One big reason not to:
The Michigan economy is the worst in the nation. Think about it VERY carefully.

Otherwise, it's God's Country, especially where they are considering moving. I lived there for a year. The middle class in that area is a smaller cohort than in most other places, and life for them is rough. Cost of living is very high due to it being touristy, and salaries are low (half your pay is the view of the Bay). Living in Paradise is not the same thing as visiting. You have to work while everyone else is on vacation. Lots of broken dreams and heartache "up north" due to the difficulty of making a living. Even if you are doing OK, so many are struggling.

I love Michigan sooo much and miss it like you would not believe. But unless I had the most stable job situation imaginable, I would be too afraid to move back there. I wish with all my heart it were different. Buy a house, loose your job and then get stuck. The house next to my folks has been for sale for two years and will never be sold unless the owner finally gets willing to take a financial hit.

If it weren't for the economy, I can't imagine a better place to live in the world. (But I am weird and love winter). Winter is very long there, because the big Lake keeps it cold for a long time, so winter lasts longer than the rest of the state. If you don't have a LOT of tolerance for snow, forget about it! On the flip side, fall lasts longer too! There is an abundance of good food due to the farms in the area--unbelivably good food of every kind. Great restaurants. Tons of recreational activities in every season. Tons of outdoor places to hike, hunt, gather, fish, boat, swim, etc. A vibrant social and cultural scene. Ever improving college/higher education opportunities. Beauty wherever you turn. Yeah, IF, (and it is the huge IF that keeps the whole world from moving there), you have money, TC is the tops. But then so is the Riviera and Big Sur and Malibu and Fort Lauderdale and Manhattan and . . .

1. Housing in expensive in the area they are considering; however, coming from California it may not seem so.
2. The winters are from november through March, and you never know about April. Although, there have been some warm Novembers.
3. Economy is the poorest in the state. Huge rate of unemployment, so even if they are ok with their business, if they are having a business in Michigan there is nobody with any money to buy their "product."
4. It is absolutely gorgeous.
5. The local fruits and vegetables are the best in the country (IMHO)

Of course, I love my part of Michigan. That part down south, it's not really Michigan to me, too many cities and factories and universities. Michigan is The Lake and The National Forest and rivers and farms and beaches and small wineries.

As Lpink mentioned, Michigan's economy is the worst in the nation, we're so tied to the auto industry. Traverse City is the Crown Jewel of the beauty that is Michigan, but it's expensive. Property taxes are nearly as high as the unemployment rate, especially along The Lake.

The U.P.? Oh yeah, that's really God's Country, but the economy there is even worse than we "trolls" have it under the bridge. Some famous author, maybe Hemingway said that it's beautiful but you have to really like pain to live there.

Yes, it's cold, but it's seldom very hot. the autumn colors rival any you'll see in the New England states. Housing here is very affordable right now, LOL. I think I'm in the perfect place, I'm 40 miles from world class beaches on Lake Michigan, Michigan has more coastline than California! I'm surrounded by local wineries and farmers markets, and if I want "culture" Grand Rapids is only 50 miles south and has Penzey's and G.B. Russo's, the ballet, the theater, concerts from The Doors to Manheim Steamroller to various operas.

It's a great place to live, if you can get past the fact that there are no jobs. I think Sherry actually got the last one....

Annie

If you get a good job, then Michigan is great. There is a lot to love here. Ann Arbor and surrounding ares are wonderful. Even Detroit is making a comeback, and will survive! Sports are big, we have a lot of museums and many local communities with so much happening, including music, plays, restaurants, and everything in between. This is a wonderful state. And housing is extremely affordable if you have a job. I have seen a 5 bedroom, 4 bathroom with 3 fireplaces including an indoor pool go for 200k! (and yes, in an affluent area!). Detroit suburbs will come back, and I hope President Obama helps in that.

Duane

Yes, TC and the Leelanau peninsula prices seem pretty high for MI, they always have been, but compared to our area of So. Cal., one could get quite a wonderful place for what is barely liveable here. That's one of the attractions for them about making the move.

