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Livingston County, Michigan

Mortgage Broker in Brighton Township, MI

A Brighton Township address can sit in one of three school districts whose 2025 tax rates were more than 7 mills apart, and most homes here draw from a private well. Samantha checks both for the house you pick and compares your loan across multiple wholesale lenders.

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Buying a home in Brighton Township

Brighton Township, in Livingston County, is home to about 19,349 residents in the Census Bureau's 2020 to 2024 American Community Survey (19,144 in the 2020 census) across about 33 square miles of land. Brighton Township is a separate unit of government from the City of Brighton: the two share ZIP codes, but each has its own assessor and tax rates, so a Brighton mailing address alone does not say which one taxes the home. Downtown Ann Arbor is about 19 miles south in a straight line, and downtown Detroit is about 38 miles southeast in a straight line.

By the numbers

Brighton Township housing and mortgage snapshot

Values move. Treat these as orientation and let us pull current figures for the address you are considering.

$422,000

Typical home value, from the market research on this page

+32%

Typical rise in taxable value the year after a home sells, 2026 Uncapping Study

3

Residential ZIP codes: 48114, 48380, 48116

What financing looks like in Brighton Township

ZIP 48114 holds about 86% of the township's homes, and Redfin put its median sale near $548,000 for July through September 2026, about 9% above the same stretch of 2025, with the typical home under contract in about 20 days and closing near its list price. That figure also counts Genoa and Hartland township sales: by 2020 Census homes, 48114 is about three quarters Brighton Township. Owners in the township put their homes at a median near $422,400 in the Census estimates for 2020 to 2024, with a quarter below about $315,500 and a quarter above about $564,300. A conventional loan inside the 2026 conforming limit of $832,750 covers most of that range. FHA limits the loan, not the purchase price, to $541,287 in Livingston County for 2026, and VA is open to eligible veterans.

Water and waste shape the loan file more here than in most suburbs. The township says homes and businesses generally draw water from their own deep wells, permitted by the Livingston County Health Department, while a handful of older subdivisions share community wells and Livingston Community Water Authority mains reach only a few areas, chiefly Whitmore Lake Road and Old US-23 at the south end. Township sewer follows Grand River, Old US-23 and Hilton Road into the southwestern subdivisions and the School Lake and Lyon Lake areas, four developments run community septic systems, and the rest of the township is on individual septic. An appraiser records which one the house has, and a lender can ask for a water test on a private well, so schedule the water sample and a septic inspection inside your inspection period. The county health department inspects for permits, not for buyers or agents, so that work goes to a private inspector.

Condos are a small slice of the township: the Census counts about 193 attached homes and 231 in buildings with five or more homes, most of the larger buildings in the block group along East Grand River by Fonda, Pickerel and Woodruff lakes. The zoning ordinance treats a site condominium like a platted subdivision, and a detached site condo falls under Fannie Mae's waiver of its project review, while for an attached condo the lender usually reviews the whole association first. The 107 manufactured homes the Census counts sit mostly in the township's one mobile home neighborhood off Hacker Road at Grand River, and whether the land comes with the home can change which loan fits, so ask that before you write an offer. If you are a first-time buyer within MSHDA's income limits, its MI Home Loan (price cap $566,355) can come with the MI 10K, $10,000 for the down payment that is owed back at a sale, a refinance, the first mortgage's payoff or a move out of the home.

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One Brighton mailing address, three tax rates: in 2025 a homestead paid 19.86 mills in the township's Brighton Area Schools section, 27.50 in its Hartland Consolidated section and 36.66 inside the City of Brighton.

The market

The Brighton Township housing market

The Census Bureau's American Community Survey puts the median owner-occupied home value in Brighton Township near $422,400, across about 6,629 owner-occupied homes, with a median year built of 1986. The typical home value in Brighton Township is near $422,000. Homeowners pay a median of about $3,803 a year in property taxes, an effective rate of about 0.90% of the median value.

Sub-markets

Brighton Township by ZIP code

Township mail goes out under three ZIP codes, and only one of them is mostly township. Home and land shares are counted from 2020 Census blocks. Redfin's medians cover July through September 2026 across each entire ZIP, and the owner medians are the Census five-year estimates ending in 2024.

48114: the township's own ZIP in all but name

About 86% of the township's homes and 69% of its land, from Woodland Lake and Hilton Road to Beach Lake and Buno Road. The ZIP itself is about three quarters Brighton Township by 2020 homes, the rest Genoa and Hartland townships, and none of it the City of Brighton. Redfin's median sale was about $548,000, up about 9%, with homes under contract in about 20 days. Census owner median for the whole ZIP $405,400.

