Moving To Chicago

[nc211]

Well my friends, the economy, and an offer that we simply can't refuse, has caused us to accept the position being offered to me in Chicago. My wife and I returned home last night after spending 3 days there looking around "and freezing our butts off". We arrived on Saturday morning, went to the Hancock building in downtown, had lunch at the signature room on the 95th floor, facing Lake Michigan and watching sheets of lake-effect snow come in. We looked at eachother and said "what in the hell are we doing here?". But, a couple days later, and a few tanks of gas spent exploring the surrounding areas, we found a beautiful subburb called Glen Ellyn. On Monday night, we found a home originally built in 1906 that had been fully renovated "down to the studs" in 2005 for sale. I won't tell you the price, but I will say that most homes in that area are in the very high 6 figure arena, with several in the 7 figure area. The housing market there is in the tank, price reductions of $50k-$100k are happening across the board....so it's a renters market! The owners are willing to lease it to us, and we're now working on those terms and conditions. But I am confident we'll get it "only one thing stands in our way...they're agreement to suspend the for-sale aspect of the house while we're there". So, it looks as though the NC211 family will be living in Chicago in a few months. You yanks better perpare yourselves! The Grit express is on it's way!

For my fellow Chicago friends and family on here.....any pointers/suggestions on the area would be of great appreciation!

[dcfish]

Well my friends, the economy, and an offer that we simply can't refuse, has caused us to accept the position being offered to me in Chicago. My wife and I returned home last night after spending 3 days there looking around "and freezing our butts off". We arrived on Saturday morning, went to the Hancock building in downtown, had lunch at the signature room on the 95th floor, facing Lake Michigan and watching sheets of lake-effect snow come in. We looked at eachother and said "what in the hell are we doing here?". But, a couple days later, and a few tanks of gas spent exploring the surrounding areas, we found a beautiful subburb called Glen Ellyn. On Monday night, we found a home originally built in 1906 that had been fully renovated "down to the studs" in 2005 for sale. I won't tell you the price, but I will say that most homes in that area are in the very high 6 figure arena, with several in the 7 figure area. The housing market there is in the tank, price reductions of $50k-$100k are happening across the board....so it's a renters market! The owners are willing to lease it to us, and we're now working on those terms and conditions. But I am confident we'll get it "only one thing stands in our way...they're agreement to suspend the for-sale aspect of the house while we're there". So, it looks as though the NC211 family will be living in Chicago in a few months. You yanks better perpare yourselves! The Grit express is on it's way!

For my fellow Chicago friends and family on here.....any pointers/suggestions on the area would be of great appreciation!

NC, You are getting into my neck of the woods now (about 6 hours away) When life serves up some lemons start making lemonade my friend You'll freeze your A$$ off when the wind is blowing 50+ mph and the wind chill is -40 degrees on a good day You'll be fine in the Windy City, Lots to do and see, The restaurants are second to none, Plenty of beer And the fishing is a blast out on Lk. Michigan. Best of the future to you............

[1990LS400]

I sometimes think I've seen more of Chicago that most of my coworkers at the home office in Schaumburg - just northwest of O'Hare and 10 minutes north of Glen Ellyn.

dcfish is right. You will never run out of things to see and do in Chicago -- Museums, Navy Pier, sports, the "beach". Any city with street names like Upper and Lower Wacker has to be interesting. I get a kick ouf of just walking around downtown -- did you know you can walk for hours and miles in the subterranean passageways that connect downtown buildings without ever retracing your steps?

Is the Billy Goat still operating? Cheeseburger! Cheeseburger!

You're right about real estate prices being a bit high. My wife saw a perfectly kept cute little bungalow for sale in Evanston a few years back when we were at Northwestern for a football game. She guessed that the asking price would be in the $200-$300K range -- it turned out that the asking price was around $1M.

[SW03ES]

Congrats on the decision NC, who knows you might love living in Chicago.

Keep us posted!

[ArmyofOne]

DUDE!!! you have to come up to watertown and see me, hell, Ill meet you in rochester NY!

Stay out of the salt!

