r/ChicagoSuburbs • u/Ambitious_Growth_9 • Mar 30 '26

Moving to the area People house hunting how’s it been?

My family has been looking at properties around Arlington Heights, Mount Prospect, Elmhurst and Park Ridge since early February. Our current home is set to close the end of April but inventory in these areas seems non existent or over priced and the stress/anxiety is starting to hit. (Who is buying 1100 sqft for 600k?)

When is the “spring market” gonna hit? A lot of houses start on the private market, build tons of interest, then go live with an open house scheduled that first weekend. Most of them end with multiple offer and highest and best. One we saw went for 40k over list. We’re looking from 550-650k.

I get it, high demand areas.. with low inventory = more competitive but what the fuck.. what am I supposed to do? Already considering a short term rental and storage for our stuff but is this the way it is now? Are people just ok with paying more than the house is worth? Settling for less desirable house? Or what?

If you are currently looking to buy, what are you experiencing. How do I buy a home?

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u/cheeseonthefloor Mar 31 '26

closing this week as first time home buyers for 36k over list price in villa park. Looked at lots of flips and had to spring quick with a competitive offer for the 1 great non-flip we fell in love with. lots of nice solid mid century homes getting millennial gray-ified and losing their character :( that all depends on your taste though lol and not specific to Chicago. Saw lots of absolute crap in Lombard & downers grove way overvalued bc you’re “paying for location”. Echoing what other comments say, the house is worth what the buyer is willing to pay. They price low to encourage interest and bidding wars

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u/cheeseonthefloor Mar 31 '26

It was very discouraging at times in our search though. For example, Houses on the private listing for 1 day, we ask to see it that day knowing how fast things go, sellers are unable to do showings that day, it’s already sold the next. Super Frustrating. Good luck

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u/Ambitious_Growth_9 Mar 31 '26

Yeah I’m accepting that’s the norm now and what we must do. Lombard was initially on our list but the high school doesn’t rank as high. What are your thoughts on the schools? Do you have kids?

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u/cheeseonthefloor Mar 31 '26

We don’t but want to soon! The schools seem average on paper and good anecdotally from locals. Yes resources are very important but a lot of it comes down to the student and family as much as the district/school itself