So what is it that keeps making Michigan such a hard place to make a go of it? Yes, the auto industry is in the toilet. (I left in 1982 when the unemployment rate was well in double-digits in MI) But here in CA, the unemployment rate was just announced at 9.3%, Michigan is now 10.6%, that's not so far apart. A big difference here in CA is that people always seem to feel they can do something, start a business, change industries, move. When I left Detroit, and now when I talk to relatives that live in MI, I get a sense that people feel stuck, unable to change their fate. Is that part of it?

When I look at the overall resources of MI... great universities (M Go Blue!), wonderful people, overwhelming natural beauty, miles of coastline, glorious produce (I agree, Sherry!), vibrant music and culture (was just checking out the new film festival in Traverse City!)... I just don't understand why it stays so poor economically. Is everyone tied to the auto industry even now? (sort of a rhetorical, exasperated question)

I did find on the web that Leelanau county as of the November 08 data, has the lowest unemployment in the state at 5.8% and Grand Traverse was at 7.6%, both of those were better than Los Angeles was for the same period (8.4%), but I digress...

By the way, Sherry, how's your job going. I remember seeing your post when you landed the teaching/fundraising job. Hope it's exceeding your expectations!

So, last but not least, if the situation was that my friends had a business that was continuing their work here in CA, so they would not be directly tied to the Michigan economy; and they had a decent understanding about (and even liked) winter; that you'd be recommending YES.

Growing up in MI, the Leelanau peninsula was always my favorite area to visit. And in the last few years we've spent a couple of weeks in the summers in Harbor Springs. I admit the "moving back to Michigan" thoughts have crossed my mind as well from time to time!

Thank you all for the comments thus far... Keep 'em coming!

Ann

My comment - Go Blue :)

I absolutely love where I live. I'm almost in the middle between Harbor Springs and Traverse City, on Lake Charlevoix. Lake Charlevoix is connected with a channel to Lake Michigan so we have many ocean going yachts here that winter in other parts of the world. I say this because so much of the economy in the Traverse to Harbor area is based on tourism.

There is a nice selection of properties that are available right now, mostly due to the downstate auto industry problems and the overall credit crunch throughout the country. As a former real estate sales person, I've kept my eye on the market. Not as many new builds right now but I think it will take off this spring. Lakefront property has held value around here anyway.

I love the Leelanau Peninsula as an area and I enjoy shopping in Traverse City anytime but during July. But one does need to recognize that The Leelanau Pen areas are more secluded in the winter and I like the choices I have of shopping in Petoskey, Gaylord or Traverse. If one lives in Leelanau they are pretty restricted to Traverse City a lot of time in the winter. It's the roads...

In the summer it can take extra time just to get from one side of Traverse to another. But don't get me wrong, I love Traverse, I just wouldn't want to live there. It has grown too much and lost the 'up north' feeling for me. Michael Moore, who is behind this whole movie thing here in Michigan lives north of Traverse on Torch Lake. I met a promoter from LA in the fall, that had just been at a big meeting held at Bay Harbor and he was really impressed with this area. Had me take his picture, etc. He said he represented several major movie producers who were all looking to make movies in the area.

Where I'd encourage someone to look is really dependant on what they are interested in. Probably the best thing for someone to do that is seriously looking is to spend time here in the summer. If that's possible. Much of what you hear about Michigan right now does not apply to what is know as the Michigan's gold coast (Traverse to Harbor) but we have felt some changes. The retail store I work at (closed now for the winter) had a great summer and a good year overall. Not all business did as well....just depends. We certainly had the traffic from tourists. Charlevoix is much different from Traverse City though, it'd become the hot destination in the way that Harbor used to be. Where Traverse is more middle of the road.

Here's some pic's of Charlevoix from last summer.

Ann, feel free to email me. I will give the best info I can. I've seen the growth in all of NW Mi over the last 46 yrs. and paid attention. Every person has their own set of priorities but there are some things to watch out for in every area too.