[denslexusgx470]

Luckily my family moved from the snowy area to just a cold area hehe. I moved from Joplin Missouri (with plenty of snow) to Central California, where we are EXCITED to see a very thin layer of snow once every, 10 years? lol. :D

[blake918]

Congrats on your new position Robert! I LOVE Chicago, and I'm sure you will too! The last time I was up there I met up with Gumart1. It took us a while to decide which LS to take to lunch since he has 2 and I had mine there too. haha Sitting outside at Lou's in downtown Naperville is one of my favorite places for Chicago style pizza!

[nc211]

You know, Blake, you're like the umteenth person who's told me they love Chicago. I haven't heard one person say a bad thing about it actually, not one. Which is a HUGE help for us, as we've been pretty uneasy about this transition. Timing couldn't be worse too, as my wife's only sibling "little brother" is heading off to Iraq "was Afghanistan but got changed, thankfully" around the time we're leaving here as well. It's pretty heavy right now for my wife's parents. But, in my line of work, it's sink or swim time, with the vast majority of folks far more senior than I, sinking. So, I'm super happy and feel ultramega lucky to actually be on the increasing side of the equation. No complaints at this point, but some concerns.

One of which, I've posted on the Mazda 3 site as well, regards the roadsalt conditions up there in the winter. Our 4runner is from Chicago, and I can tell you from being underneath it, seeing some of the bolts I've had to replace, rust is a concern of mine. Not so much on the 4runner, as it's pretty much a real beast that take just about anything. But the Mazda is a different story. Its sheet metal is more tinish, and folks do report rust problems around the fender wells, trunk, and other usual areas. Granted, you know I'll be taking great care of the cars, but was curious if you or anyone else can recommend some preventive steps to be taken? I've heard of some clear 3M tape being applied in the fender wells, and even heard of some kind of eletronic magnet gadget attached to the frame of the car that changes the polarity of the car to prevent rust from forming "which sounds like bs to me". Any suggestions?????

I didn't know Marty was in Chicago? I'll have to send him a PM soon! We didn't make it down to Naperville during our tour last week "ran out of time", but I hear it's really nice as well! Hopefully if you return to the windy city someday, you and I will actually get the change to meet in person!

Dens: I know Joplin. Moving anywhere from Missouri "pronounced Misery" is an upgrade! I lived in KC for several years as a teenager. Left when I was 21 for NC, and never looked back. Although, I do miss the party-cove at the Lake of the Ozarks sometimes, but my arthitis in my left hip quickly reminds me the sun set many moons ago for that time of my life.

[blake918]

I didn't know Marty was in Chicago? I'll have to send him a PM soon! We didn't make it down to Naperville during our tour last week "ran out of time", but I hear it's really nice as well! Hopefully if you return to the windy city someday, you and I will actually get the change to meet in person!

Yeah, he lives up in Deerfield. After you move and get settled, you should meet up with him. I thought we were just going to meet for lunch and kick tires at his house, but we ended up chatting like a couple old ladies all afternoon. That would be awesome to meet up, wouldn't that be something to finally meet you in person after chatting on the forum for all these years!! The drive from LA is only a little more than 13 hours (my former '95 made the trip twice!). As a Mac lover, the Apple Store on Michigan Ave is one of my favorite places! I took an architectural boat tour of the Chicago river, and it was actually a really good time too.

Having only lived in Texas and Louisiana all my life, I have no idea about fighting the snow! LOL

[smooth1]

Well NC, I'm from Wisconsin, but I lived in Chicago for awhile as a youngster. (My dad had some business that took us there for a year, maybe 2.) It's a city, what else can you say? It's busy 24/7, lots to do everywhere. Just be sure you move to the community that Obama was the organizer for. ;)

If your worried about your cars, I would get some undercoating and spray the underside of your cars down real good with it. That should help with the rust issues. Up north, undercoating is a "new car feature" LOL!!

And just wait til you visit the Sears Tower. the elevators are amazing!

