Best areas for couple without kids? (Detroit, Ann Arbor: for sale, to rent, affordable house)

[Bardot]

We're a couple in our 30s looking for a house in the Detroit area (preferably inner suburb) that is pre 1940s, relatively safe area, but have no requirement for good schools (I don't want to have to pay extraordinary property taxes for an area that has great schools when I don't have/want kids).

Budget is anywhere from $200K-$280K. Only need two bedrooms. Would like to be within a 20 minute drive of the Ferndale/Royal Oak trendy epicenter, but that's somewhat negotiable. Have been considering St Clair Shores...any suggestions? Are there any up and coming trendy areas I should know about?

[keraT]

With that budget & that criteria (no school district requirement, smaller & older house), you could buy house anywhere. You need to add few more things to your desire list to narrow it down.


With that budget, why not look in Ferndale/Oak Park. Not much happening in east side unless you really love out door activity or plan on getting a boat.

[Coldjensens]

Ferndale seems the obvious answer there. You can get a fairly nice Ferndale house for that amount. My son lives in Ferndale while attending Wayne State. They live in a rented pre-1940s house (I forget the year it was built 1828 or 1938 I think). it was purchased by one of his room mates' father to rent to them. It was well under $200,000. A tolerable house for four college guys, it would be nice for just a couple. They are in a really good location, walk to Detroit Fleet, long walk to downtown. Short drive to Meijer. Walk to bus stop. Quick hop onto the freeway. For more money, you could get both a nicer house and a nicer location. Ferndale is pretty cheap (in part because they do not have good schools).

Once you get downtown Ferndale, parking, eating and drinking are pretty pricey. Housing is not bad though.

If you did not want to be in Ferndale, i was going to suggest you look at Wyandotte.

St Clair Shores is nice and generally underrated, but if your goal is to be near Ferndale, right in Ferndale seems like the best bet, if you could walk to downtown, that would be awesome. St. Clair shores has some decent bars and restaurants, but it is more lakeside suburbia. Nice place if you have a boat that is not too big.

[NOLA101]

You can buy absolutely anywhere. Schools don't matter. Just pick the area you like best within your budget.

I don't understand why someone would live in St. Clair Shores to be close to Ferndale, though. Makes no sense.

[Geo-Aggie]

Midtown, Woodbridge, or Brush Park. East Village or West Village may work too.

Without question I would live in the City of Detroit if schools weren't a concern. I'm also 30s, but have 2 kids.. Yes, Ferndale is cool, but the real pulse of Metro Detroit is in Detroit. If you want something lively, that's the place to be. It'll be relatively safe and desirable, and infinitely more lively than the suburbs with stuff happening almost every night.

If you're dead set on a suburb, Ferndale, Berkley, Royal Oak, and if you can afford it, Birmingham... but don't go into Macomb County. Based on your post, it's not going to be what you're looking for.

[Bardot]

Interesting, thank you so much for your responses. I'll look into all of these.

I assumed I should look outside of Ferndale/Royal Oak because I figured they have higher property taxes (due to schools) - they also seem to have a lot of mid century homes for sale rather than the pre war style I'm looking for. Regarding St. Clair Shores, I'm moving from Chicago, so to be a 20 minute drive to Ferndale is considered SUPER close to me. Thanks again for the suggestions!

[DTWflyer]

In Michigan its all inter-related.

Property taxes based on the value of the property and the relative amount of municipal services provided (including schools)
Good municipal services and high quality schools drive increases in property values, since many put a value on being in a good school district.
Higher property values have higher net taxes.

I wouldn't read to much into the taxes from one municipality to the other. Look at the property value and what type of house and amenities you can get within your budget.

Royal Oak and Ferndale are highly in demand because of their location, not just for what the cities themselves offer but also from central proximity to Downtown Detroit and also many of the other major employment centers within the region.

When you say, Pre-War, I assume you mean you are looking for 1940s or prior homes.
Ferndale as many. Only a few parts of Royal Oak due, almost none in Oak Park, Madison Heights, or St. Clair Shores.
Most of the Pre-WWII housing stock is located within the City of Detroit, Grosse Point, Pleasant Ridge or in some of the original village communities.

I would definitely look at living in Ferndale.

[Coldjensens]

There is pre-war housing scattered all over the place. Detroit was at its best in the 1930s (not its biggest,but definitely the peak of its appeal as a city). In some communities, older homes will be former farmhouses. We live in an 1836 house in what is now considered a decent sized suburb (10,000 people). There are two houses on our street that are older. WE are mixed in with houses built in every era since all the way through yesterday. .

[Bardot]

OP here. Sorry to bump, but does anyone have an opinion on the Ferndale/Royal Oak area vs Ypsilanti?

[jonnynonos]

That is two different worlds entirely.

If you are in/near Royal Oak-Ferndale, you are really connected to the Detroit area, not to just downtown but also up Woodward, which is kinda the heart and soul of the area, for better or worse.

Ypsi is kind of an odd duck, pretty rough around the edges, close to Ann Arbor, which is awesome, without being anything like Ann Arbor.

You may just be better off visiting and driving around and seeing for yourself. Finding a relatively affordable house in a nondescript area of metro Detroit presents you with nearly limitless options.

What parts of Chicagoland would you consider an equivalent to where you want to move to in Detroit?