Michigan’s 4 Best Cities For First-Time Home Buyers 2024

If only buying a home was as simple as saying, "That's a beautiful home; I think I'll buy it." Sigh. It's not that easy. First, there's the saving, then the pre-approval, shopping, putting in an offer, the counteroffer, and inspections—the list goes on and on. Before you decide to dive headfirst into the real estate market, let's take a look at 3 cities in Michigan that, according to WalletHub, not only have homes for sale whose surroundings offer rich and fulfilling experiences but also appeared in the Top 100 American Cities For First-Time Home Buyers in 2024.

Aside from a safe neighborhood and good schools, WalletHub recommends looking at three key areas when looking for your first house in Michigan. Also, a heads up to anyone who lives in one of Michigan's best cities for first-time home buyers: you may want to think about listing.

First-Time Home Buyers in Michigan Should Consider a Cities Affordability

You may have found the PERFECT home, but how affordable is it? How much did you pay per square foot? Did you compare it to the surrounding properties, as well as the median housing price?

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What about the average cost of home insurance? What's the average cost of living in your potential hometown?

The Overall Health of a City's Real Estate Market for First-Time Buyers

While a real estate market can look healthy from the outside, WalletHub recommends that Michigan's first-time homebuyers should consider factors like rent-to-price ratio, the area foreclosure rate, and even the homeownership rate for millennials.

Michigan's First-Time Home Buyers Should Investigate a Cities Quality of Life

A beautiful home smack-dab in the middle of a terrible job market isn't going to be the dream you've pictured. Quality of life is a key consideration that also includes the performance of area schools, energy costs, crime rates, and even the average weather.

That's just the tip of the real estate iceberg the financially savvy research team at WalletHub dove into to determine America's top 100 cities for first-time home buyers, and wouldn't you know it, 3 Michigan cities made the list: Sterling Heights, Warren, Dearborn, and Grand Rapids. Though the first Mitten State city doesn't appear until #62, I think you'll be surprised at the order they appear. Keep scrolling for the complete 100-city list.