48116: the East Grand River strip

About 7% of the township's homes, around Fonda, Pickerel and Woodruff lakes and the Loch Lomond streets near the city line. The township holds only about 4% of the ZIP's homes: the City of Brighton holds about a third, Green Oak, Genoa and Hamburg townships most of the rest. So Redfin's 48116 median, about $453,000 and up about 10%, mostly describes other places. Census owner median $385,900.

48380: Milford mail, township taxes

About a quarter of the township's land but only about 500 of its homes in 2020, around Beach Lake, Spencer Creek and Windswept Farms, plus proving ground land. The mail says Milford, but the township assesses and bills these homes, about three in four of them in Brighton Area Schools. Most of 48380 is Milford and Highland townships, and Redfin's median of about $632,000 rests on only 29 September sales, so price the house from nearby township sales instead.

Where to look

Brighton Township neighborhoods

Woodland Lake and the Hunter Road airstrip

The township's west edge, from Grand River Avenue up past Woodland Lake and Pine Ranch Lake to Hunter Road. Woodland Lake, about 257 acres in Census mapping, is the largest lake inside the township, and its owners pay for dam work through a township special assessment. The private Brighton Airport's landing strip sits near the southwest corner of Hunter and Hyne roads, and the township's one mobile home neighborhood is off Hacker Road at Grand River, with most of this block group's 91 manufactured homes. About 6 in 10 homes are in Howell Public Schools, the rest in Brighton Area Schools. Owner values near $395,800, with a margin of about $43,800 either way, typical home from 1986.

Osborn, Clark and Bitten lakes and Huntmore

The northwest corner along Hyne, McClements and Clark Lake roads: Osborn, Clark and Bitten lakes, the Huntmore golf course on Estancia Drive, and streets OpenStreetMap groups as Lake Shore Village, Northwinds at Osborn Lake, Ore Creek Farms and Orchard Estates of Brighton. About 7 in 10 homes are in Hartland Consolidated Schools and the rest in Howell Public Schools. The township master plan lists Huntmore and the Osborn Lake homes among its community-well areas and Orchard Estates among its community septic systems, and Clark Lake parcels carry an aquatic weed charge on the winter bill. Owner values near $389,000, typical home from 1987, all but five of about 890 homes detached.

Hope Lake and Hilton Estates

Between Hunter Road and Old US-23, north of Hilton Road toward Hyne: Hope Lake and the Hilton Estates, Pine Hollow, Ravenswood and Deer Creek streets. Deer Creek is one of the four developments the master plan lists with a community septic system. Roughly 6 in 10 homes are in Brighton Area Schools and most of the rest in Hartland Consolidated. Every home in the Census count is detached, owner values sit near $346,900 with a margin of about $44,300, and the typical home dates from 1981.

School Lake, Pine Creek and Shenandoah

East of Old US-23 around School Lake, with the Pine Creek Estates, Shenandoah Ridge, San Pointe Estates and Morgan Lake streets. The master plan says township sewer was extended to the lower-density homes around School Lake, and the 2025 winter roll carries School Lake aquatic weed and lake access charges near $255 and $260 on the parcels in those districts. School districts split about 56 to 44 between Brighton Area Schools and Hartland Consolidated. Owner values near $427,700, typical home from 1992, with 45 homes in larger multi-unit buildings.

Lake Moraine and Pleasant Valley Road

Pleasant Valley Road between Spencer and Newman roads, around Lake Moraine, with Pleasant Valley Estates, Heather Crest Estates, Spruce Pointe and Moraine Highlands. About three quarters of homes are in Brighton Area Schools and the rest in Hartland Consolidated. Owner values near $428,600, typical home from 1984, and only about 8 of some 580 occupied homes rented in the Census estimate.

Buno Road, Van Amberg Road and Colonial Village

The land around the township hall on Buno Road just north of Spencer, out along Van Amberg and Corlett roads, with Colonial Village, Walking Horse Estates, Andersens Acres and West Winds Estates. All but about 1 in 13 homes are in Brighton Area Schools. The Census counts about 430 homes, every one detached and none rented, with owner values near $426,400 and a typical home from 1983.

