Custom Search

Twitter Updates

    follow me on Twitter

    Tuesday, October 09, 2007

    The Ghettos of Barrington

    Well, we return. Again. Only to leave in 3 days. Again.

    I'm not a traveler. I'm a homebody.

    So our trip to Chicagoland was fruitful. And a bit discouraging. We found a lot of places to live. A lot of places we can't afford. With property taxes at 2.5%, it's killing our bottom line. But we have a decision to make.

    1. Do we want an acre of land 45 minutes from Sean's office? Problem, the HOA will not allow any outbuildings (ie. a garage big enough to hold our trailer), or for us to park the trailer on the side of the house. So what's the point of an acre that you can't do anything on?

    2. Do we want a house in a cookie cutter neighborhood like we live in now, 10 minutes from Sean's office? Problem, the land is too small for us to park the trailer on the side of the house. Do I want to spend $100 a month for storage? Although, the smaller property comes with lake rights, and is right across the street from the beach of the small-ish lake. Possibly sell the trailer and buy some wave runners?

    We did drive through some areas that had homes on 300+ acres, with ranch houses and barns as big as neighborhoods. Barrington is one of those. If only there was a ghetto. We didn't get to see any of downtown Chicago, since Sean's office is over an hour away from there. We looked into Wisconsin, but property tax isn't that much less, and the commute would be brutal, so that was nixed. Hopefully we can narrow down some homes and get out with a Realtor and see them in a few weeks.

    Other things that happened:

    Sean puking on the plane after THE WORST take off ever.
    Our "little person" car.
    Marble Columns.
    RED LIGHT! SCREEEEECH!
    No sense of direction, due to lack of mountains.
    Lake Michigan. Freezing, BTW.


    Many, many many thanks to My "'Da Bomb" Mom, and of course Meg, for watching the girls. It sure made life easier not having to schlep around 3 kids. Gretta is having Nunn withdrawals.

    10 Response(s):

    Min said...

    Good luck with the house hunt. Looks like you've narrowed things down a little bit.

    Jill Johnson said...

    Hang in there. Remember to pray about it. The Lord will lead you to the neigborhood you need to be, I promise!! Miss you

    Laura said...

    Tough choice. Both look like good options, just different pros/cons. I don't think there is a right or a wrong. (I learned that when we were looking for our house) I think it is a matter of what works best for you guys. You will be an asset to your new community no matter where it is. Good luck choosing!

    Keli said...

    So we found the church we'd go to. We had to look it up on the net since after 3 days of driving around, we never did see it. If we live on the Acre lot, we'd drive over an hour each way to church. If we live by the lake, it's just under an hour.

    Did I mention we're late to church now and it's across the street?

    Kalli Ko said...

    mahble colums... look at this one, or that one...

    i love snl

    the dreaded house search is so hard, but you'll make the right decision and it will be great.

    bonny with a Y said...

    good luck on your choices - i'd go with the smaller lot and sell the trailer and buy wave runners - my kids would opt for that too. but i would never use a trailer and it sounds like you really enjoy yours.

    can you rent for a year and then decide?

    Keli said...

    I've thought of renting for a bit, just to see what's out there, but I think for the sake of the kids, I'd like to move somewhere we could call "home". They need the security of permanence. Plus, who am I kidding, so do I. Besides, I don't really like the idea of moving twice. But I haven't ruled it completely out, since we don't have a ton of time, we may have to just rent if we can't decide on anything.

    Michelle said...

    I know how it feels not having the mountains tell you directions. Ken and I have really studied the maps. When I first moved to Kentucky, a friend told me that she had been living there for 8 years and is still using a map to get around Louisville.

    Best of luck with your house hunting. Let me know if you need anything.

    amy k said...

    I love traveling. I have a hard time staying couped up all the time in a house.

    I remember looking for a house in Idaho (not as far). It took us a number of visits up here. We finally found one after we had just returned back to Utah and then that day we saw one in the paper. Knowing if you snooze you lose we headed back that night. It was the winner.

    Keep up the looking and don't get discouraged. You will find the right one.

    Good luck! Hopefully we can see each other at least one time before you move :(

    Michelle said...

    Well, I don't know what kinda luck you are going to get on parking the trailer. Most places in Kentucky didn't allow it, and Illinois is similar. Try living on the southwest side of Chicago, that way you would be closer to us.
    Ken