Why live in Michigan?

[dphantom]

They have some great breweries, drove up to traverse city a couple years ago and stopped at Bells and Founders and Vivant Brewery and went to a few of the vineyards around traverse city. The dunes are pretty fun to go see too, we went to glen arbor and went up the sleeping bear dunes and that was great, if you're into outdoorsy stuff then Michigan is great.

Well, Bell's is in Kalamazoo and Founder's is in Grand Rapids. However, we have Short's and many other breweries here in TC. A great brew town. And wine and whiskey too.

 

[JulesMaximus]

Two words. West Michigan. Sure going to the east side for a Tigers, Red Wings, Lions, Michigan Wolverines and or Michigan State Spartans game is great but West Michigan is where it is at. Holland and Ludington are my two favorite places to go that are a very short drive for me being in Grand Rapids. I also love going up to Traverse City or Mackinaw City for a long weekend. I couldn't see myself living anywhere else. It would take a lot for me to move away from here.

Also for everything that Pulsar and ghost recon88 said too.

My Mom grew up in Grand Rapids, MI and her parents lived there their entire lives so I spent quite a bit of time there over the years and I have to say that there is absolutely nothing that would ever entice me to live there.

 

[boomerang]

Them womenz need to work on their self esteem issues. "I'm not much but I ain't expecting a whole lot either."

I noticed they weren't providing any pictures either. :biggrin:

 

[ControlD]

Yes all true. We usually go to WI during Cherry Festival to avoid the crowds and spend time with the grand child or spend time on my boat up at Torch Lake.

I spent a good portion of every summer for the first 18 years of my life at Torch Lake (Alden) plus some time here and there afterwards. If I ever hit the lottery that's where my summer place will be. Unfortunately you just about have to hit the lottery to buy property on those big premium lakes these days. Whenever I show people pictures of Torch Lake they think it must be the Caribbean because the water is so blue and clear.

 

[DrPizza]

Property tax is brutal for residents and brutal for non residents.

Sounds even more like upstate NY...

Now it sounds even more like upstate NY. People in this area pay 6% or more of their properties actual value in taxes each year.

 

[Homerboy]

My Mom grew up in Grand Rapids, MI and her parents lived there their entire lives so I spent quite a bit of time there over the years and I have to say that there is absolutely nothing that would ever entice me to live there.

Says the guy in CA?

Drought.
Taxes.
Impending "Big One" that results in your house sloughing off into the Pacific Ocean.

 

[BarkingGhostar]

No no enticing pictures from those living in MI? Surely they can prove the beauty in their eyes, no?

 

[boomerang]

No no enticing pictures from those living in MI? Surely they can prove the beauty in their eyes, no?

Well, I've dated Miss Michigan from time to time but posting a picture here would get me a vacation.

 

[ghost recon88]

No no enticing pictures from those living in MI? Surely they can prove the beauty in their eyes, no?

What do you want pictures of, the beach? Houses?

 

[brianmanahan]

Now it sounds even more like upstate NY. People in this area pay 6% or more of their properties actual value in taxes each year.

holy crap, i thought %1.5 was bad!

 

[rstrohkirch]

Assuming you had the ability to move in a radius of states around Michigan, you really should like the outdoors to live here. Obviously you could love big city life but you can get that almost anywhere. If you could move right now and didn't like the outdoors I don't see why you'd stay here. A list was presented earlier in the thread but there are so so many more outdoor hobbies available here. There are few states that offer such variety.

On the flip side, a portion of those things can only be considered average. Take snowmobiling for example. You can do lots of it here but it's no where near as good as out west. I love to dirt bike, but we have little elevation here so the trails aren't nearly as good as other places. The ski hills are hills not mountains. Another issue you have is that if you really want to enjoy a variety of activities or certain ones, you can't live in the south. Some of the best outdoor stuff starts around mid state and up. Something that takes me 2 hours to get too would take someone from Detroit suburbs 4 hours one way. I had a friend who moved out to CA and loves it out there. He was telling me about all the amazing things they do now. Most of the things he mentioned were already available to him here but they're much closer now. And they live in a nice sized city.

