While there a many, many reasons a prospective homeowner looks to move to a specific state, city, suburb or neighborhood, one thing is certain – they need to know if they can afford to buy AND live there.

According to the Federal National Mortgage Association, commonly known as Fannie Mae, “the largest contributors to housing costs are consistently non-mortgage ongoing costs, which collectively are about half of total borrower costs over the ownership period. Indeed, the largest non-mortgage expenses for all borrowers are utilities, property taxes, and home improvement expenses.”

The following article provides more information from Fannie Mae – https://www.fanniemae.com/research-and-insights/perspectives/biggest-costs-homeownership#:~:text=Our%20key%20findings%3A,taxes%2C%20and%20home%20improvement%20expenses.

DuPage County Treasurer, Gwen Henry, states:

“In recent months, I’m really concerned about the impact that inflation is having on people in the county, particularly those that are already living paycheck to paycheck,” Henry said.

“People are trying to figure out how they buy their groceries, fill up their gas tanks and pay their mortgage and property taxes. As a treasurer, I can’t necessarily do all those things for them but I can give them some ideas and help and do some other work in that area.”

Paying bills, Henry said, “relates also to real estate taxes becoming a problem.”

“I’ve been noticing in the past few weeks where people haven’t paid their last installment before we go to the tax sale and we still have a lot of taxpayers who have not yet paid their final taxes,” she said. “They are having a hard time coming up with the money and choosing what they are going to pay.”

Higher taxes, Henry said, are a concern now “with what the levies the taxing bodies are going to be putting on their bills for this next year.”

“A lot of the increases can go to 5% increase in taxes where before it was limited to the CPI, which was 2.1%,” she said. “If the taxing bodies ask for 5%, it’s going to be a terrible experience for people.”

Source: Chicago Tribune/Naperville Sun 10/1/22 – https://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/naperville-sun/ct-nvs-dupage-county-treasurer-election-st-1002-20221001-nwnwrdyyonbexpjnas7dhaoc4u-story.html

Another potential Property Tax Increase on the November 8, 2022 Ballot – Amendment 1 to the Illinois Constitution (also known as the “Proposed Workers’ Rights Amendment”)

If Amendment 1 is approved, use this calculator to estimate the additional increase to your property tax – https://www.illinoispolicy.org/property-tax-calculator-how-much-will-amendment-1-cost-you/