Grand Rapids Homes For Sale

Grand Rapids Homes For Sale


Grand Rapids Homes For Sale | East

Published October 20th, 2008 in Grand Rapids Homes, Greater Grand Rapids | No Comments »

East Grand Rapids, Ada, and Cascade are generally where we locals consider the “well to do” people to live.  Or, probably more accurately, the people who want everyone to think they’re well to do.

East Grand Rapids has quite a history, and is home to some absolutely incredible historical homes from the early 20th century.  One of the popular landmarks is Reed’s Lake, which is named after the original settling family, the Reed family.  It has been home to many famous people, including President Gerald Ford.  The East Grand Rapids High School is known for its sport teams and for drawing athletes in from surrounding areas who wish to take advantage of the school district freedom of choice laws in Michigan.

Cascade is home to the beautiful, meandering Thornapple River, and has been around for over 150 years.  It is settled right next to both East Grand Rapids and Ada, and offers both developments and secluded home sites, all with an easy drive into the city.  The Gerald R. Ford International Airport sits right in Cascade, so if you plan on traveling often you won’t get much closer than a house in Cascade.

Any of the areas to the east of Grand Rapids can offer fantastic settings for a home, excellent school districts, and a relatively easy commute into town.  While some areas are a bit pricey, there are plenty of options if you keep your eyes open.

Greater Grand Rapids Area Homes for Sale

Published August 15th, 2008 in Greater Grand Rapids | No Comments »

If you’re in the Grand Rapids homes for sale market and you’re not familiar with the area, it would be wise to familiarize yourself with the general geography of the area so your search can be a little more focused and your time a little more productive.  Let’s start with a break down of area by cardinal directions.

North

To the north or Grand Rapids, if we follow US 131, you run into Comstock Park, then Alpine, and finally Rockford.  If you want to look in these areas, have a look at where your daily commute will take you and keep in mind that US 131 is notorious for construction and backups during rush hour traffic.  Especially if you’ll take it through Grand Rapids in either direction.  The commute from Rockford to the Grand Rapids has broken many a road warrior, and driven them to look for Grand Rapids homes for sale closer in to the city.

South

To the south along US 131 we run into Wyoming, then Byron Center, and finally Dorr.  The thing to note in this direction especially is that as you get farther away from the city, things get exponentially more rural.  Dorr is still wide open farming county, while Byron Center has many more new, planned developments.  The actual town center of Byron Center still has a very small town feel and reminds you that the area isn’t that far removed from farmland.

East

To the east we find East Grand Rapids, Ada and Cascade.  These are some of the nicer area of town (read: much more expensive).  If you live here you either make a comfortable income or you want people to believe that you do, and really you’re hanging by a thread trying to pay the mortgage, the car lease, and the rent-a-center bill for your furniture.  You probably don’t mow your own lawn.  Farther out to the east is Berlin and mostly farm land.

West

To the west is fun, sun, sand, and water.  You’ve got Grandville, Allendale, Zeeland, Grand Haven and Holland.  There’s not too much remarkable about any of the areas until you get out to Holland and Grand Haven.  Granted, they are all very nice places to live that are growing quickly, and they all have excellent school systems.  If you’re looking for Grand Rapids homes for sale, these areas are definitely worth a look.  But Holland, Grand Haven, and the lake shore areas have something that no other area does: Lake Michigan.  And with that comes some of the best sand and beaches in the world.  If your daily commute allows it, take a look.