Northville vs canton vs Rochester hills vs Troy (Detroit, Ann Arbor: mortgage, how much)

[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?

[engineer20]

What are some good lawn green products? My lawn is very yellow. Besides watering more often, what can I do to save my lawn?

[animatedmartian]

Property tax estimator.

You'll have to find the taxable value of your house (usually about 1/2 of the market value) and then the school district of the city you're looking at. Many different homes in all of these suburbs tend to have very different market values and depending on how expensive the house is in what area, you could have anywhere from $1,000 to $12,000 in annual taxes.

Northville Township has the lowest millage rate but there's also not a whole lot of cheap homes there.

[chh]

Canton is definitely the cheapest, especially on the east side. If your budget is the biggest limiting factor, look there.

[snoopygirlmi]

If you are commuting to Ann Arbor, you definitely want to be in Canton or Northville.

Why even look at Rochester or Troy? Those would be killer commutes.

Northville places a premium on living in Northville, so housing prices are expensive. Then - you have taxes added into that!

Canton - it really depends on where you live in Canton. Housing is cheaper, especially if it's not in the Plymouth-Canton school district. However your commute can be a challenge because of traffic and distance.

We moved from Canton to Lyon Township and live about the same distance away from my husband's work in Ann Arbor. It normally took my husband at least a half hour to 45 minutes for his commute when we lived in Canton. Taking Ford Road was really the best way to work. Now that we are in Lyon, it takes about 15-20 minutes each way. Less traffic, faster speeds.

Just something to think about. A lot of people in Lyon have moved out here because it's not Northville expensive. Wayne County is awful and mismanaged, so you are going to end up paying money for their ineptness in either Canton or Northville. My friends in Canton just get a larger than normal tax bill to cover some of the expense of the county's screw ups. They weren't happy.

That's one of the huge reasons why we wanted to be back in Oakland County. It's well managed - 2 year budgeting. Nice quality of life - no real surprises. Low taxes as well. Good luck with your search!

[NOLA101]

In terms of desirability, Canton is definitely the least desirable (though still not a bad place to live).

I would rank it Northville-Rochester Hills-Troy-Canton, though you can find million dollar homes in Troy and cheap homes in Northville. But overall, I think that's a fair ranking (though Canton is definitely the least desirable and kind of the outlier).

[NOLA101]

Originally Posted by snoopygirlmi

Just something to think about. A lot of people in Lyon have moved out here because it's not Northville expensive. Wayne County is awful and mismanaged, so you are going to end up paying money for their ineptness in either Canton or Northville. My friends in Canton just get a larger than normal tax bill to cover some of the expense of the county's screw ups. They weren't happy.

That's one of the huge reasons why we wanted to be back in Oakland County. It's well managed - 2 year budgeting. Nice quality of life - no real surprises. Low taxes as well. Good luck with your search!

Yeah, one reason why Lyon Twp. is growing so fast (I think fastest growing in the state) is because it's next to Northville, with very good schools, but much lower taxes and you aren't in Wayne County, which is a disaster.

If I wanted one of those newer homes in that end of the metro area, I would probably buy in Lyon Twp. It's probably the best bang for the buck for a quality school district, and there's probably more room for price appreciation since it isn't yet as well known as Northville or Novi.

But keep in mind, even Lyon Twp. isn't cheap. A family member lives there, in one of the new developments, and I think she paid around 500k. Metro Detroit isn't as cheap as people think if you're in a good school district, esp. in Oakland County.

And Lyon is probably 25 minutes from AA via Pontiac Trail (and Pontiac Trail runs through literally nothing, so there is probably light traffic).

[jonnynonos]

I lived in Wayne County most my life. No one I knew was ever remotely grumbly about the county. I don't even know what the county does. What adverse effects does one experience living in Wayne County?

[NOLA101]

Originally Posted by jonnynonos

I lived in Wayne County most my life. No one I knew was ever remotely grumbly about the county. I don't even know what the county does. What adverse effects does one experience living in Wayne County?

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.

[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?