Nancy

Y'all make me homesick! I'm a former Hoosier, who grew up taking hay fever season trips to Traverse City. The last 5 or so years my DH and I have done the coast, starting usually at Petosky and working our way back down to New Buffalo, then home to Northern Indiana . . . the goal: Every art gallery on that coast.

Now that we live in Tennessee, we plan to spend August away from the heat here, visiting Indiana friends and maybe every other year doing the coastal gallery tour.

I've always loved Michigan!!

Arlene

Nancy,
Thank you so much for your insight. The specific comments you made really resonate with me because your area of the state is what I know best... Leelanau to the west, Harbor Springs to the north, and Gaylord to the east pretty much define the boundaries of every trip Up North my entire life. The differences you mention, I know well, even from 30 years ago (the more things change the more they stay the same...) By the way, that bare spot of lawn on picture #4 is exactly where I was playing bocce ball with my nieces and nephews when a bad roll sent the ball down the hill and into the lake before we could do a thing about it. I'm sure it's long gone, but just in case, I think it was a green one if you see it! Thanks for the offer to email you. I will do that.

Short, sweet and to the point Goldgirl!

OK, Nancy, that's your front yard in the winter, here's the Lake in summer:

The national Forest behind my pasture in the fall:

WE\e are nearly an island being surrounded on three sides by the Great Lakes and we have great beaches:

Lots of agriculture, like this vineyard and winery. Coincidentally, this is Black Star Farms, home of the internationally acclaimed fresh raclette cheese. It's on the Leelanau Peninsula:

We're the home of Jiffy Mix, LOL, and produce over 3/4 of the country's dried beans. We have farmed raised shrimp in Lansing and farm raised tilapia in Battle Creek. We are also home to th second sculpture of DaVinci's horse, the only other in the world in in DaVinci's birthplace in Italy:

WE have lots of farmers markets, big and small, you can get anything from sweet cheeries to fresh coon:

After you eat, you can attend local cultural events like PowWow:

I just watched Fork in the Road with Eric Villegas, and he says that Michigan is the ONLY PLACE IN THE WORLD THAT LOOKS LIKE YOUR OWN HAND! LOL, The Magical Mitten.

So, Michigan is beautiful, green, sometimes wild. You can get a good bottle of wine and see a wild moose on the same day. You can also mow the lawn and shovel snow in the same day, LOL. The economy is horrible and has been for some time, Michigan will have to remake itself to pull out of the recession we've been in long before the rest of the U.S. was. One of the "new" industries is film making, our legislature has managed lots of incentives to bring film makers here and some of them are coming to Grand Rapids, Holland, Detroit.

Tourism is a big draw, and agriculture is always active, although not always profitable.

Ah, Michigan. Home to Kid Rock and Madonna and Jeff Daniels and Del Shannon and Motown. Also home of Henry Ford's family and Mario Batali's summer "cottage". I think Mario only came here for the food.

Ann, I hope your friends come here if they love it. I could never be truly happy anywhere else, Michigan always calls to me, no matter where I am. Oh wait, maybe that's just the sound of mosquitos.....

Annie

Call me a wacko but I think there is an evil plot to depopulate Michigan so the water can be stolen. In a pretty grim mood today given the events of yesterday. What had been temporary layoffs became deep and permanent for many people where I work. We have six months to get the profits rolling again or those on layoff will not be back. Lucky for me it was not based on seniority or I'd be gone. Don't know if or when my luck is going to run out but there is probably not much of it left. Aside from the personal terror of possibly being jobless and perhaps homeless this time next year there is the horror of watching my friends exit to a life of poverty. There are no jobs... even part-time low wage jobs are simply not there right now.

