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Where do you live?

michaelskis

By michaelskis
in Grand Rapids Coffee House

Where do you live?  

70 members have voted

  1. 1. What community do you live in?

    • City of Grand Rapids
      31
    • Kentwood
      2
    • East Grand Rapids
      1
    • Wyoming
      4
    • Walker
      3
    • Alpine
      2
    • Plainfield
      3
    • Allendale
      1
    • Grandville
      1
    • Hudsonville
      1
    • Ada
      4
    • Lowell
      0
    • Other in Kent County
      7
    • Other not in Kent County
      8
    • Not in Michigan
      2

  2. 2. If in Grand Rapids (City)

    • Downtown
      2
    • SE
      15
    • NE
      13
    • NW
      3
    • SW
      0
    • Not in the City...
      37

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concretepoem Whistle-Stop

concretepoem

Posted
Posted

So, did you used to live in Grand Rapids then?

I'm curious, did you hire a property management company to run your rentals? If so, how cost effective is it for single houses as opposed to apartment buildings?

-nb

I grew up in GR, then returned late last year after living all over --Austin, Detroit, Amsterdam, NYC and SoCal--for about 25 years. I was attracted to GR because of its affordable real estate, and while I looked breifly at apartment buildings, because the rate of return looks so compelling, I opted to acquire single family homes. It's less cost effective, generally speaking, to own sfh versus apartments, but for me it came down to location. I wanted properties in a very specific part of Eastown, between Lake Drive and Fulton, and that's almost all single family homes. My family wanted to return to California. So now I manage the properties from afar, with the help of a local contractor. I manage the marketing, communicate with prospective tenets, handle the leases, rent collections, etc., while the contractor handles the physical property maintenance.

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dbrok Hamlet

dbrok

Posted
Posted

I wanted properties in a very specific part of Eastown, between Lake Drive and Fulton, and that's almost all single family homes.

That neighborhood is great. I have a friend who owns a house on Byron and it's just magnificent inside; hardwood floors everywhere, stained glass windows, even the original door handles and vent covers are there, 2500 sqft, only a block from Wilcox Park. I'd love to move over into that area at some point.

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GRGridGirl Hamlet

GRGridGirl

Posted
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I grew up in GR, then returned late last year after living all over --Austin, Detroit, Amsterdam, NYC and SoCal--for about 25 years. I was attracted to GR because of its affordable real estate, and while I looked breifly at apartment buildings, because the rate of return looks so compelling, I opted to acquire single family homes. It's less cost effective, generally speaking, to own sfh versus apartments, but for me it came down to location. I wanted properties in a very specific part of Eastown, between Lake Drive and Fulton, and that's almost all single family homes. My family wanted to return to California. So now I manage the properties from afar, with the help of a local contractor. I manage the marketing, communicate with prospective tenets, handle the leases, rent collections, etc., while the contractor handles the physical property maintenance.

Hi Rich! I heard you moved back to Cali. Welcome to UP!

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concretepoem Whistle-Stop

concretepoem

Posted
Posted

That neighborhood is great. I have a friend who owns a house on Byron and it's just magnificent inside; hardwood floors everywhere, stained glass windows, even the original door handles and vent covers are there, 2500 sqft, only a block from Wilcox Park. I'd love to move over into that area at some point.

The thing that gives that neighborhood a good vibe is its scale. The size of the lots, the size and style of the houses, and the more or less uniform setbacks from the sidewalk all tend to promote casual social interaction--and hence a sense of community. It's especially evident in the summer, when people are more inclined to walk up to Lake Drive, to Wilcox Park, or to the Farmer's Market. The 'ABC' streets just east of Fuller-- Auburn, Benjamin and Carlton --and the Poet streets of Byron, Milton, and(originally Tennyson, not Hope) were mostly developed in the 1915-1925 period, at a time right before the automobile took hold. If people had a car, they had one car per family. That's how they were able to get away with shared driveways, which another poster flagged as one of the pains of living in his Fulton Hieghts home.

That's really what attracted me, the scale of a neighborhood that dates from a time when middle class families were just figuring out how to add the automobile into their lives, before it came to dominate everything. I figure it'll be a viable neighborhood as people figure out how to subtract the automobile from their lives.

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ryternrezdence Unincorporated Area

ryternrezdence

Posted
Posted

NE side, but barely. Just two blocks north of Fulton, close to Aquinas. Been here 11 years.

Am a country girl by virtue of being raised in the country, but am a city girl at heart.

Was raised in Ionia county, spent some time in Ada (among other places), and now here. I love it. Wouldn't trade it for anything. We are seriously looking into moving downtown, but the lack of access to private green space has kept us from it.

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AlexPKeaton Burg

AlexPKeaton

Posted
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NE side, but barely. Just two blocks north of Fulton, close to Aquinas. Been here 11 years.

Am a country girl by virtue of being raised in the country, but am a city girl at heart.

Was raised in Ionia county, spent some time in Ada (among other places), and now here. I love it. Wouldn't trade it for anything. We are seriously looking into moving downtown, but the lack of access to private green space has kept us from it.

You're just about my neighbor. I'm on Mayfield Ave just north of Lyon.

-nb

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AlexPKeaton Burg

AlexPKeaton

Posted
Posted

You guys are lucky you live on those streets...Lowell, Mayfield, Holmedene...they seem like lovely homes. Is it mostly owner occuppied, or renters too? I imagine it's nice to walk over to the Farmer's Market, or to Eastown.

I don't really know, but I suspect it's mostly ownner-occupied with some rentals thrown in. It is right near Aquinas College so I have to imagine there are some students renting in the area. That's actually one of the reasons I bought into the neighborhood. I rent out my spare rooms and I figured with the college nearby it would be an easier sell to a student. I probably could have bought a cheaper, more modern house in the suburbs, but I wanted to have parking available on street. I also like having a brick house because it's low-maintenance and not ugly like vinyl siding.

-nb

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MAU Whistle-Stop

MAU

Posted
Posted

You guys are lucky you live on those streets...Lowell, Mayfield, Holmedene...they seem like lovely homes. Is it mostly owner occuppied, or renters too? I imagine it's nice to walk over to the Farmer's Market, or to Eastown.

Depending on the street, i'd say most are 90% owner occuppied. We've got one rowdy college house on our street, but we've been trying to take care of the problem.

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MsAKK Unincorporated Area

MsAKK

Posted
Posted

i wasnt sure where to post this, so i chose here.

i drove around GR last night looking for apartments and found a sign advertising "wealthyrentalguide.org" but that website (with or without "www") isnt a valid site.

does anyone know anything about this? where i could find the listing online?

thanks

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Lplan Unincorporated Area

Lplan

Posted
Posted

i wasnt sure where to post this, so i chose here.

i drove around GR last night looking for apartments and found a sign advertising "wealthyrentalguide.org" but that website (with or without "www") isnt a valid site.

does anyone know anything about this? where i could find the listing online?

thanks

i think you mean weeklyrentalguide.org?

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MAU Whistle-Stop

MAU

Posted
Posted

The families with young, school age children, where do they send their kids, typically?

A lot of the people on my street are DINKs or have children under school age. Unfortunately a lot move when the kids reach school age. A few do send their kids to St. Thomas.

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