Retire to North Detroit Suburbs
The North Detroit Suburbs offers classic Michigan lifestyle and scenery minuites from urban Detroit.
Retire to North Detroit Suburbs and Oakland County because this area is centrally located, super affordable and completely lacking in fire, tornado, hurricanes or earthquakes! Listen in as my pal Gwen Daubenmeyer shares lifestyle, prices and homes in her neck of the woods.
Show Notes:
Tell us a little about your background in North Detroit Suburbs
I got my license about 32 years ago. I thought this would be fun and easy and I would get to see how other people decorate. It’s a hard job, but I love it. We sell a good share of the houses up here, so I think we can help people make good choices.
If one retires to the North Detroit Suburbs what is it like?
We are 25 miles north of Detroit, 25 miles north of Canada, 100 miles from Lake Erie. It takes about 25- 30 minutes to get to Downtown Detroit, 45 min at peak commute times. The 100 miles to Lake Erie? That’s about an hour twenty because we take driving VERY seriously around here. Really most commutes to “work” is about 25 min to anywhere.
If you retire to North Detroit Suburbs, what do the homes look like?
For us, a middle class to upper middle class homes would cost between $350,000 – $450,000. Our average price in the county is $225,000. It would be built and the 80’s and above and property taxes would be about $3600 – $4,000. Taxes are pretty stable as due to the Hedly Amendment that caps the property tax rise to no more than 5% in a year (lots of rules around that. Check with a local professional for more details). Lot sizes are at LEAST a quarter of an acre. We don’t grok lots in terms of square feet.
What do the neighborhoods look like in North Detroit Suburbs?
People retire to North Detroit Suburbs because it feels like country, with lots of patches of trees and whole neighborhoods “hidden” behind them. Water is not an issue. Sunshine deprivation is! We get about 180 days of sunshine a year. On the other hand, we don’t typically have tornados, hurricanes, earthquakes.
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What do people do when they retire to North Detroit Suburbs?
There is the 8-mile road (made famous by Eminem) there are many downtown areas that offer lots of cool craft breweries, craft restaurants, our Zoo, there is just lots to do. We are a car-based area and we are used to getting in the car and motoring to wherever there is fun- and everything is about 25 minutes away.
There are two types of people here, people who love Michigan and the whiners.
The whiners always complain about everything and they need to get a coat. Don’t be a whiner.
Retirees to North Detroit Suburbs love to do all sorts of things outdoors in all sorts of weather. Golf, hockey, kayaks, tubes, snowshoes, skis- it’s everything outside. Snow, rain or shine. If you can’t handle the cold, you’ll hate it. But if you’re dressed appropriately you aren’t “cold”, you are in the cold.
How do you deal with driving in the snow and ice in North Detriot Suburbs?
We are expert on dealing with the winter and our city services take very good care of the roads. The occasional spin out on the ice is just a matter of fact occurrence and you learn to deal with it. When you retire to North Detroit Suburbs you learn very quickly.
When does it snow in North Detriot Suburbs?
It might snow a little in November and December, but it really snows in January. February is very difficult because we are just OVER it in that month. People who retire to North Detroit Suburbs often maintain a second home elsewhere. April has ice and planting anything has to wait for after Mother’s Day.
Are there job opportunities in North Detroit Suburbs?
There is lots of manufacturing, auto industry and health care. We also have schools like Oakland University.
Investing in North Detroit Suburbs
A retiree to North Detroit Suburbs can easily invest here. You can buy a decent home for as low as $80,000- it would be a 2 bedroom, 1 bath and rents would be around $900. The best bet is to buy near some of the downtown areas. You will have no lack of eager renters. If you have something ugly it might be as low as $700/mo.
Contact Gwen for Oakland County and the North Detroit Suburbs
