Kent County, Michigan

Mortgage Broker in Gaines Township, MI

Gaines Township addresses read Caledonia, Byron Center, Kentwood, Grand Rapids or Wayland, and three school districts split the tax. Samantha starts from the parcel, then compares your loan across several wholesale lenders.

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Buying a home in Gaines Township

Gaines Township is a charter township in Kent County directly south of Kentwood, home to about 30,300 residents in the Census Bureau's 2024 estimate. The Corinth community in its southwest corner began as Cody's Mills, a grist mill and sawmill built in 1866. The median household income in Gaines Township is near $82,700.

By the numbers

Gaines Township housing and mortgage snapshot

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

$325,000

Typical home value, from the market research on this page

+39%

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

1.00%

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

6

Residential ZIP codes: 49316, 49315, 49512, 49508, 49548, 49348

What financing looks like in Gaines Township

Redfin keeps no market page for Gaines Township. Its numbers for 49316, the Caledonia ZIP code that spans roughly two thirds of the township, put the median sale at about $472,000 for July through September 2026, up about 7% from a year earlier, with homes taking about 21 days to sell against 16 a year before. Gaines holds only about four tenths of that ZIP code, so the township assessor's 2026 study is the closer local read: 380 sales dated April 2023 to March 2025, with a median near $362,000, about $375,000 for detached houses and $320,000 for condos and townhomes. Just three of the 380 carried prices over the 2026 conforming limit of $832,750, and even a house like that needs a jumbo loan only when the amount borrowed goes past it. About 1 in 9 sold above FHA's 2026 limit for Kent County, $541,287, so conventional, FHA and VA financing all reach most of this market. A first-time buyer under MSHDA's income limits can add the MI 10K to a MI Home Loan, a $10,000 down payment loan repaid only when the house changes hands or gets refinanced, the first mortgage ends, or you move out. Its $566,355 price cap sat above all but about 1 in 12 of the study's sales.

The kind of home decides more here than the price. The Census counts about 1,500 manufactured homes in the township, roughly one home in eight, and about two thirds of them stand between Division and Eastern avenues north of 68th Street. On a rented lot such a home is personal property and usually takes a chattel loan, while on owned land with a permanent foundation it can carry a conventional, FHA or VA mortgage. About one sale in five in the assessor's study was a condo or townhome, at places such as Leisure Creek off 68th Street and the condos near Earle Brewer Park, and the lender will ask for the association's questionnaire, budget and insurance. Some houses in the rural south draw from a private well and drain to a septic system, so leave room in the inspection period for both. Then there is the tax calendar: the summer bill carries about seven tenths of the year's homestead tax and comes due September 14 in Gaines, nearly four weeks after Kentwood's August 20 deadline, so the escrow collected at closing depends on where your date falls.

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Gaines Charter Township's own hall carries a Caledonia mailing address, and homes inside the township can read Caledonia, Byron Center, Kentwood, Grand Rapids or Wayland.

The market

The Gaines Township housing market

The typical home value in Gaines Township is near $325,200, the median for owner-occupied homes in the Census Bureau's American Community Survey, which counts about 8,200 owner-occupied homes here. The median year built is 1994, so Gaines Township is mostly newer subdivisions of colonials and ranches, with some rural parcels in the south. Homeowners pay a median of about $3,250 a year in property taxes, an effective property tax rate of about 1.00% of the median value.

Six ZIP codes

Gaines Township by mailing address

The post office, not the township, decides which city a Gaines Township address reads. Land shares are from our sample of Census ZIP boundaries. Redfin's sale medians cover July through September 2026 and each ZIP code as a whole, and none of these ZIP codes lies mostly inside the township.

Caledonia 49316: about two thirds of the land

Most of the township east of Kalamazoo Avenue, from 60th Street to the county line: Dutton, the township hall, Amazon's distribution center and the rural southeast. Gaines holds about 41% of this ZIP code, with Caledonia Township and Allegan County's Leighton Township sharing most of the remainder. Redfin's ZIP-wide median was about $472,000, up about 7%, with homes taking about 21 days to sell.

