We are finally a couple months away from buying a house and are starting to look. We have spoken with several lenders and should be approved for between 180,000-200,000. I am worried this isn't enough as we will not consider a townhome or condo and desperately want to buy in Naperville. Even with the economy the way it is, it is still so expensive. I just don't want to give in... especially when it comes to a single family home. I also wont give in to location - even if it means we have to save more. The ladies that are familiar with the Naperville area - do you think this is at all possible? I am receiving MLS listings for Naperville, but its hard to tell if sellers will come down that much. What are your thoughts?
As much as I appreciate your opinions, please don't refer me to Aurora or other surrounding towns - the only other place we have heard to try (and we would consider) is Lisle. I still don't know that we could afford it. Thanks!
Updated again - thanks all for your very helpful advice. The reason we don't want a townhome is because we had a very bad experience with one before. My hubby owned one and the association went under - stopped paying exterior insurance (which ultimately put him in automatic foreclosure as it was written in the FHA loan)... Then they stopped paying the water, trash pick up and electric as it was part of the association fees. Today (about 1.5 yrs later)the place is condemned.... so as you can imagine, we have been burned pretty bad by associations. Now, I am only getting approved on my income only, hence the low purchase price. He makes more than double my income, so we definiately have the money to fix something up- the bad part is simply that I cannot get approved for much. Thank you so much for your advice... I will have to think longer on where to go from here. We currently drive 45 minutes just to enjoy Sat and Sun in Naperville - we get such a feeling of happiness there. It's really where we want to be... You really all were such a help though. Thank you!
Thank you Lisa for your wonderful advice. I will be looking at the link you provided. Regardless, I wish your neighbors the best in finding a buyer or renter for their home- whichever would be best for them. I am afraid you are right that Naperville will be too expensive for us. I suppose we should maybe wait another 6 months so we can afford more like 220,000... were trying to get the tax credit, but making the deadline isn't worth having to buy where we don't want to. Thanks for your insight!
Jennifer, sorry you miscontstrued my request as snobby. Honestly, I am looking in Naperville for various personal reasons, none that I care to share. While I apologize that you misread my request as containing something inappropriate or rude about other towns, I don't really care what you think. That was certainly not my intention and I don't think I said anything bad about any other town. This forum is to utilize other Mom's experience to get questions answered. Please reread my post and those of others before making assumptions or name calling. Thank you.
M.,
From what I know of the market in Naperville, it will be VERY difficult to get a single family home in Naperville or Lisle for under $350,000 unless you find something at auction. Also, there are parts of Naperville, esp south of 87th street with VERY high taxes. Taxes are also an issue in parts of Lisle.
I think it's entirely possible to buy a "home" in Naperville. Not a single family home, unless of course you're willing to buy a house that needs alot of work costing nearly $100,000 or more to fix everything up to your standards.
Your price range, right now, is unrealistic, even in this market for a SINGLE family home. $180,000 to $200,000 will easily get you a beautiful townhouse. Don't forget that the taxes are higher with single family homes vs. townhomes. You need to put that into your equation too. You'll be paying Principle, interest, TAXES and insurance. So many people forget that part of the deal. Taxes also fluctuate and you have to keep in mind that your mortgage will also fluctuate with the tax market, so you'll need to consider that when looking at the bottom line monthly payments rather than the purchase price of the home.
Allow your agent to work for you. Work WITH them in return. He/She knows what they are doing. Hopefully, and I'm sure you know that they want the best for you. They depend on your business now and in the future.
Just for giggles, I did a search on Realtor.com for you and only searched the price.
http://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-search/Napervil...
Not many properties came up as single family homes. Most are townhouses. My question for you is.....why not start out in a townhome? We did and it was the best thing we ever did. It was a stepping stone for us. We lived happily in our TH and only then were we able to get the home we wanted.
I know this question was already raised, but I'll ask again-Why are you limiting yourself to one area? There are so many great places to check out. I bet anything that your agent has suggested to you many times to broaden your search area.
Please keep an open mind-that's all I can say--trust me on this.
Signed,
A FORMER, frustrated, over worked and under paid Real Estate agent in the Suburbs
Have a great rest of the weekend and good luck to you
I grew up in Naperville and loved it. I live in Lisle and it is a wonderful community. The school district (#202) is fantastic. I did find some single family homes in Lisle that fit in your price range:
http://www.homefinder.com/IL/Lisle/min_price_175000/max_p...
You need to scroll down past the town homes/condos to get to the single family homes.
Good luck in your search!
M.,
I'm going to be honest....I think your expectations are too high, considering that you wouldn't be able to buy a house in dreaded Aurora for that price. I think you need to reevaluate your expectations and realize that you are coming off as a snob.
