So, as I alluded to in a prior entry, takaza and I are on the hunt for new digs. Once New Year’s was past and we could focus more on finding something, we really started looking seriously. And what we’re finding is…well, it’s somewhat disheartening. A lot of it is just learning the realities of real estate in the Chicago suburbs.
Our original plan was to rent a house in the Wheeling/Buffalo Grove area. That would be reasonably halfway between employers for both of us (he works in Mount Prospect, I work in Round Lake). Unfortunately, in our price range in Wheeling and Buffalo Grove, a house is out of the question and the available townhouses are…underwhelming. Apartments are out of the question – neither of us wants an apartment. There’s an unfortunate gap between Buffalo Grove and the affordable areas of Mundelein (well, not a physical gap, more of an economic one – that would include Long Grove and Hawthorn Woods, two very affluent towns). Mundelein and points north starts to get into difficult commuting for Dan, until Dan suggested that maybe commuting by train would be a good option. The Prospect Heights train station is a mile and a half from his office – walkable in good weather, and in poor weather he can either take a bus most of the way there or hitch a ride from a co-worker (plus, if he ever transfers to his company’s HQ, they’re right on the Metra line). So, this opened up everything on the North Central Metra line, including Antioch, Lake Villa, Grayslake, and Vernon Hills.
A little more searching, and now we’ve narrowed things down to two townhouses in Hainesville, just west of Grayslake, and about five minutes from the Grayslake train station. The two units have an identical floor plan, but here’s the dilemma before us:
Property 1 – Nice upgrades, including some nicely-painted walls (not beige! yay!) and a Pergo “hardwood” floor in the living room/dining room. BUT…the owners want $3,000 deposit, in addition to first and last months of rent.
Property 2 – In the building next to Property 1. Completely beige, but newly repainted and recarpeted. $100/month less than Property 1. Possible to put in DirecTV, which is probably not possible at Property 1. A more reasonable security deposit, as well. BUT…the unit has no refrigerator, washer, or dryer (Property 1 has all these).
We have a call in to the Property 1 owners pointing out to them that their security deposit is way out of line, and would the consider coming down on it. They’re on vacation in Colorado, though, and we don’t know when we might hear back from them. In the meantime, we’ve put in applications for Property 2 and we’re told that it will take about a week to process. We figured that should the Property 1 owners decide to come down on the security deposit, we can always walk away during the course of the application processing period. As for the appliances, well…Best Buy is offering 18 months same as cash. And that way we actually walk away with our own appliances (and get better-quality appliances out of the deal!).
As for the units themselves: they’re cozy. The floor plan is three levels, with the top floor being the master bedroom and the guest bedroom, with a shared bathroom between them (the bathroom has both a shower and a tub/shower combo). The middle floor has a nice large kitchen and pantry as well as the combined living room/dining room. The ground floor is a two-car garage (with room for storage) and a small (10 x 10) office. After talking it over, Dan and I realized that the 2,050 square feet we had in North Carolina was far, far too much for us. Looking at how we live, this is a much better fit. And it’s not like we’re sacrificing that much space – it’s a 1,500 square foot unit.
So now we’re waiting to hear back from representatives from both properties to see what kind of timeline we’re looking at. We hope to move smaller stuff out of our storage space during the week, and if all goes well, we could be moving the furniture from the storage unit as early as the weekend of January 20th. Don’t mark anything on your calendars just yet, though – there’s still several uncertainties to be resolved. I’ll post more when we have something a bit more certain!
Better you spend your money on appliances than on a security deposit. Even though you should get the deposit back one day, it earns no interest and you have no use of it.
Washer and dryer you might not have to get immediately, if money’s a pinch. A fridge is essential for most of us, and there’s quite a wide range of prices but figure it will cost you about a grand.
Hope it works out for you, though I’m sorry you didn’t end up out nearer to where I am. Commuting by Metra is overall a decent experience. It has an occasional glitch, and isn’t cheap from the farther reaches. It does take time, too. When I worked downtown on Michigan Ave. my commute took 2 to 2 1/2 hours door to door. Five hours added onto every workday can get to be a drag. But for me, driving through Chicago traffic every day would have been far worse. On the train you can read, write, sleep, play games, use a PC, or whatever.
Untrue.
[Even though you should get the deposit back one day, it earns no interest]
Lessors who require security deposits are required by Illinois law to pay 5% interest per year on any deposit held for more than six months if the property contains 25 or more units. Many smaller rental properties pay interest as well to remain competitive and you can also work verbage in on individual property contracts.
Re: Untrue.
Either that law is newer than my rental experience, or every landlord I ever had violated it. In any case, a $3000 security deposit sounds absurdly high to me.
Re: Untrue.
This is true, but unfortunately it does not apply in this case. This is one unit in a larger development of individually-owned properties. The law only applies if the landlord owns more than 25 units on the property – something that is not the case here. This is more applicable if, say, we had rented at the apartments y’all lived at in Wheeling, for example. More’s the pity, ’cause 5% interest is a better sure investment, on average, than many mutual funds out there.
Well, things have gotten complicated now – they agreed to back off on the $3,000 security deposit, reducing it to $1,200, but they also want to tack on an extra $100 per month for twelve months, to be applied to the refundable security deposit. This makes it affordable, but I’m still getting the feeling of a bit of gaming going on here. The real estate company doesn’t normally do rentals, and we get the impression they’re going to be real sticklers, which means they’re going to have $2,400 of our cash with a greater uncertainty of how much we’ll see of that again.
