[scott heimler]

My wife and I are relocating our life and our business to the south east Michigan area. We are home energy contractors and need to work in the areas that can afford the upgrades to their homes to save on utilities.
We are considering the Rochester Hills/ Birmingham areas.
My question- We are not necessarily going to live in those towns (but maybe) just serve them. What towns would be good to live in where there is a night life yet family friendly and where there are some affordable housing ($200-300k) with small acreage nearby (1-3 acres?)
Really looking for the best of all worlds- convenience, safe, entertainment, laid back people.
Thanks in advance for any help and opinions you may share.

[zthatzmanz28]

Hard to have all 4 in the same area. Acreage may not be affordable. Night life and family friendly? Any affordable acreage will take you north to Lapeer / Auburn Hills or west towards Novi. Parts of Rochester / Bloomfield can have a few acres, but most will start in the high 6 figures, probably even low 7 figures.
If you forgo the acre obsession, you can find places in Troy, St. Clair Shores, and even parts of Novi. I would also think about Northville--either downtown-old town or the area between Haggerty and Beck / 5 Mile towards 8 Mile.

[upandup]

Well, you're certainly looking at the appropriate places in terms of who can afford the upgrades your company supplies. Ann Arbor always ranks high on lists but it may be a little far from the areas you discussed. Last year CNN Money rated Troy #25 out of the 100 best places to live in the US. Median home cost is $166k and it is consistantly rated as being a safe place. There are many nice areas surrounding the areas you spoke of though and depending on your search radius, I think you will be able to find somewhere that fits the bill.

[belleislerunner]

Romeo/Washington Township/Ray/Bruce Twp will all have homes in that range with the acerage you want. You can easily hop on the M53 freeway down to M59 freeway for cutting across to Rochester/B'ham. Only a 20 minute commute or so.

[chiroptera]

Originally Posted by belleislerunner

Romeo/Washington Township/Ray/Bruce Twp will all have homes in that range with the acerage you want. You can easily hop on the M53 freeway down to M59 freeway for cutting across to Rochester/B'ham. Only a 20 minute commute or so.

This is just what I would suggest for a combination of acreage, relatively affordable and a reasonable commute. Rochester Hills and Birmingham are nice, but fairly developed and I'd think buying acreage or just a nice home on a very large lot would exceed the $300K price point easily.
Although I'm not sure what the M59 westbound commute is in the mornings from Utica (where M53 and M59 meet up) is like.
Towns north of Rochester Hills on the M24 corridor are also really nice; lots of open country and farm/horse/rural properties...like Oxford, Metamora, Lake Orion. Plus some rather nice little downtowns, very safe. And that gets you a straight shot south to I-75 or north to I-69, too. But that might be a little more pricey?