy Atlanta. If what you're saying is true, you are an exception, not the rule. If you were really paying $17,000 a year in property taxes I don't feel bad for you, lol. Clearly you're an incredibly high income household with a large home and a decent amount of land. If that's not the case, please let me know. Would be curious to know where you were living so I can avoid if I ever move out to the suburbs. My parents live in a north suburb and are paying something like 10k on 500k worth of house. 4 bed, 3 bath. 2k sq. ft. Top notch schools, too.

[Vasily]

Originally Posted by EddieOlSkool

If church is life I agree the South is better for you. Those of us who don't dedicate our life to groupthink prefer to stay in the cold liberal wasteland.

So now we pivot to judging religious believers who like to hang out with the people at their churches. Because your progressive (presumably atheist) groupthink is better than religious groupthink.

[FAReastcoast]

Originally Posted by IrishIllini

You've explained your situation ad nauseam, Taco. Enjoy Atlanta. If what you're saying is true, you are an exception, not the rule. If you were really paying $17,000 a year in property taxes I don't feel bad for you, lol. Clearly you're an incredibly high income household with a large home and a decent amount of land. If that's not the case, please let me know. Would be curious to know where you were living so I can avoid if I ever move out to the suburbs. My parents live in a north suburb and are paying something like 10k on 500k worth of house. 4 bed, 3 bath. 2k sq. ft. Top notch schools, too.

This doesn't paint the full picture. Just because someone is paying $17K in property taxes, doesn't mean they are an incredibly high earner. Many of the properties I buy are from people who can no longer afford property taxes. My team and I bought a house from a couple in Western Springs with a property tax bill of $19K; value of home is roughly $850K; but the family had been in the house for 30 years, and could no longer swing a nearly $2K/month tax bill.
Now, will this family have a nice pay day when they sell their home? Very Likely, But being forced from your home because of tax bills is usually not an enviable position.

Also, "the South" is a big place, and not a one size fits all on COL; but to claim " the South" has the same cost of living as Chicagoland, on an apples to apples comparison is outrageous.

[Taco1234]

Originally Posted by FAReastcoast

This doesn't paint the full picture. Just because someone is paying $17K in property taxes, doesn't mean they are an incredibly high earner. Many of the properties I buy are from people who can no longer afford property taxes. My team and I bought a house from a couple in Western Springs with a property tax bill of $19K; value of home is roughly $850K; but the family had been in the house for 30 years, and could no longer swing a nearly $2K/month tax bill.
Now, will this family have a nice pay day when they sell their home? Very Likely, But being forced from your home because of tax bills is usually not an enviable position.

Also, "the South" is a big place, and not a one size fits all on COL; but to claim " the South" has the same cost of living as Chicagoland, on an apples to apples comparison is outrageous.

We are actually renting the house, and we CAN afford it. We just refuse to pay crazy high taxes solely to pay back a bottomless pit of debt that will never get repaid. I just looked up the tax bill on my own because our neighbor pays $22,000 in Lagrange. Many of the houses we have looked at in this area have tax bills that are 2.6 to 2.8%.

[Taco1234]

Originally Posted by IrishIllini

You've explained your situation ad nauseam, Taco. Enjoy Atlanta. If what you're saying is true, you are an exception, not the rule. If you were really paying $17,000 a year in property taxes I don't feel bad for you, lol. Clearly you're an incredibly high income household with a large home and a decent amount of land. If that's not the case, please let me know. Would be curious to know where you were living so I can avoid if I ever move out to the suburbs. My parents live in a north suburb and are paying something like 10k on 500k worth of house. 4 bed, 3 bath. 2k sq. ft. Top notch schools, too.

Just like you have attempted to defend Illinois ad nauseam. You clearly have your head in the sand about the problems with Illinois, and all of the ways that this massive debt is going to and already is negatively impacting the economy and your own personal finances.

Hello higher state income taxes, for one:

Illinois Senate vows swift action on ambitious budget plan | Chicago Sun-Times

Hello increases in Chicago property taxes:


Property-tax increase 'most likely' fix for CPS finances: Moody

[Taco1234]

Originally Posted by IrishIllini

Everyone, repeat after me. The COL in the south is now on par with the COL in Chicago. Denial does not alter reality. Chicago and Illinois are undergoing a large scale demographic shift where lesser educated/affluent residents are forced to find work out of state and educated/more affluent ones are awash with opportunity. I believe fewer than 40 percent of those who leave Illinois earn six figures or more while the number who ENTER earning six figures or more is 65 percent. We all have our opinions on whether this is good or bad, but ultimately it's a national trend. It's just more exaggerated in the north. It'll happen down south too. Trump isn't bringing any jobs back, and truthfully I stand to gain more from him being in office than many of the people who voted for him.

http://www.chicagobusiness.com/reale...-vacancy-falls
http://www.chicagobusiness.com/reale...es-15-year-low
http://www.chicagobusiness.com/reale...-low-can-it-go

Those articles are from July and October. Unfortunately the edge tax incentive ended on 12/31:

http://www.chicagobusiness.com/artic...s-about-to-die

http://www.chicagobusiness.com/artic...s-about-to-die

[EddieOlSkool]

Originally Posted by Vasily

So now we pivot to judging religious believers who like to hang out with the people at their churches. Because your progressive (presumably atheist) groupthink is better than religious groupthink.

I didn't mention anything about my religious views other than not letting a community of people dictate my lifestyle. Nothing more nothing less.

[Bellamouse]

Originally Posted by EddieOlSkool

I didn't mention anything about my religious views other than not letting a community of people dictate my lifestyle. Nothing more nothing less.

Then you are misguided. A community of people do not dictate my lifestyle. God the Creator dictates my lifestyle.

[jwaiter]

Originally Posted by Bellamouse

Then you are misguided. A community of people do not dictate my lifestyle. God the Creator dictates my lifestyle.

Does he talk to you?