The owner of 402 Kent Court in Oswego owned the home for eleven years, but is now selling it for 21 percent less than what he paid for it. | Zillow
The owner of 402 Kent Court in Oswego owned the home for eleven years, but is now selling it for 21 percent less than what he paid for it. | Zillow
Realtor Yih-wu Han paid $395,000 in March 2007— $480,000 in today’s dollars— for 402 Kent Court, a four-bedroom, three-bath in an Oswego cul-de-sac.
At the time, it no doubt felt like a steal.
The three-year-old home had sold just seven months earlier (its owner had to relocate to Arizona) for $447,000 ($543,000, inflation-adjusted), a price $50,000 higher than what Han would pay.
The art of a winning real estate deal is buying right. How could Yih-wu Han lose?
On Aug. 9, 11 years and four months later, Han listed 402 Kent Court for sale.
His asking price: $378,000, nominally lower than what he paid and 21 percent less if you adjust it for inflation.
One contributing factor: while Han's home value fell, his property tax bill was steadily rising. He paid $11,383 this year, 3 percent of his asking price and 39 percent more than the $8,168 bill the home had when he bought it.
All told, Han has paid $128,760 in property taxes on 402 Kent Court so far— more than one-third of what he hopes to get for it.
Outpaced by property taxes
The median effective property tax rate in Oswego is 2.95 percent through six months of 2018, according to an analysis of home sales and tax data by Local Government Information Services (LGIS), which publishes the Kendall County Times.
That’s lower than the Kendall County-portion of Aurora (3.90 percent), Minooka (3.30), Plano (3.20), Plainfield (3.10) and Yorkville (2.96), but still three times the national average.
To be sure, 11 of 12 Kendall County communities tracked by LGIS have effective property tax rates of 2.5 percent or higher.
Between Jan. 1 and June 30, 2018, median home prices are up slightly in Boulder Hill, the Kendall County portion of Joliet, Oswego, Yorkville and Montgomery. They are flat in Newark and Plano, and down in Bristol, Minooka, and the Kendall County portions of Aurora and Plainfield.
But even in seemingly rising markets, it is hard for homeowners to keep up.
Nicole Weber sold her 2,100-square-foot three-bedroom, three-bath at 13023 Conifer St. in the western, Kendall County portion of Plainfield for $228,000 on Aug. 1.
She originally paid $180,000 for it— $197,000 in today’s dollars-- back in 2012.
But Weber’s realized gain $31,000— 16 percent— evaporates when her property taxes are included.
They cost her $36,866 over seven years of ownership— and $7,379 this year, or 3.3 percent of her sale price. All in, she lost about $6,000 on her home, effectively granting that home value increase and a little bit more to her local units of government.
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Kendall County communities paying the highest effective property tax rates
The following table ranks Kendall County communities 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 |
| Aurora | 46 | $209,250 | $8,184 | 3.90% |
| Minooka | 18 | $186,500 | $6,129 | 3.30% |
| Plano | 95 | $150,500 | $4,817 | 3.20% |
| Plainfield | 22 | $357,500 | $11,056 | 3.10% |
| Yorkville | 190 | $230,000 | $6,818 | 2.96% |
| Oswego | 360 | $240,000 | $7,074 | 2.95% |
| Montgomery | 125 | $228,000 | $6,711 | 2.94% |
| Bristol | 6 | $183,750 | $5,404 | 2.94% |
| Newark | 10 | $185,000 | $5,305 | 2.87% |
| Joliet | 85 | $240,000 | $6,043 | 2.50% |
| Boulder Hill | 70 | $174,000 | $4,300 | 2.50% |
| Millbrook | 6 | $311,500 | $5,910 | 1.90% |
Kendall County communities with the highest median home price
The following table ranks Kendall 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 |
| Boulder Hill | 91 | $155,000 | 70 | $174,000 | 12.26% |
| Joliet | 133 | $216,500 | 85 | $240,000 | 10.85% |
| Oswego | 408 | $230,000 | 360 | $240,000 | 4.35% |
| Yorkville | 296 | $220,750 | 190 | $230,000 | 4.19% |
| Montgomery | 132 | $223,000 | 125 | $228,000 | 2.24% |
| Newark | 16 | $183,750 | 10 | $185,000 | 0.68% |
| Plano | 129 | $150,000 | 95 | $150,500 | 0.33% |
| Bristol | 7 | $185,000 | 6 | $183,750 | -0.68% |
| Minooka | 22 | $191,250 | 18 | $186,500 | -2.48% |
| Aurora | 70 | $215,500 | 46 | $209,250 | -2.90% |
| Plainfield | 36 | $405,000 | 22 | $357,500 | -11.73% |
Source: Blockshopper.com; Kendall County Assessor.
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