Kalamazoo County, Michigan

Mortgage Broker in Oshtemo Township, MI

Buying in Oshtemo Township, from a Quail Meadow condo to acreage off H Avenue or a new house in Mystic Heights? Samantha compares your loan across multiple wholesale lenders and checks the parcel's school district, sewer status and December tax bill before you make an offer.

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Buying a home in Oshtemo Township

Oshtemo Township, a charter township in Kalamazoo County, is home to about 23,852 residents in the Census Bureau's 2020 to 2024 American Community Survey (23,747 in the 2020 census) across about 36 square miles of land. Its ZIP code, 49009, also reaches into Alamo, Texas, Cooper and Almena townships and a sliver of the City of Kalamazoo, so the parcel record, not the mailing address, shows which unit's tax rates apply. Downtown Kalamazoo is about 6 miles east in a straight line.

By the numbers

Oshtemo Township housing and mortgage snapshot

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

$308,000

Typical home value, from the market research on this page

+30%

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

1

Residential ZIP code: 49009

What financing looks like in Oshtemo Township

Oshtemo's assessor reviewed about 260 house sales and about 90 condominium sales, nearly all of them closed between April 2023 and March 2025. The middle house sold near $340,000, the middle half of them between about $275,000 and $475,000, and the middle condo near $281,000. Roughly one house sale in five went above the 2026 FHA limit for Kalamazoo County, $541,287, most of them in Mystic Heights, on the rural acreage in the north, on the Oak Highlands and Ramblewood streets and in the South 6th Street area. Only five of the 262 houses sold above the $832,750 conforming limit, and whether a loan is jumbo turns on the amount you borrow after your down payment, not the price. Redfin tracks the whole 49009 ZIP code, about a third of it in Oshtemo and the rest mostly in Alamo, Texas and Cooper townships, and put its median sale at about $423,000 in the quarter through September 2026, 1.7% lower than a year before.

Three local details change how a loan here is put together. About a dozen condominium projects, from Leisure Time on Green Meadow Road to West Port Village off Harborview Drive, mean the association's budget, insurance and owner-occupancy count get reviewed along with you, and FHA and VA each keep their own list of approved projects. The census counts about 900 manufactured homes, most of them in the two block groups along Stadium Drive and the south line, and a home on a rented lot in a community is financed differently from one on land you own, so read our manufactured home loan page before you choose. And the township is still extending sanitary sewer into older neighborhoods: once a street's sewer is ready, owners get a notice and two years to connect, with a $7,500 public connection fee that can be paid in yearly installments on the winter tax bill.

MSHDA's MI Home Loan caps the price at $566,355 and sets income limits, and its MI 10K adds up to $10,000 toward the down payment as a second loan that comes due when the home is sold, refinanced or paid off, or stops being your home. That price cap sat above about five in six house sales in the assessor's study and above every condo sale it listed. Whichever program fits, we build your payment from the parcel's own summer and winter bills, any sewer installment included.

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A Kalamazoo mailing address on West Main can sit in Oshtemo, where a Kalamazoo Public Schools homestead paid 38.85 mills in 2025, against 50.79 inside the City of Kalamazoo, about $1,190 a year apart on every $100,000 of taxable value.

The market

The Oshtemo Township housing market

The Census Bureau's American Community Survey puts the median owner-occupied home value in Oshtemo Township near $307,700, across about 5,226 owner-occupied homes, with a median year built of 1989. The typical home value in Oshtemo Township is near $308,000. Homeowners pay a median of about $4,306 a year in property taxes, an effective rate of about 1.40% of the median value.

From the assessor's sales study

Oshtemo sales by kind of home

The township assessor's 2026 studies list every arm's-length sale used to set values, April 2023 through March 2025. They describe Oshtemo itself, where ZIP-wide figures from Redfin and Zillow also take in three neighboring townships.

Houses: middle sale near $340,000

About 260 house sales, the middle half from about $275,000 to $475,000. The typical one was built in 1994, and the middle lot ran about six tenths of an acre, with about a third of sales on an acre or more.

