Another 'Moving to Detroit' thread (please help me, though!) (Ann Arbor: sales, real estate)

[squank]

Hello Michiganders,

I am indeed moving to SE Michigan (from Alaska!). I posted awhile back for info on Ann Arbor, because I thought we'd like the area. However, I'm realizing that you get MUCH more house for you money around Detroit, so that is drawing me closer to the metro area (but not too close).

Here is my situation:

-I have 4 kids at home (plus one starting college this fall), so schools are important.
-I have a job which covers all of Michigan, with my car as my office, so typical commute concerns don't apply. I'll make trips to Detroit about once a week for meetings, but not at commute times.
-I'd like a larger house on some land, with water nearby if possible. Wooded areas are required. Basically a quiet neighborhood without next door neighbors right on top of me.
-I'd love a small town with its own charming downtown, but that's not a dealbreaker.
-My wife loves quaint, country style homes with big, old trees, so that would be ideal. Fixer uppers/bank repos with some deferred maintenance are no problem.
-I'm planning to retire in this house (pretty sure about this), so I'm not worried about home values going up/down in the near term.
-I'd love to get in for under $250,000, with 2,500 - 3,000 sf.
-I'd like to avoid huge property tax or local sales taxes (who wouldn't?)
-A place with a decent JC/community college would be nice (my daughter will be a freshman this fall). Public transportation to the JC would be nice.
-I don't want to be near any trailer parks or large amounts of rental property. Been there, done that. Won't be doing it again.

I'm leaning towards the north side/Oakland Township, from what little I already know. Any and all suggestions are welcome.

Thanks for the help!

[Coldjensens]

Chelsea
Dexter
Grosse Ile
Salem

Rural parts of Lyon Township, Northville Township,Plymouth Township, GreenOak Township, Weeest Bloomfield,

Grosse ile fits your dscription to a T, except you will not find much waterfront for $250k. Maybe on the canals

[and the]

Milford, Howell, Brighton, Pinckney..........I like Milford. Close to the freeway, close to shopping in Novi, many nearby lakes, everything from subs to horse properties, and a relatively easy commute to Detroit.

[squank]

Originally Posted by Coldjensens

Chelsea
Dexter
Grosse Ile
Salem

Rural parts of Lyon Township, Northville Township,Plymouth Township, GreenOak Township, Weeest Bloomfield,

Grosse ile fits your dscription to a T, except you will not find much waterfront for $250k. Maybe on the canals

I'm intrigued by Grosse Ile... it does sound ideal. How's the crime, being so close to downtown? How about basic shopping (decent grocery, hardware stores, etc)? Any downtown area?

[squank]

Originally Posted by and the

Milford, Howell, Brighton, Pinckney..........I like Milford. Close to the freeway, close to shopping in Novi, many nearby lakes, everything from subs to horse properties, and a relatively easy commute to Detroit.

I was just looking closely at Milford last night - there's a lot of house for the money there. It's definitely on the short list. What are the downsides to Milford?

Also, does it have any sort of quaint downtown?

[Dexterguy]

Before I even read all of the posts above, and was only reading the first post, Milford came into my head right away. From the description on the first post, you would love Milford. As mentioned, Milford has everything to rural gravel roads with farms, to sprawling new neighborhoods. Milford is very close to all of the major expressways in metro Detroit. And you have easy access to just about everything around you. For shopping, Twelve Oaks in Novi is very close by. Downtown Detroit is also a relatively good commute time from Milford, 35-45 mins. You have Kensingtion Metro Park, which is a huge beautiful park, which I go to all the time to get away from the hustle and bustle of the suburbs. At kensington metro park, you feel like you are up north, very secluded and peaceful.

And yes, Milford has a quanint downtown, in my opinion, one of the best in metro Detroit.

[Coldjensens]

Originally Posted by squank

I'm intrigued by Grosse Ile... it does sound ideal. How's the crime, being so close to downtown? How about basic shopping (decent grocery, hardware stores, etc)? Any downtown area?

Almost no crime. Criminals do not like to cross the bridge (they are trapped) and no one drives through Grosse Ile on their way elsewhere so no real liklihood for crimes of opportunity.

There are two grocery stores a full service Krogers (with the requisite Starbucks inside) and a small independant grocery that is really neat called Nates.

There is a independant hardware store, a bakery/doughnut shop, about ten resturuants, a few gift shops and art galleries, a bed and breakfast and a bizillion real estate offices and banks.

"Downtown" is basically one street that runs half the width of the island.

Big box shopping (Home Depot, Lowes, Target, K-Mart, Wall Mart, Meijers, etc are about 15 minutes away in Woodhaven.

Trees (forest) and water and wildlife abound.

It is really an ideal place. The downsides ar eslightly higher taxes. Slightly higher real estate prices (but some really beautiful homes), a feeling of seclusion (it is psychological it takes less than a minute to cross hte bridge), and about 15 minutes to get to the freeway. there is only one freeway (I-75) in the immediate area, so it can take a while to get to a lot of the popular areas. DTW is 1/2 hour away and you can take rural surface streets to get there. Northville, West Bloomfiled, Troy are all about an hour away. there is one mall (SOuthland) and it is pretty plain. For a nice mall you have to either go down by Toledo, or go up to Somerset in troy. Fairlane is not far away, but it is only big, not that nice.

I always tell people that if they are interested in Grosse Ile and plan ot visit on a weekend, send me a DM and if I am around, I will take half an hour and show you around a bit. I am not available all that often but I love to take people around grosse Ile. It is a neat place with a lot of intersting history.

Milford is a great town. I looked very intently at living downtown or within walking distance of dowtown. Better yet I looked at houses on the back side of Kensington Metropark. Milford has a lot going for it. Unfortunately, one of those things is not top schools. The scools are decent, but not great. But then there is Kensington Metropark. The downtown is reasonably quaint. Access is not great. Government is decent. Services are reasonably good. The huron river runs right through town. The millpond park is cute and pleasant. Did I mention Kensington metropark is at the outskirts of Milford?

[and the]

Get a map out and stick a thumb tack in the middle of Detroit. Then, tie a piece of string to the thread. Then, stretch it out to Milford and make a big circle. Then, look how much closer to Detroit Gross Ile is compared to Milford. Then get back to us.

[squank]

Originally Posted by and the

Get a map out and stick a thumb tack in the middle of Detroit. Then, tie a piece of string to the thread. Then, stretch it out to Milford and make a big circle. Then, look how much closer to Detroit Gross Ile is compared to Milford. Then get back to us.

Well, yes, that thought HAD occurred to me . That's precisely what scares me from even looking at Grosse Pointe.

But one of the things I've learned in living all over the U.S. is that proximity to a high crime area does not always indicate a corresponding proportionate crime level. Often, it does. But sometimes other factors are more controlling (like ease of escape, being in the area anyway, etc). I am hoping that applies to Grosse Ile.

I have friends that live on Palm Beach Island in Florida. Crime is very low there. However, just across the short bridge is West Palm Beach, a high crime area. The reasons for low crime on PBI are exactly what Coldjensens described on Grosse Ile. It's got me excited about looking for property on the island.

[and the]

Grosse Ile is nice, but I like Milford better. It's closer to "in the country" which I like. More open land available (but it's developing fast I think) in the area and in many areas you can have horses. If you plan on working in and around Detroit, I think it's a better place to "get away". Gross Ile is a lot shorter drive though.