I moved to Chicago 2 years ago for work and have been renting ever since. I've got a lay of the land and i'm ready to jump in but wanted to reach out for some advice.
I work out in Lake Forest and want to keep my commute to a minimum so wanted to live in the north Suburbs. The ultimate goal is to house hack and to get a multi family home, live in one apartment and rent the others out. I've got pre-approved for a mortgage and just about to look for a real estate agent. The second choice is to go for a SFH and bank on the appreciation.
Had a few questions that wanted to get people's advice on:
1) What north suburb should i aim for?
2) Based on the current markets in the burbs, should i go with the SFH option or the multifamily home option?
The taxes once you leave chicago north can get crazy.
Check out Portage Park, Jefferson Park, Old Irving Park, etc. located right off the highway for a quick commute. These areas work awesome for house hacks and are solid neighborhoods to own property long term. Old Irving Park and Portage Park have been seeing explosive growth lately.
Most of the housing stock in your area are single family homes. The typical Chicago "two flat" is not as prevalent up your way.
Many of the suburbs in the North Shore are pricey. Lake Forest, Highland Park, Deerfield. Libertyville is not a bad commute and it is an attractive suburb. For more affordable properties, consider Waukegan.
Truthfully not a big fan of Waukegan. Property prices are cheap there but the area is not the greatest.
Libertyville is looking like best option and your right unfortunately the stock of multi family in this area is non existent.
How about Des Plains? Its in the burbs but also is closer to the city. The prices are lower compared to north shore and it has a few multi family units.
I live in Libertyville and love it... but house-hacking opportunities in multis will be tough to find (not impossible, though). I also saw some opportunities in Highwood not too long ago, there seem to be more multi-units there and it's very walkable, a foodie town with train access to the city. Closer to Lake Forest than Des Plaines, that's for sure.
The taxes once you leave chicago north can get crazy.
Check out Portage Park, Jefferson Park, Old Irving Park, etc. located right off the highway for a quick commute. These areas work awesome for house hacks and are solid neighborhoods to own property long term. Old Irving Park and Portage Park have been seeing explosive growth lately.
I moved to Chicago 2 years ago for work and have been renting ever since. I've got a lay of the land and i'm ready to jump in but wanted to reach out for some advice.
I work out in Lake Forest and want to keep my commute to a minimum so wanted to live in the north Suburbs. The ultimate goal is to house hack and to get a multi family home, live in one apartment and rent the others out. I've got pre-approved for a mortgage and just about to look for a real estate agent. The second choice is to go for a SFH and bank on the appreciation.
Had a few questions that wanted to get people's advice on:
1) What north suburb should i aim for?
2) Based on the current markets in the burbs, should i go with the SFH option or the multifamily home option?
As others have stated, the north suburbs are pricey, predominantly SFHs, and have high taxes. Since you commute to Lake Forest, I'd look into Rogers Park, West Ridge, and Edgewater.