Kent County, Michigan

Mortgage Broker in East Grand Rapids, MI

Buying near Reeds Lake, in Gaslight Village or on a side street off Breton Road? Samantha compares your loan across multiple wholesale lenders, then pulls the flood map, the tax rate and the city's record card for that parcel before you commit to a price.

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Buying a home in East Grand Rapids

East Grand Rapids is a small Kent County city next to Grand Rapids, home to about 11,600 residents in the Census Bureau's 2024 estimate. It is governed separately from its larger neighbor, and Reeds Lake and Fisk Lake make up most of its water area, about 14% of East Grand Rapids. The median household income in East Grand Rapids is near $166,600.

By the numbers

East Grand Rapids housing and mortgage snapshot

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

$521,000

Typical home value, from the market research on this page

+52%

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

1.43%

Property tax current owners pay, as a share of value. A buyer's bill can reset higher the year after a sale

1

Residential ZIP code: 49506

What financing looks like in East Grand Rapids

Prices eased a little in 2026 even as homes sold faster. Redfin counted a median East Grand Rapids sale price near $680,000 for July through September, down 2.9% from the same months of 2025, with listings going pending in roughly 8 days, against 23 a year before, and closing at about 99% of asking. The city assessor's own numbers line up: a 2025 median sale of $670,000 and an average of $815,000. That median sits below the 2026 conforming limit of $832,750, so most purchases here are conventional loans. Jumbo is decided by the loan amount, not the price, so a larger down payment can keep a purchase above the limit on a conforming loan. Census estimates put about one owner-occupied home in seven at $1 million or more, most often in the block groups along Reeds Lake and around Santa Barbara Drive, where roughly a quarter to more than a third of owner homes are valued that high, and a purchase at that level is where a jumbo file, with its bigger cash reserve, usually enters the picture. FHA's Kent County ceiling for 2026, $541,287, and the $566,355 price cap on MSHDA's MI Home Loan both sit below the median sale, so they fit mainly the smaller houses.

Age is the bigger factor on most houses here. The Census counts about seven homes in ten built before 1960 and more than a quarter before 1940, and the city's 2026 Master Plan Update notes that in some areas homes went up on lots of 4,000 square feet or less, long before zoning. On an older house, a renovation loan lets the repair budget ride on the same mortgage. Some buyers are paying mostly for the lot: the assessor's tear-down study lists 72 sales from July 2015 to July 2025 at a median of $350,000, among them 2909 Pioneer Club Rd SE, a $350,000 tear-down in February 2025 that Redfin shows selling as a six-bedroom house for $2,300,000 in October 2026. Building new usually means a construction loan rather than a standard purchase mortgage, plus a drainage plan sealed by a civil engineer before the permit goes to Cascade Township, whose building department handles East Grand Rapids permits and inspections.

Two local details shape the escrow account and the insurance quote. In 2025, 44.47 of the 47.50 homestead mills were on the summer bill, which goes out July 1 and is due August 14, so the tax money collected at closing depends heavily on the month you close. And along Reeds Lake and Fisk Lake, FEMA's high-risk flood zone reaches past the shoreline onto about 3.5% of the city's land. FEMA has issued 29 Letters of Map Amendment on East Grand Rapids lots since 1999, 28 of them taking the house out of the zone while part of the lot stays in it. That letter ends the federal requirement to carry flood insurance, though FEMA notes the lender can still ask for it, so get a copy from the seller early.

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An East Grand Rapids Public Schools address does not settle the tax: in 2025 the homestead total was 47.50 mills inside the city and 33.41 in the district's Grand Rapids Township strip.

The market

The East Grand Rapids housing market

The typical home value in East Grand Rapids is near $521,300, the median for owner-occupied homes in the Census Bureau's American Community Survey, which counts about 3,600 owner-occupied homes here. The median year built is 1954, so East Grand Rapids is mostly established homes on tree-lined streets, with lakefront homes on Reeds Lake. Homeowners pay a median of about $7,450 a year in property taxes, an effective property tax rate of about 1.43% of the median value.

Where to look

East Grand Rapids neighborhoods

Gaslight Village

The business district around Wealthy Street and Lakeside Drive, built where Ramona Park, an amusement park beside Reeds Lake, drew crowds until the mid-1950s. The high school and middle school sit at its edge, and most of the city's homes in buildings of three or more units are in the block group around it, including condos and apartments along Lovett Avenue, where the city changed the zoning to allow multi-family homes. A mixed-use plan for the last large vacant site, about eight and a half acres, was approved in 2025. Prices for these blocks are in the next card.