Side note on the taxes and home prices. Obviously if you live in a in-demand area things are going to be more expensive. My house is valued at $110k through the township and I pay $1.5k a year in taxes. My house relocated to some of the large areas in other states I see posted on this forum would going for 400-600k. If I were going to move it would be to BC. =]

 

[dphantom]

What do you want pictures of, the beach? Houses?

I climbed that dune last year with a buddy. 10 minutes down, an hour + back up. 400+ foot elevation change, all sand

 

[96Firebird]

Now it sounds even more like upstate NY. People in this area pay 6% or more of their properties actual value in taxes each year.

That is really high, I'm pretty sure you're southwest of me and I didn't know it got that high around here... I'm buying a house with taxes @ 3.4% of assessed value, and that is actually in a town that is low for the county. :\

 

[Pulsar]

Sounds even more like upstate NY...

Having never owned a property anywhere else, I have 2 acres and pay about 3k a year in property taxes. Property value is $220,000.

What would it be like in upstate NY? We probably have similar climates though I suspect you get more snow.

 

[KentState]

The late spring, summer and early fall weather is great. Enjoyed being able to sleep outside during the summer and not feel like you are going to suffocate. Downside are the roads, Detroit and the winters.

 

[96Firebird]

Having never owned a property anywhere else, I have 2 acres and pay about 3k a year in property taxes.

What would it be like in upstate NY? We probably have similar climates though I suspect you get more snow.

I'm buying a house that is assessed for $161k with .35 acres, taxes are $5441/year. Like I said, that is pretty "reasonable" for the county. Then you have properties like this one, which is assessed @ $160k with .18 acres and taxes are $7800/year. D: Not even a nice area or anything...

Snow totals vary greatly, even by just 50 miles or so. Where I live, we get some lake effect snow, but nothing like Buffalo or the Tug Hill region (just west of the Adirondacks). Although according to this site, we average more than Buffalo? I don't see Syracuse on the list though, they might get even more...

 

[bguile]

So whats the attraction of Michigan?

I could make a list, but what's the point. Like any other state it has its pro's and cons. IMO it's a great state, but I live here so I am biased. Its going through a bad news cycle right now, but come late spring/early summer when the hurricanes and wildfires start up, when the south gets hammered by more tornadoes and heat waves, people will forget about Flint and Detroit again.

 

[JulesMaximus]

Says the guy in CA?

Drought.
Taxes.
Impending "Big One" that results in your house sloughing off into the Pacific Ocean.

Yep, still rather live here.

I'm from upstate and western NY originally.

 

[clamum]

I was born and raised in the U.P. of Michigan and moved downstate in 2012. I moved down here for work (not a lot of software development jobs in the U.P., though they do exist) but if I could've stayed in the Yoop, I would've. I love it up there. I'm definitely not a "big city" type of person and couldn't really care less about that kinda crap. The town of ~14,000 I grew up in is just about big enough for me, at least for living in. Having a bigish city kinda close by can be nice.

I think the following are generally regarded as positives for Michigan: Lower cost of living, endless things to do if you're interested in the outdoors and water, less people (at least in the U.P. or northern Lower Michigan), four seasons (ignore the tired myth that "it snows/is cold for 10 months out of the year there"), fairly sane firearm laws.

 

[brianmanahan]

i was looking to buy a place for 108$k, valued at about 100$k, with a property tax of 900$ a year

 

[boomerang]

i was looking to buy a place for 108$k, valued at about 100$k, with a property tax of 900$ a year

Not sure if you're talking about in MI but regardless, there is something home buyers have to be aware of.

An owner of a property who has lived there for a period of time can have artificially low property taxes due to a law we have that limits the amount that PT can increase. When the home is sold, that law is not in effect at the time of the sale. This can mean a big increase in PT. Usually, it will be based on the sale price so there is not any room for argument. Sometimes, and I've read that's what they're doing in Detroit, if they feel the property sold for an artificially low price, they can tax it at whatever value they feel is appropriate.

The appeal process is a bit of a joke. If you win, it is in effect for one year only. To make it "permanent" you have to appeal to the big boys in Lansing. That will establish a basis from which your PT will rise from there.

That's an abridged summary.