The Woodley Road neighborhood has a Winnetka mailing address but is not in the Village of Winnetka – a fact with important consequences that’s frequently misstated (misrepresented?) in real estate listings.
The area, bounded roughly by Locust Rd on the east, Hibbard Rd on the west, Illinois Rd on the south and Hill Rd on the north, is an unincorporated area in Cook County. It’s in New Trier Township and public high school students attend New Trier High School, but elementary school students attend Avoca District 37 schools.
This small area is experiencing turnover that seems high by the standards of the North Shore, which is known for its stability and relatively lengthy household tenure.
Nineteen homes are currently listed for sale in the Woodley Road area, at prices ranging from $1,100,000 to $6,899,000, and a dozen homes have sold in the past 3 years, according to Redfin. Homes in the area have, in some instances, lingered on the market for years.
My headline question is a play on the fact that parts of Woodley Road may be in a FEMA-designated flood area.
A knowledgeable real estate agent I consulted attributes the turnover to financing and economic issues rather than to any negatives about the area: some homeowners have over-extended themselves and are making adjustments.
The home at 62 Woodley Rd, pictured above, is new to the market and priced at $2,899,000. It previously sold for $3,100,000 four years ago. The home, on 1.5 landscaped acres, has 6 bedrooms, 4 full and 2 half baths, a 3-car garage and the seemingly obligatory bluestone terrace.
Joe,
I love the listings that state the houses are in Winnetka instead of their “true” locations due to the Winnetka prestige. Close to the Woodley Rd area (across Hibbard to the west) is the Meadowview Drive/Winfield Drive neighborhood which is clearly in Northfield. Take a look at the current and past listings for this street and see how many claim to be in Winnetka. I think it’s a real estate violation to provide this false information and there have been lawsuits in other areas where properties were represented as being in one jurisdiction, but were not. As for the reasons residents are selling their Woodley Rd homes, I agree that it’s the economy and not a flood plain issue. There are lots of homes selling in many prestigious areas due to the recession.
NIck,
Four out of 5 active listings in that area wrongly claim Winnetka as their location in the address field.
In the “Corporate limits” field, one of those four states Northfield, one states Winnetka and two are represented as Unincorporated. The only correct answer, as you note, is Northfield.
Here’s an interesting question … Are the agents who claim Winnetka for Northfield properties actually hurting their sellers since Northfield taxes are lower due partially to its broader commercial base?
Joe,
I’ve heard agents in this area describing their properties as having a “Winnetka address with Northfield taxes”! Since Northfield and Winnetka share the same zip code, many agents feel it’s fair game. Taxes are lower in Northfield, but so is the prestige level thus the agent “puffing”.