I lived in Naperville for 2 years and loved it. It was a wonderful town but as everyone has mentioned, very pricey as well. I have to ask, why not consider a townhome? My husband and 3 children live in an extremely nice one, much nicer of one than had we bought a single family home. I personally have no desire to have a single family home again...the yard work, shoveling snow, pulling weeds, no thanks. We owned a home and decided to downsize into a townhome even though our family had gone up in size. For 2 busy career people, it just makes more sense for us. And if that's your price range and that's the town you want to live in, you have to make adjustements somewhere. I say get a large townhome with a park nearby for your daughter and that way you can live where you want, own a home, wait for the economy to recover, sell it later and THEN move into your single family home. Most people right off the bat don't buy a large home and if you are busy people, a home is extremely time consuming. Maybe just go look at a few in Naperville. Forever ago I used to sell custom designed furniture and I went into a lot of very very nice townhomes in Naperville. You would probably be surprised to see how exclusive they are. It's worth a shot anyway. Best wishes to you. I hope you find what you're looking for. And personally, I did not feel you were coming across as snobby at all. If Naperville's where you want to live, so be it. All you were doing was asking for our advice. >; )
Hi M.:
What an exciting time for you and your family! Buying our first house was the best. In any case, I grew up in Lisle and currently live in Glen Ellyn, so am quite familiar with the western suburbs. I would have to agree the comments that Naperville prices tend to remain on the steep side. Even at $220k, it will be a limited choice. I have to tell you that Lisle often gets overlooked, but is a lovely community (good chance our next home will be there) and I mean community. It almost has the old "small town" feel to it even though it has grown immensely in my lifetime. To give you an example, there is a home on Rt. 53 that recently caught fire. The community came together to help the family (note the banner of thanks that the family put in their yard) - that kind of thing is so rare these days. We live in an unincorporated area of Glen Ellyn, so most of the children's park district activities we participate in are in Lisle - their park district has high quality programs and instructors. So, there is my two cents. Best of luck with your search and most of all, enjoy it!
I think it is nice that you have your heart set on naperville. it is a great place to live. we lived there for a couple of years, in a condo, before we bought our home in Sugar Grove. I hate to say it, but you won't be able to find a single family, detached home in naperville, for your price range. I say you will have to compromise your desires..either take a townhome in naperville, or look further west/south for a single family home. since you did not elaborate on your reasons that it is naperville, or nothing, I guess we won't be able to offer other solutions/suggestions. I would only add, that my husband works in naperville and the tollway ride from sugar grove to his work is only 25 minutes.
I don't know if you could even get a foreclosure home in that price range there. I also think people who are buying foreclosed homes are not realizing the taxes will still be way up there. I honestly don't think you could get a house in that range in any decent area around there unfortunately. If you are dead set on moving to Naperville, I think your best bet is to keep saving and wait it out.
Hi M. - Please forgive me if I'm out of line by ignoring your request not to refer you to other towns, but I would hate for you to miss out on other communities simply because you have been getting poor advice from whoever has caused you to conclude that you would only want to consider looking in Naperville or possibly Lisle.
Wheaton (which is adjacent to Naperville's north side) and Glen Ellyn (which is adjacent to Wheaton's east side and is often considered to be its "sister city") are both extremely nice places to live and have excellent school districts. In fact, the Naperville/Wheaton/Glen Ellyn area is usually thought of, particularly by real estate agents, as one geographic unit in the western suburbs of Chicago. Lisle is not typically considered to be a part of that trio, so I'm kind of surprised that the only place you have heard to try other than Naperville is Lisle. Perhaps you are trying to remain close to a particular location (work or school?), but if you are willing to expand your search to Wheaton and/or Glen Ellyn, I don't think you will be disappointed with either of those cities as places to settle down and raise a family. I am a 41-year-old lawyer who was born and raised in Wheaton, and, after living many of my young adult years in Dallas, Chicago and NYC, I returned to Wheaton to buy a home and raise my 3 kids.
As for your price range though, unless the housing market is much cheaper than I realize, or unless you are willing to buy a real fixer-upper, I think your expectations (whether in Naperville, Lisle, Wheaton or Glen Ellyn) of finding a decent single family home for $200,000 or less are a little unrealistic. I suppose your real price range though could be as much as $220,000, considering that you would probably put down 10% (i.e., $20,000), and get as much as a $200,000 mortgage for the rest of the purchase price. $220,000 is becoming more realistic, although, reading your posting, my guess is that you will still be disappointed in your options in that price range in the cities to which you are limiting yourself.
Having said that though, my next-door neighbors here in Wheaton are a couple in their 70s who - because they are getting "up there" in years and want to be free to travel - would love to unload a single-family home adjacent to their property and mine that they have owned and rented for years to various families. They just finished renovating it - new carpet and paint - after the last family moved out last month after living in it for 5 years with their 4 children. It's a 3-bedroom, 1-bathroom home with attached garage - a great starter home in move-in condition that they are currently offering as a rental on Craigslist for, I think, $1,300/mo. However, I know that they would love to sell it, not just rent it, but they haven't yet gotten around to listing it with a broker (so that will keep the price down). Knowing their eagerness to sell, and their dread of going through the process of trying to market and sell it, I wouldn't be surprised if you could "buy it for a song" right now before they get around to listing it with a broker. You could also "rent to own" it - basically, you could write your own ticket right now because they very much want to be done with owning/renting the place, period. Plus, as you may know, if you close on the home before 7/1/10, and if it is the first home you have ever owned, you would be eligible for the $8,000 first-time homebuyer's credit (see http://www.irs.gov/newsroom/article/0,,id=206291,00.html).
Please contact me if you would like me to put you in touch with my neighbors about the house. It is a truly lovely place to which I have always considered moving my elderly MIL from NYC so that I can look after her, although she is very stubborn, so I doubt that will ever happen. Her loss, your gain. :)
L.