Condominiums: middle sale near $281,000

About 90 sales across about a dozen condominium projects, with project middles from about $115,000 at Danford Creek to about $396,000 at West Port Village. Quail Meadow alone accounted for 27.

New construction: about one sale in five

About 53 of the houses sold were built in 2010 or later, and 15 in 2020 or later, 11 of those 15 in Mystic Heights on the west side, where the middle sale was near $698,000.

One ZIP code shared with neighbors

Almost all of Oshtemo is in ZIP 49009, but by Census land area the township makes up only about 35% of that ZIP. The rest is mostly Alamo, Texas and Cooper townships, so a ZIP-wide median mixes in homes taxed by other units.

Where to look

Oshtemo Township neighborhoods

Beech Avenue, North Drake Road and West Port Village

The northeast corner along the City of Kalamazoo line. Ranch houses on Beech Avenue and North Drake Road, the middle lot near nine tenths of an acre, had 13 sales in the assessor's study from about $180,000 to $386,000, middle near $260,000, the typical one built around 1960. The West Port Village condos off Harborview Drive and Isle Harbor Court sold 7 times from April 2022 to March 2025 for about $320,000 to $499,000. Some addresses here carry a 49006 mailing ZIP. Census puts the block group near $282,000, with a wide margin. Kalamazoo Public Schools.

Ramblewood, Oak Highlands and Westpointe

Subdivisions north of West Main around Ramblewood Drive, Winddrift Avenue, Old Log Trail and Oak Highlands Drive. The assessor's study counted 38 house sales from about $280,000 to $700,000, middle near $452,500, the typical one built around 1990. The Westpointe condos on the Village Circle streets ran about $250,000 to $320,000. Ramblewood, Winddrift and Old Log Trail are among the Westport streets on the township's sewer extension. Census puts the two block groups near $368,000 and $430,000. Mostly Kalamazoo Public Schools, with Otsego Public Schools along the northern edge.

Valley View, Horizon Heights and Murphy's Trail

Streets just south of West Main and east of the Township Hall. Valley View, Horizon Heights, Club View and Scenic Way hold houses from the 1960s and 1970s, with 5 sales from about $290,000 to $435,000. The newer Murphy's Trail, Mickey's Trail, Beymoure and Gabriella streets, the typical sold home from about 2011 on a lot near a fifth of an acre, had 12 sales from about $250,000 to $405,000, middle near $340,000. Census puts the block group near $348,000, typical home from 1979. Kalamazoo Public Schools.

Fairgrove, Wildemere and Tanager Lane

Plats north of Stadium Drive near US-131, on Tanager, Castleton, Lamplighter, Partridge, Coddington and Wildemere. It had 42 house sales in the study, more than any other area, ranging from about $165,000 to $355,000, middle near $280,000, the typical one from about 1997 on a lot near a third of an acre. Fairgrove, Wildemere, Strathmore and Mansfield got township sewer in 2025. Census puts the block groups near $295,000. Kalamazoo Public Schools.

Quail Meadow, Quail Run and Stonehenge

A run of condominium projects north of Stadium Drive. Quail Meadow, on Osprey Way and Peregrine, had 27 sales in the study, more than any other condo project, from about $235,000 to $360,000, middle near $299,000. The Quail Run phases on Quail Run Drive and Fairgrove Street sold 13 times from about $135,000 to $370,000, and the Villas of Stonehenge on Bluestone Circle 9 times from about $282,000 to $360,000. Census puts the nearby block groups near $295,000. Kalamazoo Public Schools.

Green Meadow Road and South Drake

The east edge south of West Main, across Drake Road from Western Michigan University's Parkview Campus, which sits in the City of Kalamazoo. The Leisure Time condos on Green Meadow Road had 14 sales from about $155,000 to $236,000, middle near $182,500, and Redstone Farms on Penrose Lane and Round Hill 8 sales from about $320,000 to $410,000. Apartment complexes fill much of the strip toward Stadium Drive. Census puts the owner block group near $191,000, typical home from 1975. Kalamazoo Public Schools.

