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Old 03-20-2009, 10:54 PM
 
4 posts, read 9,443 times
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I am going to school full time and only make $15,000/year working part time. I am looking to buy a foreclosure condo in a suburb adjacent to chicago for less than $140,000. I plan on keeping the property for a long time so I figure I should try to find something with 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms. I have some cash saved up but still have to get a $60,000 mortgage. I don't know if any bank would loan me that much considering my current level of income. Plus I have accumulated 20K student loan and my credit rating is over 700. I am looking at the north, northwest, or west neighborhoods like Skokie, Cumberland near I90, O'Hare, Oak Park etc...

Any thoughts would highly be appreciated
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Old 03-21-2009, 06:36 AM
 
945 posts, read 1,989,220 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by curious123 View Post
I am going to school full time and only make $15,000/year working part time. I am looking to buy a foreclosure condo in a suburb adjacent to chicago for less than $140,000. I plan on keeping the property for a long time so I figure I should try to find something with 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms. I have some cash saved up but still have to get a $60,000 mortgage. I don't know if any bank would loan me that much considering my current level of income. Plus I have accumulated 20K student loan and my credit rating is over 700. I am looking at the north, northwest, or west neighborhoods like Skokie, Cumberland near I90, O'Hare, Oak Park etc...

Any thoughts would highly be appreciated

To put it simply, I doubt it. It would not be a habitable domain if so. Sounds like you would not have the money to bring it to "occupancy level", even if you could find a place that cheap, but I don't think you will. You MIGHT find a foreclosure that cheap in the outer suburbs, but it sounds like you need this area due to commute time with school and work. It doesn't sound like the far outer burbs are an option? Anyway, it would still be unlikely to find a 3bd, 2bth, even far away. 2bd, 1 bth, maybe. Good luck and let us know if you find anything.
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Old 03-21-2009, 11:24 AM
 
Location: Roselle, IL
223 posts, read 758,289 times
Reputation: 77
Try Cicero:

It is cheap, relatively safe ( Crime statistics comparable to those of Oak Park) and very close to the city

Cons:
- Corruption
- Not diverse (70% hispanic)
- Bad Public school rankings

I know for sure that you can get a nice 2br/1ba condo (*not* foreclosure) for about $120k
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Old 03-21-2009, 05:18 PM
 
945 posts, read 1,989,220 times
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He said he's looking in the north/northwest. Cicero is south. As explained, sounds like he's focusing on specific areas that are close to his school and job. There are a lot better places to find less expensive housing if commuting was an option. I have to assume this is not one. If it is, the far west suburbs have nice condos for your pricerange and are not foreclosures. Let us know.
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Old 03-21-2009, 06:30 PM
 
Location: Roselle, IL
223 posts, read 758,289 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by fairmarketvalue View Post
He said he's looking in the north/northwest. Cicero is south. As explained, sounds like he's focusing on specific areas that are close to his school and job. There are a lot better places to find less expensive housing if commuting was an option. I have to assume this is not one. If it is, the far west suburbs have nice condos for your pricerange and are not foreclosures. Let us know.
FMV: You may need to brush up on your geography of Chicago a little bit. Cicero is not considered a southern suburb. Actually it is directly west of Lawndale, a neighborhood on Chicago's west side .

Anyways the only reason I mentioned Cicero is because it is adjacent to Oak Park, which the OP mentioned.

Last edited by vandre; 03-21-2009 at 06:48 PM..
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Old 03-21-2009, 06:48 PM
 
Location: Roselle, IL
223 posts, read 758,289 times
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curious123: You also may want to take a look at Berwyn... It is a little bit more expensive than Cicero, but more diverse (gentrified). It also has easy access to I-290/90 and/or public transportation.
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Old 03-22-2009, 05:33 AM
 
945 posts, read 1,989,220 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by vandre View Post
FMV: You may need to brush up on your geography of Chicago a little bit. Cicero is not considered a southern suburb. Actually it is directly west of Lawndale, a neighborhood on Chicago's west side .

Anyways the only reason I mentioned Cicero is because it is adjacent to Oak Park, which the OP mentioned.

Yes and no. I know where cicero is, and I believe many would consider it towards the "s. side" than directly west and is certainly far from the north side the OP is concentrating on. It's also much closer in to the city, but runs all the way south of I55 towards Midway Airport. The OP is looking near O'Hare, and these two areas are "worlds apart" in real time, where work and school proximity are concerned. Just trying to help. The OP hasn't come back so maybe he reconsidered or settled. Have a good day.
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Old 03-28-2009, 12:58 PM
 
Location: Chicago
15,586 posts, read 27,651,795 times
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Cicero is a Western Suburb of Chicago. Anyone that says it is not has no clue what they are talking about or is purposely being misleading. Of course the other option is the person is a transplant or does not even live in the Chicago area.
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Old 03-28-2009, 01:01 PM
 
Location: Chicago
15,586 posts, read 27,651,795 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by vandre View Post
FMV: You may need to brush up on your geography of Chicago a little bit. Cicero is not considered a southern suburb. Actually it is directly west of Lawndale, a neighborhood on Chicago's west side .

Anyways the only reason I mentioned Cicero is because it is adjacent to Oak Park, which the OP mentioned.
Exactly

Quote:
Originally Posted by curious123 View Post
...I am looking to buy a foreclosure condo in a suburb adjacent to chicago for less than $140,000...

...I am looking at the north, northwest, or WEST neighborhoods like Skokie, Cumberland near I90, O'Hare, Oak Park etc..."
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Old 04-11-2009, 11:41 PM
 
4 posts, read 9,443 times
Reputation: 10
Hello Everyone,
Thank you so much for your help. I really appreciate it. I have been in chicago for a few years but didn't have a car until recently so I don't know much about different neighborhoods. I am currently going to a school on Foster and St Louis in Chicago and am planning on going to a different school in Evanston next year. I prefer to find a property of my price range that is closed to these school, but I think it is worth checking out Circero and Berwyn. At this point, I think it makes sense to work with a real estate agent and try to test drive from different locations to these schools and see if i can handle the driving.
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