Byron Center 49315: about a sixth

The west side south of about 72nd Street, between Division and Kalamazoo avenues, with the condos near Earle Brewer Park, South Christian High School and Preservation Lakes. Only about 11% of the ZIP code falls in Gaines, with Byron Township holding most of the rest. Across all of 49315, Redfin's median was about $520,000, up about 1%, with homes selling in about 9 days.

Grand Rapids or Kentwood 49508, Grand Rapids 49548: about an eighth

The north end between Division Avenue and about Hanna Lake Avenue, above 84th Street: Pine Rest, East Kentwood High School and the M-6 interchange at Kalamazoo. Gaines holds about a fifth of each ZIP code, with Kentwood, Grand Rapids and Wyoming holding most of the rest. Redfin's medians ran about $355,000 in 49508 and $262,000 in 49548, where homes sold in about a week.

Wayland 49348 and Grand Rapids 49512: the corners

South of about 100th Street and west of Kalamazoo Avenue, addresses read Wayland, as at 10411 Eastern Ave SE, which the Census geocoder places in Gaines and in Byron Center Public Schools. The northeast corner near 60th Street and Patterson Avenue falls in 49512. Neither covers more than about 3% of the township.

Where to look

Gaines Township neighborhoods

Pine Rest and Cutlerville east of Division

Division to Eastern Avenue from 68th to 76th Street, where John I. Cutler's 1891 house became the start of Pine Rest in 1910. The hospital's main campus is at 300 68th Street. Its typical home dates from 1972, the oldest of any tract in the township, and about three homes in ten are attached. Census owner values run near $247,000 with a wide margin. In the Fontenelle Gardens plat along Division the assessor's 15 sales came in near $220,000. Kentwood Public Schools north of about 72nd Street, Byron Center south of it.

60th Street to M-6 along Division Avenue

The northwest corner between Division and Eastern avenues, from the Kentwood line at 60th Street past M-6 to 68th. Close to half of its roughly 2,200 homes are manufactured homes and about three in ten sit in apartment buildings, so the Census owner median comes out near $41,000. Site-built homes sold for far more in the assessor's study: older houses on Paris Avenue and nearby streets near $262,000, the Shoreside Drive condos near $300,000 and the newer Summer Circle streets near $365,000. Kentwood Public Schools. A sliver of Buck Creek's flood zone touches the Division edge.

Leisure Creek and the Kalamazoo Avenue interchange

Kalamazoo Avenue east to Hanna Lake Avenue between 60th and 68th streets, around M-6's exit 11, with shops and theaters by the ramps and East Kentwood High School just south of 60th Street. Nearly half of its roughly 1,230 homes are attached, typically from 1997, with Census owner values near $364,000. The assessor's sales split two ways: the Leisure Creek condos near $285,000 and subdivisions off 68th Street such as Dew Pointe and Summerbreeze near $387,000. Mostly Kentwood Public Schools, with Caledonia toward Hanna Lake Avenue, where Plaster Creek's Zone A covers about 5% of the land.

Smith Farms, Creekside Park and 60th Street

Eastern to Kalamazoo Avenue from 60th Street to 68th, around the county's Creekside Park. Apartment complexes line the 60th Street side, so renters hold most homes here, while the streets to the south, Smith Farms Court, Sawgrass and Culpepper drives and the Creekside View condos, are mostly owner-occupied, with Census owner values near $360,000 and a typical home from 1989. The assessor's 16 sales had a median near $350,000. A house at 1489 Smith Farms Ct SE carries a Kentwood address yet sits in Gaines, in Kentwood Public Schools.

Crystal Springs and Brooklyn Avenue

Eastern to Kalamazoo Avenue, 68th to 76th Street. About 86% detached houses and about 85% owner-occupied, typically built in 1985, with Census owner values near $393,000. The assessor's 56 sales had a median near $400,000, the highest of the north-end areas: houses in the Crystal Springs plat, which crosses Kalamazoo Avenue, reached a median near $528,000, while the Cutlerville Hills streets such as Bonnie and Belfast avenues sold near $365,000. Thirteen sales here went above the FHA limit. Kentwood Public Schools, with Byron Center in the southwest corner by Eastern Avenue.