Beach Lake, Jacoby Road and the Hartland side

The big northeast block group, roughly 16% of the township's land, east of Pleasant Valley and west of Kensington Road up to Commerce Road: Beach Lake, Jacoby and Newman roads, and subdivisions OpenStreetMap names Hearndon's Pleasant Valley Lake, The Oaks at Beach Lake, Stone Valley, Woodlore and Paddock Estates. About 87% of homes are in Hartland Consolidated Schools, about 200 carry Milford 48380 addresses, and the first phase of The Oaks at Beach Lake runs on a community septic system. Owner values near $483,200, typical home from 1996, nearly every home detached.

Spencer Creek, Brandywine and the Kensington side

The southeast, below Buno Road from Pleasant Valley Road east past Kensington Road to the township line and down toward I-96 and Grand River: Wild Wing Lake, Lake Serenity, the Larkins Road streets, Brandywine Farms, Spencer Creek, Windswept Farms and Chapel View Estates, plus about 20 homes north of Buno on Muir Road and Loss Trail. All Brighton Area Schools, yet close to half of the homes have Milford 48380 addresses. The master plan places the township's main public recreation land, part of Kensington Metropark, on this side, and active gravel pits along the east line south of the GM Proving Ground. Owner values near $438,400, typical home from 1983.

Fonda, Pickerel and Woodruff lakes

The narrow strip along East Grand River at the township's south line, around Fonda Lake, which the line splits with Green Oak Township, and Pickerel and Woodruff lakes, with Encore Way, Woodruff Lake Drive and Fonda Lake Drive. The only block group where detached houses are the minority: about 185 homes in buildings holding five or more and 98 attached, against 91 detached. Fonda Lake parcels pay an aquatic weed charge on the winter bill. Owner values near $223,400 with a very wide margin, about $76,400 either way, typical home from 1969. Every address here is 48116, every home Brighton Area Schools.

Culver Road, Lake of the Pines and Harvest Hills

Along Culver and Pleasant Valley roads between Spencer Road and Grand River: Lake of the Pines, Pleasant Valley Village, Wellington Park Estates, Eagle Heights and River Hills, then Harvest Hills, Ridge Wood and the Canyon Oaks streets. The master plan lists Greenfield Pointe and Harvest Hills among the community-well subdivisions and Eagle Ravine among the community septic systems. Two block groups, both Brighton Area Schools: around Lake of the Pines owner values near $424,700 and a typical home from 1979, around Harvest Hills near $499,200 with a margin of about $86,800, typical home from 1990.

Loch Lomond and the Old US-23 corridor

Where Old US-23 and Whitmore Lake Road meet East Grand River at the city line, with the Loch Lomond streets, Canterbury Drive and the township's Veterans Park at 5330 S Old US 23. Livingston Community Water Authority mains serve buildings on Whitmore Lake Road and Old US-23 from the south line to Weber Drive, one of the few stretches of public water in the township. About two thirds of homes have 48116 addresses. Owner values near $249,700, typical home from 1974, about 1 household in 10 renting.

Hilton Road, The Dominion and Lyon Lake

Hilton Road between Old US-23 and Grand River, around Lyon and Noble lakes: The Dominion, the Lake Dominion condos, Hilton Cove, Brighton Oaks, Ben Hur Farms and The Peninsula, which the master plan lists among the community-well areas, with township sewer running along Hilton. Its typical home dates from 2004, later than any other part of the township, and 78 homes are attached. Owner values near $569,000, above every other block group here, though with a margin of about $101,500 either way.

Schools and commute

Schools

Four school districts reach into the township, and the line follows the parcel, not the ZIP code. By 2020 Census blocks, Brighton Area Schools takes in about half the land and about 62% of the homes, the south and center from Grand River up past Spencer and Buno roads. Hartland Consolidated Schools takes most of the north, about 40% of the land but 27% of homes, Huntmore and the Beach Lake subdivisions included. Howell Public Schools serves the west edge around Woodland Lake and the Grand River frontage, about 7% of the land and 12% of homes, and Huron Valley Schools covers about 1%, a sliver on the east edge by the proving ground, with no homes in the 2020 count. Nothing else on the bill moves as much: Treasury's 2025 homestead totals put township parcels at 19.86 mills in Brighton Area Schools, 22.65 in Howell and 27.50 in Hartland, and the library levy changes with the district too, the Brighton District Library, Cromaine District Library for the Hartland side and the Howell library. The township posts a school district map, and the assessor confirms the district for a parcel.

