How Much Are Closing Costs in Illinois? (and Who Pays What at Closing)
There is a number that almost nobody quotes you and almost everybody has to write a check for. You know your down payment. If you are putting 5 percent down on a $400,000 house, that is $20,000, and you have been staring at that number for a year. Then you get a form three days before closing that s
What Happened to All the Southwest Suburb Breweries? (and Which Ones Are Still Open)
You looked it up, it said open, you drove there, and the lights were off. If that has happened to you in the last couple of years, it was not your fault and you were not being careless. The listing said open because almost nothing on the internet ever gets around to saying otherwise. A brewery close
Moving to Channahon, IL: Should You Buy a Home Here?
Channahon sells itself on the things you can see. Three interstate interchanges inside the village, a park district that punches well above the town's size, and noticeably more house per dollar than anything closer to Chicago. Here is the part you cannot see. Two houses on the same street, in the sa
Is Lemont, IL a Good Place to Live? Moving to Lemont: Taxes, Schools and Commute
You've heard what people say about Lemont: big city amenities with a small town feel, natural topography, top rated schools, and a fun, cozy, limestone-lined downtown. That's why it's on your list, and you get all of it, plus top-notch outdoor recreation, easy access to two interstates, and more cha
Grundy County, IL Property Tax Exemptions (and How to Apply for a Homestead Exemption)
An appeal argues about what your house is worth. An exemption does not argue about anything. It takes a fixed amount off the value your tax bill is calculated on, every year, for as long as you qualify, and nobody on the other side of the counter is going to talk you out of it. The catch is that mos
How to Appeal Your Property Taxes in Grundy County, IL (and How to Actually Win the Appeal)
Most people find out about the appeal deadline after it has passed. That is not carelessness. It is what happens when the date genuinely moves. In Grundy County, the assessment list was published on December 4 one year and the deadline landed on January 3 of the following year. In another year the n
Best Breweries in the Southwest Suburbs (and the Ones That Didn't Make It)
Search for breweries near here and you will get a list of Chicago breweries. Half Acre, Goose Island, Revolution. All good, all thirty-five minutes and a toll away, and none of them the answer to what you asked. So I went through all nineteen towns out here myself. What I found was not what I expect
Will County Property Tax Exemptions (and the Ones People Never Claim)
There is a good chance you have never filled out a single piece of paper for your Will County property tax exemption, and you are getting it anyway. That is not an accident and it is not a mistake. It is how the county runs. It is also why the other exemptions get missed. When the big one shows up o
Kankakee County Property Tax Exemptions (and the Ones People Never Claim)
In some Illinois counties the main homestead exemption lands on your tax bill without you ever asking for it. Kankakee County is not one of them. Kankakee publishes an application form for it. That single fact is the most important thing on this page, because if you bought a house here and assumed t