@Jeff Burdick
I'm convinced you either aren't reading these articles so I figured I'd pull out the snippets to show what the reality of the area's situation really is - in terms of crime, population loss, financial crisis.
btw: We haven't even mentioned overall employment rates for the area. Illinois, as a state, has the 46th worst unemployment rate in the nation (tied with West Virginia). So again, I would ask you, how in the world could you possibly recommend this area to an out of state investor.
Here are what I believe most people view as some of the key target characteristics of a good area to invest in:
1) Population growth. Chicago area is literally the worst of any city/region in the country.
2) Job market. 46th highest unemployment rate. Again. Thats NOT GOOD.
3) Landlord friendly area. Chicago/cook county one of the worst I've heard on here. An eviction takes 4 to 12 mos. I know because I've done a couple. And its been 4 to 6 mos each time. You can get a court to reschedule by saying you need to sneeze.
4) Crime. You can quote per capita stuff all you want. I'm sure there are always areas that will show a higher number. But large sections of chicago are a war area right now. And its one of the worst cities for crime (chicago is worse than new york or LA).
5) Other risk. In this case, you have a state that hasn't had a budget in several years now because they simply can't pass a balanced one given the billions of dollars of unfunded pensions. The mayor just passed the highest property tax increase in the city ever and they're still not done finding enough money to fund all their pensions.
The unknowns with this political environment are a huge risk.
What I just can't comprehend is how you can look at those items and the facts and suggest that you would recommend the chicago area above places like Texas and the like...... Something isn't adding up with your logic. Or else you don't really understand what most investors are actually looking for in terms of characteristics of a good investing area. But I can promise you, that chicago doesn't have them right now. Even in the nicer areas in chicago, you still have extremely poor landlord laws and you're still at huge risk of significant tax increases at both the city, county and state levels. Not to mention the much higher unemployment rate and the outflow of population that is occurring - whether you believe in the media's numbers or not.
5) Rising property taxes are a minor concern, but so far the rising property tax rates is not even equal to the annual rise in rents. If my properties' taxes go up $300 and rents go up $500, I'm still net positive.