Local humor laughs at the fact we are all missing teeth. I'm getting two in front fixed so I look more presentable in job interviews. I love tiny little cars but have to drive an SUV to deal with the snow in this rural area. Governments is running out of money for salt so at least my truck will rust a little slower this year. I saw fresh road kill as a couple hundred bucks worth of free meat this week. (Nancy!... I need to borrow the squirrel cooker again... give ya first pick when they are done)

Good things about Michigan... lots of them. I'd like to see Annie elected to Congress. She well demostrates the basic good nature you will find in many Michiganders. We have our share of crooks and ordinary idiots but a nice group of very good people can be found if you are careful. Not what it was in my youth but Michigan is still a great place to go fishing. Lake Superior steelhead are the best tasting fish in the whole world... big slabs of mild sweet pink meat. In the winter there is ice on the lakes and don't need a boat to enjoy deep water fishing. Great deer hunting but you have to learn not to hit them on the road. No finer University then Michigan State a land grant institution.

Michigan is a nicer place for mature adults. Some money and stronger job skills give us an advantage over the young people. Young people are in very tough shape right now. Lots of them going to school to be a nurse at the moment but when the auto jobs are gone so goes the health insurance... and the health care system will collapse as people can no longer afford it.

My plan is to move out of State. I have a sister that can help me find work down south. No joy at all there... my pets won't be able to go and I'll never have a nice home like the one I built here. Were it not for my animals I'd have already left Michigan.

Biggest complaint from those that move into the area is that there is nothing to do. Most of my life involves work with a couple hours on a bar stool now and then. Hard to have a lesure life when you work every day to survive.

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: )
lyra

My house is about 1/2 mile from Michigan so I do breathe some of the same air and I can see it down the road some. Growing up right here you sort of take going there for granted because you're right there. We did plenty of camping up north in the UP growing up and my folks spent a lot of summer days Traverse City way. I'm not too keen on the greater detroit area anymore now that I'm older. I usually just go for groceries or antiquing etc in this area around St.Clair Co. As of June this year everyone will need a passport to travel from Canada into the US, including Americans who come here for a day trip UNLESS you apply for a Nexus card. I got mine a few months ago, it does away with most of the border hassles, pretty much non stop in special lanes but you have to be willing to submit to an interview, police/govt background checks on both sides and fingerprinting.

This photo is taken at the beach up the street from my house. That lighthouse and those houses on the beach in the background are in Michigan. What you're looking at (where the lighthouse is) is the very very bottom tip of Lake Huron where it empties into the St. Clair River.
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Here's the bridge between Ontario and Michigan from the Cdn side.

This is Ontario taken from the Michigan side, you can just see the bridge off to the left where I took the picture above.
The amazing thing about that rainbow,, it's ending right on top of our Casino
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An ex-Michiganian here. Moved to CT for economic reasons 5 years ago. Don't have that job anymore, but can't get back... for economic reasons. I love the state. I love the people. I'm from Detroit / Ann Arbor (though I was born in Midland, I left MI when I was 8, and returned to A-squared when I was 18)- which are different from Traverse Bay area you asked about, but I love both, and would move back to Detroit in a heartbeat for the right opportunity.

Lyra, I hope you can stay.... but while I love MI, I know it's not the only place I can be happy...

Lyra, I can't run for Congress. I can't pass the IQ test. It's my understanding that you must possess an IQ of 70 or less to be a politician in Michigan. Well, that or have a major felony conviction that has to do with lying or stealing. (grin)

I'm not completely convinced you aren't right about the water issue, either...

PKguy, you can come and visit me any old time. I'm not so keen on the greater Detroit area either, there are just too darned many people. I'd shop in Ann Arbor with Bizzo, though, they have a Trader Joe's and a Whole Foods and a Home Goods, all nearly next to each other!

The sushi still isn't as good as the stuff I had in California, though.

Annie

Lyra,
I wanted to respond when I had a minute to really think. What you wrote... it's kind of the dark side of Michigan, isn't it, that feeling that when times get so bad, the only thing you can do is leave? (Maybe an evil plot, I'm not sure... It sure seemed like it to me when I left.)

