Chicago | Imamother

amother

Bisque

Sun, Nov 22 2015, 12:16 am

my husband got an offer in chicago. we ard looking into the community. what are the houses going for. what is the tuition at the more right wing schools. we are yeshivish. I am professional but would really perfer to work in a frum office and not 9-5 more like 9-3....would I have a very hard time finding a decent job. I know some oot cities have programs to help ppl settle in help with job get ahold of used furniture. does chicago have anything like that...

busydev

Sun, Nov 22 2015, 3:05 am

chicago has tons of chesed. they have the chicago chesed fund which has a used furniture gmach and joblinks. plus tons of other programs and gmachim for those who are eligible http://www.chicagochesedfund.org/

a typical 2 floor 3bedroom 2 bathroom + basement house is in the area of 450k give or take. search zillow or trulia 60645 and look between howard and peterson, kedzie and washtenaw to get an idea of WRP and devon and peterson betweek kimball and ridgeway to get an idea of PP

right wing yeshivish would be JDBY/YTT (girls/boys) or veitzner (boys). I think tuition is in the 10k range iirc (my oldest is in the preschool program which has a diff fee schedule)

I used to work 9-5 but shortened my hours to 9-3:30 recently in a jewish office. I know some ppl that have longer part time hours (9-2:30 etc) but I dunno how easy it would or wouldnt be to find a job. sorry.

OOTBubby

Sun, Nov 22 2015, 12:25 pm

busydev is more patient than I am. There's tons of info about Chicago already posted here. Please search and read through what's here, then come back and ask further and I'll be very happy to help. I can tell you that Chicago has the advantages of a big city (plenty of choices of schools, stores, etc.) but is still essentially one community. Most people who come here are very happy and even when they have the opportunity to leave they choose to stay. Regarding the job; from what I understand, that is tough. Most offices want full time. My office (frum) is constantly hiring (mainly bookkeeping positions) but only full time. I do have one DD who works in a school office with slightly shortened hours. Chicago has tons of services to help you get started here.

amother

Ivory

Sun, Nov 22 2015, 1:10 pm

What would be the approximate cost of living for a young couple with a baby if living simply?

Lets say:
Rent
Food Expenses
Babysitting
Taxes
Anything else important to know?

Trying to figure out what types of $ we would need to make.

OOTBubby

Sun, Nov 22 2015, 1:27 pm

amother wrote:

Sorry, but I am far from that stage of life so I really can't help with answers to that, but hopefully someone else can.

mha3484

Sun, Nov 22 2015, 1:50 pm

amother wrote:

Everything is relative but we are two adults a preschooler and baby:

Rent- 935 for a 2br no utilities included
Food- I spend 200 a week max sometimes less
Babysitting- drop of day care $6 an hour approx someone in your home is closer to $12 an hour
Taxes depend on your income no?

amother

Bisque

Sun, Nov 22 2015, 4:09 pm

if I have to work full time..oh well but I would only want a jewish business. I have a bachelors in accounting no cpa. I have 8 yrs experience. I would only take a job with health benefits. what salary range can I expect. someone posted that a three bedroom costs 450. is there any up and coming neighborhoods that are a little cheaper. also are there any three bedroom apt. and what would rent be.

OOTBubby

Sun, Nov 22 2015, 4:11 pm

amother wrote:

I don't know where you got that a 3 BR apt costs $450 -- its way more than that -- closer to $1000 and up.

Sun, Nov 22 2015, 4:35 pm

OOTBubby wrote:

I don't know where you got that a 3 BR apt costs $450 -- its way more than that -- closer to $1000 and up.

I assume this is a miscommunication:

3 b/r house can be bought for 450K, and rented for 1000+ a month.

OOTBubby

Sun, Nov 22 2015, 5:54 pm

amother wrote:

I was referring to a previous poster who said a three bedroom house cost 450k

Yes, a previous poster clarified that. I thought you were saying that a 3 br. apartment was $450 to rent :-)

In reality, most 3 br. homes are significantly less than $450.

amother

Bisque

Sun, Nov 22 2015, 6:46 pm

is hard to find a decent paying job with benefits in a frum office. is hard to find a three bedroom apt to rent. are four bedroom houses easy to come by or are they hard to find and the price gets hiked from bidding wars.

OOTBubby

Sun, Nov 22 2015, 6:49 pm

amother wrote:

It would be really helpful if you could write in proper sentences with capitalization. I'll answer what I think you are asking.

If you are qualified and willing to work full time you should be able to find a decent job with benefits in a frum office. Particularly in Chicago's main frum industry, they are always hiring and certainly always need accountants.

I don't think it is hard to find 3 bedroom apartments, but others will know that answer better than me. However, most of the apartments are pretty old.

There aren't many four bedroom houses at all so they are hard to find and much more expensive.

OOTBubby

Mon, Nov 23 2015, 9:08 am

amother wrote:

About how much are utilities in the winter? I imagine you use heat 24/7 in Chicago ?
What would be the average monthly cost?
$100? $300? etc..

The cost will vary enormously depending on the size of the place you are heating. I can't give you any specifics that will help you, but the cost of heating an apartment will be much less than that of heating a home. In general, too, electricity for air conditioning is more costly than heating (which is primarly gas).

It might be a good idea for you to contact a Chicago realtor who could help you with some of these things. If you'd like to do that, please PM and I'll give you the names of a few frum realtors who really know what is doing here (apartments and homes both, though most apartments are rented without agents).

busydev

Mon, Nov 23 2015, 10:50 pm

whoops I originally wrote 350-450k and then decided to change it to in the area of 400k but looks like I forgot to replace the 5. sorry

I really couldnt answer how much heating and cooling would be. it totally depends on the size of the house/apt, on the system (central, window units, radiators etc)

a 3 bedroom apartment I dont think is that hard to find. im not in the market for apartments and never really searched for them here but from what friends say and have its fairly common in the "typical" 2 flats ive been in. cost would be something like $1200+ a month to rent. (also based on friends)

Im also not up to buying a house for lack of a large enough down payment. but I like looking on real estate sites like zillow and trulia every so often. so I have an idea of the costs and what the asking/selling prices are.

4 bedroom houses do cost 450k+

also I cant say about taxes on income but sales tax in chicago is pretty high.... 9% or so.

Fox

Mon, Nov 23 2015, 11:07 pm

Like most established frum communities, real estate and rental prices can vary enormously within a few blocks. Sometimes a block or small area becomes especially desirable while the next block is seen as less desirable and therefore commands lower prices. There are bargains around, but not if you're the type of person who needs to live on the "hock" block.

As OOTBubby said, you should have no trouble finding a job. However, I would add two caveats:

First, you're unlikely to find a job with reduced hours that includes full benefits, especially if you're a new hire. You might eventually get a deal that allowed you to work from home part of the time, but I don't know any employers that would offer full benefits to anyone working less than whatever they define as full time.

Second, you mentioned a "frum office." Do you mean a frum employer, frum coworkers, or both? The industry mentioned by OOTBubby would have frum bosses but not necessarily frum coworkers. This will be something you'll need to clarify to anyone assisting you in a job search.

Hatzlacha!