Glencreek, Crystal View and Hanna Lake Avenue

Kalamazoo Avenue east to Hanna Lake Avenue between 68th and 76th streets. Typically built in 2004, among the newest in the township, and the Census found no renter households among its roughly 930 homes. Census owner values sit near $337,000, while the assessor's 39 sales on streets such as Glencreek, Shady Knoll and Crystal View drives had a median near $395,000, condos included. Kentwood Public Schools take the west half and Caledonia the east half, split near Breton Avenue. Plaster Creek's mapped flood zone covers about 4% of the land.

Cooks Crossing, Earle Brewer Park and 76th to 84th

Division Avenue to Kalamazoo between 76th and 84th streets, with Earle Brewer Park between Division and Eastern and South Christian High School on Kalamazoo Avenue. Its typical home dates from 2005, the latest in the township, about one home in eight is attached and close to 260 are manufactured homes. Census owner values near $362,000. The assessor's 53 sales split between attached condos on streets such as Peaceful, Woodstone and Brewer Park Circle, near $325,000, and detached houses near $395,000, with one on Carriage Pass Court at $656,250 in January 2025. Mostly Byron Center schools and Byron Center addresses, Caledonia along Kalamazoo.

Township hall, Prairie Wolf Park and 84th Street

The middle of the township around 84th Street and Kalamazoo Avenue: the township hall, the Kent County Sheriff's south substation next door and Prairie Wolf Park, 45 acres of trails where the township holds its Heritage Festival. All of its roughly 620 homes are detached houses, typically from 1992, with Census owner values near $344,000. The assessor's 16 sales, on Trailblazer Drive and along 84th Street, had a median near $412,500. Byron Center schools west of Kalamazoo, Caledonia east. A 2016 township plan calls for more homes and mixed use close to this intersection.

Preservation Lakes, Eastern Avenue and Corinth

The southwest below 92nd Street, down to 108th Street and Allegan County, between Division and Kalamazoo avenues, with Dias Hill, the Corinth crossroads at Division and 100th Street, which began as Cody's Mills in 1866, and Preservation Lakes on Water Ridge and Waters Bluff drives. The assessor's 16 sales here had a median near $607,000, the highest of any area on this page, and Preservation Lakes homes sold from about $549,000 to $770,000. Addresses read Byron Center or, south of about 100th Street, Wayland. Byron Center schools on the western strip, Caledonia at Preservation Lakes.

Hanna Lake and the rural southeast

East of Hanna Lake Avenue from 76th Street and east of Kalamazoo below 92nd, down to the county line: the township's largest and least built-up area, with Hanna Lake between 92nd and 100th streets and the Paul Henry Trail angling southeast toward Kraft Avenue. One Census block group covers it along with the southwest, about 930 homes, nearly all detached, typically from 1990, with owner values near $468,000. The assessor's 16 sales east of Kalamazoo had a median near $443,000, from rural lots on 92nd and 100th streets to private-drive plats on Copper Greens Drive near $755,000 to $825,000. Caledonia schools.

Dutton, the Pyramid and the Paul Henry Trail

The northeast, Hanna Lake Avenue to Patterson Avenue from 60th Street to 76th. Dutton, settled in 1870, centers on 68th Street and Dutton Avenue, with the township's Dutton fire station, Dutton Shadyside Park, where Plaster Creek begins, and the Paul Henry Trail running down East Paris Avenue. Switch's data center occupies the former Steelcase pyramid at 60th and East Paris, and Amazon's distribution center is on 68th Street. About one home in five is manufactured and a quarter are apartments, so the Census owner median, near $206,000, carries a wide margin. Assessor sales: houses near $360,000, Fieldstone Hills condos near $225,000. Caledonia schools.

Schools and commute

Schools

Three districts split the township, and the township posts its own school district map. By our sample of Census district boundaries, Caledonia Community Schools covers about two thirds of the land: the east side north of 76th Street, from a line near Breton Avenue, and nearly everything east of Kalamazoo Avenue farther south. Kentwood Public Schools takes the north end from Division Avenue to about Breton, roughly a sixth of the land, and East Kentwood High School itself stands inside the township on Kalamazoo Avenue south of 60th Street. Byron Center Public Schools covers the west side from about 72nd Street south, also about a sixth. Land share understates Kentwood's part: its neighborhoods held about half of the 380 sales in the assessor's 2026 study, with Byron Center's and Caledonia's about a quarter each. In 2025, Michigan Treasury's homestead totals here ran 30.38 mills with Byron Center, 29.42 with Caledonia and 27.96 with Kentwood, so the district alone moves the bill by about $243 a year per $100,000 of taxable value. A mailing address does not settle the district, so we read it from the parcel.

