120K Housing in Grand Rapids (Wyoming, Walker: movers, crime, houses)

[infocyde]

In searching on Ziillow I'm seeing some decent looking homes for under 120K. The neighborhoods don't look that bad...yet it seems to be here on this forum most people talk about decent housing being way more expensive than that. What am I missing?

https://www.zillow.com/homes/for_sal...t/10_zm/0_mmm/

[magellan]

Originally Posted by infocyde

In searching on Ziillow I'm seeing some decent looking homes for under 120K. The neighborhoods don't look that bad...yet it seems to be here on this forum most people talk about decent housing being way more expensive than that. What am I missing?

https://www.zillow.com/homes/for_sal...t/10_zm/0_mmm/

How can you tell from zillow that the neighborhoods don't look that bad? Have you looked at the crimemapping sites?

[mjlo]

Yeah I think you can find them in decent neighborhoods. I would be careful of a decent chunk of the SE side, and other random parts of the city. Usually the safest neighborhoods with the cheapest housing tend to be in Northern Wyoming. If there are specific houses your looking at you can always DM with questions and I can give you insight. There are only a few areas that I would truly avoid.

[infocyde]

Thanks mjlo I might take you up on that. I don't think if we move we will be buying anything right away but moving to an area with affordable housing is one of the reasons we are considering Grand Rapids. I did bring up some crime information. It looks like on that list above Wyoming has a fair amount of crime, I would probably steer clear of those. But some in the NW corner of the city look pretty decent, or some ones right above I96 looked OK. Just pondering.

[beachmouse]

I grew up in the part of GR that's now called 'Westside Connection' (known on the West side as 'Up the Hill' back in the day) and my parents still live there kind of by Blanford Nature Center and I saw one or two listings from that Zillow page in that neighborhood. Used to joke that it was so boring the rest of the city, including the criminals, didn't know it existed because it was statistically one of the safest parts of Kent County for many years. It's still in this odd place where it flies under the radar for most people, but has long had its share of regional movers and shakers. At different time, my parents neighbors have been a Mejier, the athletic director of GVSU, a longtime city commissioner, and the superintendent of GRPS.

Mostly post-war housing with often large lots (other neighbors had backyard ponies) and I think it was one of the last areas annexed into the city before Walker incorporated itself. While there are some interesting mid-century homes there if that's your thing, it probably won't every be really trendy. But easy to get into town via Lake Michigan drive to I-196 on the south or cut up to Walker and take 3 Mile to I-96/US 131 to the north of the neighborhood.

The city of Walker also tends to fly under the radar of most including the criminals, though there are some subdivisions that get larger homes. Would recommend either of those areas if you see homes (likely smaller ones) show up in that price range.

[magellan]

Originally Posted by beachmouse

I grew up in the part of GR that's now called 'Westside Connection' (known on the West side as 'Up the Hill' back in the day) and my parents still live there kind of by Blanford Nature Center and I saw one or two listings from that Zillow page in that neighborhood. Used to joke that it was so boring the rest of the city, including the criminals, didn't know it existed because it was statistically one of the safest parts of Kent County for many years. It's still in this odd place where it flies under the radar for most people, but has long had its share of regional movers and shakers. At different time, my parents neighbors have been a Mejier, the athletic director of GVSU, a longtime city commissioner, and the superintendent of GRPS.

Mostly post-war housing with often large lots (other neighbors had backyard ponies) and I think it was one of the last areas annexed into the city before Walker incorporated itself. While there are some interesting mid-century homes there if that's your thing, it probably won't every be really trendy. But easy to get into town via Lake Michigan drive to I-196 on the south or cut up to Walker and take 3 Mile to I-96/US 131 to the north of the neighborhood.

The city of Walker also tends to fly under the radar of most including the criminals, though there are some subdivisions that get larger homes. Would recommend either of those areas if you see homes (likely smaller ones) show up in that price range.

True, true, the whole West Side has gotten more attention because the East side has gotten so overpriced. Some very nice neighborhoods along Covell, Leonard, the Highlands Golf Course (which is being sold into a land trust and preserved as green space), all the way to Wilson. And many people don't know that city of Walker/Kenowa Hills Schools has an extremely low property tax rate, around 27 mills. The downside is they have a city income tax but it's not that much. The city of GR also has the same income tax rate.