Stadium Drive and South 9th Street

The south-central area along Stadium Drive, South 9th Street, Chime Street and West N Avenue near the Texas Township line. The assessor's study counted 16 sales from about $120,000 to $415,000, middle near $275,000, many of them houses from around 1960. The two block groups here hold about 660 manufactured homes, and Census puts the owner median in one of them near $98,000, a figure that takes in those homes. Mostly Kalamazoo Public Schools, with Mattawan schools in the far west of the strip.

Autumns Way, Sawgrass and South 6th Street

The southwest-central streets off South 6th and 8th streets and West ML Avenue, including Autumns Way Boulevard, Sawgrass Way, Baton Rouge and the Emberly Acres condos on Glendora Lane. The assessor's study counted 38 sales from about $144,000 to $1,300,000, middle near $305,000, the high end a 2015 ranch on about 17 acres on Pine Acres Drive. Lots run near nine tenths of an acre at the middle. Census puts the block group near $306,000, typical home from 1997. Kalamazoo Public Schools.

Mystic Heights, Sienna and Toscana

A subdivision of recent houses on the west side, off Mystic Heights Trail, Sienna Street, Toscana Street and Nia Drive. The assessor's study counted 15 sales from about $575,000 to $835,000, middle near $698,000, and the typical home sold was built around 2020. Every sale here was above the 2026 FHA limit of $541,287, so most buyers finance with a conventional loan. Mattawan Consolidated School District.

Hathaway Road, Wickford and Springwood Hills

Streets near the west line on either side of West Main, around Hathaway Road, North 2nd Street, Greystone Road and Chadd's Ford Way. The assessor's study counted 24 house sales from about $225,000 to $600,000, middle near $344,000, typical home from 1998. Springwood Hills, on Springwood, Amber and Summerset, had 8 sales from about $260,000 to $650,000, and the two Wickford Drive sales were near $400,000 and $410,000. Mattawan Consolidated School District.

Van Kal Street and KL Avenue

The far southwest, along South Van Kal Street on the Van Buren County line, South 1st Street and West KL Avenue, where nearly every house in the study sat on an acre or more and the middle lot ran about 3.5 acres. The assessor counted 21 sales from about $250,000 to $785,000, middle near $400,000, typical home from 1983. The Southwest Michigan Land Conservancy's 70-acre Wolf Tree Nature Trails preserve is at 4th Street and KL Avenue. Mattawan Consolidated School District.

G and H avenues, the rural north

Farmland, woods and homes on acreage across the north, on West G and H avenues, North 2nd and 3rd streets, Oakharbor Street and Old Savannah Drive. The assessor's study counted 34 sales from about $168,000 to $2,350,000, middle near $480,000, typical home from 2003, and about two in three sat on an acre or more. The Kal-Haven Trail's eastern trailhead is on 10th Street north of H Avenue. Census puts the northwest block group near $328,000, with a wide margin. Mostly Otsego Public Schools.

Schools and commute

Schools

Three school districts split Oshtemo Township, and each part carries its own tax rate. Our point sample of the Census school district map puts about 57% of the township's land in Kalamazoo Public Schools, the east and center from Drake Road past the Township Hall, and, weighted by Census housing counts, roughly five homes in six. Otsego Public Schools, a district based in Allegan County, holds about 24% of the land across the north, reaching down toward West Main in the far west and narrowing toward G Avenue near 10th Street, mostly farmland and homes on acreage. Mattawan Consolidated School District holds about 18% on the west and southwest, including Mystic Heights, Hathaway Road and Van Kal Street. Michigan Treasury's 2025 millage table taxes a homestead at 34.17 mills in the Otsego part, 37.46 in the Mattawan part and 38.85 in the Kalamazoo part. The township assessing office at 269-216-5225 can confirm the district for a parcel.