I remember when I was graduating from college, because I had a technical degree, the auto cos. automatically gave me job offers. But this was 1981. My friends were getting hired, then laid off within 6 mos. It seemed to me the only reason I was offered the jobs was so that I'd be tied to one of the big 3 so I wouldn't go to another. But they really had no intention of actually giving me a job for keeps. When I realized that, I left, moved to CA and didn't look back. I knew I didn't have a future career in the auto industry without much heartache. I imagine everyone who took the path to go with the auto industry, and live through the layoff/rehire/layoff vicious cycle, often doesn't have a clear path to get off the merry-go-round. When times are good, everyone wants to stay with the auto job... good pay, good benefits. So few take the entrepreneur route. When times are bad, like now, no one can afford to take the entrepreneur route.

I hope you're able to stick it out and stay. You have a house, is there a way to get a roommate to offset your expenses?

Re: nothing to do. That's definitely something for people to think about is what to do in the winter months if you're not a "winter person". For me, I miss that hibernating, down time when you couldn't do too much outside. I did lots of reading and drawing, cooking, board games, euchre and pinochle (Do you know how hard it is to find anyone in CA to play euchre!). If you don't have hobbies, it can be dreary indeed!

Anyway, in these hard times, I hope you're finding some way to get beyond just "surviving."

Annie, Linda, Lyra, PKguy, thanks for the photos. I've passed them on. They really show a cross-section of the state.

Annie, when you wrote "sweet cheeries to fresh coon" I was going to correct you and say you meant "corn"... but then I looked at the photo! I truly don't remember that as an offering at any of the local farmers markets when I lived there, but it's good to know there's such variety of fresh produce and "protein".

As long as you're mentioning, Annie... let's not forget about Iggy Pop & The Stooges, Ted Nugent, Bob Seeger, Amboy Dukes, Alice Cooper, and Commander Cody (that's what comes to mind, anyway)...

I'm passing all this on... it's really giving my friends a true picture of Michigan, beauty and warts and all.

Bizzo, I think I'd consider moving back to Michigan, but probably not back to Detroit. I've always liked Ann Arbor, but not close enough to a Great Lake for me!

And Annie, I agree about the sushi. I would have to FEDEX care packages to my friends. Or maybe they could make their own... smelt sashimi? whitefish with wasabi? trout tempura? hmmm... now what do we do about the seaweed?

But all this talk is making me think... Can I grow a dwarf meyer lemon tree there if I had a greenhouse with heat? And maybe a tomato plant or two in the winter (like deborah_ps posted the other day), and of course a few herb pots year-round... If the answer is yes, I'll put up the "FOR SALE" sign myself and join you all!

Ann

Put the "For Sale" sign up!

A friend of mine has a little greenhouse attached to his house and yes, you can grow Meyer lemons in NW Mi!! He has more than he knows what to do with right now. He brought me some a couple of weeks ago.

This thread is reminding me of why I choose to live here. The fresh water, the natural beauty, the wonderful fruits and vegetables, the four seasons, clean air, low crime rate, laid back life style, friendly people, .....

Then there's winter. cold and snow.... but very cleansing.
If a person plans for winter living when they buy/build it can make a huge difference. Living on or near a main road, a heated garage and a reliable snow plower sure make it easier. And there's nothing like a walk in the woods when the last remnants of snow are disappearing and fresh, new green shoots are poking out of the earth. Buds ready to burst on the trees...and trillium.

I consider it a real privilege to live here and not one I take lightly. Every morning I get up and say a special thank you.
I've traveled throughout most of the US and could see myself living in many beautiful areas. Friends, family, work are all reasons people live where they do but for me NW Mi has it all.

Nancy

Don't forget Milkys Party Time, Johnny Ginger and Bwanna Don & Bongo Bailey ( I read Bongo Bailey is still alive in some animal rescue place somewhere)

Cool! Next thing you'll tell me is that he's got a couple of avocado trees doing well too!

Trillium and morels... more good things about MI

here's a trip down memory lane if you're like me 50 +

Here is a link that might be useful: Detroit kids shows

Put up the for sale sign, Ann, I have pots of basil and cilantro in my kitchen by the back door and I told Elery when we build out new house I need a greenhouse or a sunny south window so I can have a Meyer lemon tree.

