The property taxes on this luxury Woodstock mansion are more than four times what they would be on a comparably-priced home 30 minutes north in Wisconsin. | Zillow.com
The property taxes on this luxury Woodstock mansion are more than four times what they would be on a comparably-priced home 30 minutes north in Wisconsin. | Zillow.com
Trader Jamie Charles paid $300,000 in 1993— $523,000 in today’s dollars— for a historically significant 5,000 -square-foot, five-bedroom, fully restored log cabin on 3 acres in rural Bull Valley.
Originally built in 1838, the “Rider House” — located at 1114 Fleming Road— is named for William Fleming, who lived there in the early 1900s.
Charles, who has since moved to Austin, Texas, sold the home on May 31 for $350,000, effectively $227,000 less than what he paid for it.
His 2017 property tax bill: $17,293, an effective rate of 4.9 percent. An analysis of McHenry County tax records by Local Government Information Services (LGIS), which owns the McHenry Times, shows Charles paid approximately $296,000 in property taxes during his 25 years of ownership.
So much for the concept of home equity.
Homeowners in Bull Valley, Barrington Hills, the Village of Lakewood, Richmond, Prairie Grove, Cary, Lakemoor and Harvard are having the hardest time building it in McHenry County. They pay median effective tax rates of 3 percent or higher, according to an LGIS compiling of BlockShopper.com tax and home sales data between Jan. 1 and June 30, 2018.
Homeowners in the McHenry County portion of Barrington Hills (it is split between four counties; Lake, Kane and Cook are the others), where the median sale price was $431,750 for homes sold between January and June, pay median property taxes of $15,956 – or 3.7 percent of their home value.
The median Bull Valley homeowner pays 3.47 percent and, in the Village of Lakewood, 3.45 percent.
$51,000 in property taxes on a $750,000 home
Like in neighboring Kane County, the high end of the housing market in McHenry County is struggling the most.
A 35-acre Bull Valley ranch that prosecutors claim was bought with money illicitly earned from marijuana trafficking sold July 11 for $750,000. Its tax bill: $50,998, or 6.8 percent of home value.
To be fair, the property was thought by McHenry County Assessor to be worth $1.6 million, the equivalent of a 3 percent tax rate, still three times the national average, but closer to Illinois’ new property tax normal.
Its making relative value, especially in border counties, increasingly hard to ignore.
A six-bedroom, eight-bath home with a swimming pool at 11022 Ayrshire Court on Bull Valley Golf Course in Woodstock is currently listed for $925,000. Its tax bill is $30,715, or 3.3 percent of its asking price.
A half hour north, in Fontana, Wisconsin, a 4,600-square-foot lake house is for sale for $985,000; its tax bill: $8,385, or 0.085 percent of asking price, one-quarter of what it would be in McHenry County.
Prospective homeowners don't want to become like Bartlett and Patricia Johnson, who sold their five-bedroom, two-bath home at 421 La Fox River Drive in downtown Algonquin for $210,000 on July 18.
The Johnsons originally bought it in 2002 for $211,000, the equivalent of about $296,000 in today’s dollars.
Back then, the home’s tax bill was $3,231, or 1.5 percent of their home value. The tax bill this year was double that— or $6,718, an effective tax rate of 3.2 percent.
All told, the Johnsons paid $82,442 in property taxes while owning 421 La Fox River Drive. And they lost about as much in equity value.
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McHenry County communities paying the highest effective property tax rates
The following table ranks McHenry County communities with more than five home sales by their median effective property tax rate, calculated using sales and property tax data from 2018.