Commute

US-131 runs north and south through the east half of the township, with interchanges at Stadium Drive (exit 36) and West Main Street, M-43 (exit 38), and it meets I-94 at exit 34 just south in Portage. From the Township Hall at 7275 West Main Street, the US-131 ramps are about 1.5 miles away (2 minutes), Western Michigan University's Parkview Campus about 5 miles by road (9 minutes), downtown Kalamazoo about 5 (10), WMU's main campus and Bronson Methodist Hospital about 6 (12), and Stryker's Portage campus, Pfizer's Portage Road plant and Kalamazoo/Battle Creek International Airport each about 11 to 12 (17). A 2015 HUD market profile named Bronson, Pfizer and Western Michigan University the area's three largest employers. Downtown Grand Rapids is about 49 miles north, under an hour, and the Chicago Loop about 145 miles, close to three hours. Census puts the average commute from here near 21 minutes, with about one worker in nine working from home. For a ride without the car, the Kal-Haven Trail runs 35 miles west to South Haven from its trailhead on 10th Street, and the Kalamazoo River Valley Trail picks up there toward downtown Kalamazoo.

Michigan property taxes

Oshtemo 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 Oshtemo Township, our 2026 Uncapping Study found taxable value typically rises about 30% the year after a sale. On a $300,000 home, near the typical Oshtemo Township value, the first-year tax goes up roughly $1,190 to $1,360, depending on the school district. Most homes here are in Kalamazoo schools (about $1,360); Mattawan Consolidated School schools homes run about $1,310 and Otsego schools homes about $1,190. Your address decides which applies. We build your payment on that post-sale number.

Looking at an Oshtemo 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.

Compare the taxing districts

Oshtemo millage by school district

Michigan Treasury's 2025 homestead totals, with neighbors for comparison. Each mill is $100 a year for every $100,000 of taxable value.

Otsego part: 34.17 mills

About 24% of the township's land, across the north. The lowest of the three parts, about $467 a year less per $100,000 than the Kalamazoo part. A second home here pays 52.17 mills.

Mattawan part: 37.46 mills

About 18% of the land, on the west and southwest, Mystic Heights included. A rental or second home is taxed at 55.46 mills.

Kalamazoo part: 38.85 mills

About 57% of the land and most of the homes. The non-homestead rate for a rental or second home is 56.51 mills.

City of Kalamazoo: 50.79 mills

The same Kalamazoo Public Schools homestead inside the city line, east of Drake Road, about $1,190 a year more per $100,000 of taxable value than the Oshtemo part.

Texas Township: 37.90 mills

Next door to the south, the Kalamazoo Public Schools part of Texas Township ran just under Oshtemo's, about $95 a year less per $100,000.

Township levies on the December bill

A 1.5-mill charter levy for general operations and a 1.25-mill road levy, plus fire and police charges spread through township special assessment districts, all starting with the December tax bills.

Local resources

Check Oshtemo Township records yourself

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

Kalamazoo Public Schools, for district boundaries and enrollment
Otsego Public Schools, for district boundaries and enrollment
Mattawan Consolidated School District, for district boundaries and enrollment
Kalamazoo County Equalization, for county property tax records

Before you make an offer

What to pin down on an Oshtemo house

Most of these take one parcel lookup and a phone call to the Township Hall at 269-375-4260.

The parcel and the district. Look up the address in the township's online property search and note the parcel number, the school district and the current taxable value. The assessing office at 269-216-5225 can confirm anything that looks off.
Sewer status. Ask whether the house is on township sewer or a septic system, whether a notice of sewer availability has gone out for the street, and whether any connection installment is still on the winter bill. Public Works at 269-216-5252 tracks the Westport phases.
Your homestead filing. The lower homestead rate needs a principal residence exemption affidavit on file with the township. File it as soon as you own and live in the home so the next bill uses the right rate.
Condo and lot paperwork. For a condo, ask for the association budget, master deed and leasing rules. For a manufactured home, find out whether the land comes with it or the lot is rented.
The flood map. FEMA reissued Kalamazoo County's printed flood map panels effective July 31, 2024. Enter the address in FEMA's Flood Map Service Center. If the building is in a high-risk zone, the lender will require flood insurance.
Both tax bills. Summer bills go out the first week of July and winter bills carry the township's December levies. Ask the seller for the last summer and winter bills so your escrow starts from both.

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Oshtemo Township mortgage questions

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What do homes in Oshtemo Township sell for?

