[SweetBeth]

My Husband and I are considering an offer and a move to Michigan. Most people are discouraging moves to Michigan because of the Job Market and Housing Problems.(??) We are considering the Novi and Commerce Township areas. Would anyone recommend an appropriate salary expectation for a middle class family? I am a stay at home mom with two little ones. We are not sure about the cost of living difference. (vs. Texas)

Any thoughts are greatly appreciated. (No matter what )

[khfar]

I moved from Texas last summer. I can't tell you the appropriate salary expectation, because I think everyone varies in what they consider "appropriate".

I can tell you that the cost of living up here is much higher than in Texas (unless you are in Austin), and anyone that tells you any different is lying! Even in a crappy housing market, the houses are much more up here (we moved from Dallas). There are only a few things I've found up here that are less expensive than Texas. Gas is higher, food is higher, homes are higher AND you have a state tax on top of it all.

With all of that in mind, if the salary and the job are right, you will be fine. We are. We like it here. We miss Texas like crazy, and can't wait to get back there, but we are fine here until that time comes.

We live in West Bloomfield. We looked in Novi and Commerce as well, and both are nice.

Feel free to PM me with any questions.

[cardwellave]

Of course the cost of living is going to be higher in Oakland County. It is pretty shocking when I go up there and see gas around 10-15 cents higher than here, homes nearly double, and go to places like Hiller's Market where markup is routine.

Wayne County is cheaper, and there are lots of good things here. Michigan has a relatively low cost of living because of the low home costs. I don't know of too many places where houses cost much less. Not sure what the guy above me is talking about. We have a low cost of living!

[khfar]

Originally Posted by cardwellave

Of course the cost of living is going to be higher in Oakland County. It is pretty shocking when I go up there and see gas around 10-15 cents higher than here, homes nearly double, and go to places like Hiller's Market where markup is routine.

Wayne County is cheaper, and there are lots of good things here. Michigan has a relatively low cost of living because of the low home costs. I don't know of too many places where houses cost much less. Not sure what the guy above me is talking about. We have a low cost of living!

I'm a girl.

Compare Michigan to Texas. Texas is known for having a very low cost of living, no state tax, and cheap housing. You get a lot of house for little money in most places. Except Austin, as I said above.

We looked in Wayne county and Oakland county. My husband works in Wayne county. I think I know what I'm talking about here, since I did grow up in Texas, and moved here last year. My husband makes good money, but he had to go back to his company and ask for more, before he accepted the job here. I was in Texas last week, and the gas was almost 30 cents lower than it is around here. We just did our taxes last month. Paying a state income tax SUCKS. Especially when you aren't used to it.

[intelfan11315]

I am from Grand Rapids and I don't know TOO much about the Novi area, I do know that it seemed pretty nice. Around Grand Rapids a middle class family could probably live comfortably on 60k and upper-middle class is prolly 100-120k. The housing market is great right now if you are buying! You are sure to make a profit because when you buy in Michigan the housing is going to be very cheap because its in a downward spiral, give it some years down the road and your house is going to be worth a lot more!

[cardwellave]

Ah okay. Well Texas has a slightly higher sales tax doesn't it? I think right now you can definitely get a lot of house for your money here, you just can't sell it once you buy it. Right now anyway.

[khfar]

Originally Posted by cardwellave

Ah okay. Well Texas has a slightly higher sales tax doesn't it? I think right now you can definitely get a lot of house for your money here, you just can't sell it once you buy it. Right now anyway.

Yes, you are right about the sales tax. It's 8.25% in Texas. But still, from what we've experienced this past year, the state tax ends up being more in the long run. We haven't saved any money from the lower sales tax, I'll put it that way! Or wait...maybe I shop more since we moved here? Hmmm...that could definitely be the case! I was pretty depressed the first few months here, so I shopped a lot to compensate for it!

And yes, we really hope my husband's company relocates him again sometime soon, because if we had to move ourselves, I have a feeling we'd lose our a$$es on our house. If the company moves us, they buy it after 90 days, if it doesn't sell.

[SweetBeth]

I really appreciate the honest answers!!

[Coldjensens]

Novi is typical suburban sprawl. There are more malls and strip malls than anywhere that I have seen. If shopping is your life, Novi is heaven. Traffic can be nasty around the mall area, especially during holidays. Novi has reasonably nice cookie cutter subdivisions and good schools. There was an attempt at creating a downtown recently. It is not a downtown that just happened like most, it is a planned and formed downtown. Looks a bit like a strip mall. Aside from malls and subdivisions, there is not much to Novi.

There is a neat story about how Novi got its name. Allegedly it was stagecoach stop number 6. Thus it was aabbreviated No. VI.

If you like modern subdivisions and shopping malls, Novi is great. Freeway access is good and schools are quality. If you want some character in your city, look at nearby Milford, South Lyon and maybe Walled lake. Not great character, but more than Novi anyway.

Nearby Northville is pretty neat, but expensive.

All of these cities have good schools. Northville has great schools.

[wanderer74]

You can do some direct comparisons using this tool: MONEY Magazine: Best places to live 2006: Compare tool

You can add more areas to compare, including specific suburbs like Novi. I don't know where you are in Texas but you could likely compare your current location as well. Unfortunately 2006 is the most recent data they have and the housing market everywhere has changed a bit since then. Novi reminds me a lot of some of the suburban areas in TX - newer housing, lots of shopping, clean. You might enjoy the lifestyle there if you're coming from a nicer suburb in TX, but you are likely to find it more expensive. Commerce Twp. is much more remote than Novi.

I've lived in both Texas (D/FW area) and in Michigan. In general I can say that Texas is MUCH more affordable than Michigan. A higher sales tax in Texas doesn't even begin to compare to the state income tax in Michigan - especially since I think our MI state income tax is somewhere between 4-5% and the sales tax is only 2% lower than TX.

I have no idea how much money you would need to make because that depends so much on the type of lifestyle to which you're accustomed. However, I would make sure that it's a fairly significant increase above what you're making now since it does cost more to live here. (The first 5% increase would go to state income tax alone.) Also, I would very strongly discourage buying a house here unless you expect to stay here for 10 years or more. With the exception of parts of the Grand Rapids area, people have been finding it very difficult to sell their houses here, and unlike the home price appreciation that continues in TX (albeit at a slower pace), most home prices in MI - even in good suburbs - are actually declining. Some very nice homes are available for rent in established neighborhoods, so it wouldn't be like the typical problems associated with communities of many renters. Good luck!