| City | Jan - June 2018 Sales | Jan - June 2018 Median Price | 2017 Median tax | Effective Tax Rate |
| Barrington Hills | 10 | $431,750 | $15,956 | 3.70% |
| Bull Valley | 12 | $337,750 | $11,722 | 3.47% |
| Lakewood | 53 | $340,000 | $11,727 | 3.45% |
| Richmond | 29 | $126,000 | $4,179 | 3.32% |
| Prairie Grove | 27 | $325,000 | $10,416 | 3.21% |
| Cary | 180 | $210,000 | $6,700 | 3.19% |
| Lakemoor | 22 | $151,250 | $4,642 | 3.07% |
| Harvard | 56 | $107,500 | $3,297 | 3.07% |
| Crystal Lake | 419 | $202,000 | $5,857 | 2.90% |
| McHenry | 308 | $176,250 | $5,054 | 2.87% |
| Fox River Grove | 43 | $245,000 | $7,015 | 2.86% |
| Algonquin | 190 | $227,000 | $6,497 | 2.86% |
| Spring Grove | 60 | $289,500 | $8,221 | 2.84% |
| Island Lake | 45 | $170,000 | $4,803 | 2.83% |
| Woodstock | 233 | $165,000 | $4,659 | 2.82% |
| Lake in the Hills | 329 | $210,000 | $5,879 | 2.80% |
| Marengo | 56 | $157,000 | $4,100 | 2.61% |
| Oakwood Hills | 30 | $219,000 | $5,703 | 2.60% |
| Port Barrington | 18 | $275,000 | $7,089 | 2.58% |
| Eastwood Manor | 9 | $147,000 | $3,712 | 2.53% |
| Huntley | 188 | $240,500 | $6,068 | 2.52% |
| Johnsburg | 53 | $250,000 | $6,153 | 2.46% |
| Wonder Lake | 107 | $140,000 | $3,386 | 2.42% |
| Ringwood | 7 | $310,000 | $7,440 | 2.40% |
| Pistakee Highlands | 29 | $140,000 | $3,215 | 2.30% |
| Crystal Manor | 7 | $145,500 | $3,286 | 2.26% |
| McCullom Lake | 9 | $110,000 | $2,439 | 2.22% |
| Silver Lake | 7 | $160,000 | $3,541 | 2.21% |
| Hebron | 12 | $151,384 | $3,208 | 2.12% |
Source: Blockshopper.com
McHenry County communities with the highest median home price
The following table ranks McHenry County communities by the change in their median sale price from 2017 to 2018.
| City | Jan - June 2017 Sales | Jan - June 2017 Median Price | Jan - June 2018 Sales | Jan - June 2018 Median Price | Change |
| McCullom Lake | 15 | $67,000 | 9 | $110,000 | 64.18% |
| Wonder Center | 5 | $73,000 | 3 | $110,000 | 50.68% |
| Johnsburg | 56 | $209,500 | 53 | $250,000 | 19.33% |
| Ringwood | 6 | $267,000 | 7 | $310,000 | 16.10% |
| Prairie Grove | 21 | $283,000 | 27 | $325,000 | 14.84% |
| Holiday Hills | 8 | $136,500 | 4 | $155,750 | 14.10% |
| Island Lake | 49 | $150,000 | 45 | $170,000 | 13.33% |
| Oakwood Hills | 23 | $196,000 | 30 | $219,000 | 11.73% |
| Marengo | 63 | $142,000 | 56 | $157,000 | 10.56% |
| Crystal Manor | 10 | $132,750 | 7 | $145,500 | 9.60% |
| Fox River Grove | 34 | $224,000 | 43 | $245,000 | 9.38% |
| Hebron | 8 | $139,000 | 12 | $151,384 | 8.91% |
| Eastwood Manor | 8 | $136,000 | 9 | $147,000 | 8.09% |
| Burtons Bridge | 9 | $175,000 | 5 | $188,000 | 7.43% |
| Lake in the Hills | 348 | $196,000 | 329 | $210,000 | 7.14% |
| Lakemoor | 29 | $142,000 | 22 | $151,250 | 6.51% |
| Wonder Lake | 105 | $132,000 | 107 | $140,000 | 6.06% |
| Woodstock | 214 | $156,000 | 233 | $165,000 | 5.77% |
| McHenry | 289 | $168,000 | 308 | $176,250 | 4.91% |
| Crystal Lake | 384 | $194,500 | 419 | $202,000 | 3.86% |
| Port Barrington | 11 | $270,000 | 18 | $275,000 | 1.85% |
| Trout Valley | 5 | $305,000 | 3 | $310,000 | 1.64% |
| Silver Lake | 8 | $157,500 | 7 | $160,000 | 1.59% |
| Spring Grove | 39 | $285,000 | 60 | $289,500 | 1.58% |
| Harvard | 64 | $107,500 | 56 | $107,500 | 0.00% |
| Bull Valley | 18 | $342,250 | 12 | $337,750 | -1.31% |
| Cary | 158 | $215,500 | 180 | $210,000 | -2.55% |
| Algonquin | 214 | $235,000 | 190 | $227,000 | -3.40% |
| Pistakee Highlands | 33 | $145,000 | 29 | $140,000 | -3.45% |
| Pistakee | 4 | $146,000 | 5 | $138,000 | -5.48% |
| Huntley | 225 | $254,500 | 188 | $240,500 | -5.50% |
| Richmond | 27 | $140,000 | 29 | $126,000 | -10.00% |
| Lakewood | 44 | $379,250 | 53 | $340,000 | -10.35% |
| Barrington Hills | 11 | $521,500 | 10 | $431,750 | -17.21% |
| Fox Lake | 4 | $356,250 | 4 | $265,000 | -25.61% |
Source: Blockshopper.com
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