[Geo-Aggie]

Originally Posted by Gingrott

Geo-Aggie: Thank you for the detailed run down of nearby areas! I've sort of landed on a couple different areas during my apartment searches, most of the places I found are near the Mall at Partridge Creek in Clinton Township, or near Stoney Creek Metropark in Shelby Township. I would love to be in an area with nice shopping and at least a few things to do, but I have been unable to find any nice places that are available in Birmingham, Royal Oak, etc. where most of the nicer shopping and activities seem to be. Then again, I really don't know much about any of the areas, and haven't had the opportunity to travel before I'll be moving up there very soon.

As far as utility rates, that's great to know about the ng costs. I'm looking at some apartments and town homes which use ng for heating and electric for everything else. I've been trying to find some kind of discussion or comparison tool of utility bills around the area, I know it varies quite a bit based on the construction of the place, location, and usage of course. But for newer/higher end townhouses or apartments, 2/2 or 3/2 around 1400 sq ft, which is about what I've been looking at, I would love if someone could chime in with their best guess or an example or two for something similar. I'm really going in blind, it's surprisingly difficult to budget and plan when I don't know whether to expect $180/mo or $500/mo on utility bills

I live in a 70 year old 1400 square foot single family home, and we're a family of 3 (going on 4..). This winter has been.. mild, but certainly not warm. Our gas bill for January will be about $110, and electric will be about $60. In the summer we had a rental with only a window unit for AC. The highest electric cost we had was $80 and gas was typically around $30 (water heater). I assume if we had a Central AC unit we'd have seen electric approach $100-120 range. Throughout Spring and Fall though we've seen about $50 for gas and $50 for electric.

Trash/recycle/etc is paid by property taxes and water/sewer is almost always paid by a landlord. If by some circumstance you end up responsible for those, our landlord paid about $20 a month for our water/sewer when we were renting. We haven't seen the costs yet for the new house, but I expect about the same as all of Metro Detroit uses the same water plant.

Truthfully I wouldn't put too much worry into the utilities. There are definitely 4 seasons, but the lack of true extremes (like you'd have in Texas or Minnesota) coupled with long, mild springs and falls make utility use pretty typical for the US. Then throw in the relatively cheap fuel costs and we pay less than people in most states.

As for looking for places, when we first moved here we worked with a property manager that manages a ton of small to mid-sized properties in Royal Oak, Clawson, Berkley and Troy. Because we had good credit allowed us to take on a 3 month lease while we looked for a rental house, but if you like it there you can extend on a month to month basis pretty much indefinitely. Give their properties a look and let them know if anything catches your eye. They were easy to work with when it came to renting from 2,000 miles away:
Link: Amber Apartments - Royal Oak, Clawson, Berkley and Troy, MI

Edit: Also, don't worry too much about the age. If you stay the more gentrified inner-ring suburbs, the old stuff is every bit as nice as new stuff in the exurbs. People get this image that old means run down, and in the city limits of Detroit it often does, but in suburbs like Royal Oak, Plymouth, Birmingham, Gross Pointes - most of the old stuff is in great shape. Our apartment was 1950s, our rental house was 1920s and the house we bought is 1940s - all 3 have been in just as good of shape as the 1990s home we owned out west. If you're anything like me you'll be happier in Southeast Oakland County than you will be in Northern Macomb County. This isn't to say Northern Macomb County is undesirable - it's pretty nice really, but you will drive everywhere. In the old suburbs you can do quite a bit of walking and they just have that beautiful northeast charm to them that I love, but that's probably because I come from a background of living my entire life in the stucco-coated-sprawl of LA and SLC.

[Gingrott]

clawsondude: I originally was looking in that area, but I wasn't able to find anything nice for less than $1,700/mo and 2/2, roughly 1300 sq.ft or larger. Most places were small, with short ceilings and small, outdated kitchens and fixtures, so I decided to start looking further out. I'm sure I missed plenty of options over that way, but due to my time constraints and lack of any experience with the areas, it's been a little tough.

And you got it! I'm starting a new position with GM the first week of February, so I have to move up there next week. I'd love to hear your input as far as the commute to the Warren Tech Center or any other tidbits you may have.

keraT: I think I came across a place or two in madison heights, and I'm sure you're right, but from my own searching I didn't find anything nicer that I could afford in that area. I'll try looking again to see what I can come up with. It seems like a lot of the nicer spots may not be listed on google maps or apartment websites, so I've been having a tough time finding the nicer complexes it seems like.

Geo-Aggie: Awesome, that's great news. I was hoping it wouldn't be too much of a concern, but I stumbled across a few horror stories looking through apartment reviews and what have you where people were complaining of outrageous utilities upwards of $400-$500/mo and I was getting nervous about it, none of the apartments I've spoken to have been willing to tell me what to expect in terms of utilities either. And you're right, if it's nicely maintained or renovated I don't mind older at all, as long as the utilities aren't too high. I'll check out the units on that link. Also like I mentioned, my time frame makes a little difficult to shop around since I have to move up there a week from now and will be staying in an airbnb until I settle on a place.

