We are getting a steady drip of flyers full of fables from VG bar owners and proponents that suggest VG is in some way a positive and has done no harm to the Village. But a more accurate picture ought to sober us up.
Misleading Value #1 – VG bar owners cite a Crain’s article and their use of the Midwest Real Estate Data (MRED) system to lead you to believe that Forest Park property values have increased 10.4% since VG was introduced to Forest Park. The data used represented the MEDIAN or middle value percent increase and not the AVERAGE value of all properties sold. The Median home value may be useful when determining if your home is above or below the middle value but the Average value of a home is more important. As individual property owners, we don’t care so much about the median percent increase from two years ago or the next. What’s important to us as owners is how much, on average, our homes have gone up in value, year over year, and how do our properties compare to other similar properties in our village and similar villages nearby. From a real estate point of view, the last 12 months matter the most. The Average property value in Forest Park increased 1.9% in the past 12 months according to MRED.
Really Bad Misleading Value #2 – VG bar owners would like you to think that your property has increased in value more than the properties in the villages nearby. But the facts are: the average % increase in every other village, with the exception of Oak Park and River Forest, which we don’t compare to, have ALL been higher. Brookfield (2.7%), Riverside (3.5%), Berwyn (7.9%), North Riverside (7.9%), Broadview (8.4%), and yes, Maywood (12.8%). Forest Park – 1.9%
The truth is, VG is not a value going in the right direction for everyone in Forest Park!
Stephen Chertok
Forest Park resident and licensed
real estate broker
