Is it smart to invest in Illinois, specifically Cook County?

[Ryan Boren]

Hey BP, I currently live in the south suburbs of Chicago near Crete, IL and own a SFR in Steger, IL on the Will County side. My taxes are not horrible approximately $3,500 a year on a 1100 sq ft 3 bed two bath. I understand I can go across the border (Indiana) and pay half of that in taxes, but after much searching and dozens of offers being rejected from all cash buyers I've decided to stay local in the south suburbs. Also, I've found the price of rental homes in Indiana to be around 115k compared to Markham, Country Club Hills, Hazel Crest, etc where you could possibly find a move in ready house for 40k with higher rent as well. I do know with cash there are some good deals from investnwi.com (etc), but unfortunately I do not have the cash. I am curious to see if people are still interested in investing in Cook County and do you see the taxes going so high it would be impossible to make money? For example, park forest has 1100 sq ft average homes with an 8k a year property tax bill. That's too much taxes to have any type of return on investment. Just interested in your thoughts. Thank you, Ryan B.