One thing I didn’t mention, probably because I feel a bit guilty about it, is that the properties are a five-minute drive from where I work 🙂 So my commute improves immensely over the 1.5-hour (at best) drive home each evening. When I worked in North Chicago I took the train to work a few times (the schedule didn’t mesh with my work schedule, alas) and I agree that it is a much more civilized way to go. There’s the cost of the pass and the $1.50/day parking, but given the cost of gas and wear and tear on both our cars right now, we’ll save more than double that, I’m certain.
We probably could have gotten something cheaper or better for the price we’re paying out in Harvard or Woodstock, but my commute would quickly get difficult – I learned a long time ago that going east-west through Lake and (increasingly) McHenry Counties is difficult, at best. And hey – I like being at least somewhat near civilization 😉
Yeah, I realize it wouldn’t be very practical for you to live out here. I was just thinking about a point a few months back when you were looking at a job in Marengo, in which case it might have worked.
If the train schedule works, it’s a go. No doubt about that. I rode Metra to work for several years even when we lived in Ravenswood. The Lawrence Ave. station was just two blocks from our house, and even though I had to walk about a mile and a quarter downtown to get from the Ogilvie Center to Columbia College, it was so much nicer than the CTA that I got used to it. When we moved out here, I stayed with Columbia for three more years. That’s when the commutes got long, but the schedule was still workable and it sure beat driving.
I agree that the security deposit manipulation still sounds hokey. I wouldn’t do it, even at those terms. I’d buy appliances instead. 🙂 When we bought our farm here, we needed a fridge and washer and dryer. The local appliance store was very helpful. They delivered and installed them for free, and knocked another 15% off the already sale level prices because we were buying several at once. Washers and dryers can also be had used and in working condition for a lot less than new prices.
Now as for that jibe about being near civilization, it all depends on your definition of civilization. Where we are now, we are about equidistant from Rockford, DeKalb, and Elgin. Chicago is a bit farther, true, but I’m not that fond of Daleyville any more.
Im renting now, but may have to look elsewhere soon, and theres no way I can afford to buy a place in this area unless i move into the not so nice side of Joliet…
Everything else around it is $250k+
Man, that’s crazy. But I know that property values in Joliet have been skyrocketing. Hell, I bought my house there (near Larkin & Route 30) in 1998 for $90k and sold it in 2000 for close to $120k. If that level of appreciation continued, I sure as hell wouldn’t be able to afford the same house today.
Hey, I hear Manhattan’s a growing place, and they’ve got Metra service 😉
Metra tickets will run you around $100 a month for unlimited rides. And I can tell you, my commute is similar to what Dan’s would be if he drove, and I spend more than $100 a month in gas alone, much less wear and tear and maintenance on my car.
If you need help, you know where to find us.
(also, let us know about the other thing Dan asked about last night? We just need a couple of days warning)
if you buy your own appliances, you can at least get what you want. the washer/dryer combo that is stacked might be good if you are a little tight for space. good luck!
Actually, there’s room for a full-size washer and dryer there, which is nice. And yeah, being able to walk away with the appliances as assets at the end of the deal is weighing heavily. Plus, I’d love to have one of those front-loading washers!
Unless you’d consider actually buying the place, I don’t know that having to buy your own appliances is that great a deal. Without pets, more than a month’s rent as a deposit is a fucking ripoff. The real estate market around this area sucks right now. Owners are freaking out because nobody is interested in paying them %200 on their initial investment when property taxes are five figures.
Hell, the main reason we are living here rather than Lisle is because the owner caved bigtime when when he thought he had another offer only to have it fall through. No pet deposit and few questions about our household dynamics. If he’s hired a decent contractor for the improvements he did, he’d be happily making money on us now.
Nobody is buying in the middle of January. Nobody really wants to move at this time of year. Most of the properties available are those with desperate owners trying to at least cover taxes until they can sell. You might find a little more willingness to negotiate if you indicated you’d prefer an 18 month lease. That would put the expiration of the lease in a bit better time of the year for an actual sale. I wouldn’t compromise one little bit on the security deposit. With no pets, you shouldn’t expect to pay more than one month’s rent and that might well be with just first month paid in advance. Anyone who’s still asking three months in advance is living in la-la land.
Personally? Property two sounds like the better deal. You save vs the 3k deposit (from the sounds of it, if the owners are out skiing, they don’t need all of that :P), and can put the rest towards your own appliances :). If you’re right about not being able to get the services at property 1 you’d like, then wouldn’t that also help sinch the decision for you?
If nothing else is available that’s reasonable, I hope something works out for the both of you.
Charlie and I have been looking for new digs, and I can definitely empathize with you. We’re looking to buy, and boy have we been smacked in the head.
We’re actually doing the reverse of you. We’re urban yuppie condo owners at the moment with a sweet commute, but we’re living on top of each other, our regime fees are insane, and I swear everything is just a hair more expensive in our little burb because it’s the “rich burb.” And we want a house.
We’ve spent months looking for a place in a desirable area that we can afford. Unfortunately our home prices have gone up the way yours have, even though this isn’t a huge city. Which means that even though we might make 15k on a place we’ve owned a little over a year, everything else has gone up as much.
So we’re trying to console ourselves by buying a sweet house in a not-nearly-as-desirable area. But good-bye sweet commute, and hello terrible traffic and an hour commute.
And this place is one of those rare small southern cities that is BLEEDING for something like the Metro service. We’d be living and working right at what would be main stops, which would be SWEET. But, alas, the city can’t figure out how to pay for it, and say they won’t since no one uses the crappy buses (which don’t go where people need and have no parking lots).
And I vote for property two. The crazy deposit people sound shady and like they are trying their best to make a ghetto profit off of you guys.