Thank you all for your feedback so far, it's been very helpful

Edit: It might be helpful to mention that some of the things I've been looking for are a garage, in-unit washer and dryer, granite counters, wood/tile flooring, and stainless appliances and fixtures. Places that I have found and really like are this one and this one, although the Montclaire places are just out of my budget at $1750 plus utilities, and I haven't been able to get ahold of anyone at the Lakeside Boulevard units. But those are the kind of places I've been looking for.

[clawsondude]

Originally Posted by Gingrott

clawsondude: I originally was looking in that area, but I wasn't able to find anything nice for less than $1,700/mo and 2/2, roughly 1300 sq.ft or larger. Most places were small, with short ceilings and small, outdated kitchens and fixtures, so I decided to start looking further out. I'm sure I missed plenty of options over that way, but due to my time constraints and lack of any experience with the areas, it's been a little tough.

And you got it! I'm starting a new position with GM the first week of February, so I have to move up there next week. I'd love to hear your input as far as the commute to the Warren Tech Center or any other tidbits you may have.

I actually work downtown at the Renaissance Center where headquarters are. I occasionally have a meeting in Warren. I wish I worked there as it is a much better commute. I did grow up in Warren near the Tech Center. There isn't much going on around there, pretty much your typical suburb. There are a couple of great microbreweries nearby in Warren, Kuhnhenn's and Dragon Meade. I'd highly recommend checking out either. The commute really shouldn't be too bad for you from any direction as long as you don't go too far. The north end of Warren isn't a bad place to live either, just nothing really notable about it. If you were considering living in Warren I would stay north of 12 Mile and definitely north of 696.

[Geo-Aggie]

I work in an office park just south of the GM Tech Center in Warren. The commute is great. The 696 flows smooth (70 mph) going into Warren, and if there's a wreck 12 Mile isn't bad at about 40 mph, but with stoplights. It takes me about 15 minutes from my garage in Berkley to my cubicle; it was about the same from Royal Oak. I will warn you though that if you're trying to get on 696 at 4 or 5, don't take Van Dyke - go over to Mound, or prepare to sit through 4 stoplights as everyone cuts off the turning lane, or be a jerk and cut off everyone who is waiting in the turning lane. My understanding is that the Van Dyke Expressway is a pretty good commute into Warren as well. I have a coworker clear out in Romeo and he claims it's only 30 minutes.

For lunch by the Tech Center, there's a pizza place called Lisa Tori's that is awesome. Their $5.99 3 topping small is my go-to when I don't plan something. Spicy Thailand isn't screwing around with their name. Do not order "spicy" the first time you go, thought I was going to combust. Lenny's Subs on Mound is good, so is Penn Station on 12 Mile. The grocery stores in Warren are uncomfortably segregated. I'm not making a judgment on whether that's right or wrong, but it is a thing and it freaked me out the first time I went to Walmart (for that matter lots of things in Michigan are segregated). Oh and tall the best ethnic Asian food is on Dequindre in Warren/Madison Heights. PS, have you considered Madison Heights? It's safe, nice, close to Royal Oak, but you don't pay the zipcode premium that comes with some of the other towns nearby.

[Gingrott]

Thank you guys for all the input and suggestions! Especially clawsondude and Geo-Aggie, I greatly appreciate it, and I will take you both up on some of your suggestions for places to eat and some local tips.

I ended up getting a place up by Lakeside Mall that so far I am liking, and the commute isn't too bad, around 20-25 minutes with average traffic, utilities are very reasonable according to the leasing agents (hopefully they're right) and the insurance rates are pretty normal so I'm happy so far haha.

[clawsondude]

Originally Posted by Gingrott

Thank you guys for all the input and suggestions! Especially clawsondude and Geo-Aggie, I greatly appreciate it, and I will take you both up on some of your suggestions for places to eat and some local tips.

I ended up getting a place up by Lakeside Mall that so far I am liking, and the commute isn't too bad, around 20-25 minutes with average traffic, utilities are very reasonable according to the leasing agents (hopefully they're right) and the insurance rates are pretty normal so I'm happy so far haha.

Glad it's working out for you. Welcome to Michigan and to GM! I'm still a relatively new GM employee myself (1.5 years) and I've been really impressed working for this company. I know in a large company experiences can vary wildly based on which department you are working for, but for me it has been great. My hours are very reasonable, and my management is very flexible when it comes to things outside of work. They have no problem with me working from home a couple of times per month or leaving early from time to time for an appointment. I hope you also have a positive experience here. This is definitely the best company I have ever worked for.