Looking to buy? The Gimbel Group has you covered

Six steps from first call to keys

Step 1 · Get pre-approved and set a real budget

Before the first showing, we help you find a lender who moves fast and set a budget on the true monthly cost, taxes and insurance included, so you shop with confidence.

Step 2 · Define what actually matters

Schools, commute, yard, walkability, resale. We narrow the towns and streets that fit and skip the ones that waste your Saturdays.

Step 3 · Tour homes with us

We point out the water heater, the roof line, and the addition that was done without a permit, along with everything worth loving.

Step 4 · Run the true cost of owning

For any house you are serious about, we pull the actual tax bill and give you a monthly number you can hold us to. Never a surprise at closing.

Step 5 · Negotiate with the comps behind you

Your offer comes with data attached. We negotiate price, terms, and credits hard, and we tell you when to walk away.

Step 6 · Attorney review, inspect, close

Illinois is an attorney-review state, and we quarterback the whole sequence: attorney, inspection, appraisal, final walkthrough, keys.

Run the monthly number before you fall for the house

Property taxes around here move the payment by hundreds a month between towns. This calculator uses each town's actual effective-rate estimate, so the number is honest.

What a home really costs per month

Principal and interest on a 30-year fixed, plus the town's property tax and insurance. The tax line is what surprises people.

Purchase price

Town

Down payment %

Interest rate %

Estimated monthly cost in Highland Park

$5,700 / mo

Principal & interest: $3,800
Property tax (2.7% effective, 2025): $1,675
Homeowners insurance: $225

Planning estimate. Taxes vary by property and exemptions; we pull the actual bill on any home you are serious about.

Then compare the towns you are choosing between

The same tax math side by side, plus the districts each town feeds. Up to three towns at once, and the cheapest figure in each row gets marked.

Compare the towns

Property taxes, schools, and the state’s own proficiency figures, side by side. Look one town up on its own, or add up to two more and the leading figure in each row gets marked: lowest tax, highest proficiency.

Home value

Glencoe compared with Wilmette: county, property tax, and school districts
	Glencoe	Wilmette
County	Cook County	Cook County
Effective tax rate	1.8%tax year 2024	1.7%tax year 2024
Tax on $750,000	$14,000 / yr	$13,000 / yrLowest
Per month	$1,150 / mo	$1,050 / mo
Elementary / middle	Glencoe SD 35ELA 85.6% Math 81.7%Highest	Wilmette SD 39ELA 85.7% Math 77.1%
High school	New Trier Township High SchoolNew Trier Township HSD 203ELA 87.7% Math 86.1% Grad 97.5%	New Trier Township High SchoolNew Trier Township HSD 203ELA 87.7% Math 86.1% Grad 97.5%

On a $750,000 home, Wilmette is the lowest at roughly $13,000 a year. Glencoe runs about $1,250 more, in the region of $100 a month.

Every town here feeds the same high school, New Trier Township High School. That gap does not buy a different high school.

Each rate is annual tax as a share of market value, net of the general homestead exemption, built from the certified composite rate for the town’s main tax code, the state equalization factor, and the county assessment level (10 percent in Cook, a third in Lake and DuPage). Cook figures are tax year 2024, the most recent certified; Lake and DuPage are 2025. Two addresses in one town can sit about 15 percent either side of these numbers because of exemptions, assessment history, and district lines that split inside a town, so treat them as planning figures and confirm a specific address with the county assessor. For the full monthly payment with principal and interest, run the cost calculator.

School figures are published by the Illinois State Board of Education on the 2024-25 report card: the share of students proficient in ELA and math, and the four-year graduation rate. High school figures are for the specific school a town feeds rather than the district average, because Highland Park and Deerfield share a district but not a building. Elementary figures are district-wide. The mark is simply the higher number among the towns you picked, which is one measure and not the whole of a school. Look any school up yourself at illinoisreportcard.com.

We are the second opinion built into your first one

A house is the biggest thing most people ever buy, and the listing side has professionals on it. You should too.

