Need Good Bad and Ugly on EGR and Ada

[enigmaingr]

Originally Posted by toleahjoy

Wow, this is fantastic information everyone. Thank you. It sounds like EGR is most what we'd be accustomed to, if it does indeed have a 'Monclair' vibe. So, Grand Rapids Christian School is the largest Christian school (or the only one with a high school)? I'm curious about Grand Rapids, East Side, magellan. Is there a specific district I can look up on realtor.com? How does this area compare to EGR as far as safety and neighborhood stability? To be honest, MI home prices are so reasonable compared to the outrageous prices in NJ that EGR seems like a bargain to us. And what are taxes in EGR for an average sized home? We pay nearly 8K here for a pretty small house!

Coming from NJ, your housing options are wide open considering your price tolerance. 8K property tax bills are pretty much unheard of around here, even in EGR or Ada. Average sized house in EGR? Maybe 3K - 4K, likely lower.

Definitely try looking in the Ottawa Hills neighborhood, Eastown, and Michigan Oaks. Those are the city neighborhoods immediately adjacent to EGR. Also, there is a piece of the city between Burton and 28th street that might be an option. FWIW, Ottawa Hills is probably the closest to an EGR feel in terms of neighborliness. The new Christian school in the center of that neighborhood is the combined elementary / middle school for the entire GR Christian School system (not including independent schools). From that school, kids will likely continue on at Christian High just down the road.

[suydam]

Originally Posted by toleahjoy

Wow, this is fantastic information everyone. Thank you. It sounds like EGR is most what we'd be accustomed to, if it does indeed have a 'Monclair' vibe. So, Grand Rapids Christian School is the largest Christian school (or the only one with a high school)? I'm curious about Grand Rapids, East Side, magellan. Is there a specific district I can look up on realtor.com? How does this area compare to EGR as far as safety and neighborhood stability? To be honest, MI home prices are so reasonable compared to the outrageous prices in NJ that EGR seems like a bargain to us. And what are taxes in EGR for an average sized home? We pay nearly 8K here for a pretty small house!

Taxes can be calculated like this in EGR (an approximation).

(Sale Price / 2000) * 45 = Your annual tax liability in EGR.
$200,000 house pays roughly $4,400 taxes
$400,000 house pays $8,800
and so on...

Explanation: Millage here is about 45 mils, which is determined as the value of your property (but not the building on it) in $1,000s, multiplied by the mils of tax liability. Because in Michigan the value of your property is assumed to be roughly half the value of the sale, you can just divide sale price by 2000.

The "best" neighborhood in GR (in my opinion, especially for someone moving from the East Coast who likes the Montclair vibe) would be Ottawa Hills. As Magellan points out, it's difficult to actually peg that on realtor.com so I would suggest that you use a realtor if that idea suits you.

What you'd find in Ottawa Hills:

• Gorgeous walkable streets with sidewalks and trees.
• Ottawa Hills borders EGR, in fact shares several streets with EGR
• Homes are at least $100,000 cheaper than EGR, sometimes more, because you're in GR Public Schools.
• GR Christian has an elementary school in the neighborhood. It was formerly a GR Public Schools building, which sat empty.... this was a big win for the neighborhood I think.
• In my opinion, most of Ottawa Hills has less stuff to walk to than most of EGR. You're further from EGR's downtown, but within walking distance of Eastown GR which is a neighborhood business district in GR proper. Either way, a bike is all you need for your weekend coffee shop run if you're into that.
• I would say if you've got $250,000 burning a hole in your pocket, Ottawa Hills might be a better choice. You'll get a bigger home with more history at that price range. If you've got $400,000+ burning a hole in your pocket, EGR has better selection of homes and might have better resale 10 years down the road (in that $400k+ price range) because of the school district.
• I'm not a realtor either. ;-) So take my advice with a cup of salt.

[enigmaingr]

Originally Posted by suydam

Taxes can be calculated like this in EGR (an approximation).

(Sale Price / 2000) * 45 = Your annual tax liability in EGR.
$200,000 house pays roughly $4,400 taxes
$400,000 house pays $8,800
and so on...

Explanation: Millage here is about 45 mils, which is determined as the value of your property (but not the building on it) in $1,000s, multiplied by the mils of tax liability. Because in Michigan the value of your property is assumed to be roughly half the value of the sale, you can just divide sale price by 2000.

