Grand Rapids affordability for the retired? (Detroit, Wyoming: for sale, real estate, apartment)

[GraeMatterz]

Hello,

TL;DR: I'm hoping someone can give me some insight into the affordability of the GR metro area for someone on a fixed income.

Background:
I was living on the outskirts of the PDX metro area (in a small town in a different county) when my husband passed. I loved where we were living but the costs there were jacking up (when we moved to that mobile home park, lot rent was under $400 with water/garbage included and after 2 park owner changes in less than 5 years, the lot rent went to over $700 and the water/garbage became separate charges). I was being encouraged by both a friend and a family member to move back to my hometown of Missoula, MT. (My husband was the only family I had in OR and we had no kids. Plus, continuing to live in the home where he passed was weighing heavily on me.)

After doing a cost/benefit analysis, it took me 3 years of preparatory planning (including repairing/updating my manufactured home for sale) in order to make the move back to Missoula. At the time that I started the process, it would have been a dramatic housing cost savings. But then the pandemic happened and both states shut down right in the middle of my move. With the influx of people moving into the Missoula area (the second highest inbound city in the second highest inbound state) combined with low housing inventory I couldn't find a sited manufactured home in town so I had to find a vacant lot 9mi outside the city limits to put a custom ordered manufactured home on the lot, using the proceeds from the sale of my manufactured home for the down payment (I had to live with my friend until the home was built and delivered). I've been in my new home 2 years this month and because of skyrocketing property values (plus the taxes and added insurance costs, which increased about 33% over last year) and ridiculous rents, I'm now looking at being priced out yet again.* I don't foresee this trend ending any time soon so now I'm looking for a more affordable place to live before I get too old to make the move.

An added worry is that the family member who encourage me to move to this park wanted me close to her (she was about a mile away) so she could take me to dr appts/shopping when I can no longer drive but won't be able to now. There's a bus system in Missoula but it doesn't come out here, so I can't even do dial-a-ride. I would have to move into town to access that service, but I can't afford to live in town now. (Even if I could find an apt in town, the monthly rent is more than my house pmt/lot rent combined.) If I'm going to have to move in the future to access a bus service, there's no sense in me waiting until I can no longer drive. The Rapid is another reason I'm looking at the GR area.

The one advantage of the property value increase is that I can likely sell my new manufactured home for more than double what I owe on it and buy a small 2bdrm manufactured home in the Kentwood/north Cutlerville area with the balance, so I wouldn't have a mortgage payment. While the lot rents are more in that area than I'm currently paying, they are less than what lot rents would be if I moved into Missoula (which are still less than what I was paying in OR), and the sited home prices in Missoula are more than what I can sell my home for 9mi outside of town. (Even ratty old ones that look like the only money that should be put into them is for a box of matches are now priced about $30K above what I paid for this newly built one when I ordered it in 10/2020.)

Some additional data that I have been looking at is the climate as I didn't want to move to an area that was colder and prefer someplace not as arid as here (it's hot and dry in the summer). I've found that GR is in the same plant hardiness zone as Missoula (the number of sunny days is about the same in both cities), with the difference being the amount of rain/snowfall, which is significantly higher in GR (averages 37.3" of rain and 64.2" of snow per year, versus Missoula averages 15.2" of rain and 39.5" of snow per year), but from reading other posts, snow removal is done pretty quickly making the roads almost always passable, so that's not concerning.

Since some of the data from city comparison calculators that I've been using to compare the two cities looks outdated for Missoula (not reflecting the increasing housing costs/low availability), I'm wondering if the data I'm finding for GR is realistic. Are you seeing the same thing going on in GR? Does anyone have insight into that or have recommendations about the areas around GR that I'm looking into in general? I'm specifically looking at MH parks around the Division/60th area.

Any info you could impart would be appreciated. This would definitely be the last chance I have to move and thought I did due diligence when deciding to move back to MT as I anticipated that being my last move.

Best laid plans....

Thanks in advance!

*To give an example of how nuts the housing situ is in Missoula: Just a week or so ago an article in the paper reported that an elderly/disabled couple who have lived in an apt for several (7?) years, had been paying $1200/mo and just had a $730/mo rent increase by the new property owners (LLC located in CA). The new landlord's agent claimed that they have stopped advertising their vacancies as they had 66 applicants for just a single 1bdrm apt that was going for $1250/mo and applicants were engaging in a bidding war, offering them as much as $1500/mo for it.

