Future Homesteading Michigan Question

[vonschlick]

My wife and I are looking to start Homesteading in 4-5 years. We would like to buy land in the next 1-2 years. We currently live in Huntsville, AL in a suburban area where we are working on our homesteading skills. I’m originally from Chicago. Our first choice of area to move to is the UP in Michigan. We have narrowed the counties down to the following:
-Houghton
-Mason
-Oceana
-Manistee
-Muskegon

We are looking for people who can tell us about these areas in general and homesteading in these areas in particular. Maybe someone we could email our questions to as they come up.

Here is some information on what we are looking for:

-about 20-40 acres with timber and a good water supply that we can become self-sufficient with.
-secluded, but year round access where we can build a small self-sufficient cabin.
-jobs are not necessary as we already have other income.

Thanks for any information and advice you can provide.

[Rustaholic]

Manistee is a pretty good area for what you are looking for. The U.P. is another level of cold and snow. If you like cold and snow go up there.
I have a good friend in Manistee and he loves it there.

[farmerdan]

Houghton county is the only one you've listed in the UP. The others are all along Lake Michigan. I live in Ottawa county which is just below Muskegon county. Not sure about the cost of land in the counties along the Lake. No big metro areas unless you call Muskegon metro. There are some nice little cities/towns and there are some farms/homesteads so you should be happy when/if you find your land. All the counties get a lot of snow but hey, this IS Michigan!

[Maura]

Along the eastern shore of Lake Michigan is warmth. The beaches are sandy, it’s really nice. This makes it more expensive. People from Chicago have summer homes along the lake, which makes it more expensive. Once you get off the lake the prices drop. The further south, the longer the summer. The longer the pasture, longer the garden. The further north, the longer the winter. The sooner you can ski and snowmobile. Where ever you are there is going to be snow, it’s a matter of how soon you get it and how soon it’s gone. It has snowed in the UP and will keep snowing and being cold. I’m in the thumb and it snowed on Halloween, but is warmer now, sweatshirt weather. If winter is too long in Chicago, realize that in Michigan it is a little longer, and keeps getting longer as you go north.

[vonschlick]

Thanks for the information.

It is the kind of stuff I was looking for. As for the counties, I copied the wrong list. We are interested in finding out more about the UP and its counties and if we end up crossing the UP off our list the other counties are where we were looking next.

Does anyone know the land prices between the two areas and what to look out for when looking at land in each area?

Thanks again.

[docholiday]

I'm kinda between SE MI and the middle of the thumb. Your best bet is looking at a map, selecting some areas, and going on Realtor.com to compare property types and prices. As much as I love the UP. personally I would rather be somewhere in the middle of the state, where the weather is not quite as harsh, but its all up to the lifestyle you want to live. As soon as you get north of the bridge, property in general definitely gets a lot cheaper. If you don't have family here that you are trying to stay close to, jobs aren't a huge deal, and you really want to get as much land as possible for the cheapest price, somewhere in the middle of the UP might be a great choice. The west side of the state is absolutely gorgeous, the Traverse City area in my opinion is the prettiest part of this state, so maybe somewhere in that region would be a good choice. The one general rule is, that the farther you go north, the cheaper land is, unless of course your right by a bigger city.

[Rustaholic]

I am near Traverse City. 6th generation not a recent transplant.
I have made many trips into the U.P. at all times of the year.
Winter up there is at a whole different level.
If you have a choice about where to move to you must really love the cold and a lot of snow if you want to move there.
A younger me was very tempted but the work just wasn't there.
Then I learned more about the weather up there and I am glad now to be here.

[beeshurt]

I live in Alger County in the U.P. Land prices are very reasonable. I own 10 acres on a clear-water creek. The house has a full basement, 2 BR, 1 bath, kitchen, den, living room. On the land is a 35 x 50' polebarn with 4 levels and a 1 car detached garage. I paid $74,000. My friend just purchased land 4 miles south of me with a number of structures as well for $75,000 and they have 20 acres.

