East side or west side? (Detroit, Grand Rapids: relocate, real estate, travel)

[travelling_paws]

I've just entered a dog & I in an agility trial in Holland for next month. Figure I'll take a few extra days and check out the area....part of me wants to get back out of Michigan completely, but if I really find a place I like better here than where I am now, I may stay.
I don't care for the SE part of the state at all. Up North is gorgeous, but the only places I could afford decent property are fairly isolated, and the really cool areas, like around Traverse City, are way out of my (low!) price range.

[mich2fla]

Originally Posted by travelling_paws

I've just entered a dog & I in an agility trial in Holland for next month. Figure I'll take a few extra days and check out the area....part of me wants to get back out of Michigan completely, but if I really find a place I like better here than where I am now, I may stay.
I don't care for the SE part of the state at all. Up North is gorgeous, but the only places I could afford decent property are fairly isolated, and the really cool areas, like around Traverse City, are way out of my (low!) price range.

We are looking out of state, possibly moving to Florida, mainly because of the job market. My company set up some offices with manufacturing in China. Slowly more and more jobs has been shipped over there. We suspected that our department is next.

We love it here but we are willing to relocate to where the jobs are.

Did you check out areas like Ravenna, Sparta, Fremont, etc? Those areas are more in land, rural, and prices will be cheaper than along Lake Michigan.

Good luck!

[travelling_paws]

Originally Posted by mich2fla

We are looking out of state, possibly moving to Florida, mainly because of the job market. My company set up some offices with manufacturing in China. Slowly more and more jobs has been shipped over there. We suspected that our department is next.

We love it here but we are willing to relocate to where the jobs are.

Did you check out areas like Ravenna, Sparta, Fremont, etc? Those areas are more in land, rural, and prices will be cheaper than along Lake Michigan.

Good luck!

LOL< maybe you just need to move to China! Outsourcing is becoming a big problem in some sectors, and MI is being fairly hard-hit because of all the manufacturing jobs moving, as I understand.
Nope, haven't checked out those towns, but now I will.

[M TYPE X]

Western Michigan is lovely if you can find good work and don't need large cities.

[AdrianJ]

East side is more rugged, less populated, less expensive. The East side/West side is really a creature of the Detroit area. More appropriate seems to be the sunset or sunrise side with areas along Lake Huron being sunrise and along Lake Michigan being sunset.

There is something for everyone and prices are moving down as the job market worsens.

[travelling_paws]

Heh. Well, for big city stuff, I'd be closer to Chicago which beats hands-down any city in Michigan! It's less than a four hour drive from Flint to downtown Chicago if I avoid the traffic. I can leave here at 6 am and be there at 9 am. (Taking into account the time difference.)
AdrianJ - know what you mean about home prices here either flat or falling. Unfortunately it works both ways - I'd have to sell my current house in order to buy another. I had it on the market for a while and took it off because all I got in 6 months was a couple of lowball offers.
But, I paid cash for it so the longer I stay here, the more I can save and the more I can fix up this old house.

[jomaco1]

How was your trip to Holland? I live in Muskegon and have also lived in Traverse City. I've spent time in most of the small towns along the Lake Michigan coast line and certainly some are better than others. If you want to live in a city as big as Holland or Muskegon, I would pick Muskegon over Holland, South Haven is a good choice, as is Ludington or even Manistee. Whitehall is nice, but the inland lakes were pretty much ruined by industry and lakeshore property is at a premium there.

[travelling_paws]

Originally Posted by jomaco1

How was your trip to Holland? I live in Muskegon and have also lived in Traverse City. I've spent time in most of the small towns along the Lake Michigan coast line and certainly some are better than others. If you want to live in a city as big as Holland or Muskegon, I would pick Muskegon over Holland, South Haven is a good choice, as is Ludington or even Manistee. Whitehall is nice, but the inland lakes were pretty much ruined by industry and lakeshore property is at a premium there.

Holland is nice....I am liking the west side of the state. Although as it turned out I didn't have time to drive around much...I've looked on realtor.com at properties but without knowing the area it's hard to tell what the locations are like, and I'm looking at the low end, price-wise, of properties...it's possible to find anything from $10,000 dumpy little houses on up!
How do you find living in Muskegon? I didn't think there was much industry to speak of around there.

[jomaco1]

Originally Posted by travelling_paws

Holland is nice....I am liking the west side of the state. Although as it turned out I didn't have time to drive around much...I've looked on realtor.com at properties but without knowing the area it's hard to tell what the locations are like, and I'm looking at the low end, price-wise, of properties...it's possible to find anything from $10,000 dumpy little houses on up!
How do you find living in Muskegon? I didn't think there was much industry to speak of around there.

Plenty of industry around here...depends on what you're looking for. You said you're self-employed...are you a consultant for a particular industry? A sub-contractor maybe?

Like most average sized cities, Muskegon has it's share of bad areas, but it also happens to have everything else. From a growing amusement park to national wild-life preserves, we are surrounded by opportunities like remote camping, fishing, hunting and boating and we have great summer festivals, art fairs and an annual air-fair. Grand Haven and Grand Rapids are just a short drive and the new Mall has attracted many new retail and restuarant chains to the area to make for some pretty good shopping. We have a successful Hockey team, horse racing and beer tents almost every weekend...what more could you ask for?

[travelling_paws]

Cool, thanks!
And judging by where the cheaper homes are on realtor.com, I'm guessing Muskegon Heights is a bad area? (I'll only pay cash for property.)
I'm a painting contractor & do freelance writing on the side. I've established an excellent business in Genesee county, which makes it hard to pick up and move - the longer I'm here, the more money I can save.