[ArmyofOne]

NC-Being that i live in the heart of salt country, take the following advice from me my friend:

1. When driving your car in winter, ALWAYS take it to a touchless car wash with an underbody sprayer once every 2 weeks minimum. This will wash the salt away.

2. Keep wax on the paint as often as you can during the warmer months, that way in the winter, your covered.

3. DO NOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES, drill holes in the paint or let exposed rock chips remain exposed. Exposed metal becomes rust FAST. I have seen a hole rust through a rock chip on a rocker panel in 1 winter.

4. INVEST the $500 or so and have your vehicles undercoated. It is a coating similar to Rhino Liner that is sprayed on the bottom of your vehicle. Any part that doesnt heat up, gets this coating. Check this out: http://www.ziebart.com/rust_protection.php

5. Do not park in a heated garage in winter. As much as you might want to, a car thats left outside will not rust nearly as fast. Road salt does not become corrosive until it comes in contact with water. Water multiplies its alkalinity by...ALOT. So no heated garage, if you must park in a garage, turn the heat off in there. Overlook the heated garage when looking for a home and invest the money you save in a remote starter for your car instead.

6. Do not drive closely behind people. keep a MUCH further distance than you would in dry weather. This is not only safer, but better for your car's finish.

7. Invest in a "Clear Bra" to prevent rock chips. Remeber, Bare metal or primer=rust in as little as 2-3 weeks.

8. Drive in the "ruts" on the road. Follow the same path on the roads as all the other cars have been traveling. the surface will be generally smoother with less debris.

9. If your car doesnt have mudflaps already...dont invest in them. They are a waste. Remember, Holes drilled in your body are a bad thing. And the ones that dont require holes drilled will rub against your finish, or fly off the first slush/salt/muck puddle you drive through.

10. Do not brush against your car, especially when its dirty.

and finally i have to reiterate WASH WASH WASH as often as you can!!! Even the Wax at the touchless car wash is better than none at all!

[nc211]

Good points Josh! I had not thought about the heated garage aspect, makes perfect sense! It's been 13+ years since I've lived in a snowy place "KC". My wife never has. It's going to be interesting, to say the least. We're actually starting to get excited about this now. We've got a lot of work in front of us over the next couple of months, it won't be easy. Plus, our little boy will probably start teething soon too, which won't be fun. But, before I am anything to anyone in this life, I'm a father, and will always do whatever it takes to make sure my family has everything it could ever possibly need, and want "within reason".

If the worst that happens to us in this economy, is having to hide out in a very nice area of Chicago for 36 months, I won't complain.

I'm not really expecting the Mazda to get a lot of road time in Chicago actually. Our house isn't but 3 blocks from the train that I'll be taking in/out of downtown. Won't need the car except on weekends. But, after driving up there for a few days, I'm already going to buy some softer-sidewall tires, otherwise it might fall to pieces "and I". The roads are horrible up there! Now that it's cold out, and I don't have to use the a/c in the Mazda, I'm in love with that little speed demon again. I'm going to miss these smooth blacktop twisty hilly country roads here in NC, badly. Man, am I really glad we bought that 4runner now though, whew, that decision has turned out to be the right decision by a mile. I'm definetly going to look into the undercoating, and will be stocking up on some touchup paint from the dealerships for both cars.

We've got the house now. Here are some photos of where the NC family will be hiding out from the economy. It's definetly a renter's market now, for sure! 8 months ago, we couldn't of had a shot at something like this at all. But now, shoot, if it's "for sale", it's "for rent" too. All you gotta' do is approach the realtor and say "we're interested in renting it, if the seller wants to wait a couple years and try to sell it then". Every house we saw, from $5m 8,000 square feet mansions, to $300k 800 square feet shacks, were that way. Ours is about 2,600 square feet +/-. When we walked out of it, got in the car, I asked my wife what she thought. She said "I love it more than our home, and would be sick to my stomach if I owned it and had to rent it". Luckily, I'm the perfect "tenant" you would want living in your house. And the owners have agreed! It was built around 1900, and renovated down to the studs in 2005. We're getting excited about this!

[smooth1]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, those are nice pics , but wheres the heater? LOL!!!

