When we think of Metro Detroit Michigan, Hartland is definitely not an area that comes to mind, the question is why? Stick around and find out.
What’s going on everyone, Andrew McManamon here a Michigan Realtor, educating people to help move in, out and all around the fine state of Michigan.
Hartland is an area that is hardly talked about when southeast Michigan is brought up in conversation, it’s kinda like that middle child that doesn’t say too much, but they’re pretty cool when you get to know them a little better.
HARTLAND MICHIGAN
The unincorporated community of Hartland is 2.28 square miles in size with a population of under 1,000 people. This community is what the US census calls a CDP or census-designated place, which is pretty much a concentration of population defined by the census for statistical purposes only. So this is made up of a very small downtown space, schools, vet, sawmill, senior center and a few side streets. When we take a bigger step out to Hartland township, it’s about 37.3 square miles in size, so it’s around the same size as most townships, as they tend to be around 36 square miles, with a population of around 15,500 people. When we take a look at an aerial map, some people from around here might be like, “Oh yeah Hartland! I thought that was the end of Brighton, or the start of Howell, or maybe even Highland or something.” And my answer to that is a simple, yes. This area is a little funny because just west you have the Ironwood Golf club, which is actually in Howell, and just east, the Prestwick village golf club is in Highland, so it can get extremely confusing to say the least.
HARTLAND MICHIGAN DOWNTOWN
As I have said many many times before about communities like this, they tend to be what I call a “pass through town” or a place you drive through to get somewhere else. Most people don’t know Hartland even has a downtown, they think the intersection of US-23 and M-59 is downtown Hartland, and that is not the case even though it pretty much is in an amenity standpoint. This area tends to be where a lot of traffic flows, not necessarily overly congested outside of rush hour, but M-59 is an alternative route when they shut down expressways going east and west, so people will hop on this corridor to get to where they need to go. In the past year or so it’s been a little more common to do that, because they decided it was a good idea to do road construction at the same time everywhere, so it was a madhouse for a second.
So why exactly should this small, pass through town be on your radar? For starters, the location is gorgeous, you have US-23 north and south, as well as M-59 east and west cutting the township right down the middle, so the commute is extremely ideal to all the nearby communities. Want to go to Brighton, it’s 10 miles south, want to go to Fenton? It’s 14 miles North, want to go to Ann Arbor, that’s only 25 miles south, and Detroit is only 50 miles away.
THINGS TO DO IN HARTLAND MICHIGAN
The next point I want to make sure I shed light on is the amenities that are actually offered. When looking at the intersection of US-23 and M-59 there’s everything you could possibly need and more from Target, Meijer, shopping centers, Emagine Theater, Rural King, Planet fitness, coffee places, banks, fast food, especially culvers, I’m a frequent flier there, I can’t lie to you, the point is the community is growing, for those of you that are familiar with the area, you know half these places didn’t exist several years ago, and now getting off of US-23 there are more and more options being built in Hartland Square near Emagine theater. More construction creates a positive outlook on the local economy to say the least. Hartland is a place I spent a lot of time growing up playing hockey and the only reason I knew I was there is because the ice arena we went to is called Hartland sports center, which doubles as a gymnastics place too. There are also a few golf courses, as well as a few trails and parks, but not a lot by any means, I’d have to say that aspect lacks a little bit. One of the coolest attractions in Hartland Twp, which actually has a Fenton address, is Spicers Orchard. This is an absolute staple for me, my friends and family during the fall time. I’ve been going there ever since I was a kid, and still do to this day. There’s the winery, the apple picking, the corn maze, hayrides, donuts and cider, pumpkin patch, a store full of all their goods, a playground for the kids, animals and so much more that caters to all ages. It gives off a family owned feeling that a lot of cider mills can’t replicate.
With all that being said, despite the busy feel that comes with the adjoining roads, there are about 14 lakes in the township, Round Lake, Handy Lake, Maxfield Lake, are a few of the larger ones south of M-59. Long Lake is the biggest at 146 acres, while the others are relatively small, private, and offer that peaceful feeling you get with a waterfront home, so that option is definitely a possibility when looking into the area.
HARTLAND MICHIGAN REAL ESTATE
Another reason to keep this place on your radar is the real estate. Taking a look at this chart provided by the MLS showing the average sale price over the last 3 years, Hartland twp has an average sale price of $429,869 which was a 13% increase year over year. What’s nice about this chart is it shows a pretty consistent increase in home prices, which is great, because there are some areas throughout metro Detroit that have these drastic ups and downs from the pandemic, where the markets boomed, then they busted and dropped in value drastically. Hartland also tends to be the place where higher end homes seek privacy and a place where your dollar can be stretched, while being on some additional acreage, while also being in the middle of everything and away from the noise at the same time.
There are 11 homes i’ll show you briefly for sale (sorry to those listening) in Hartland as of recording this, ranging from a $219,9000 home located on 0.19 acres with 2 bedrooms, and 1 bathroom with a total of 960 square feet, built in 1971 to a $1,085,000 cape cod on 2.42 acres with 5 bedrooms, 3 and a half bathrooms, a 3 car garage and built in 2005. There’s a new condo community in the high 300’s in Hunter’s ridge landings, several of them are 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, just under 1500 square feet with basements with walkout access. Jumping up to the 5 and 600’s, these are homes that have the ability to be $800,000 to $1,000,000 in other areas like Bloomfield Hills and Birmingham. In a property tax standpoint, the millage rate that is used to determine your property tax amount, is over 10 mills less here, than it is in those areas. And a mill represents 1/1000 of a dollar, for every $1000 of taxable value, the owner will pay a dollar, and that equates to a lot of money, so there are some property tax savings to say the least.
HARTLAND MICHIGAN RANKINGS
Some other notable mentions for Hartland twp from NIche.com, which ranks thousands of places to live based on key statistics from the U.S. Census and expert insights, ranked the township 78 out of 617 for places with the best public schools in Michigan, 116 out of 789 best places to raise a family in Michigan and 172 out of 791 best places to live in Michigan, as well as being ranked #4 best places to raise a family in Livingston county.
For those of you that stuck around, what do you think about Hartland Michigan? Drop your thoughts in the comments below!
If you’re looking to move to, from or within the great state of Michigan, don’t hesitate to reach out, I’m happy to be a resource!
Cheers,
Andrew
Andrew McManamon is a Michigan REALTOR® with Signature Sotheby’s International Realty and provides real estate services to Buyers, Sellers and Investors throughout SE Michigan including Livingston County, Oakland County, Washtenaw County, Genesee County & beyond. Andrew has become one of the rising stars of Michigan real estate agents. Prior to his real estate career Andrew was responsible for managing a senior living facility in Brighton, Michigan as a dining supervisor and an activities assistant. Andrew’s passion to help people is unlike any other, and he continues to strive to be best resource he can be. Andrew graduated from Cleary University in Howell, Michigan with a double major and currently resides in Brighton, Michigan.
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