Arlington Hts Vs Bolingbrook (Chicago, Arlington Heights: daycare, how much, house)

[nanannie]

I can not imagine buying a home that is not a good investment.

[Pete MUFC]

Originally Posted by cubssoxfan

Your agent is right on target. Schools are better in AH. It is closer to Chicago with Metra and you are close to O'Hare. Location is a big factor. Plus your proximity to Lake Arlington adds to the value. I don't know if you checked it out, but it is a big plus. Library, park district are also excellent. AND since you are in Prospect Heights Elementary School Dist. 23, you get resident rates at their park district and you get resident treatment at their library as well. How lush is the landscape in Bolingbrook? In AH you have mature trees all around becasue the neighborhoods are older, the BB house & neighborhood may be skimpier on trees and landscaping.
Now-big factor-where is work? If BB is 15 minutes from work and AH is 90, then I would tell you to choose BB or a neighboring community with better schools.

AH is the way to go.

[19782009]

Originally Posted by cubssoxfan

Your agent is right on target. Schools are better in AH. It is closer to Chicago with Metra and you are close to O'Hare. Location is a big factor. Plus your proximity to Lake Arlington adds to the value. I don't know if you checked it out, but it is a big plus. Library, park district are also excellent. AND since you are in Prospect Heights Elementary School Dist. 23, you get resident rates at their park district and you get resident treatment at their library as well. How lush is the landscape in Bolingbrook? In AH you have mature trees all around becasue the neighborhoods are older, the BB house & neighborhood may be skimpier on trees and landscaping.
Now-big factor-where is work? If BB is 15 minutes from work and AH is 90, then I would tell you to choose BB or a neighboring community with better schools.

Ok, my work is in downtown and my wife works in Rosemont. I like the tree lined street in Arlington Heights especially in that neighborhood (Arlington Vista). It is beatifull and I cannot compare that to what we saw landscape wise in BB. House is not with the view on the lake, but is very close to it, less than 1/4 mile. So everything is leaning toward AH, besides that the house in BB looks better and my wife fell in love with that house in BB because everything was almost brand new inside out.
I still haven't compared the SD's. You mentioned SD 23 in Prospect Hts. Is that SD equally good as AH SD? I heard that AH has good SD, but have no info at all about Prospect Heights and SD 23 in particular.
Thanks for all the help.

[knitgirl]

Arlington Heights, no contest. Not only are the schools far superior in AH, you'd both get awful tired of the commute from Bolingbrook compared to AH.

[Eusibius2]

If you can't decide on the home (all things being nearly equal), then buy the neighborhood, not the house.

All houses have things that need to be fixed, including new up-to-code homes as well as older in need of updating houses. My wife and I just bought a 60 yr old house in AH and absolutely love it. We can update it the way WE want to. We thought about a newer house, or an already updated house, but felt if we changed anything in those (other than paint) it would have been a waste of very good materials. So we bought this older one knowing that the materials we're replacing already had a good run.

Plus, there are block parties (and other neighborly social things) abound out here that I never had in my other neighborhoods. It's so friendly here it almost makes you sick. But not really... LOL

Just my 2 cents...

[19782009]

Originally Posted by Eusibius2

If you can't decide on the home (all things being nearly equal), then buy the neighborhood, not the house.

All houses have things that need to be fixed, including new up-to-code homes as well as older in need of updating houses. My wife and I just bought a 60 yr old house in AH and absolutely love it. We can update it the way WE want to. We thought about a newer house, or an already updated house, but felt if we changed anything in those (other than paint) it would have been a waste of very good materials. So we bought this older one knowing that the materials we're replacing already had a good run.

Plus, there are block parties (and other neighborly social things) abound out here that I never had in my other neighborhoods. It's so friendly here it almost makes you sick. But not really... LOL

Just my 2 cents...

Thanks a lot. I am thinking the same way too. Plus, a lot of things in and out the AH house have been updated already. It has brand new windows, doors, hardwood floors have been refinsihed (floors look like new), newer furnace and siding.... the seller is saying that he already invested $40k. I don't know if that is true, but you can tell a lot of work has been done. However, some things (if we buy the house) we would like to change and improve. One of the bathrooms is totally out of date and definitely needs remodelling and there are a few cracks on the foundation wall (crawl) that inspector said it's not hard to fix and it is not expensive. Is that true?
I don't know if I made the right thing by calling the inspector before I even placed an offer, but I just wanted to be sure that the house is in good shape. Judging by his report everything seems to be in fine order, no mold and radon too. One post here says that specialized Mold Inspector also needs to be called, but I don't know if I have to call someone as the home inspector already said there is no mold anywhere in the house.
What's your thought on this?

[chet everett]

I would not waste money on multiple inspections if there is nothing suspicious. A nice dry foundation / basement / attic means that odds of mold are vanishingly small. In different climates or situations where there is any evidence of a moisture problem a separate mold inspection might be more important.