That looks like a loooooong driveway! You better invest in a snow blower! And you might wanna buy some more rugs to cover more of those hard wood floors. How big is the hot water tank? I see the chimney,,wheres the fire place? Dang man, you skipped over all the important stuff!

[nc211]

Haahaa!! Water heater = tankless/endless hot water, thanks to the gas line to the furnance and gas fireplace in the main level family room. You can BET on the snow blower! It's 1st on my list! But, gotta wait to get it up there, as we don't even carry them down here. I'm too darn old and lazy to shovel that driveway!

The house is also prewired on all floors for surround sound, cable tv in all rooms, and built in wireless internet in the basement's networking box. It also has a ADT security system with key fobs.

The rugs though, are the wife's department. We looked at some yesterday at linen n' things "going out of business", and those things were on sale, at $5,000 :o ! So, hope target has some cheapos that we like, because you will never catch me spending 5 grand on anything that doesn't have either an engine, 12 speakers, can blind you, or will allow me to have something later with an engine, 12 speakers, can blind you...aka...a jewelry for the wife.

the trick now, is getting out of our house here, which we own. the company will pay the real estate commision, and professional movers, which is a huge help. But we've got to get it ready, and in a hurry before the economy finally hits raleigh, which it's preparing to do. Thankfully though, we're in the 4th fastest selling zip code in the area, with an average market time of 30 days, whereas the rest of the area is at least 120+ days.

[smooth1]

Wow, NOW that sounds like a great house! B) And I completely agree and concur with the $5K bounderies! I've found alot of Carpet stores will make rugs for you, custom size you want, for alot less money. Usually what ever it sells for per square yard, plus edging. then all you'll need is that grippy stuff you buy in sheets so the rugs don't slide around.

I wish you the best. It's kind of funny talking about you moving, your still in the same spot in my den unless I move the desk!

[ArmyofOne]

the rust protection from ziebart is not just a gimmick, it really works. It does have to be reapplied every 4 years minimum, but its reccomended every 2. Were I you, I would get a, literal, beater. SOmething relaible that costs only a few thousand, and park your nice cars in winter.

As far as the mazdas tires, go for the Comfortreads man, im telling you, for road comfort, there is not a better tire. Ask to see one at your local tire store and then push down on it. You will see why.

[SW03ES]

Your new place looks great!

the trick now, is getting out of our house here, which we own. the company will pay the real estate commision, and professional movers, which is a huge help. But we've got to get it ready, and in a hurry before the economy finally hits raleigh, which it's preparing to do. Thankfully though, we're in the 4th fastest selling zip code in the area, with an average market time of 30 days, whereas the rest of the area is at least 120+ days.

Let me know if you need help with this. I've done a bunch of these relo packages where the company pays the closing costs/commissions and pays for the move. Did they reccomend a realtor/do you know one? If not tell me and I can get you somebody really good through one of my referral networks. Usually you can choose whoever you want, the agent just has to pay the relo company a referral fee. They usually have two agents do BPOs beforehand too.

Are they going to give you a buyout option? They'll want to come do two appraisals and they'll do a third if you contest the results of the first two and then they'll buy it from you for that price if it doesn't sell within a few months.

You may...or may not like the buyout price. I had a client last year that got an awesome buyout offer from her company and I told her to take it even though it resulted in us loosing the listing (these relo companies have their own agents they contract with for "in inventory" properties, meaning properties they own). I also had a client this year that got a terrible offer...

At least here people have started coming out of the woodwork and buying houses...we've been busy. I hope its the same way there.

Rates were down today to 5.5% 30 yr fixed with no points...that will help.