Commute

I-96 and US-23 cross inside the township, which counts more than 12 miles of expressway within its borders, and Grand River Avenue and Old US-23 carry most local traffic. With light traffic, OSRM routing from the township hall on Buno Road puts downtown Brighton about 5 minutes away, downtown Howell about 17, Novi's civic center about 22, and downtown Ann Arbor and the University of Michigan hospital about 25. GM's Milford Proving Ground gate is about 15 minutes east, and GM says the proving ground employs more than 4,200 people. Lansing's capitol is about 56 minutes, downtown Detroit about 57 and Detroit Metro Airport about 53. Livingston County's LETS runs public rides by reservation, plus a DTW airport shuttle. The Census puts about 18% of working residents at home and about 45% of commuters at 30 minutes or more each way (Census Reporter).

Parcel by parcel

Settle these on a Brighton Township house

All six depend on the parcel, so raise them while the purchase agreement can still change.

  • Where the water comes from and where it goes. Well, community well, Livingston Community Water Authority, township sewer or septic: the township's Public Utilities page lists who runs each, and the county's well and septic records are searchable by address or parcel number. The county's well testing page passes on the state's yearly tests for a private well, coliform bacteria, nitrate and nitrite, and lists certified labs.
  • The sewer account. A sewered house pays quarterly charges per REU, and an older $80.50 charge runs until the parcel has paid $3,459 per REU. The township's sewer rates page has the current figures, and the Treasurer's office (810-229-0556) can say whether anything is past due.
  • Lake and road assessments. Woodland Lake's dam district, the aquatic weed charges on Clark, School and Fonda lakes and private road maintenance districts all appear on the winter bill, and the township's general FAQ confirms they stay with the parcel after a sale.
  • Radon. The township posts a county radon map built from Health Department test kits. The county notes that a low area on the map does not clear any one house and recommends testing every home, and the EPA recommends a mitigation system above 4 pCi/L, so add the test to the inspection.
  • Wetlands and additions. The master plan counts just under 4,300 acres of wetland in the township, which has regulated wetlands over two acres since 2004, and on a well or septic system the county asks for a site review before an addition, an enclosed deck or a pole barn.
  • What is next door. The private Brighton Airport's strip near Hunter and Hyne roads, active gravel pits on the east line, the fenced GM Proving Ground in the northeast and the I-96 and US-23 interchange all sit among homes here. Drive past at a busy hour, and check the FEMA flood map for any lot that touches a lake.

Block group figures here come from the Census Bureau's five-year survey ending in 2024, built on small samples, so read them as a rough guide. For any house you want, we pull recent township sales instead.

Michigan property taxes

Brighton Township property taxes after you buy

The year after a Michigan home sells, its taxable value resets to half of the assessor's market value, so the seller's tax bill is not your tax bill.

In Brighton Township, our 2026 Uncapping Study found taxable value typically rises about 32% the year after a sale. On a $425,000 home, near the typical Brighton Township value, that is roughly $1,260 more in first-year tax at the local median homestead millage. We build your payment on that post-sale number.

Looking at a Brighton Township address? Our Michigan property tax calculator finds that property's published 2025 millage and works out the tax to plan for after you buy.

How Michigan taxable value works

In Samantha's words

I'd much rather somebody ask me, "Why are your taxes higher than what I'm seeing online?" than have them build a housing budget around the wrong assumption.

2025 homestead millage

One price, five tax bills

Treasury's 2025 homestead totals for each district, in mills, each mill adding $1 of yearly tax for every $1,000 of taxable value. The dollar figures are Samantha's planning number for a $425,000 home, half the price times the rate, so you plan for the bill after the reset rather than the seller's capped one. The assessor sets the real taxable value.

Brighton Area Schools: 19.86

About 62% of township homes. Planning number about $4,220 a year, with roughly two thirds of the year's tax on the summer bill.

Howell Public Schools: 22.65

The Woodland Lake and Grand River side, about 12% of homes. Planning number about $4,810, and the library levy goes to Howell's library.

Hartland Consolidated: 27.50

The north of the township, about 27% of homes. Planning number about $5,840, split close to evenly between the summer and winter bills.

City of Brighton: 36.66

The same Brighton Area Schools inside the city, with the city's own millage added. Planning number about $7,790, which is why a Brighton address is worth checking against the parcel.

Rental or second home: 37.86

A Brighton Area Schools parcel without the principal residence exemption pays 18 more school operating mills. Planning number about $8,040.

The township's 2026 sheet

For the 2026 tax year the township lists 21.05 mills for Brighton Area Schools, 24.03 for Howell and 28.88 for Hartland, plus a 1% administration fee on every bill. Special assessments are billed in addition.

