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My property taxes have increased by over 600% since I first bought my home, my income on the other hand has only increased by about 100% since then, and when you adjust it for inflation I pretty much have less spending power now than I did 35 years ago.

Where's that? South America?

That's the down fall of Bloomington, is the state it's in lol

Sounds like this isn't the place for you then :) (The city calls downtown Normal -- Uptown normal, geographically you are right though!) No waffle house -> isn't Denny's basically a waffle house? No Jamba -> That would be awesome! No 7-11 -> Idk what's so special about 7-11? We have the amazing Casey's!! I've been ticketed by Normal cops, it's no fun, but hey I was going 14 over lol Thanks for your message!

I know. We gotta remake this video and make a legit reason why you should avoid BloNo! I'll make that in the next month or two - Brady

Glad you liked it :)

Thanks for your opinion!

Thank you for your opion. At the end of the day, it's about the outlook you have on life. If you think Bloomington/Normal is terrible, you're probably not going to like living anywhere else either! Good luck!

@LivinginBloomingtonNormalIL Normal is o.k., not most of Bloomington. I just did a photo tour up & down Main Street to show the conditions of a lot of the decrepit homes. Also, the homeless tent city at Home Sweet Home and, under the Main Street Bridge, over the railroad tracks, where the homeless hang out, drink and, leave there empty Milwaulkee's Best cans all over. You are right: You "see" what you want to "see". Yet, pictures can't lie.

Hey! Great question. To qualify for a loan you'll need 2 years of income (preferably a W2). And you'll need to provide the most recent two pay stubs, as long as your in the same field/industry when you move and can show proof that you found a new job in that same field/industry (such as a job offer letter), you'll still be able to get pre-approved (assuming you have a good debt to income ratio and a decent credit score). The state you live in doesn't matter. We have great lender referrals in the area and would be more than happy to assist you when your ready to buy. I've lived in Peoria and Bloomington. I actually prefer Bloomington a bit more, but Peoria has it's charm too. Sometime this year I'll make a video comparing the two. Smash that follow lol. Have a great day! -Brady If anyone cares to chime in on which town is better, please do!

@@LivinginBloomingtonNormalIL alrighty, thank you for getting back to me. I’ll keep that I mind. Rn I’m just studying for the national exam for medical billing and coding. I chose that career due to its stability and decent pay.

That's awesome, I've been thinking about getting into drone fpv, I'm always so amazed at how well pilots are able to fly around obstacles, I've always gotta play it safe with my DJI Air 2 lol. --Brady

It's a great city :) Give us a call, text or email, we'll help you move when you are ready. We are always here available to assist!

Awesome. Glad we could help! Reach out if you need help finding a home :) Have a great day

I appreciate that Joe! I actually didn't know this 😬 I've only ever fished out there

Yep! Just subtract out whatever your exemption is from the assessed value before multiplying by the tax rate. In Mclean county, veterans have a $2500 or $5000 exemption.

Love that!

Bloomington is very purple when it comes to politics (lots of democrats and republicans).

@@LivinginBloomingtonNormalIL I know, but red is better, keep the blue and purple crap up north in Shitgaco!

The mayor is democrat and he's pretty cool. Not all democratics are bad. Not all republicans are good. There's good and bad and suckage everywhere.😂

I guess this depends on who you ask! Illinois is a blue state. But I'd say BloNo is more of a purple city.

Rent for a 2 bed apartment is about $1200. To buy a 2 bed apartment, closer to $120-140k. There's honestly not much under $100k anymore that doesn't need a ton of work unfortunately. A few years back there were more. You can still buy apartments for less than $100k though.

@@LivinginBloomingtonNormalIL I thank you for responding, telling us about Bloomington. Can you tell me about very small towns? I by nature like living in a rural area. I like the smell of fresh cut alfalfa and straw. I’m not doing good where I live in Belvidere, Illinois. I’m close to Rockford, Illinois. Do you or does anyone know about finding an old semi-.poor condition. I’m actually pretty good carpenter. I was a union carpenter near Chicago for years. If the house is like the old Hainy place I am interested. My children are grown and gone on to live their life independently and freely. I’m a good enough carpenter to take on a run down home. 🙋‍♀️

Good points! Yeah Cali is super nice! I go out there every year to visit Yosemite, it's amazing. Cost of living is insaneeee tho

After leaving for 30 years, I went back for a family event, and still couldn't stand it. The people were friendly, but it seemed out of boredom. There was a land locked feeling I don't know how to describe. A lot of the architecture looks stuck in the 70's, but not in a good way.

