Northville vs canton vs Rochester hills vs Troy (Novi, Plymouth: new house, neighborhoods)

[jonnynonos]

Originally Posted by NOLA101

Well, for one, the county is on the verge of bankruptcy. That will affect every county resident. For another, taxes in Wayne County are far higher, due to mismanagement, worse tax base and ridiculous salaries and pensions. And, finally, services in Wayne are generally much worse than in Oakland, despite the higher taxes.

And I cannot believe you really lived in Wayne County and "no one was ever remotely grumbly about the county". That's absurd. There have been endless corruption probes, the rich parts of the county (Northville and the Pointes) have tried to escape the county (GP Shores is still trying to leave for Macomb) and Wayne County has the worst population loss of any county in the U.S., year after year.

No, I never remember anyone wining about property taxes. In terms of "services" I'm not sure what that would entail aside from mail delivery and garbage pickup, which were always adequate.

[animatedmartian]

Originally Posted by engineer20

are wayne county taxes really that much worse? i heard on 950 the other day that wayne county was going to declare bankruptcy or something like that. is 4000 a month too much for a mortgage or no?

Most cities in Wayne County have higher taxes, but the overall property values tend to be lower. Oakland County is the inverse where taxes tend to be lower but overall property values are higher. Basically, it's a disincentive to have a more expensive house in Wayne County when the same quality house would have less taxes in Oakland and other counties. Of course, in actuality there's many different variations in the quality of housing between counties and even between suburbs and subdivisions of those suburbs so finding the area with the cheapest taxes is definitely not cut and dry.

Wayne County declaring bankruptcy has more to do with politicians being corrupt with money and rising healthcare costs which tend to be non-issues in places that are growing. Unfortunately, most cities in Wayne County aren't growing because they're old and haven't changed much in the last few decades.

$4,000 a month seems normal if you can afford it. That's typically the range for million-dollar-plus homes. Whatever your lifestyle is and how you manage your money determines whether it's too much for you.

[jonnynonos]

Originally Posted by animatedmartian

Most cities in Wayne County have higher taxes, but the overall property values tend to be lower. Oakland County is the inverse where taxes tend to be lower but overall property values are higher. Basically, it's a disincentive to have a more expensive house in Wayne County when the same quality house would have less taxes in Oakland and other counties. Of course, in actuality there's many different variations in the quality of housing between counties and even between suburbs and subdivisions of those suburbs so finding the area with the cheapest taxes is definitely not cut and dry.

Wayne County declaring bankruptcy has more to do with politicians being corrupt with money and rising healthcare costs which tend to be non-issues in places that are growing. Unfortunately, most cities in Wayne County aren't growing because they're old and haven't changed much in the last few decades.

$4,000 a month seems normal if you can afford it. That's typically the range for million-dollar-plus homes. Whatever your lifestyle is and how you manage your money determines whether it's too much for you.

LOL he was asking if it was normal for a $110,000 home! Uh, no, unless you plan on getting 3-year mortgage.

[MIEng]

Originally Posted by engineer20

Which one of these cities is the best and why. Or twps. For a commute to Ann Arbor, canton is the best, but Northville isn't bad either, esp it's west side, but how are property taxes in each? Can you give me a breakdown of property taxes in these suburbs and which one has the lowest property taxes? And by how much? Which one of these nice suburbs, is cheaper if cheapest and is a 4000 a month mortgage too much on a 110k income?

Not knowing what your expenses are is impossible to tell, it is however almost 44% of your monthy income and that is way too high (and that is before adding insurance and property taxes). Is 110k your take home (after ss tax, MC tax, 401k, ira?). If that is the case and you don't have children maybe you can scrape by?. We are a household of two engineers (and own rental properties)and our take home is double of that and our mortgage+tax+ins payment is about 2000. When we bought 9 years ago our take home was the same as you, but we had 3 kids (at the time). We could have gone with a more expensive house but we wanted to invest heavily in rental real estate, our retirament and we have 4 kids now (3 at the time) that we want to help pay for college. We wanted the peace of mind of having low liabilities (in case of layoffs, recession), so you have to think what is the most important thing to you.
Just wanted to give you an example since we are also engineers, but we are VERY conservative with our fixed liabilities/expenses. Just my advice, try to keep your total housing expenses (mortgage+prop.taxes+ins) below 30% and you will feel a lot better. That can put you in a mortgage between 450k to 500k maybe even a little more. Add to that a nice downpayment and it will put you in a very nice house/location in Metro Detroit.
This is just my opinion, good luck.

[animatedmartian]

Originally Posted by jonnynonos

LOL he was asking if it was normal for a $110,000 home! Uh, no, unless you plan on getting 3-year mortgage.

He said it was 110k income. I don't think he mentioned the price of the home(s) he was interested in. Unless he did mean a 110k home which would be awfully cheap for the suburbs mentioned.

[belleislerunner]

I live in Detroit and pay Wayne County taxes. And am happy to do so.

I guess if one wants to live in Howell with their nooses and pay less taxes, we should give them that right.

But don't pity us - we're content.

[Arthur Digby Sellers]

Originally Posted by belleislerunner

I live in Detroit and pay Wayne County taxes. And am happy to do so.

I guess if one wants to live in Howell with their nooses and pay less taxes, we should give them that right.

But don't pity us - we're content.

You're happy to pay for mismanagement, boondoggles and corruption? To each their own, I suppose.

[jonnynonos]

Originally Posted by animatedmartian

He said it was 110k income. I don't think he mentioned the price of the home(s) he was interested in. Unless he did mean a 110k home which would be awfully cheap for the suburbs mentioned.

You are right. I misread that.

That would be a competely bonkers mortgage for someone in that income bracket; in fact I doubt it's even possible.

[jonnynonos]

Originally Posted by belleislerunner

I live in Detroit and pay Wayne County taxes. And am happy to do so.

I guess if one wants to live in Howell with their nooses and pay less taxes, we should give them that right.

But don't pity us - we're content.

I have no feelings about Howell but the KKK thing is urban legend, kind of.

The "Grand Wizard" of the Midwest happened to live on a farm outside Howell in the 70s-80s (I think) and would have rallies there attended by all the nincompoops throughout the Midwest.

I don't think there's any reason to believe the people of Howell were involved at all.

[engineer20]

would canton be a lot cheaper than northville? i work in ann arbor, but anna rbor is too expensive and the houses are small
i like mcmansion style newer housing found all over canton/northville, etc
troy has mcmansions but they are older mcmansions and it's too far from ann arbor