Local resources

Check Brighton Township records yourself

The official offices behind the tax and school details on this page.

What our clients say

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Brighton Township mortgage questions

If yours is not here, ask it on the call. There are no dumb questions.

A listing reads Brighton 48114. Could the house be inside the City of Brighton?

Almost certainly not. In the 2020 Census count, about three quarters of 48114’s homes were in Brighton Township and the rest in Genoa and Hartland townships, with none inside the City of Brighton, whose homes use 48116. The township also reaches into 48116 along East Grand River and into Milford’s 48380 on its east side, where about 500 township homes carry a Milford address. Every parcel on the township’s 2025 tax roll has a number starting 4712, so the parcel number on the listing or tax bill settles it.

Look at the parcel, not the mailing address. By 2020 Census blocks, Brighton Area Schools serves about 62% of the township’s homes, Hartland Consolidated about 27% across the north and Howell Public Schools about 12% on the west side by Woodland Lake and Grand River. For 2025, Treasury lists 19.86 homestead mills for Brighton Area Schools parcels, 22.65 for Howell and 27.50 for Hartland, so the same taxable value costs about $765 more a year per $100,000 on the Hartland side than in Brighton Area Schools.

Usually a private well. The township says water here generally comes from each owner’s own deep well, with one private community system, the Fonda Island Briggs Water Authority, a few subdivisions on shared wells and Livingston Community Water Authority mains mainly along Whitmore Lake Road and Old US-23 at the south end. Township sewer serves areas along Grand River, Old US-23 and Hilton Road and around School and Lyon lakes, and most other homes are on septic. The Livingston County Health Department’s well and septic records can be searched by address or parcel number.

Since June 1, 2025 the township bills $103 a quarter per REU, the unit it bills by, for operations plus an $85 capital charge, and an older $80.50 quarterly charge stays on a parcel until it has paid $3,459 per REU in total, a cap set after a class action settlement. Connecting a house that is not yet on the system costs $16,600 per REU. Unpaid sewer bills move onto the tax roll: the 2025 winter roll carried past-due utility charges on 129 parcels, so ask the seller for the latest quarterly bill.

It can, and the township says a special assessment stays with the parcel when it sells, with any payoff left to buyer and seller. In 2020 the township board approved a 15-year district, petitioned by owners of about 76% of the Woodland Lake properties, mainly for repair and upkeep of the lake’s dam, and the 2025 winter roll bills about $290 to each of 325 parcels for it. The same roll carries aquatic weed charges for Clark, School and Fonda lakes and road maintenance charges on some private streets, Bitten Drive and Tracey Lane among them.

Usually not, but check the lot. Sampling FEMA’s flood map across the township, we found only about 1 in 300 points on land inside the high-risk zone, mostly thin bands at the edges of Woodland, School, Hope and Osborn lakes, Lake Moraine and the Fonda and Pickerel shoreline, on FEMA’s Livingston County panels dated September 17, 2008. Many other lakes have no mapped high-risk zone at all. Inside it, a federally backed mortgage requires flood insurance, so pull up the address on the map before you write an offer.

Usually because the summer bill carries most of the levy. On the township’s 2025 rolls, a typical Brighton Area Schools homestead paid about two thirds of its year’s tax in summer, while on the Hartland side it split close to evenly, because Hartland’s school debt is billed in winter. Summer taxes are payable July 1 through September 14 and winter taxes December 1 through the end of February, and the township adds a 1% administration fee. With an escrow account, what you deposit at closing turns on how near the closing date sits to the next bill.

Michigan’s Property Transfer Affidavit goes to the assessor no later than 45 days after closing, or you pay $5 for each late day starting on day 46, capped at $200. File the Principal Residence Exemption affidavit with it. Without the exemption a Brighton Area Schools home is billed at 37.86 mills instead of 19.86, roughly $1,800 extra each year on every $100,000 of taxable value, the same rate a rental or second home pays. The assessing office at 4363 Buno Road (810-229-0558) is open Monday to Thursday, 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., and closed Fridays.

Communities near Brighton Township

Livingston County overview

Guides for Brighton Township buyers

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Align Lending LLC, NMLS #2041154. Samantha Shelton, NMLS 1647301. Equal Housing Opportunity. Licensed in Michigan, Ohio, North Carolina, Florida, Louisiana and Texas. Figures on this page are market research for orientation, not a quote. This page is for educational purposes only. It is not a credit decision, a preapproval, a commitment to lend, or an offer of credit.

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