Reeds Lake, Fisk Lake and the Lakeside Drive shore

The block group that rings both lakes: Lakeside Drive and John Collins Park, home to the only public boat launch on Reeds Lake, Fisk Lake Gardens on Edgemere Drive, Waterfront Park and Remington Park on Reeds Lake Boulevard, and the Manhattan Road and Pioneer Club Road frontage. Owner values near $799,000 with a wide margin, a typical home from 1951, and about one home in five built since 2000, more than in any other part of the city. Our sample of the FEMA map found the city's entire high-risk zone on dry land inside this block group, roughly 15% of its area. About one home in eight sits outside the city, in Grand Rapids Township.

Manhattan Park and the Cascade Road side

The northeast corner, from Manhattan Park, the city's largest at 46 acres, out along Cascade Road, El Centro Boulevard, Cotswold Lane and the upper end of Pioneer Club Road. The park reopened in July 2025 with a new pavilion, pickleball courts and a splash pad. Owner values near $462,500 with a wide margin, a typical home from 1957, and no renter households in the Census count. More than half of this block group's homes lie north of the city line in Grand Rapids Township, still in East Grand Rapids Public Schools, so its figures blend both.

Bonnell Avenue and the Woodcliff streets

The southeast, from Bonnell and Darby avenues near the lake's south shore down through Woodcliff, Oakwood and Beechwood drives to the east end of Hall Street, where East Grand Rapids Public Schools has its offices. Lots on Bonnell run past an acre, and two there sold as tear-downs for about $3.5 million each, in 2015 and 2018. Owner values near $727,000 with a wide margin, typical home from 1953, and about three owner homes in eight valued at $1 million or more. About one home in five in this block group is across the line in Grand Rapids Township and Forest Hills Public Schools.

St. Stephen and the south side of Wealthy Street

The west end, mostly between Wealthy Street and Lake Drive from the Grand Rapids line east past Cambridge Boulevard to Croswell Avenue, with Wealthy Elementary, the high school and Corewell Health Blodgett Hospital, which is inside the city despite its Grand Rapids mailing address. The Master Plan names the St. Stephen neighborhood around the 1924 church and school on Rosewood Avenue, and counts the blocks west of the hospital as its Northwest Wealthy neighborhood, mostly early 1900s houses on lots under 5,000 square feet. About seven homes in ten here were built before 1940, the highest share in the city. Owner values near $458,900.

Santa Barbara Drive, San Jose Drive and Fisk Road

The southwest: the curving Santa Barbara, San Jose and San Lucia drives, Seminole Road, Cadillac and Pontiac drives and Fisk Road, with Gladstone Drive along the Grand Rapids line. Several lots here run past three quarters of an acre, and the assessor's tear-down list includes $1,385,000 paid for a San Lucia Drive lot in 2024. Owner values near $705,800 with a wide margin, typical home from 1950, and more than a third of owner homes valued at $1 million or more.

Lakeside Elementary and the Pinecrest streets

The middle of the city south of Gaslight Village: Pinecrest, Orchard, Ogden, Floral and Maxwell avenues, Argentina Drive and Ross Court, down to Lakeside Elementary on Hall Street. Lots are mostly 50 to 75 feet wide, and houses on them sold as tear-downs for about $200,000 to $320,000 between 2015 and 2020. Owner values near $580,600, typical home from 1953, every home a detached house and about nine in ten owner-occupied.

Hall Street and the wood-named drives

Around Hall Street and the east end of Lake Drive, east of Breton Road: Beechwood, Maplewood, Oakwood and Ridgewood drives, Kenesaw Drive, Lake Grove Avenue and Gilmour Street. Nearly half the homes went up in the 1950s, and almost all are detached and owner-occupied. A Gilmour Street lot of about an eighth of an acre sold as a tear-down for $320,000 in 2023. Owner values near $484,100, typical home from 1953. The Rapid's southwest route runs Hall Street and Breton Road.

Breton Downs

The south end around Breton Downs Elementary on Boston Street, with Hampshire Boulevard, Oxford Road, York Drive, Whitfield Road and Elinor Lane running toward Burton Street. Houses here are newer than most of the city's: a little under three in ten date from the 1960s, and the typical home from 1959. Owner values near $479,000, and the Census found no owner home here valued at $1 million or more.

