Buying A Home In Ann Arbor Michigan | Living In Ann Arbor Michigan - Can You ACTUALLY Get A Home In Ann Arbor Michigan Under $450,000? - If you’re familiar with Michigan, chances are you’ve heard a thing or two about Ann Arbor, or A2 as some cool people call it, the place where you’ll see a whole lot of yellow and blue. Especially since U of M is the 2023 football national champion. Ann Arbor is a place that is highly prioritized for people moving to Michigan, but a lot of people think it’s too expensive, and you can’t get anything under a million dollars. So with that being said, I figured I’d show you some options for homes under $450,000 in Ann Arbor. Let’s get to it.
BUYING A HOME IN ANN ARBOR MICHIGAN
HOME #1 - $450,000
Kicking this list off with home #1, I’ll start with the most expensive home and work my way down to the cheapest. This $450,000 condo is located north of the university of Michigan’s northern campus, with 3 bedrooms, 2 full bathrooms, with a total square footage of 2,028, built in 1976, with a 2 car garage. The HOA fee is $678 a month which covers maintenance of the grounds, snow removal and trash, and pets are allowed. Taking a look at some of the images, we walk through this turquoise door, and immediately there’s the ability to go left, right or straight, as well as downstairs.
Whole lot of options right away, this isn’t the time to be indecisive. You have neutral tones throughout, large vaulted ceilings, some nice modern furniture and decor pieces that showcase the living room area, looking out the doorwall onto the deck, the living area backs up to the dining room table, that looks into a narrow but lengthy kitchen, continuing with the neutral tones, stepping through there’s another little lounging area next to the front door, then this room I believe is on the other end, spacious with a double bi fold closet, bathroom number one has a large vanity, and bathtub, the next bedroom is also sizeable with a large closet as well, then we have the third bedroom which is the primary with outdoor access, an ensuite with the toilet behind it’s own closed door, while the vanity and shower are accessible. A large walk in closet with great shelving, then we jump down the stairs from the looks of it where they have a little workout/yoga area. Could be used as a makeshift bedroom if you had a mobile closet or an isolated entertainment room.
Then we jump outside to the nice private deck as well as the green space located behind the units. This option is of course at the top of the budget for this video, but it lets you know that you don’t need to buy a million dollar house to get your hands on suitable housing in Ann Arbor.
HOME #2 - $424,900
Jumping over to home #2 on the list, this home is located on the opposite side of Ann Arbor more near the Michigan stadium and the Ann Arbor municipal airport. This $424,900 condo has 2 bedrooms, 4 bathrooms, and over 3,235 square feet, and was built in 1992, with 2 garage spaces, and an HOA fee of $632 a month. I’m raising awareness to Ann Arbor HOA fees and HOA fees in general, because when you come across a home that falls within your budget, realize you could still need to pay $400, $600 or $800 a month for the HOA, which of course could dwindle down your affordability, so keep that in mind while you’re searching around. Taking a look at these pictures, it looks like this may be an end unit, which is nice, stepping inside, you have those vaulted ceilings once again like we saw with the first condo, but we have a nice skylight letting in loads of natural light as well here.
A nice sitting area off the front door with a fireplace, a formal private dining room with a table that was staged very nicely, then we have an office through some double doors, a nice minimalistic style they have that makes these rooms look very large. Jumping into the kitchen there’s another table and chairs for a little less formal of a meal, a kitchen island in the middle as well as a skylight dumping more natural light in. We have bathroom number one that is a little outdated, but has a lot of potential. You have the countertops that extend over the back of the toilet, which is an older style, but I think it’s nice to have that additional space, what does everyone think? Drop your thoughts in the comments below. Jumping into bedroom number one which is on the first floor, it has tall ceilings, outside access, A sizable walk-in closet and a bathroom with a long vanity and a tub, and a toilet and standing shower behind it. Moving to the next bedroom, which is on the 2nd floor, a nice sized closet, a bathroom with that countertop extension again, and a standing shower.Jumping to the basement, we have all sorts of room for activities, my 5 year old self is running circles down there, a nice wet bar off to the side, this basement is definitely an entertainers dream to say the least. There’s also a bathroom down here with a standing shower. I know when I first read the 2 bedrooms, 4 bathrooms, some of you including myself were thinking, and what's with that ratio, but it actually makes sense. Glad we cleared the air. ZThen we have a couple side rooms, the second one being used for workouts, not sure about the first one, then jumping outside to see the back deck. It's nice how there’s some coverage with pine trees from the road. And then we have the garage too. Another good condo option for under $450,000 in Ann Arbor.