Seaweed isn't the hard part of the sushi, you can get nori anywhere! It's the fresh fish part....

Like Nancy, I consider living here a privilege and I do my best to earn it. I can't tell you how many times I've watched the sun set into The Lake, so intense you almost think it'll sizzle when it hits the water, or watch the snow sparkle, looking like someone flung a handful of diamonds. Nothing is more beautiful than watching a black horse playing in the snow, sending up white sprays unless it's watching the bald eagles teaching their babies to fish. The trilliums and violets in the spring, the crimson maples in the autumn and all the fresh sweet corn I can eat in July, I often just take a deep breath and thank my Creator for putting me in exactly this place.

Yes, Nancy, we fortunate indeed, aren't we?

Annie

What an awesome tribute to a beautiful place! I wish I could wax poetic about Los Angeles, but frankly I'd rather be living somewhere else. Unfortunately (or fortunately) my family and our jobs are here and stable, so I won't be moving on anytime soon.
Thanks to all who helped to describe this beautiful place.
E

Some of you may recall our saga to move to British Columbia. Well, we've been working at it for more than 2 years now and we're no closer to it becoming a reality. So, plan B was to consider Michigan. We did a reconnaissance trip in January up to Leland and it exceeded our expectations. And we found this property...

And now we're trying to figure out how/if we can make a go of it. (Yes, our friends have been wanting to go back to MI for years, but I was really asking for our family.)

The good news, is I can take my business (and CA clients with me, at least for the foreseeable future while I build up a more local business as well). And we can financially do it on that income alone, another plus. But we do need to find ultimately find something meaningful for DS to do (preferably with health insurance). And that's a huge if.

Ann

Here is a link that might be useful: Aerie Meadow property

I think you could do better, keep looking. That's just my gut reaction.

Needs a total new kitchen..of course that would be the first thing I would notice..:))

Huge amount of yearly maintenance on the out side.
Very expensive to heat. Check out the windows, are they triple pane? The wood burner is not going to cut fuel by very much. How much insulation is there in the ceilings?
Think about the drive to Traverse for goods and services, especially in the winter months.

I'd also find out who has been plowing the drive and at what price...there was just an article in the paper about how snow plowers had to plow 25 days in just December this year...now that adds up!

Big concern....no garage.

Overall, only you can decide what is the most important factors. The price of that property seems high for what it is. There's not a shortage of homes on acreage around and that type of property is much slower selling than waterfront. Does it have a water view? I realize waterfront is a whole other story... but in this market you'd be surprised at what you can find.

Many homes are built in this area that are only used 6 months as the owners spend the rest of their time in a warmer climate. Are there year round neighbors you could talk to?

I can easily see needing to spend another 200,000 just to be comfortable. I'd hate to see anyone move here not realizing all homes are not created equal and that they are going to have to spend way more than they ever thought. That has just happened to some really nice people who bought the home 6 away from me. Got started fixing it up and have had to put hundreds of thousands into the place, way more than they planned. The original house was less than 20 yrs old.

Come back in the early spring and look at more places, contact as many agents as you can, telling them what you want.
Also consider a new build, there's plenty of vacant land and the builders are really giving deals right now.

Nancy

You're absolutely right on with many of your comments, Nancy. We too figured it was $200K to get it to what we really want. On the plus, being built with SIP (structurally insulated panels), the entire structure is super insulated from the start. Windows are I believe dbl pane, not triple. But not having a garage, is a huge minus, also the house would have to be added on to. The architect who designed it drew up plans for a good addition which we like.

But this most likely won't be the house we'd purchase. It was enough to get us seriously putting pencil to paper as to what we do need, and whether we can find it.

On our key list of area wants/needs:

- NOT lakefront. Lake Michigan is too windy at times, Other lakefront still is a huge premium. We can't afford it. We'd rather have more land.

- 2-5 acres. Something more than a city lot but less than a gentleman farm.