Feel free to ask me for marketing tips too ;)

[nc211]

Well amigos, the time is upon me now, as I sit here in my boxed up home, waiting for the big rig to show up in the morning and load all of our personal belonging for our new home in the suburban area of Chicago, called Glen Ellyn. The sting of this moment, I must admit, really hurts pretty damn badly. I'm a proud, strong, mid 30's father and husband that has loved the southern living lifestlye for the majority of his life, and my wife knows of no other way. But I must admit, the growing sadness in my heart is getting harder to hide from my social circle. So, it's time to go. But, as I've preached on here in the past to other that a person will never land if they're not willing to take a leap or two, it's time to put my money where my mouth is. And, as a southern gentleman who's wired to face off to a challenge instead of run from one, I will get my family through this, you can bet your Smokey & The Bandit lovin' butt, I will win! I will lead us to a happier time, in a happier place, with a happier lifestyle. But as those on here that have faced similiar challenges in thier life, you know that it stings something pretty awful sometimes. However, in light of all the recent job cuts in this country, especially in my specialty sector, with a lot more to come in 2009, we're going to be ok on Sunday morning when we cross the stateline towards a new and strange place. So, NC211 is on the move. Catcha' when I catcha', mi amigos!

[dcfish]

Well amigos, the time is upon me now, as I sit here in my boxed up home, waiting for the big rig to show up in the morning and load all of our personal belonging for our new home in the suburban area of Chicago, called Glen Ellyn. The sting of this moment, I must admit, really hurts pretty damn badly. I'm a proud, strong, mid 30's father and husband that has loved the southern living lifestlye for the majority of his life, and my wife knows of no other way. But I must admit, the growing sadness in my heart is getting harder to hide from my social circle. So, it's time to go. But, as I've preached on here in the past to other that a person will never land if they're not willing to take a leap or two, it's time to put my money where my mouth is. And, as a southern gentleman who's wired to face off to a challenge instead of run from one, I will get my family through this, you can bet your Smokey & The Bandit lovin' butt, I will win! I will lead us to a happier time, in a happier place, with a happier lifestyle. But as those on here that have faced similiar challenges in thier life, you know that it stings something pretty awful sometimes. However, in light of all the recent job cuts in this country, especially in my specialty sector, with a lot more to come in 2009, we're going to be ok on Sunday morning when we cross the stateline towards a new and strange place. So, NC211 is on the move. Catcha' when I catcha', mi amigos!

Well, Well, Well, Buddy You are approaching my neck of the woods, When you get settled in and all is better than ever ;) We gotta hook up, Come hell or high water. Shoot me a PM and I 'll show you around the midwest :D

[JENunnez]

Wish you the the very best of everything nc.

Godspeed.

[BillyShaft]

Good Luck to you! Hear from you when you get settled in!

[nc211]

Well, we made it. After 15 hours and 845 miles, we arrived on Sunday at 10:30pm. At 11:00 pm, we were greeted by the police department! Apparently my appearance after such a drive, and us fumbling around for the keys to the house in the cold, got the attention of the neighbors and they called the cops on us! So, nothing like bail money and free legal advice for a house warming gift!

I've got to hand it to Toyota, they sure can build a car. I use to drive to KC from Wilmington about twice a year, could only make it to Nashville "575 miles" before I was to sore to continue. The 4runner was great to cruise in, and arrived feeling just fine, no stress. It's even easier on the ole' body than the LS400 was. As we were going through the mountains of West Virginia, I was reminded why I love V8 engines! We were loaded down to the ceiling with stuff, including three cats and the fish in the cup holder, and the car performed like it wasn't even challenged. That AWD system made the truck drive itself down the road, all I had to do was rest my hand on the wheel.

Waiting for the furniture to arrive in about 30 minutes, and hopefully the Mazda will show up sometime in the day or two. and then, we're done! I can't wait to sleep in my own bed, as these hardwood floors aren't exactly kind to your back. And, let me tell you, I'm exhausted like never before. Heck, this time last week, I was in San Diego for a confrence, flew home to pack and load the house, then drove here. So, I'm cooked!

[Lexusfreak]

Congrats NC......now you will need to invest in a good set of winter tires! ;)

[ArmyofOne]

Congrats NC......now you will need to invest in a good set of winter tires! ;)

TripleTreads...GOOOOOO!

Glad to hear you made it NC. Now your "NC" stands for Now in Chicago!

[Rocco B.]

Congrats...I have a sister that lives there, she loves it. I'm sure you will too, best of luck.