What Type of Exterior Siding is Preferred by Southwest Chicago Suburb Buyers?

I found a good link today from REALTOR.org that shows the different kinds of exterior siding for homes. Most of them can be found on homes in the southwest suburbs, such as Homer Glen, Lemont, Orland Park, etc. Click here to read the article. It is scrolling but you can double-click on each of the photos below to stop it so you can read each individual slide.

I'll go down the list and give my own feelings for the area I work in:

• Stucco - we do have some stucco homes in the Chicago area, but it doesn't withstand our four seasons of weather, sometimes quite extreme, very well. Few newer buildings use stucco because of problems older stucco homes here have had. Most original stucco homes have visible repairs and some people have sided them. On the other hand, I have a townhouse in Scottsdale, AZ and one of my prerequisites was to try to find a stucco home, and I did. I love stucco, but not in Illinois.
• Stone and cultured stone: I love stone houses and if I could build a custom home in Illinois I would probably use stone. Stone is actually one of the most durable products to use for a home's exterior. The problem? It costs more and that's why you usually only see it as accents.
• Wood clapboard siding - this is usually found on older homes and Victorian styles. I love the look of wood siding but the maintenance is the issue. Most people in the southwest suburbs try to stay away from wood siding unless they're interested in a more historic look or older home. There are a lot of wood homes that have been sided over.
• Cement fiber siding - this is mentioned in the article as a "green" material but I don't have any knowlege of it so can't really give my opinion. It sounds like there are both pros and cons with this material.
• Cedar shingle - we do have homes with full cedar shingles or partial (usually with brick on the bottom, cedar shingles on the 2nd level). Homes in this style have a woodsy look like a cabin or cottage. But there is definitely maintenance with cedar shingles, although it is staining vs. painting.
• Vinyl siding - this is a very popular material used in the Chicago area. It is cost effective and holds up well. Some homes are fully sided while others have brick on the main level and aluminum siding on the 2nd story. Not everyone likes a fully sided home, but most split level style homes in the area have it on the 2nd level and that is generally accepted here.
• Aluminum siding - similar to vinyl although it can dent more easily. Again, using it on a house is the same as explained above with vinyl siding and cedar siding. A whole house with it isn't as desirable but the upper level is OK.
• Brick - brick is the winner here in the Chicago and Northern IL area. It is durable, doesn't require a lot of maintenance, comes in different colors and although it is more expensive than vinyl/alumuninum siding, it is preferred. I get many buyers that will only view brick homes, and appraisers usually give a higher value to a brick home over some of the other sidings.

Some of you Chicagoans might be wondering about the homes with the old asphalt siding (reminded me of roofing material) and there was even asbestos siding that was popular in the past. Many of those homes have been sided over, usully with vinyl or aluminum, but you'll still see some holdouts in all areas. These are older homes and builders no longer use these materials. If you have a home on the market with one of these as your siding and wonder why it's not selling, you'll need to price your place under market value to attract buyers that want to deal with those older materials, not to mention they don't look very good.