Your Dream Home

RN0441

100% better than I was but not at 100% yet
We have thought about downsizing, just for the tax savings!

Well we're moving into a home with the same square footage as the one we have now in Chicago. It's just that the costs are so much less in other states than in Illinois. Oh yes and no basements there due to high water level so glad to have this storage "room" that has the best windows in the house. LOL
 

BusynMember

Well-Known Member
Our taxes are $1200. I can't believe how much Princess pays in Chicago burbs for a small two bedroom house. Heck her house was not bought in good condition. A small house that needs work can be bought for as little as $50-60k here. She paid double that and has needed constant fixes. I hope she moves up here one day. For so many reasons. It's very safe but the cost of living is so nice. It could happen. She is not happy with SO and has asked if she could move in with us. We said of course and she would have built in free babysitting except for the three months we travel. You don't need to make a fortune here to afford your own place...she can do hairdressing and is also a chef.
 

AppleCori

Well-Known Member
Well we're moving into a home with the same square footage as the one we have now in Chicago. It's just that the costs are so much less in other states than in Illinois. Oh yes and no basements there due to high water level so glad to have this storage "room" that has the best windows in the house. LOL

Yes, the high water table is a concern in parts of Texas, also.

OMG—Illinois is so highly taxed—yet the state is broke?

Hubby had to write off a bill that the state of Illinois wouldn’t pay, so he is not happy with that state at all. Plus, last time we went to Chicago, he must have missed paying one of their dozen or more toll roads, somehow, and had to pay a fine.
 

Jabberwockey

Well-Known Member
In Texas most people don’t have basements, either because the limestone is so close to the surface (and digging it out is expensive) or the clay soil isn’t conducive to basements.

Yeah, if we ever build on our property a basement wont really be an option because the rock is so close to the surface. Our church doesn't have a basement for that same reason. Apparently took a ton of time and money just to make a divot in the ground for the sanctuary to slope down to the pulpit and communion table.
 

AppleCori

Well-Known Member
Yeah, if we ever build on our property a basement wont really be an option because the rock is so close to the surface. Our church doesn't have a basement for that same reason. Apparently took a ton of time and money just to make a divot in the ground for the sanctuary to slope down to the pulpit and communion table.

Come to think of it, I don’t know anyone in MO that has a basement (not that I know that many people in MO, so never thought about it).

Do they have many basements? Most people in Iowa have them, as far as I know.
 

BusynMember

Well-Known Member
The Chicago area in my opinion is overpriced and too crowded. I have never wanted to move back. When I visit Princess I wonder how I ever stood the crowds and prices.

The St. Louis area where Bart lives is also a lot less expensive.
 

AppleCori

Well-Known Member
Our taxes are $1200. I can't believe how much Princess pays in Chicago burbs for a small two bedroom house. Heck her house was not bought in good condition. A small house that needs work can be bought for as little as $50-60k here. She paid double that and has needed constant fixes. I hope she moves up here one day. For so many reasons. It's very safe but the cost of living is so nice. It could happen. She is not happy with SO and has asked if she could move in with us. We said of course and she would have built in free babysitting except for the three months we travel. You don't need to make a fortune here to afford your own place...she can do hairdressing and is also a chef.

We pay about 4K per year in property taxes, and I think it’s way too much for what we get, city government-wise. I can imagine that Chicago is even worse.
 

BusynMember

Well-Known Member
My daughter pays more than that and her house is probably not more than 1000 sq. feet. Her Dad helps her a lot because he doesn't want her to move. She truly helps him a lot and he isn't well. . If not for his help, she would have had no choice but to move somewhere else..
 

AppleCori

Well-Known Member
My daughter pays more than that and her house is probably not more than 1000 sq. feet. Her Dad helps her a lot because he doesn't want her to move. She truly helps him a lot and he isn't well. . If not for his help, she would have had no choice but to move somewhere else..

I don’t know how middle-class people can afford to live in some places, anymore. My daughter was offered a job in San Diego a couple of years ago, but she couldn’t take it because the cost of living is so high, it would be like getting a large pay cut.
 

Jabberwockey

Well-Known Member
Do they have many basements? Most people in Iowa have them, as far as I know.

Oh, there are still a lot of places with basements. It just all depends on where you are at. Our house has a basement as does every on in our neighborhood and we only live about a mile from the church.
 

ahhjeez

Active Member
Ooooh I love the pics of your houses. Beautiful! Where I live the taxes are fairly high. I'm in the Northeast and the cost of living is outrageous. I don't know how people are buying houses around here now. I certainly couldn't afford to. My dream home would be a house with tons of light. When we added the addition for my mom I lost the windows in my kitchen. :( I don't want a huge house. Just enough room for my business. A garage and some privacy. I want easy maintenance too. Oh and a whole house generator for our crappy, ice storm winters. All that being said, I do love my little house. She's a bit bigger with the add on, but still only about 1400 square ft.
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BusynMember

Well-Known Member
Your house reminds me of mine. Very nice. Homey. Cute but nice.

The last thing I want now is a big house. Kids are grown and gone.
 
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ahhjeez

Active Member
Yes, the high water table is a concern in parts of Texas, also.

OMG—Illinois is so highly taxed—yet the state is broke?

Hubby had to write off a bill that the state of Illinois wouldn’t pay, so he is not happy with that state at all. Plus, last time we went to Chicago, he must have missed paying one of their dozen or more toll roads, somehow, and had to pay a fine.


In the older part of our house it is a slab. In the addition we added a basement for storage for my business. If I could go back in time I wouldn't have done that. For the majority of the winter my sump pump gets a workout. I'm always terrified of power failures even though we've got a battery back up and a generator. We've had two floods that turned the basement into an inground pool so I'd rather avoid that again. LOL.
 

AppleCori

Well-Known Member
In the older part of our house it is a slab. In the addition we added a basement for storage for my business. If I could go back in time I wouldn't have done that. For the majority of the winter my sump pump gets a workout. I'm always terrified of power failures even though we've got a battery back up and a generator. We've had two floods that turned the basement into an inground pool so I'd rather avoid that again. LOL.

Sounds awful!

I like your gray siding!
 

AppleCori

Well-Known Member
Your house reminds me of mine. Very nice. Homey. Cute but nice.

The last thing I want now is a big house. Kids are grown and gone.

I feel that way, too.

My daughter is with us, so I do like to have the extra room for her and her friends, but when she is grown and out, we are seriously thinking of a two-bedroom, one living area house.

That much less to clean and take care of.
 

ahhjeez

Active Member
Thanks Apple. I like the gray too. The floods were before we had the battery back up and generator so we learned a lesson there. Now I've got an alarm down there as well.
 

AppleCori

Well-Known Member
OK, ladies, the important stuff.....

Describe your kitchen...

What color cabinetry?

Galley, eat-in, L-shaped, or other?

Brown trim or white?

Flooring?

Plenty of cabinets or not?

Recently remodeled or original?
 
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