Anderson Drive and the west side of Breton Road

West of Breton Road at the south end: Anderson Drive, Rosalind Road, Willshire Drive, Lenox Road, Estelle Drive and Heather Street, with the lower end of Pinecrest Avenue. About three homes in five were built in the 1950s, the highest share in the city, and the typical home dates from 1956. Owner values near $477,700, the lowest of the city's nine block group medians, with a little under one owner home in five valued under $300,000.

Older houses and new ones

Renovating or rebuilding in East Grand Rapids

Most of the city was built before 1960, so many purchases come with a project. These are the city rules a lender, an appraiser and a builder will all run into, from the Residential Zoning Guide and the building permit and assessing pages.

Coverage and height

In the three single-family districts a house may cover 35% of its lot and reach 35 feet and two and a half stories. Roofs and pavement together are held to 40% to 50% of the lot, depending on its size.

Lots smaller than the rules

Many lots predate zoning. On a nonconforming lot the height limit falls to 25 feet, and an addition may extend a short side setback along the same line only where that setback is at least half of what the district requires.

A drainage plan first

A new house, or an addition or garage of 400 square feet or more, needs a drainage plan sealed by a civil engineer, and smaller additions and in-ground pools need a scaled plan. The certificate of occupancy waits until the city inspects the drainage work.

Permits through Cascade Township

After the city's zoning and drainage review, building, electrical, mechanical and plumbing permits go to Cascade Township's Building Inspection Services, the city's designated building official, and the permit fees are paid to Cascade Township.

Rebuilding after damage

A damaged nonconforming house may be put back as it stood only if the repair costs no more than 60% of its replacement value. Past that it must be rebuilt to current zoning, a point worth raising with your insurance agent.

Paying for the lot

The assessor's tear-down study lists 72 sales from 2015 to 2025, from $166,000 to $3,500,000, with a median of $350,000, and $470,000 for the sales since 2020. A lot bought to build on is usually financed with a construction loan, not a standard purchase mortgage.

Schools and commute

Schools

East Grand Rapids Public Schools is the only district in the city: Census school district boundaries put every part of East Grand Rapids inside it. The district runs Wealthy, Lakeside and Breton Downs elementaries, the middle school and high school on Lake Drive near Gaslight Village, and Woodcliff Early Childhood Center, six buildings in all. It also reaches north of the city into a strip of Grand Rapids Township toward Fulton Street, about a tenth of the district's land and about 250 homes in the 2020 Census, where the 2025 homestead total was 33.41 mills against 47.50 inside the city. Across the other lines, Michigan Treasury's 2025 totals were 33.12 mills in the City of Grand Rapids with Grand Rapids Public Schools, and 28.66 and 29.74 in the Forest Hills and Northview parts of Grand Rapids Township. School debt accounts for 9.95 of the city's mills: voters approved a $158.9 million, 30-year bond in November 2023, mostly for a high school addition and renovation, with no increase expected over that 9.95, and in November 2025 a 0.5-mill sinking fund for 2026 through 2035.

Commute

No freeway runs through East Grand Rapids. City streets are posted at 25 mph except Robinson Road eastbound and Cascade Road, and most trips toward Grand Rapids use Wealthy Street, Lake Drive, Fulton Street or Hall Street. From City Hall on Lakeside Drive, Corewell Health Blodgett Hospital on Wealthy Street, inside the city, is under a mile away. By OSRM routing, Corewell's Butterworth campus on Michigan Street is about 3.7 miles and 12 minutes, Trinity Health Grand Rapids' hospital on Jefferson Avenue about 10 minutes, downtown Grand Rapids about 4 miles and 13 minutes, and Gerald R. Ford International Airport about 8 miles and 16 minutes outside rush hour. The City of Grand Rapids' 2025 financial report lists Corewell Health first among West Michigan employers, with about 25,000 workers. Meijer's headquarters in Walker is about 19 minutes away, Grand Valley State's Allendale campus about 32 and the State Capitol in Lansing roughly 75. Two routes of The Rapid serve the city, one on Breton Road and Wealthy Street through Eastown and Gaslight Village and one through the southwest on Breton, Boston, Plymouth and Hall. Census estimates compiled by Census Reporter put the average commute near 18 minutes, and about 26% of working residents do their jobs from home.