The other stuff that mentioned is also probably well within normal -- concrete often shows minor surface cracks that, as long as they are stable and not getting worse, can be ignored. If you patch them it is mostly to keep things extra tidy. If they cracks are deep or growing then you'd probably see other kinds of structural issues. If the crawl is not already topped with concrete the added security / utility you could get from having a concrete pumping company is probably the right time to do this. Hard to store stuff without messing up a polyethylene vapor barrier -- with concrete it is like having your own slightly cramped storage locker.

Bathrooms get about as much "wear & tear" as any room. Good idea to budget for cosmetic type upgrades on about a 5 year cycle and major redo about double or triple that. Cosmetic stuff is easy to DIY with paint and other touches. Depending on how major a redo you want budget about $4k on the low for a hands off project and the maybe about the same if you get slightly better fixtures / material but do some work yourself, to about about triple (or more...) that if you get top of the line and have it all done by pros...

The logic of hiring an inspector before an offer is not too terrible, and if the report is detailed enough you can use it to strengthen your offer -- "buyer is going into to this eyes open and knows the condition of major systems, knows what they can and can't afford to fix on their own -- if seller also accepts the findings of report means that the negotiation is not over "made up" things but legitimate things that can be completed to buyers satisfaction or buyer can be compensated for...". Frankly if you as a buyer pursue this strategy well it can move things along efficiently. If the report is not balanced it or overly negative it will not fly, but that something for you & agent to decide on.

[19782009]

Originally Posted by chet everett

I would not waste money on multiple inspections if there is nothing suspicious. A nice dry foundation / basement / attic means that odds of mold are vanishingly small. In different climates or situations where there is any evidence of a moisture problem a separate mold inspection might be more important.

The other stuff that mentioned is also probably well within normal -- concrete often shows minor surface cracks that, as long as they are stable and not getting worse, can be ignored. If you patch them it is mostly to keep things extra tidy. If they cracks are deep or growing then you'd probably see other kinds of structural issues. If the crawl is not already topped with concrete the added security / utility you could get from having a concrete pumping company is probably the right time to do this. Hard to store stuff without messing up a polyethylene vapor barrier -- with concrete it is like having your own slightly cramped storage locker.

Bathrooms get about as much "wear & tear" as any room. Good idea to budget for cosmetic type upgrades on about a 5 year cycle and major redo about double or triple that. Cosmetic stuff is easy to DIY with paint and other touches. Depending on how major a redo you want budget about $4k on the low for a hands off project and the maybe about the same if you get slightly better fixtures / material but do some work yourself, to about about triple (or more...) that if you get top of the line and have it all done by pros...

The logic of hiring an inspector before an offer is not too terrible, and if the report is detailed enough you can use it to strengthen your offer -- "buyer is going into to this eyes open and knows the condition of major systems, knows what they can and can't afford to fix on their own -- if seller also accepts the findings of report means that the negotiation is not over "made up" things but legitimate things that can be completed to buyers satisfaction or buyer can be compensated for...". Frankly if you as a buyer pursue this strategy well it can move things along efficiently. If the report is not balanced it or overly negative it will not fly, but that something for you & agent to decide on.

The crawl is not topped with concrete but instead has the polyethylene vapor barrier which is damaged on few places. Inspector reccomended to change the polyethylene vapor barrier but did not mentioned anything about putting a concrete on. Good point Chat, I will definitely ask him about that. However, I am not a heck of a handyman and besides from doing some painting work, I cannot fix anything else, unfortunatelly. The bathroom needs complete remmodeling (tiles, appliances, shower...) so if you know any link to some contractors, handymen.....please let me know so I can ask for quotes.
I would like to know appx how much will it cost, just to make my calculations of how much I can spend for the house and renovation.

Thanks

[purplesky]

I would go for AH--lots of stuff for kids to do, a charming downtown area, and the Metropolis theater for you and your wife to go to on a night off with great live performances, plays, and comedy shows:
Welcome to Metropolis Performing Arts Centre - home

I have a 30 year old resentment against Boilingbrook since I used to be dragged to the Old Chicago amusement park there. I vomited on the swing ride and the "carni" wouldn't stop the ride!

[chet everett]

For the "stuff" that goes into a bathroom I would shop a big Menards. They don't have real top of the line fixtures and tile but it is generally fairly well priced and a good starting point. Professional remodelers that know what they are doing can do a mid-range bathroom with off-the-shelf items in 4 days or less and generally get labor rates of at least $500 dollar/day/person and generally like a one or two man crew for normal sized bathrooms.

As to the crawl space being capped with concrete over the vapor barrier there are firms that specialize in this. Other Types of Crawl Spaces Concrete pumping companies in this area can probably achieve costs of well under $10 sq/ft for most crawl spaces -- the trick is find a firm that will give a nice level finished space and quickest time. You do not want to have to deal with guys dragging wheel barrows all around the house and crawling through the mud to finish the stuff. There are pros that know the tricks and have the equipment to get this done fast and cheap.