[bls5555]

Is there anywhere in the city or surrounding suburbs that a house and a sort of guest "house or apartment" could be bought for less than $200,000?

Im not talking about a mansion or anything. Just a nice family house in a nice neighborhood with an extra place not attached.

Anyone know of anything like this or could give me some places to look that it might be possible to find something like this? Also let me know if this won't be possible around either of those areas. Thanks.

[scottmi]

I'm sure with the economy being how it is and people wanting to move out of state finding what you want with a wallet of $200k will be pretty easy. Just contact realtors and I'm sure they can help you out no prob.

Just curious - do you come from a big city or someplace where $150k+ studios and $500k houses are the norm (and even low end perhaps?)

[bls5555]

Originally Posted by scottmi

I'm sure with the economy being how it is and people wanting to move out of state finding what you want with a wallet of $200k will be pretty easy. Just contact realtors and I'm sure they can help you out no prob.

Just curious - do you come from a big city or someplace where $150k+ studios and $500k houses are the norm (and even low end perhaps?)

No, not at all. Im around St. Louis. $200K houses are more the norm where I am.

[magellan]

Tough but not impossible. You'll have better luck in the city of Grand Rapids then in the suburbs for what you need and price range. Lansing is priced pretty comparably to GR.

[bls5555]

what are property taxes like?

I keep reading on here how Michigan taxes are really high, but I looked up a $130,000 house and the taxes are $1600 or so. I had a house here in Illinois that was taxed at $105,000 and I paid $2500 in property taxes.

Are property taxes pretty reasonable and they get you in other areas? It isn't uncommon to have $4000 -$5000 property taxes on a $175-200,000 house in the closer suburbs to St. Louis here in Illinois.

[ByeByeMI]

We had a 3 bedroom, 2 full bath ranch we bought for $194 our taxes were around $4,200a year.

[Cato the Elder]

Our 3br, 1700 sq. ft. house in a relatively expensive part of metro Detroit is $3k a year. A comparable house we owned next to Center City Philadelphia ran $5k+/year (and we got little to no services to show for it except for paying the salaries of all the bozos over in City Council). So yes and no - taxes are relatively low when compared across the nation, but higher than people have enjoyed in the past here in MI - hence the mixed responses.

[magellan]

Property taxes for a homestead (primary home) in much of Michigan seems to equal between 1.2 - 2.5% of your market value per year from what I have seen. So a $200,000 home will be around $2600 - $5000/year. What you get is an "assessed value" from your municipality that is about 1/2 market value, times the millage in your area, which runs between 24 - 50 mills. 24 mills would be .024 x assessed value (which is how you get the 1.2 - 2.0% x market value). Hope that makes sense. It's usually easier for people to just use the 1.2 - 2.0% equation. I have seen some millages as high as 45 to 50, but they seem to be pretty rare (East Grand Rapids is one I believe). Where we live in a township near Grand Rapids, the millage is 27.65, so you'd pay about $2765 on a $200,000 home.

There is a difference if you live in what is considered a "city" vs. a "township". Townships (rural-suburban areas) have little to no services offered (volunteer fire, shared county police, no trash pickup, etc.) so the taxes are generally lower than the neighboring cities.