- within 1/2 mile or so of large body of water (choice #1 Lake Michigan, choice #2 Lake Leelanau, Lake Charlevoix, Glen Lake, etc., especially if it has passage to Lake Michigan). We're 3 blocks from the Pacific Ocean now. We see it daily from our windows. I don't "have to have" a view, but I have to be able to get there by walking. That's our life. This also drives up the cost of the property considerably, I've found. So a 5-acre farm with a great house 20 miles inland from Lake Michigan is a huge difference from one that's 1/4 mile away. We're willing to give up a great kitchen for that!

- within very short drive/long walk to a village... something like Leland or Sutton's Bay, quaint but with a decent school, real necessities like grocery, bank, gas station, library, community center, at least one decent restaurant, a breakfast or coffee house type morning hangout, but not as big as TC or Charlevoix.

- within 20 miles or so of a city center... T.C., Charlevoix

- reasonable property taxes. Grand Traverse county is double of Leelanau... that's something to really consider for our retirement years.

On our key list of specific property wants/needs:

- buy existing house (DH's requirement, not mine, but I understand and respect his reasoning)

- some fixing/changing/adding on is ok.

- NOT a summer cottage. We want a home that was built as a year-round home.

- My dream home would be an older farm house that someone else has already put the money to insulate, upgrade windows, etc. without totally ruining the integrity of the cool old features. I wouldn't mind having to gut a kitchen, or do extensive cosmetic work.

- bonus points for separate hobby building(s), such as workshop, barn, greenhouse

- has to have high-speed internet access

- has to have good well (assuming it won't be on any city water based on our area criteria)

- septic is ok, sewer is better

- private road is ok as long as it's not too far off the main, is paved and the plowing costs are manageable

- would love to have natural gas, but propane is ok

(am I boring you yet with details?)

I've got access to taar.com (the mls site for NW MI), so I'm getting a fair idea of what costs what. And because we started the search in Leland, I've got comps for everything that has sold in Leelanau county since January 2007, so I've got a good understanding of the state of things there, but not in other counties.

In past years, I ruled out Harbor Springs. Too expensive, too pretentious... I don't know any of the villages/towns around Elk Lake, Torch Lake (east of the bay, south of Charlevoix). If you have any other areas you'd think would fit the bill, I'll start doing the research.

And yes, we'll definitely be back up there soon (probably March/April) to really pound the pavement.

Ann

PS pkguy, that website is really bringing back ancient memories (I'm 50, so it's just in early memory!)

Sounds like you have a good handle on the west side of the bay.
Listings to the east of the bay to watch for:
Elk Rapids
Eastport
Alden
Atwood
Norwood
Charlevoix
East Jordan
Boyne City
any of these would put you close to Lake Mich, Lake Charlevoix or Torch Lake. All beautiful...:) I'm on Lake Charlevoix, near East Jordan. I'll keep my eyes open around here. If you find and interesting listing around here, I'd be glad to do a drive by for you.

Some services are hard to come by...high speed/cable and natural gas often runs along the major roads only. Sewers are just 'in town'. Not many problems with wells, we have lots of water.

Nancy

Ann, I thought you were set on moving to paradise here on Vancouver Island? I've lived in Michigan, in Grand Rapids for a couple of years and then when we lived in Sault Ste Marie we spent a lot of time in the Petoskey and Harbor Springs area. Michigan is a beautiful state. BUT, BUT it has a very long , long winter. Are you sure you really want to deal with that?

Ann_t,
Canada doesn't want us. With the changes in the immigration rules, we no longer have a chance for permanent residency in the foreseeable future. We could try to go in with a temporary work permit for 2 years, then reapply with a Canadian Experience class, but our job search has not resulted in sufficient salary to make a go of it. I don't want to wait indefinitely on an unknown. We've been at it too long. I feel there's a window now that DS is 8 and still in elementary school, that this is the time to make a move.

DH and DS are fine with the winters. I'll need a few trips south in the worst of February and March, but my work will bring me back to LA at least 4-6 time/year.

Though DH said he played the lottery for tomorrow and if we win the $62 million, he said he'd buy 2 places, one in BC and one in MI and we can keep the CA place and we're set!