[mjlo]

Are you firm in your commitment to a manufactured home? If you are open to apartment living there are plenty of quiet communities throughout GR. Many are more conveniently located to amenities than the area around 60th and Division. While I don't think that area is particularly bad, it can be hit or miss in terms of crime. It has a decidedly inner ring feel and isn't particularly quaint(if that matters to you). Though I don't have a super strong knowledge of those neighborhoods, so perhaps someone with a better feel on the pulse can weigh in. There are also a couple of communities on 44th St in the Grandville/Wyoming Corridor located closer to more retail/grocery/pharmacies that might suit your needs as well.

Grand Rapids has been going through a housing/real estate crunch for about 11 straight years now. The housing crunch has hit an apex over the last 4 years and the market has been very cut throat as demand far outpaces new inventory. It has gotten to the point where it has started to choke down and slow population growth. That said, the influx of new residents and investments are largely coming from Chicago and Detroit. It's not going to be nearly as suffocating as what's happening in Montana and Idaho with the thirsty Californians. It should still feel more affordable in comparison. I like to say GR has gotten Midwest expensive, but Mountain West cheap.

If you are set on a manufactured home, the areas at 60th and Division, or perhaps 44th st. are going to be your best bet from a transit perspective. Most other manufactured home communities in the area that are located on transit corridors are much more rundown/crime ridden by comparison. If you are open to considering apartment communities, give me a list of criteria like price, localized amenities etc, and I can come back with a bunch of options to consider. I spent 12 years in Grand Rapids before moving so I know those rental communities very well.

[GraeMatterz]

Thanks for the reply mjlo,

Originally Posted by mjlo

Are you firm in your commitment to a manufactured home? If you are open to apartment living there are plenty of quiet communities throughout GR. Many are more conveniently located to amenities than the area around 60th and Division. While I don't think that area is particularly bad, it can be hit or miss in terms of crime.

Yes, I have to go with a manufactured home, mostly for health reasons. I know that may seem counter-intuitive, but I have a combination of health problems that preclude apartment living. Due to allergies and chemical sensitivities, I can't live with carpet and must have a washer/dryer hook-up in the unit so I can bring my own set (I can't use machines that had fabric softener used in them). I also have mobility issues (walk with a cane) that require me to have a walk-in shower with grab bars as stepping over a tub wall to shower poses a fall hazard. It's difficult to find an apartment that meets those three needs, especially in a tight housing market, whereas I have carte blanche to make changes inside a manufactured home (similar to a condo/townhouse). The first things I have to do before I move into a new home is to rip up the carpet and have hard floors installed, and replace the tub if it has one. Also, an apartment would be about double or more the cost of lot rent, and no yard for a small vegetable garden (one of my hobbies).

It has a decidedly inner ring feel and isn't particularly quaint (if that matters to you). Though I don't have a super strong knowledge of those neighborhoods, so perhaps someone with a better feel on the pulse can weigh in. There are also a couple of communities on 44th St in the Grandville/Wyoming Corridor located closer to more retail/grocery/pharmacies that might suit your needs as well.

Could you elaborate a little about "inner ring feel"? The main reason I'm looking at the inner-ring is for access to dial-a-ride. It's not necessary to have a bus stop right outside my door (although that would be nice), but wherever I decide to land has to have bus service nearby. Per the ADA, any municipality that has scheduled bus routes must also provide a dial-a-ride service for the elderly/disabled that is door to door. (What I found with Rapid is that the call to schedule a ride must be done a day in advance and costs about $3.)

If you are set on a manufactured home, the areas at 60th and Division, or perhaps 44th st. are going to be your best bet from a transit perspective. Most other manufactured home communities in the area that are located on transit corridors are much more rundown/crime ridden by comparison.

That's good to know about the amenities along the Grandville/Wyoming/44th area as that will expand my search.

What I've been doing in my noodling around is using the website MHVillage to see which parks are listed in the area and looking more closely at the "showcase communities," which tend to be higher-end. I then plug the address of those parks into google maps and click on the transit search button to see where the closest bus stops are to the address. That's how I came to focus on Division/60th initially.

It's not going to be nearly as suffocating as what's happening in Montana and Idaho with the thirsty Californians. It should still feel more affordable in comparison. I like to say GR has gotten Midwest expensive, but Mountain West cheap.

The irony is that neither state is in the top 6 of where Californians are relocating. Californians' top destination states are Texas, Florida, Nevada, Arizona, Washington and Oregon, whereas the states where people are migrating into MT/ID are coming from California, Washington, Arizona, Texas and Oregon. So it appears MT/ID are both seeing a domino effect of moving Californians, who are displacing residents of those states, which then causes them to move out and into other states as well. (I primarily see plates from Texas but also see plates from those other states.) I call it the Great Shuffle. Could you elaborate more on "expensive/cheap"?

Thanks again!