I'm thinking about moving to Vanderbilt after I finish college. (Petoskey: estate, broker)

[terryclinker]

It is a small town just north of Gaylord. I'm thinking about moving there after I finish school and college. I live in Ohio right now. Anyone have an idea what its like up there? Is it expensive? Lots of crime? How warm is it usually up there yearly?

[mariatherese]

crime- ha! you are talking small town northern michigan- you could probably leave your door unlocked and be OK.

well, i have never been to vanderbilt, but i was botn and raised in the UP and lived in traverse city for 3 years. it is beautiful. the summers go from june-august, i would say it averages out in the 70's - low 80's. muggy and humid, but not as bad as ohio. beautiful fall colors in october, sometimes snow on halloween. winters last from november- march. always count on a white christmas! and temps averaging in the 10-20's, but sometimes they get below freezing. it snows alot, about a foot is always on the ground (but i love snow). then things thaw in april.

that is your weather report for the day, this is maria signing off.

*ehem* anyways...

very cheap in that area i would say. more expensive area are harbor springs, some areas of petoskey, charlevoix, and TC. but even those places are affordable. all of northern MI is very affordable.

except you may find it more expensive to shop- not alot of outlet malls and such. groceries prob more expensive. all due to northern MI being cut off a bit from modernization.

dont imagine there is a great nightlife there, or lots of culture, but i bet thats not why oyu are going there. if you are the kind of person who likes the simple life, good small town people, beautiful scenery, and loves snow, you will love northern MI. i know I do!

hard to always find work, though. lots of people go on unemployment in the winter due to service industry businesses shutting down for the season. northern MI makes a lot of its money off of tourism. this is only seasonal. hopefully you have a job lined up.

good luck!

[karenmae1983]

Hi Terry,
I currently live in Vanderbilt. How did you hear about us? We're very very small so it is surprising. If you love nature, this is the place for you. However, if you are deadset on putting your degree to work, this is not the town for you, or you better like to travel. The surrounding area is not very college graduate friendly. Wages are low, and degrees are not required for probably 99% of the jobs here. That is including Gaylord. The previous poster said that the tourist industry really effects employment. That is not entirely true. While we do have many many tourists, you really are only effected by the tourist industry if you work in downtown Gaylord retail, or at one of the resorts. The resorts however, usually do keep pretty busy though, most of them offer both golf and skiing. The only down time is our short spring and fall, both of which have golf for a part of it anyway. As crime goes, it is very little. in 1991 there was a shooting, but nothing close to that effect since. Temperatures really range. Vanderbilt can get extremely cold in the winter. We also have lazy plow guys and our streets aren't the greatest. In the summer, it really ranges. We had an extremely hot summer this year, last it was cold. Fall here is gorgeous though. Color is phenomenal. If you have any questions at all, go ahead and let me know and i'll answer them to the best of my ability.

Karen

[Gary Dirkse]

Gaylord has schools and a good size hospital, many golf courses.. There must be atleast some medical jobs

Originally Posted by terryclinker

It is a small town just north of Gaylord. I'm thinking about moving there after I finish school and college. I live in Ohio right now. Anyone have an idea what its like up there? Is it expensive? Lots of crime? How warm is it usually up there yearly?

[lyterae]

It is a small town just north of Gaylord. I'm thinking about moving there after I finish school and college. I live in Ohio right now. Anyone have an idea what its like up there? Is it expensive? Lots of crime? How warm is it usually up there yearly?

1.) I live in Petoskey which has pretty much become a tourist driven area so housing is ridiculously expensive. In Vanderbilt it is probably cheaper but you are going to have to make at least a 30 minute drive everyday for work if not longer.

2.) Every place has crime, but around here most ppl don't even lock thier doors.

3.) It doesn't get warm here. Well, okay I guess it does at some point. Last year it finally stopped snowing in June and started up again late September. The summer was unbearably hot for this area, but it was within late July and August.

Overall, wages are low, housing prices are high, and the commute is long if you do find a home you can afford.

[rocvanconn]

Vanderbilt is beautiful. I was raised there until I was 15 then moved to Lower Michigan. Now I am in Ohio looking to move back up North. As the others have said crime is low. Housing is high. The weather is wonderful if you enjoy short summers and snowy winters. And if you have a government job you will be ok for most of the year. Good luck with your move.

[Sparrow_temp]

Grew up in Boyne. Expect cost of living to be high, salaries low, jobs scarce, and you'll have a long commute to work since you most likely won't be working in Vanderbilt. There are way too many negatives for a young person unless you have your own business or are independently wealthy.

