In a world where small town life is deteriorating by the day, there’s a town that is maintaining it and that’s the one and only Linden Michigan. The question is, what’s the catch?
Some of you may have heard of Linden, while others definitely have not. Just to get you up to speed, Linden is located in southern Genesee county, and is on the other side of the tracks from Fenton (tracks being the expressway we call US-23). You might be thinking oh yeah Lake Linden duh, no it’s not the little village located at the top of the shark fin in the upper peninsula in Houghton county.
Pros and Cons Living In Linden Michigan
Linden is 2.42 square miles inside with a population of just under 4200 people, which plays out to be just over 1,750 people per square mile. It was incorporated as a village back in 1871, and finally into a city in 1988. Kind of a new kid on the block, but not really.
So what’s the catch? Is this a good or bad place to plant your roots? I’m going to give you a well rounded answer to that question, so hold onto your hat.
Pros of Living In Linden Michigan
Small Town Living In Linden Michigan
Kicking it off with reason #1 to consider living in Linden Michigan is the small town feel that is Deteriorating in southeast Michigan as I mentioned. I may be biased, but this reason would be important to me, as someone who doesn’t like tall or packed cities. I’m already tweaking out when the grocery store is busy. Is it a town that you’ll drive through and sneeze and miss the whole thing? Of course, but it’s walkable, warm and a place you can be proud to call home. A place like this is typically situated in the middle of nowhere, the commute times are rough and proximity to city offerings is annoying, but not here. And I know, when you look at centralized metro Detroit, Linden and Fenton are pretty far west, on the border some would say, BUT the fact that US-23 is so accessible, makes this a much more attainable place to live. Of course it’s another 20 minutes just to hop on I-75 to go to Detroit, and 20 minutes in the other direction just to hop on the M-59 corridor which I talk about a lot when referring to Hartland, Highland, White Lake and the four towns in other videos. For my homebuyers I have helped move to the areas of Fenton and Linden, they’ve thought, It's borderline too far out there, but also not bad at the same time, and once they get into the community and see what that western pocket of metro Detroit offers, they’re like you know what i’m good with this.
Linden Michigan Events, Festivals + Community
Another thing that’s worth mentioning is the events, festivals and everything that truly brings the community together. I mentioned this in some of the other videos I have made and said sometimes small towns don’t do a good job of creating a list of events, or activities for their residents and I feel for the size of this community, they do a fairly good job. Could it be better? Of course, but I do think it will continue to improve for years to come. They have Ice fishing tournaments in the winter, Karaoke at the Mill pond during the summer, River roast, where businesses and residents come together for fun on the river, music, food and activities, Halloween events, holiday lights, ladies night out, holiday happenings, parades, and more. The best part is, the local businesses have come together to sponsor these events and make it all possible, so yeah the options might not be to the rim overflowing, that doesn’t change the fact that they are community focused. I’ll be sure to link an events page in the description in case you’re interested to see what else they have to offer. The little town of Linden has a downtown development authority as well, and it’s composed of 9 board members, and 4 committee co-chairs that work together to improve the community. That may seem like overkill for a community of that size, but there’s a reason people rave about this little town that may seem far out to some.
Linden Michigan Home Prices
And part of what makes people good with being out that way is the price for homes, which is reason #3 for living there, and that’s if you can get your hands on one. As of right now there are 7 homes and condos for sale in Linden, ranging from a $265,000 2 bedroom, 2 bathroom condo with 1,094 square feet, a 2 car attached garage, and built in 2024. This is a Mitchell Building Companies condo community that is coming together, and their priority is to keep dues low, so the community is about $150 a month which covers all exterior maintenance and trash pickup. They come with patios, 9 foot ceilings, AC and other awesome finishes that are typically marked up to the high heaven in other communities. So this becomes a good option under $265,000, which is nearly impossible for a new construction home these days.
Then the price tag jumps up to $600,000 for a 4 bedroom, 2 bathroom single family home, with 2,636 total finished square feet, with a 2 car garage, built in 1956 and situated on 0.62 acres. Funny enough I have actually shown this home before and the view outside is amazing. It’s tree lined on either side, it feels private and secluded compared to a lot of lake homes I have shown, it’s a little outdated, but it has an incredible amount of potential. And again, this home will sell for at or below 600K and it’s hard to find a lake home of that size on a quality lake for that price.
And just to give you more insight to the home prices in the area I'll hit you with this trusty graph that shows the median sale price over the last 3 years in the entire MLS in blue, Linden in green, Fenton twp in yellow and the city of Fenton in red. And as you can see, Linden comes in right in the middle of the city of Fenton and Fenton township. It’s an affordable community by today’s standard, and Linden, Fenton and Holly are often places I spend time with my first time homebuyers too.