The "best" neighborhood in GR (in my opinion, especially for someone moving from the East Coast who likes the Montclair vibe) would be Ottawa Hills. As Magellan points out, it's difficult to actually peg that on realtor.com so I would suggest that you use a realtor if that idea suits you.

What you'd find in Ottawa Hills:

• Gorgeous walkable streets with sidewalks and trees.
• Ottawa Hills borders EGR, in fact shares several streets with EGR
• Homes are at least $100,000 cheaper than EGR, sometimes more, because you're in GR Public Schools.
• GR Christian has an elementary school in the neighborhood. It was formerly a GR Public Schools building, which sat empty.... this was a big win for the neighborhood I think.
• In my opinion, most of Ottawa Hills has less stuff to walk to than most of EGR. You're further from EGR's downtown, but within walking distance of Eastown GR which is a neighborhood business district in GR proper. Either way, a bike is all you need for your weekend coffee shop run if you're into that.
• I would say if you've got $250,000 burning a hole in your pocket, Ottawa Hills might be a better choice. You'll get a bigger home with more history at that price range. If you've got $400,000+ burning a hole in your pocket, EGR has better selection of homes and might have better resale 10 years down the road (in that $400k+ price range) because of the school district.
• I'm not a realtor either. ;-) So take my advice with a cup of salt.

Ditto this. To add, most Ottawa Hills homes are brick with large front lawns. The area has true character. 250K will definitely get you in that neighborhood and your taxes will be 1/2 to 2/3 of what you'll have in EGR.

Both EGR and Ottawa Hills attract a similar type of person (decently paid professionals) although Ottawa Hills has fewer families with children. I would venture to guess that Ottawa Hills has more longer term residents simply because EGR attracts a lot of families that move into the district for the schools and move out upon graduation.

[magellan]

Originally Posted by toleahjoy

Wow, this is fantastic information everyone. Thank you. It sounds like EGR is most what we'd be accustomed to, if it does indeed have a 'Monclair' vibe. So, Grand Rapids Christian School is the largest Christian school (or the only one with a high school)? I'm curious about Grand Rapids, East Side, magellan. Is there a specific district I can look up on realtor.com? How does this area compare to EGR as far as safety and neighborhood stability? To be honest, MI home prices are so reasonable compared to the outrageous prices in NJ that EGR seems like a bargain to us. And what are taxes in EGR for an average sized home? We pay nearly 8K here for a pretty small house!

Here's an idea, go to GRAR's website:

http://public.grar.com/public/epubsrch.mac/start

Punch in zip code 49506 (which includes EGR and the parts of GR we're talking about) and put in "Grand Rapids" for the school system. Bingo.

[suydam]

Originally Posted by magellan

Here's an idea, go to GRAR's website:

http://public.grar.com/public/epubsrch.mac/start

Punch in zip code 49506 (which includes EGR and the parts of GR we're talking about) and put in "Grand Rapids" for the school system. Bingo.

That's a good start, but you still need the neighborhood map of Ottawa Hills because Eastown (which is great, but not what I'd call family friendly really) is also 49506. So are parts of GR Township that have EGR schools.

It's confusing, unfortunately.

There is a good map on the GR city site somewhere that shows neighborhood boundaries. You could use Magellan's suggestion, in concert with that map, to narrow it down to place sure to be safe and nice.

[jimthurber]

On the pizza part.... Just about right on the Wyoming/Grandville border across from the new Metro Health hospital (56th st/Byron Center Ave) Monelli's has AMAZING pizza. Local "chains" Uccello's and Peppino's both have good pizza as well.
A place with unique options is Georgio's downtown by the arena.

As far as good, bad, and ugly in EGR/ADA it's more good, better, best.
Both extremely safe areas, which are great to raise a family in. Though if it were me, I'd prefer to stay away from the very rural Ada areas like closer to Lowell. I had to commute through there this past winter and the roads got very bad.

[fried10]

I sadly left GR about a year and a half ago. Good suggestions on the pizza, but the VERY best pizza is at Sazerac Lounge on plainfield. Excellent crust, a delicious sauce and fresh toppings make it a star! I recommend their deluxe. It's a hidden pizza gem!