@@qua7771 it’s the community for me. I had a great time in Illinois.

@@DionteHelm I think there is a certain type that likes it there.

Appreciate the comment :) Bloomington is nice! A whole lot cheaper than Denver too lol. But we don't have mountains

I know there are tons of people migrating to Bloomington/Normal, but I'm not sure I have enough information to make such a video. I appreciate your recommendation though!

I was there tonight August 30th. That's the funniest thing 😂 say hi next time. - Brady

Thanks for the comment! We agree with you, it is an Awesome place to live :)

I respectfully disagree (although we all remember that picture of the street in Tucson that the mayor called the ugliest street in America). For a really awful experience, you have to go to Odessa, Texas. The armpit of Hell.

😂 I'll give you some reasons not to move here lol. 1. The weather changes a lot, 2. There's not an ocean here, 3. We don't have mountains, 4. Our roads in Illinois need some work, 5. No scenery but corn fields 😂 Hope this helps, - Brady

You're welcome! Glad you enjoyed it

That's awesome! Welcome to Bloomington!!

Thanks for the input! 1. To catch the big fish you just need to know where the honey holes are :) 2. Illinois has a law banning real fire works unfortunately. Just drive to Indiana lol 3. Some people like the crazy weather differences. 4. I see road construction all of the time. Unfortunately, we salt the roads so often from the snow, potholes form easily. 5. Agreed with the lawn, theres always a 2 week period during the summer that the grass is absolutely dead!

I wasn't sure on this, but after looking into it -- it appears there actually is! I actually fly drones a lot for our listings, but never thought to look for a dedicated flight location! We have a spot in the town of Mclean (not the county) where you can fly. It's called the Sentral Illinois Radio Society Flying Field. There is a $100 membership fee. (You can check out their website here: sirs-model-airplane-club.com). We also have a pretty cool hobby store for buying RC cars and similar things. Check out: Mid-America Raceway and Hobbies. I'm not sure about the rules and regulations of flying model planes and quadcopters at parks, but we also have a ton of big parks that might work as an option! Good luck! - Brady

That's just Illinois in general. Yeah, property taxes stink!

No where near as high as Taylor, Texas or anywhere in central Texas. Especially Austin.

Interesting, that's probably true in many towns. But, I've never seen any tents around, where have you seen them? We have lots of homeless shelters, if you need any help PM me and I'll be happy to offer assistance!

Really appreciate the comments! But, that's not been our experience here. As in any town, it's all about getting out and about

I consider traffic where you sit and can't move your car for 20 mins. We don't really have that here right? Lol

@@LivinginBloomingtonNormalIL not a lot. Its only when theres an accident on the road or something like that. Or a really really long red light

Glad you enjoyed it! Thanks so much for watching!

Yep! It's awesome!

Yeah, I have heard of that! That would be a fun TH-cam video to make!

@@LivinginBloomingtonNormalIL I know what you mean. That's why I took the time to videotape these signs in the first place. But the important part about these signs is that kids are supposed to pencil rub the clay seals attached to the signs. That way they could obtain a souvenir. Otherwise they just become a simple street decoration.

Cool 😎 it's a great place to live! Feel free to reach out to Brady or myself if you need help with housing at all!

its good for a family. But once your children get a lot older then you have to move to a bigger house since the rooms are a bit small in a lot of the houses. but not all.

Glad you liked it Ingrid!! Can't wait for you to move to Bloomington!

You are welcome! Thanks for watching

Hi Adel! We love Normal IL. Unfortunately we have never been to Kalamazoo. We might be biased, but we would say Bloomington Normal. Reach out if you want to have a quick Zoom call with us. We can chat about Bloomington/Normal!

That's an easy one for me. Bloomington/Normal is a much better place to live than Kzoo/Portage. How would I know? I grew up in Portage and I've lived in Normal for the past 8 years.

That's awesome! Thanks for the comment and the help 😁

@@LivinginBloomingtonNormalIL You're welcome

In general, Illinois is the second worst state to live in for property taxes. So they are high, but they aren't the highest :) When buying there is a formula you can use to always ensure you know what you are going to be paying for property taxes, watch this video if interested: th-cam.com/video/kAlI9blz-co/w-d-xo.html&ab_channel=LivinginBloomingtonNormalIllinois

So excited to start showing you homes!! You'll love it here