1005 Glencrest Drive | Zillow
1005 Glencrest Drive | Zillow
Before they fled Illinois' sky-rocketing property taxes, Harold and Janet Shei purchased their home at 1005 Glencrest Drive in Inverness for $885,500 in July 2001, or $1.28 million in today's dollars.
The stately four-bedroom, five-bath home sits on almost 1.5 acres of land and includes custom touches such as coffered ceilings, a three-zoned HVAC system, a heated garage, a central vacuum and a home generator.
By last May, though, they were ready to leave it all behind and listed the home for sale at $939,000, according to Zillow. The home finally sold on Feb. 15 for $754,000 -- a $526,000 loss.
Between 2003 and 2018, they paid $243,870 in property taxes (or 32 percent of the sale price). Last year's bill was $19,637, nearly double what it was when they moved in ($10,311).
Given all that, it's no wonder that the Sheis now call the mountain resort town of Avon, Colorado home.
It's quite a contrast. A two-bedroom condo currently for sale for $742,000 in Avon has a $2,739 property tax bill; in Inverness, its property taxes would be seven times higher.
The Sheis, along with other homeowners in Inverness, Kenilworth and Bartlett saw the highest effective tax rates in North Cook County in the second part of 2018, according to an analysis by Local Government Services (LGIS), which publishes the North Cook News.
The effective property tax rate, or the percentage of your home’s value that you pay in property taxes each year, averages 2.31 percent in Illinois, three times the 0.87 percent tax rate in neighboring Indiana, according to WalletHub.com.
Across the nation, the average tax rate is 1.3 percent.
Taxes double, home values cut in half
Of the 33 North Cook County communities surveyed by LGIS, 14 have effective property tax rates higher than the state average. Inverness and Kenilworth topped the list with a 3.12 percent tax rate, and Bartlett came in second with a 2.97 percent rate.
Nicky Kardell's husband, Anthony, bought their home at 1221 Barclay Circle in Inverness for $821,000 in 2003 ($1.12 million in today's dollars). The five-bedroom, four-bathroom house covers more than 4,500 square feet and includes a wood-paneled library, jetted tub in the master and a large walk-in closet with built-ins.
After Anthony died in 2015, the home fell into foreclosure and was sold back to the bank, which sold the property for $462,000 in November 2018.
All told, taxes paid on the home since 2003 were $203,428 - a whopping 44 percent of the sale price -- according to Zillow and Blockshopper.
Price Waterhouse Cooper partner Grant Hellwarth and his wife, Virginia, didn't fare much better. They bought their five-bedroom, five-bath Inverness home at 1115 Woodburn Court for $870,000 in 2006.
On nearly 2 acres of picturesque land, the home sold in October 2018 for $575,000 -- almost half of what they paid for it in today’s dollars.
While owning the home, the couple saw their property tax jump from $11,747 in 2006 (a 1.4 percent property tax rate) to $20,435 last year (2.3 percent). In all, they paid $191,845 in property taxes over the 12 years they owned the home, or 33 percent of the sale price.
$20,000 is a bargain compared to tax bills on the North Shore.
Larry and Susan Miller's six-bedroom Georgian one block from Lake Michigan, at 123 Kenilworth Ave. in Kenilworth has been for sale for nearly two years. They're asking $3.295 million. The home's property tax bill last year was $58,433.
Two blocks away, Eric Jungbluth's five bedroom with a wrap-around porch at 322 Kenilworth Ave. has been for sale since the summer of 2017. He's asking $2.875 million, after getting the home's property tax bill lowered to $39,018 from $64,235.
The median sale price over the last six months of 2018 was $858,500 in Kenilworth, down from a peak of $1.776 million in 2007-- $2.197 million in today's dollars.
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Northern Cook County effective property tax rate July 1-Dec. 31, 2018
| Community | Effective Tax Rate | Median Tax Bill | Median Sale Price |
| Inverness | 3.12% | $13,665 | $437,500 |
| Kenilworth | 3.12% | $26,828 | $858,500 |
| Bartlett | 2.97% | $7,063 | $237,500 |
| Palatine | 2.76% | $5,802 | $210,000 |
| Buffalo Grove | 2.65% | $5,431 | $205,000 |
| Glencoe | 2.64% | $19,639 | $745,000 |
| Streamwood | 2.52% | $4,793 | $190,000 |
| Prospect Heights | 2.50% | $6,077 | $243,500 |
| Elgin | 2.44% | $4,355 | $178,500 |
| Hoffman Estates | 2.43% | $6,077 | $250,000 |
| Barrington Hills | 2.39% | $19,103 | $800,000 |
| Hanover Park | 2.39% | $4,932 | $206,000 |
| Rolling Meadows | 2.39% | $5,260 | $219,750 |
| Schaumburg | 2.38% | $4,638 | $194,500 |
| Mount Prospect | 2.29% | $6,768 | $295,000 |
| Wheeling | 2.26% | $4,333 | $191,750 |
| Arlington Heights | 2.25% | $7,192 | $320,000 |
| Roselle | 2.23% | $5,187 | $232,500 |
| Elk Grove Village | 2.22% | $5,324 | $240,000 |
| South Barrington | 2.21% | $16,682 | $755,000 |
| Northbrook | 2.13% | $10,001 | $470,000 |
| Winnetka | 2.13% | $21,534 | $1,012,000 |
| Evanston | 2.10% | $7,034 | $335,000 |
| Morton Grove | 2.10% | $6,406 | $305,000 |
| Skokie | 2.07% | $5,791 | $280,000 |
| Lincolnwood | 2.06% | $7,326 | $355,000 |
| Park Ridge | 2.06% | $8,189 | $398,000 |
| Barrington | 2.03% | $7,995 | $394,000 |
| Des Plaines | 1.96% | $4,483 | $228,500 |
| Wilmette | 1.94% | $12,133 | $625,000 |
| Glenview | 1.90% | $7,986 | $421,000 |
| Niles | 1.89% | $5,118 | $271,250 |
| Northfield | 1.85% | $9,781 | $530,000 |
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