Cons of Living In Linden Michigan
Linden Michigan Is a "Catch Up" Community
But with that in mind comes some cons about living in Linden Michigan too, because it’s what I have just made up right now, a “catch up” community. One of those areas, where it’s not as built up as its nearby brother and sister communities, but you know in the next decade it’s going to look completely different as it plays catch up with the more established areas nearby. I have chatted with several people who live and have moved to the Linden area. They are obsessed with the small town feel, BUT being neighbors to Fenton and seeing the growth happening there within just the last several years, it’s just a matter of time until Linden is hit with that caution tape and orange barrels to kick off new construction and I can’t downplay the fact that it’s already slowly in motion based on the changes that have happened.
It’s a life cycle honestly, when everyone back in the day was leaving Detroit, they jumped into Dearborn heights and Dearborn, then years later they jumped into Farmington and Farmington Hills, Now they’re looking into places like Hamburg township, Pinckney and the northern communities of Linden, Argentine and Fenton. There is some opportunity in the madness though, Fenton of course hit popularity a couple of years ago, their home prices went up despite their averages falling in line with Linden depending on if you are in the township or the city. The opportunity is there’s still a bandwagon to jump on before things get more unaffordable than they already are in each community.
I firmly believe these communities will be built up more than we could have ever imagined within the next decade, and there’s a lot of people that have caught wind of that which brings us to the next con and that’s being in a small town with big city problems. The infrastructure was not made for it, of course it can change, it will take years for it to catch up and you’ll see more stop lights, more roundabouts popping up, etc. That’s the complaint with where Fenton is right now, it’s getting too crowded. When I helped my brother move there prior to 2020, it was still a little town it felt like, but now my brothers say the traffic and the congestion is getting ridiculous, it’s bearable, but ridiculous, when in comparison to other metro Detroit communities.
Linden Michigan Property Taxes
The next thing I want to chat about and make you aware of, are the property taxes, and why it’s very important to know where to live in the area so you can take advantage of a nice little tax savings. I know it’s not a gorgeous topic, but I always make a point to chat about this, because it’s an expense that’s very important to keep in mind when buying a home not only in Michigan, but everywhere, so make that habit of doing that due diligence now. I’ll link the property tax estimator in the description for you in case you want to play around with the different areas and school districts. As a reminder, put 50% of the list price in the SEV spot to get a more accurate estimate.
When looking at Linden and Linden schools, the millage rate is 46.9798 as of recording this, which is fairly high especially with communities around the metro Detroit area in the low 30’s. If we are basing this on a $250,000 home, that's about $5,872 a year, if we base it on the $600,000 home I mentioned earlier, that’s over $14,000, and that’s where weighing your wants and needs is important. Your dollar goes further in these areas, more house, more acreage, and all around more space, BUT that gap is made a little slimmer when you factor in these property taxes. So it’s something to think about when toying around with that budget of yours. Since I have talked a lot about Fenton, I am going to give you that perspective for property taxes too. This is the city of Fenton with Fenton schools, and with that same $250,000 home it’s about $5,678 a year for poetry taxes, so a little more than Linden, but if you look at Fenton township, there are 3 school districts, Fenton, Lake Fenton and Linden. Fenton schools for that $5250K home would be $4,077, Lake Fenton would be $3,792 and Linden is $4,017. So if you’re someone who wants Linden schools and also wants to save some money, consider living in Fenton Township in the area that falls within the Linden school district.
Linden Michigan Things To Do (Or lack Thereof)
The last reason you might not want to live in linden Michigan is there’s just not a lot to do, and that seems to be the biggest complaint from current and past residents, I won’t downplay that there are the events, the mill pond that’s in the middle of the area where you can do some water activities, and a few miscellaneous parks, and the Spring Meadows country club, but overall there’s not a selection of amenities that really brings outsiders to the area, maybe that’s a good thing in your eyes, maybe it’s not, but where Linden lacks that, Fenton makes up for in offerings, and Holly isn’t too far down the road either to give you some of those up north feeling amenities, like ORV, campgrounds, parks, and mount holly for skiing and snowboarding.
Is Linden Michigan a place where you’d want to live/ Drop your thoughts in the comments below!
If you’re thinking about moving to Michigan in 1 day or a million, feel free to reach out anytime, I also have a link to the Living in Michigan newsletter to give you insight on all things Michigan, so be sure to subscribe so you never miss out! Thanks for watching, until next time.
Thank you as always for reading, if you’re ever looking to buy, sell or invest, don’t hesitate to reach out. I'm happy to be your go to resource. Until next time!
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 pillars of Michigan real estate. 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 the best resource he can be. Andrew graduated from Cleary University in Howell, Michigan with a double major in business and marketing, and currently resides in Brighton, Michigan.
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