Michigan property taxes

East Grand Rapids 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 the City of East Grand Rapids, our 2026 Uncapping Study found taxable value typically rises about 52% the year after a sale. On a $500,000 home, near the typical East Grand Rapids value, that is roughly $4,080 more in first-year tax at the local median homestead millage. We build your payment on that post-sale number.

Looking at an East Grand Rapids 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

Don't build your budget around somebody else's tax bill. The seller's tax history tells us something about the property. It does not automatically tell us what your taxes are going to look like as the new owner.

Mills and dollars

How East Grand Rapids' 47.50 mills compare

Totals are the 2025 homestead rates in Treasury's millage report, and the breakdown follows the city's own rate sheet. Each mill costs $1 per $1,000 of taxable value.

Inside the city: 47.50 mills

Every East Grand Rapids parcel, one school district. About $4,750 a year for each $100,000 of taxable value, with 44.47 of those mills on the summer bill.

City levies: about 14.2 mills

Operations 11.14, streets and sidewalks 1.96, the community center complex 0.61 and two park improvement levies that add up to 0.49.

School levies: about 11.8 mills

Debt 9.95, recreation 1.42 and the sinking fund 0.42 for a homestead. Rentals and second homes add the 18-mill school operating levy, bringing their total to 65.50.

Everything else: about 21.5 mills

State education tax 6.00, Kent ISD 5.35, Kent County operating 4.06, Grand Rapids Community College 1.68 and transit 1.38 on the summer bill, plus 3.03 mills on the winter bill.

Grand Rapids Township, same schools: 33.41

The strip of East Grand Rapids Public Schools north of the city. About $1,409 less a year per $100,000 of taxable value.

City of Grand Rapids: 33.12

With Grand Rapids Public Schools. About $1,437 less per $100,000 of taxable value, but Grand Rapids also levies a city income tax, which East Grand Rapids does not.

Local resources

Check East Grand Rapids records yourself

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

City of East Grand Rapids Assessing, for parcel records and current taxable value
East Grand Rapids Public Schools, for district boundaries and enrollment
Kent County property search, for county property tax records

Due diligence

Six questions for an East Grand Rapids house

Six items that come up on East Grand Rapids houses, all simpler to resolve before your inspection period ends.

The record card against the listing. The assessor keeps a record card for every parcel, with square footage, bedrooms, bathrooms, finished basement, permits and past sales, and reviews part of the city every year with new exterior photos, aerial photos and a condition check under its Annual Review Program. If the card and the listing disagree, sort it out before the appraisal. The cards are reached from the city's Assessing page.
The sewer lateral and the water line. Both are the owner's to repair, the sewer lateral all the way to the main under the street. The city's Water/Sewer Systems page explains the split, and a plumber's camera inspection of an old clay lateral costs far less than replacing one after closing.
The flood map and any LOMA. On Lakeside Drive, Edgemere Drive, Manhattan Road and the other shore streets, look the house up in FEMA's Flood Map Service Center and ask whether the house has a Letter of Map Amendment.
Whether the lot conforms. A lot smaller than its zoning district requires carries a lower height limit and tighter rules for garages, patios and additions. The Residential Zoning Guide lists the standards, and the zoning administrator offers a free conceptual review before you commit to a project.
Plans to rent. Multi-family units need the city's rental certification every two years, and short-term rentals are not a permitted use under the single-family zoning, according to a 2019 staff memo.
The paperwork after closing. File the Property Transfer Affidavit no later than 45 days after closing, and claim the principal residence exemption by June 1. Without the exemption the 2025 total is 65.50 mills.

Block group prices on this page are owners' self-reported values in Census surveys taken 2020 through 2024, with error bands that can be wide, and three of those block groups spill into Grand Rapids Township. Before you offer, we pull the recent sales on the street itself.

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East Grand Rapids mortgage questions

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

How much do houses in East Grand Rapids cost right now?

Redfin’s July through September 2026 median was about $680,000, 2.9% lower than in 2025, with homes closing near 99% of asking after roughly 8 days on the market. The city assessor reports a 2025 median sale of $670,000, an average sale of $815,000 and a 2026 median true cash value of $651,000. The Census median of $521,300 is a different measure, the value owners themselves reported in surveys from 2020 through 2024. Most sales finance inside the 2026 conforming limit of $832,750. Borrowing more than that makes the loan a jumbo.

My listing says Grand Rapids, MI 49506. Is the house in East Grand Rapids?