I work in Delta County which has a lot of farmland as well plus a lot of wooded land. Delta County is known as the "banana belt" of the U.P. because it doesn't get the snow that other areas get.

I have lived up here for 10 years now and would not go back downstate to the lower peninsula of Michigan. It has a lot of solitude and very quiet, yet everyone near my area is very friendly.

Marquette County which is north of me also has a lot of wooded areas. The city of Marquette is busy due to Northern Michigan University and the mines in that area.

So for job hunting, Marquette County is probably one of the better places to look. I live 1/2 way between Marquette County and Delta County, so can take advantage of both of those counties as well.

What are you looking for in particular?

[vonschlick]

We're looking for a private area where we can hopefully become pretty self-sufficient. At least 20 acres where we can have a cabin built from plans we have found. We need to be within driving distance to a church, so we are looking around the following areas to start:

Iron Mountain, Dickinson county
Iron River, iron county
L’anse, baraga county
Ontonagon, Ontonagon county
Negaunee, MI Marquette County
Houghton, Houghton County

Thanks

[Jlynnp]

We left Michigan, there is not enough money anywhere to make me go back, especially now that the gas tax is being doubled!! That state will tax you to death.

[SLFarmMI]

Originally Posted by vonschlick

We're looking for a private area where we can hopefully become pretty self-sufficient. At least 20 acres where we can have a cabin built from plans we have found. We need to be within driving distance to a church, so we are looking around the following areas to start:

Iron Mountain, Dickinson county
Iron River, iron county
L’anse, baraga county
Ontonagon, Ontonagon county
Negaunee, MI Marquette County
Houghton, Houghton County

Thanks

Houghton is a beautiful area but winter lasts a verrrrry long time up there. When we went up in May to pick our son up from college in May there was still ice on the lake and snow on the ground. It may be difficult to find housing while you are having your cabin built because the students snap up available housing pretty quickly. It's also fairly hilly up in Houghton so driving in the winter can be an adventure if you aren't experienced in it.

[Callieslamb]

I'm not in the UP...but I will say something for Mi weather. It might have a long winter and a short summer, but that summer comes with very long days. It doesn't get dark until 10 p.m. That kind of makes up for some of the lacking days. Gardening is a very intense season here compared to where we used to live in TN. I'm up against the lake and I can grow anything I want to grow here.

[Riverdale]

Originally Posted by vonschlick

We're looking for a private area where we can hopefully become pretty self-sufficient. At least 20 acres where we can have a cabin built from plans we have found. We need to be within driving distance to a church, so we are looking around the following areas to start:

Iron Mountain, Dickinson county
Iron River, iron county
L’anse, baraga county
Ontonagon, Ontonagon county
Negaunee, MI Marquette County
Houghton, Houghton County

Thanks

Negaunee got 40+" of snow in 3 days this week.

If your choices are limited to the above list, I would choose Dickinson County.
Look in the "Tri-Cities" area (aka Felch/Felch Mountain/Theodore). Stay away from Alfred and Ralph, they are grouchy! (a joke!)

L'Anse (and a lot of Baraga County) are reservation land (just a point, not good, not bad).

Houghton-Hancock, heaven in summer, somewhere else in winter.

Disclosure-

I grew up in Charlevoix and Antrim Counties (our farm straddled the south county line) from 1962-1980. I attended NMU (in Marquette) from 1980-1982, moving back to Charlevoix and Antrim counties until 2006 when we moved to nw Gratiot County, near the Montcalm County line

[woodsman14]

Originally Posted by Jlynnp

We left Michigan, there is not enough money anywhere to make me go back, especially now that the gas tax is being doubled!! That state will tax you to death.

Really? I came back to Michigan and I find it the other way around. Gas is 10¢ a gallon higher here on average. On a 18 gallon tank, thats a whole $1.80 IF you fill up from an empty tank. Hardly worth mentioning when you compare apples to apples. Not justifying, just saying!

BTW... Regular gas is $3.06 per gallon here, premium is about 30¢ per gallon higher so for about $5 more you can "fill up" with Premium.