The honest number

We tell you what a home is worth even when it is less than the asking price, and we have talked clients out of houses that were wrong for them.

Local to the block

Districts that split mid-street, flood-prone corners, assessments about to reset. The details that never make the listing.

Bilingual, start to finish

English and Spanish through the whole transaction, including the paperwork.

FAQ: Buying

Why are property taxes so high in Illinois and around the North Shore?

Illinois has some of the highest effective property tax rates in the country because local schools, park districts, libraries, and municipalities are funded largely by property taxes rather than by the state. Effective rates across the ten towns we cover run from roughly 1.5 to 2.9 percent of market value for an owner-occupant, and individual addresses land outside that band on both ends. What sets a town's rate is the size of the levies relative to the taxable value available to spread them across, so strong schools and a high rate do not track each other reliably here: Lake Forest carries one of the lowest rates on our list and Wauconda one of the highest. Our Cook County figures are tax year 2024 and our Lake and DuPage figures are tax year 2025, which is as current as each county has certified. We pull the actual number for a specific property before you make an offer, and the county assessor confirms it for the address.

Sources: Cook County Clerk, 2024 tax rate report, Lake County Clerk, tax extension data, DuPage County Clerk, property tax reports

What is the difference between Lake County and Cook County property taxes?

Most of the towns we serve sit in either Lake County (Highland Park, Deerfield, Lake Forest, Lincolnshire, Wauconda) or Cook County (Wilmette, Glencoe, Arlington Heights, Chicago), and Elmhurst sits in DuPage. The mechanics differ in three specific ways. Cook classifies property and assesses a home at 10 percent of the Assessor's estimated market value, then the state applies a county equalization factor, 3.0355 for tax year 2024, to lift the county's overall level to the statutory target. Lake and DuPage assess at 33 1/3 percent of fair cash value directly, and both carried a state factor of 1.0000. The homeowner exemption is worth $10,000 of equalized assessed value in Cook and $8,000 in Lake and DuPage. Cook reassesses a third of the county every year, while Lake and DuPage run a four-year cycle with Lake's next general assessment in 2027. Because each county sets its rate against a different base, the figure to compare across a county line is the effective rate.

Sources: Cook County Clerk, 2024 equalization factor, Cook County Assessor, homeowner exemption, 35 ILCS 200/15-175, general homestead exemption, Lake County, equalization factors

Which school districts serve Highland Park and Deerfield?

Highland Park elementary and middle schools are served by North Shore School District 112, and Deerfield elementary and middle schools are served by Deerfield Public Schools District 109. For high school, both towns feed into Township High School District 113, which runs Highland Park High School and Deerfield High School. Boundaries can split within a town, so a specific street can land in a different attendance area than a neighbor a few blocks away. Use the town comparison tool on this page for a starting point, including the state proficiency and graduation figures for each district, then confirm the exact assigned school for an address directly with the district before you rely on it.

What closing costs does a buyer pay in Illinois?

An Illinois buyer typically pays lender fees, an appraisal, a home inspection, title insurance charges, recording fees, attorney fees, and prepaid items like homeowners insurance and a property tax escrow. As a rough range, buyer closing costs often run about 2 to 5 percent of the purchase price, with the loan and the escrow setup being the largest pieces. Illinois is an attorney-review state, so you will have a real estate attorney review your contract, which is normal and usually inexpensive. We give you an itemized estimate early so you know the cash you need at closing, and your lender and attorney confirm the final figures.

Do you work with first-time buyers?

Yes, and it is a big part of what we do. First-time buyers get the most value from a team that explains every number, because the process has a lot of moving parts: pre-approval, offers, attorney review, inspection, appraisal, and closing. We tell you what a home is really worth, what it costs to own each month once taxes and insurance are counted, and when a house is wrong for you even if it means walking away. There is no pressure and no script. The goal is that you buy the right home with real information in front of you.

See every question we get asked

Tell us what you are looking for

A town, a budget, a school district, or just a feeling. We will turn it into a short list worth touring.

Contact the team Call 847-530-3704