Buying in Chicago: the full guide

What homes cost

The median sale price in the city of Chicago was $426,255 in Redfin's August 2026 update, up 9.3% on a year earlier. For Cook County, which covers the city, Evanston, Oak Park and the North Shore, the median was $383,716, up 5.1%. Homes in the county took a median 51 days to sell, and more than 43% sold above the asking price. Redfin put the national rise in the same month at 2.2%, so Chicago prices are moving faster than most of the country.

That city median is roughly half the one for Boston in our Boston guide. A median blends condominiums with houses, though, and says little about any one street, so look at recent sales for the specific building or neighbourhood before you make an offer.

Property tax in Cook County and beyond

Illinois property tax is a large yearly cost. The Tax Foundation's county table, built from 2024 five-year Census estimates, shows median taxes of $6,191 on a median home value of $324,500 in Cook County, an effective rate of 1.73%. The effective rates are 1.89% in DuPage County, 2.10% in Will County and 2.26% in Lake County. These are averages over all owners, so your own bill will differ.

The tax is based on an assessed value set by the county assessor, and Cook County does not reassess everything at once. It reassesses one third of the county each year.

The Assessor's appeal is free and normally has to be filed within 30 days of the reassessment notice. Be wary of firms that offer to appeal for a fee: the Assessor notes that such solicitations do not come from its office.

Owners who live in a home as their principal residence can claim the homeowner exemption, which reduces the assessed value and renews automatically once approved. The Assessor puts the average saving at about $950 a year. Owners aged 65 or over can claim a senior exemption, and a low-income senior freeze exists with a household income limit of $65,000. An owner who lives in Europe should not assume that a holiday home qualifies.

The bill is paid in two instalments, in arrears. For tax year 2025 the first instalment was due on 1 April 2026 and was 55% of the previous year's total tax. The second reflects the actual rates and applies the exemptions, and falls due later in the year. The county has recently moved the dates of the second bill, so check the Treasurer's calendar for the current one. If you have a mortgage, the lender usually collects the tax monthly in an escrow account and pays the county for you.

Illinois income tax and estate tax

Illinois taxes income at a flat 4.95% for 2026, with a personal exemption allowance of $2,925 per person. A non-resident is taxed only on Illinois-source income. The state's instructions list net rental income from Illinois real estate and gains on selling Illinois real property, and say that interest, dividends and pensions are not taxed for non-residents unless they come from an Illinois business. A non-resident files form IL-1040 with Schedule NR if there is tax to pay. The federal rules for foreign owners come on top: by default the United States taxes gross rent received by a non-resident at 30%, unless you elect to be taxed on net income and file a federal return each year.

The Illinois estate tax is the one to understand before buying. It is run by the Attorney General and has an exclusion amount of $4,000,000, which is a taxable threshold, not a credit: once an estate passes it, a formula starts to take a large share. The Attorney General's own example is $285,714 of tax on a $5,000,000 estate held entirely in Illinois. The same fact sheet says that for resident and non-resident decedents alike the tax is first worked out as if all assets were in Illinois, and then multiplied by the share that actually is. A $5,000,000 estate with half in Illinois owes $142,857 in its example.

Separately, the IRS requires a federal estate return for non-residents who are not US citizens when their US-situated assets, which include US real estate, exceed $60,000, and it notes that treaties often give more favourable treatment. Ask a cross-border tax adviser how both taxes apply to you before you sign.

How a purchase closes

In much of continental Europe a notary, a neutral public official, prepares the deed for both parties. A Chicago closing works differently, and is closer to England, where each side has its own lawyer. The Illinois State Bar Association advises buyers to retain a real estate attorney at the outset, and describes a closing attended by the buyer and the seller, both attorneys, the agents and an escrow agent or closer, who is usually an employee of the title company.

The point that matters most comes at the start. The state bar says your offer should include an attorney approval contingency giving your attorney several business days to review and revise the terms, and warns that without it your attorney cannot modify the contract. During that period and after it, your attorney also examines the title commitment and the survey. Do not sign the purchase contract with the agent alone. Our timeline guide compares the steps with a European purchase.

Buying a condominium

Much of the city's housing stock is condominium. Owners share the common areas and pay assessments for day-to-day costs, for reserves and, when needed, for special works. The state's handbook for condominium owners says that each budget must provide for reasonable reserves for capital expenditure and deferred maintenance, unless owners holding two thirds of the votes have waived the requirement. It also says owners may not withhold assessments or pay them into escrow.

A buyer from another owner is entitled to ask for key documents through the seller: the declaration and rules, the liens and unpaid assessments on the unit, the capital expenditure the association expects in the current or next two fiscal years, the status of the reserve, the latest financial statement, pending lawsuits and the insurance the association carries. Have your attorney request all of them on the first day. A building with a thin reserve and a large repair ahead is where special assessments come from.

Financing at Chicago prices

The 2026 conforming loan limit is $832,750 for a one-unit home in Cook, DuPage, Lake, Will, Kane and McHenry counties, the baseline figure that applies in most of the country. At the city median of about $426,000 a buyer putting down 20% would borrow far below it. A house in one of the dearer North Shore towns could exceed it, and then a jumbo loan applies, with each lender setting its own terms. Lawfully resident non-citizens, including temporary visa holders, can generally obtain a conventional loan, as the guide on visas explains, and the lender counts property tax and condominium fees in your monthly cost, so the tax rate of the area you choose affects how much you can borrow.

If you plan to let it

Chicago requires a registration for short-term rentals, and the city's eligibility criteria are specific. The unit must be a legal dwelling with six or fewer sleeping rooms. It cannot be in a restricted residential zone or in a building on the Prohibited Buildings List, which owners and associations can put their building on. It cannot be listed if the lease or the association's rules prohibit short stays.

The limits then depend on the building. In a single-family home, or a building of two to four units, the unit must be your primary residence and only one rental is allowed. In a building of five or more units it need not be your primary residence, and the cap is one quarter of the units or six, whichever is less. Check the building against the list and the precinct against the zone map before you make an offer, and read the association's rules. Evanston, Oak Park and Naperville have their own rules, which we have not reviewed.

Winters, heating and the age of the building

Chicago winters are long and cold, with snow, so heating is a real part of the running cost and the age of a building matters. Ask the seller for twelve months of heating bills. In a house, ask the age of the furnace or boiler and the windows. In a condominium, ask whether heat is part of the monthly assessment or billed separately, and whether the roof or boiler is on the capital works list. Include the answers in your monthly budget alongside the property tax.

Getting home

O'Hare's list of nonstop international destinations, dated 1 September 2026, includes 25 European cities: Amsterdam, Athens, Barcelona, Belgrade, Brussels, Copenhagen, Dublin, Edinburgh, Frankfurt, Helsinki, Istanbul, Krakow, Lisbon, London Heathrow, Madrid, Milan Malpensa, Munich, Naples, Paris, Reykjavik, Rome, Shannon, Vienna, Warsaw and Zurich. The list does not say which routes are seasonal, so check the timetable for your own route. Most of the cities are served by more than one airline.

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