It may or may not be. East Grand Rapids covers only about 40% of ZIP code 49506 by land, the City of Grand Rapids about 53% and Grand Rapids Township the rest, and a Grand Rapids mailing address can belong to any of them. The Census geocoder places Corewell Health Blodgett Hospital, 1840 Wealthy St SE, Grand Rapids 49506, inside East Grand Rapids, while 1830 Breton Rd SE, Grand Rapids 49506 belongs to Grand Rapids proper, with Grand Rapids Public Schools on its tax bill. The difference is real money: Grand Rapids levies a city income tax and East Grand Rapids does not, and the 2025 homestead rate was 47.50 mills in East Grand Rapids against 33.12 with Grand Rapids Public Schools. Our first step is pulling the parcel’s taxing unit.

Which school district taxes an East Grand Rapids home?

Inside the city it is always East Grand Rapids Public Schools, so the 2025 homestead total is one figure citywide, 47.50 mills, or 65.50 for a home that is not your principal residence. The district name alone does not prove the city, though. The same district covers a strip of Grand Rapids Township north of the city, toward Fulton Street, where the 2025 homestead total was 33.41 mills, about $1,409 a year less per $100,000 of taxable value. The parcel record names the taxing unit.

Do I need flood insurance near Reeds Lake or Fisk Lake?

FEMA requires it on a house in its high-risk zone that has a mortgage from a government-backed lender. In East Grand Rapids that zone covers both lakes and reaches onto about 3.5% of the city’s land along the shore, on the Kent County flood map in effect since February 23, 2023, with a base flood elevation of 733.3 feet. FEMA has issued 29 Letters of Map Amendment in the city, on Lakeside Drive, Edgemere Drive, Manhattan Road, Manhattan Lane, Durant Street, Reeds Lake Boulevard and Pioneer Club Road, and 28 of them took the house out of the zone while part of the lot stayed in. Ask the seller for the letter. It ends the federal requirement, but a lender can still require coverage.

Who provides water and sewer, and what does the owner maintain?

The city does. East Grand Rapids buys its water wholesale from the City of Grand Rapids and delivers it through its own mains, and its sewage goes to Grand Rapids for treatment. Bills come monthly, are due on the 30th and draw a 10% penalty when late. The owner is responsible for the sewer lateral all the way to the city main, even under the street, and for the water line from the shut-off near the sidewalk to the house. The city warns that many older laterals are clay and advises having them inspected by a licensed plumber. It has removed about 615 lead service lines since 2019 and in September 2025 expected to replace the rest within two to three years.

Are there special assessments or extra levies on East Grand Rapids homes?

Very few special assessments. The city’s list dated June 25, 2026 showed balances on five parcels, four on Durant Street and one on Lakeside Drive, from about $2,550 to $6,150. Streets and sidewalks are paid through levies on every bill instead: a street and sidewalk millage of up to 2.0 mills that voters restored in 2024 for 2025 through 2034, and two park improvement levies. The city inspects and replaces sidewalk squares on a rotation that covers the whole city about every 10 to 12 years. The title search confirms any balance on the parcel before closing.

Can I tear down, add on or build an accessory dwelling on an East Grand Rapids lot?

Often, within limits. In the R-1, R-2 and R-3 districts a house can cover up to 35% of its lot and rise 35 feet and two and a half stories, and roofs and pavement together are capped at 40% to 50% of the lot depending on its size. On a lot smaller than its district requires, the height cap drops to 25 feet, and setbacks facing Reeds Lake, Fisk Lake or the channel between them are never reduced. A new house, or an addition of 400 square feet or more, needs a drainage plan sealed by a civil engineer, and the permit is then processed by Cascade Township’s building department. Accessory dwelling units from 300 to 864 square feet are allowed, but each must be registered with the city and carry a deed restriction recorded with Kent County.

Is renting the house out an option later?

A long-term rental of a single-family house, generally yes. The city’s rental certification, an inspection every two years, applies to multi-family units, and single-family rentals and owner-occupied duplexes are exempt. Short-term rentals are another matter: a 2019 memo from the zoning administrator said the city has no short-term rental ordinance and that its single-family zoning does not permit the use, so check with the city before counting on that income. Renting also changes the tax. Without the principal residence exemption the 2025 total is 65.50 mills instead of 47.50, roughly $1,800 extra per year for every $100,000 of taxable value.

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Tell Samantha what you are trying to do in East Grand Rapids 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.