HOME #3 - $399,999
Stepping right along to home #3 on the list, this $399,999 single family home is located hardly 2 miles from the Michigan stadium and 3 miles from the Michigan hospital, so it’s safe to say you got yourself a pretty good location. This home has 3 bedrooms, 1 bathroom, and a total of 1,510 square feet, built in 1971 but remodeled in 2023, and situated on 0.15 acres without a garage. No HOA on this one so you’ll be saving a few dollars to say the least. Taking a look at some of the images, it’s a ranch surrounded by protected woodlands. Despite not having a garage, there are 2 sheds to utilize, jumping inside we see the kitchen and the dining room table right away, the living room off to the side, in its own little nook despite it being a fairly open floor plan. Bedroom number one has an outdoor access door from the looks of it and a closet of course, not too many ways to configure this room, move into the bathroom that’s been redone, standard layout with the neutral tones. Stepping into bedroom one and bedroom number two that are good sizes and can be configured a few different ways. Jumping downstairs, this angle surprised me at first because it almost gave off like a dance floor or something, being raised compared to the cement flooring. That duct work also catches my eye. I Can't say I’ve seen it laid out like that which is interesting. Then we jump outside again. I wanted to show this home because a lot of people think that all of Ann Arbor is just city living, but there are some options that give you a nice nature scenery too without paying millions of dollars.
HOME #4 - $244,000
Moving right along to home #4, this $244,000 single family home is located on the opposite side of Ann Arbor from the Michigan stadium and the last two homes I mentioned. I’m giving you a taste of each corner of the city I guess. This 2 bedroom, 1 bathroom home with 627 square feet and unfinished basement is situated on .20 acres, built in 1947, with a 3 car garage, it looks like 1 car, but just wait until I show you it, and no HOA. Looking at the images, the aluminum siding looks like it was recently painted, the whole yard is fence in besides the entry for the driveway, a couple nice mature trees in the yard too, as well as a few shots of the backyard as well, and a few more exterior shots of the detached garage as well.
Jumping inside the house, there’s nice hardwood floors, neutral tones and some archways going from room to room showing the homes age a little bit. A modernized white kitchen with stainless steal appliances, I think we are just missing the microwave here. Stepping into the first room, of course it’ll be a little small with under 700 square feet being on the main level. Jumping into the bathroom that has a soaking tub, but not a whole lot of space to store stuff which is a trend I’ve been seeing room to room, but again, that’s what is hard to implement in these smaller homes. The next bedroom that’s on the other side, that seems a little larger, so the layout has the living room and kitchen in the front, then a bedroom, bathroom and bedroom on the back half. Jumping to the unfinished basement, there’s the opportunity to finish this maybe, but with the utilities being spaced out like they are, you may need to reroute and get everything closer to each other. Then we jump out to that big ole garage I mentioned. The nice thing I wanted to mention is a lot of these smaller homes don’t have a basement of any kind and sometimes not even a garage, so this a step in the right direction, they usually just have a shed big enough for the yard toys, similar to the ranch I mentioned surrounded by woodlands.
A very good sized garage that makes up for some of the lack of storage space inside for sure. Then we jump back out to the front. Ann Arbor is by no means a first time homebuyer territory just based on home prices alone, but with this option it allows someone who may not have the most money to get a home within Ann Arbor Michigan.
HOME #5 - $220,000
Lastly we have the cheapest option on the list with home #5, which is a $220,000 condo located just north of home #4 on this list. This home has 2 bedrooms, 1 bathroom, with 704 square feet and an unfinished basement, built in 1945 without a garage. This community has a $470 monthly HOA that covers Cable, Maintenance of the grounds, snow removal water, and the inground pool this community has. Taking a look at the images, we have another end unit, but this one has a tall lattice privacy fence, and a nice view of an open field with a few trees. Again, my 5 year old self is sledding there as we speak.
Jumping inside we have a 4 seater table, that steps into the kitchen, that is a little tight but has what you need in it, as well as some built-in shelving toward the door, within the same level is the living room area that has an outside door access on the other side. This condo is a split level, that’s why you see the separation of spaces with stairs. The we step of the 4 stairs and there’s some hallway shelving a bathroom off to the side with a standing shower, then one of the bedrooms which was used as a study from the looks of it that has one of the walls with fully built in shelves which is a cool feature you don’t see too much these days. Jumping to another bedroom which is a good size, 2 windows and a nice shelving system for the closet. Stepping downstairs, it’s not the full size of the main living area, but it’s a good extra chunk of space for storage, then a quick shot of the backyard with all the recent snow we just got in Michigan on the back deck. Keep in mind, this isn’t the cheapest option available in Ann Arbor, there’s an option that goes as low as $90,000 which is within a manufactured community, then there’s a $184,000 condo as well, which is even more south on the eastern side of Ann Arbor.
That sums up 5 homes under $450,000 in Ann Arbor Michigan, out of those 5 homes which one was your favorite? Comment your choice
below.
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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