[Sgonzalaz]

I lived in vanderbuilt, it was called the armpit of otsego co. there is nothing there but one dirty IGA [small] they carry 2# of hamburg and one frozen peas. and an overpriced sprit gas station, I think blacks bp on the expressway went out of business.
Andy had the only porn in the town. Gaylord is 8 miles south and has 100 times more and it is a small town.
I dont think the population was more than 300 or so.
Gaylord homes are sinking fast. I just called a realtor broker friend of mine and she said that realestate in gaylord is selling for less than something in vanderbuilt or wolverine.
My advise is if you can not be talked out of going somewhere south, buy gaylord, even though it is dead now. It will make a come back in 5 to 10 years and your $ will grow faster.
Gaylord took a giant leap from the late 80s to about 3 years ago.
The lakes and amenities are a much bigger draw than vanderbuilt, that town was a dog even when the mi boom was on in the mid 90s, Vanderbuilt was thought of a worse place to live than wolverine and that is saying something.
I can not express enough how bad of an idea it would be to buy vanderbuilt now.
Petoskey realestate has dropped a lot and will always be a much better buy than gaylord or VB, Traverse city is the king, always has been and always will be. It is down now but no mater how down MI goes TC will always attract the rich and famous.
I would rank the best cities in North MI as TC, Petoskey,Harbor Springs,Charlivoix. the later has much less to offer than the first two and about the same as HS.
Unless you have a very small budget, and you can get some cheap mobiles for 23k on a lot in VB, I would invest in the other towns and even these are no lock that you will see your $ go up in the next 5 years, infact I would guess you would loose a bit before you gain. the broker I talked to said, that from 2000 to 2005 homes in that area went up 100% they are down almost 5% this year, the realtor board said they feel a 50% drop is what they are looking for, that is a loss of half the gain in 5 years. If you bought in at the 2000 level and the drop was no more than 50% that is still not horrible .

[Da'one]

Ok 1st off it is spelled Vanderbilt not vanderbuilt. 2nd, the dirty IGA store that the poster spoke of is no longer there. The store was gutted out & renovated along with adding the Spirit gas station. Gas in Vanderbilt is normally within 3 cents to the cost of Gaylord, sometimes cheaper. The Black's Gas that the posted above me also spoke of closed back in the late 90's. Not sure when the poster above me was in Vanderbilt the last time, but from the sounds of it, it has been a very long time. Furthermore if all he cares about is porn, it is no wonder he spells like he does! Vanderbilt has a few restaurants, 2 bars, post office, 3 gas stations & out east of town is the greatest places to hike, cross country ski, camp, mushroom pick, any type of animal hunting, swimming, etc. As with most of the country, housing is not great in any part, especially in Michigan. But there are some very nice homes in Vanderbilt. Also, Vanderbilt has their own school K-12, with about 200 students in all.

[karenmae1983]

Originally Posted by Da'one

Ok 1st off it is spelled Vanderbilt not vanderbuilt. 2nd, the dirty IGA store that the poster spoke of is no longer there. The store was gutted out & renovated along with adding the Spirit gas station. Gas in Vanderbilt is normally within 3 cents to the cost of Gaylord, sometimes cheaper. The Black's Gas that the posted above me also spoke of closed back in the late 90's. Not sure when the poster above me was in Vanderbilt the last time, but from the sounds of it, it has been a very long time. Furthermore if all he cares about is porn, it is no wonder he spells like he does! Vanderbilt has a few restaurants, 2 bars, post office, 3 gas stations & out east of town is the greatest places to hike, cross country ski, camp, mushroom pick, any type of animal hunting, swimming, etc. As with most of the country, housing is not great in any part, especially in Michigan. But there are some very nice homes in Vanderbilt. Also, Vanderbilt has their own school K-12, with about 200 students in all.

Thank you!!! It's obvious that poster does not know what they're talking about! Right now, Otsego Counties economy is not doing well. However, I do believe that is going to change. Gaylord is the center of Northern Michigan. While growth has slowed down in recent years, I expect it to pick up and become quite large. While there is a ten minute commute from Vanderbilt to Gaylord, it is a good idea to look towards the future. If you are not a fan of cities, living in Vanderbilt is a good way to go. The commute is really quite easy, and you are not living in the city. It does become a pain sometimes having to go to Gaylord to get everything, but the benefits many times outweigh the cons.