The township assessor’s 2026 study of sales from April 2023 through March 2025 put the middle house near $340,000, with the middle half between about $275,000 and $475,000, and the middle condominium near $281,000. New houses in Mystic Heights sold near $698,000 at the middle, and Leisure Time condos near $183,000. Redfin’s newer figure covers all of ZIP 49009, about a third of it in Oshtemo, with a median near $423,000 for the quarter through September 2026. The Census figure of $307,700 is owners’ own estimate of value, pooled over 2020 to 2024.

The listing says Kalamazoo. How do I know the house is in Oshtemo Township?

Check the parcel record, not the mailing city. ZIP 49009 covers nearly all of the township, but by Census land area only about 35% of that ZIP is Oshtemo, with about 26% in Alamo Township, 18% in Texas Township and 16% in Cooper Township. Along Drake Road and Beech Avenue some township homes even carry a 49006 mailing ZIP, and most of the land across Drake Road is the City of Kalamazoo. Every parcel number in the township assessor’s sales study begins with 05, and the township’s online property search shows the taxing unit for an address.

How much does the school district change the tax bill here?

Michigan Treasury’s 2025 homestead totals for the township were 34.17 mills in the Otsego Public Schools part, 37.46 in the Mattawan part and 38.85 in the Kalamazoo Public Schools part. Each mill is $100 a year for every $100,000 of taxable value, so the Otsego and Kalamazoo parts sit about $467 apart on that amount. A second home or rental is taxed at the non-homestead rate, 52.17 to 56.51 mills depending on the district, so file the principal residence exemption affidavit with the township once you move in.

How do fire, police and road costs show up on an Oshtemo tax bill?

Mostly on the December bill. The township’s 2026 budget notice funds the fire department through two fire special assessment districts and police protection through two police special assessment districts, adds a township-wide 1.25-mill road levy and a 1.5-mill charter levy for general operations, and says those levies begin with the December tax bills. Summer taxes in 2026 were due September 14 and the winter bill is due February 16, 2027. Ask the seller for both bills so the escrow estimate starts from the full year.

Is the house on township sewer, or on a septic system?

It depends on the street, and the answer can change after you close. The township is extending sanitary sewer in phases: Driftwood, Skyridge, Fairgrove and the nearby streets were finished in 2025, the Westport North streets around Ramblewood Drive open for connections from late 2026 into spring 2027, and Westport South around Old Log Trail is planned for 2027 and 2028. Once sewer is ready in front of a home, the owner has two years to connect, at a $7,500 public connection fee plus a private hookup the township puts at about $5,000 to $7,000. Wells and septic systems are overseen by Kalamazoo County Environmental Health.

I am looking at a condo here. Does that change the loan?

It adds a review of the project itself. The assessor’s study lists about a dozen condominium projects, among them Quail Meadow, the Quail Run phases, the Villas of Stonehenge, Westpointe, West Port Village, Redstone Farms and Leisure Time. A conventional loan looks at the association’s budget, reserves, insurance and how many units are owner-occupied, FHA lends in approved projects or through a single-unit approval, and VA keeps its own list of approved projects. Give us the project name early, along with the association’s budget and recent minutes.

Can I finance a manufactured home in Oshtemo?

Often, but the land decides the loan. The Census counts about 900 manufactured homes in the township, most of them in the southern part of the township. A home on a lot you own, built on a permanent foundation and taxed as real estate, can usually be financed with a conventional, FHA or VA mortgage. A home on a rented lot in a community is usually financed as personal property, with different terms and fewer lenders. Our manufactured home loan page explains both, and we can tell you which one a listing is before you make an offer.

Can I rent the home out later?

Usually, with a few steps. Oshtemo runs a rental inspection program under its Rental Housing Ordinance No. 502, handled by the township’s ordinance enforcement department at 269-216-5227, which can tell you what a rented house needs before it is leased. Once the home stops being your principal residence, its school operating millage moves to the non-homestead rate, about 18 mills more in the Kalamazoo and Mattawan parts. A condo association’s own rules can also limit leasing, so read them before you buy with renting in mind.

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Tell Samantha what you are trying to do in Oshtemo Township and she will tell you what actually matters for your situation, including whether the timing is right.

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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.