Commute

M-6, the South Beltline, runs across the north end of the township, and its only interchange inside Gaines is exit 11 at Kalamazoo Avenue, with stores and movie theaters around the ramps. US-131 stays just west of Division Avenue, and M-37 meets M-6 at Broadmoor Avenue a short way past the east line in Caledonia Township. The freeway stretch just east of Division carried about 55,000 vehicles a day in 2011, the most anywhere on M-6. From the township hall on Kalamazoo Avenue near 84th Street, free-flow drives run about 17 minutes (13 miles) to downtown Grand Rapids, 15 minutes to the Gerald R. Ford International Airport terminal, 12 minutes to Steelcase's headquarters on 44th Street, about 34 minutes to Grand Valley State's Allendale campus and about 48 minutes to downtown Kalamazoo. Several large employers are inside the township: Pine Rest's main campus on 68th Street, about 7 minutes from the hall, Amazon's distribution center on 68th Street east of East Paris Avenue, the Switch data center in the former Steelcase pyramid at 6100 East Paris Avenue, and, on the township's own list, a Steelcase wood plant and a Coca-Cola distribution center. Census estimates put the typical one-way commute at about 21 minutes, and about 12% of workers stay home (Census Reporter).

Michigan property taxes

Gaines 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 Gaines Township, our 2026 Uncapping Study found taxable value typically rises about 39% the year after a sale. On a $325,000 home, near the typical Gaines Township value, that is roughly $1,330 more in first-year tax at the local median homestead millage. We build your payment on that post-sale number.

Looking at a Gaines 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

County alone does not tell you much. We would never say you are in a particular county so here are your taxes. It does not work like that. We need the actual property.

Millage by district

Gaines Township tax rates beside its neighbors

Rates are Michigan Treasury's 2025 homestead totals in mills, including the township's 1.50-mill special assessment, and a mill equals $1 for every $1,000 of taxable value. Three cards cover the township's own school districts, two compare the neighbors that share them, and one covers a house you would not live in.

Byron Center Public Schools part: 30.38 mills

The west side. Close to $3,040 a year on $100,000 of taxable value, the highest of the three and about $243 more than the Kentwood part. Summer carries 21.07 of these mills.

Caledonia Community Schools part: 29.42 mills

About two thirds of the land, including Dutton and the rural south. Roughly $96 a year below the Byron Center part per $100,000 of taxable value, with 20.59 mills on the summer bill.

Kentwood Public Schools part: 27.96 mills

The north end between 60th Street and about 76th, the lowest total in the township. Summer carries 19.86 mills and winter 8.10.

Kentwood, across 60th Street: 39.22 mills

The same Kentwood Public Schools inside the City of Kentwood costs about $1,127 a year more on $100,000 of taxable value. Our 2026 Uncapping Study also found a bigger jump in taxable value after a sale there, about 54%, against about 39% in Gaines.

Byron and Caledonia townships: 30.59 and 29.81

Byron Township's Byron Center rate and Caledonia Township's Caledonia rate each sit within about 0.4 mill of the matching Gaines rate. Inside the Village of Caledonia the total climbs to 37.76.

A rental or second home: 18 mills more

Lose the principal residence exemption and the totals become 48.38, 47.42 and 45.96 mills, roughly $1,800 extra each year on $100,000 of taxable value. New exemption claims go to the township assessor by June 1 or November 1.

Local resources

Check Gaines Township records yourself

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

Gaines Township Assessing, for parcel records and current taxable value
Caledonia Community Schools, for district boundaries and enrollment
Kent County property search, for county property tax records

Worth a phone call

Questions to settle on a Gaines Township house

Each of these can change the payment or the closing, and the township answers most of them by phone or online.

The school district line. Three districts meet inside the township, and the mailing city will not tell you which one taxes the parcel. Check the address against the township's school district map and the parcel record.
Public water or a well. The township's Water and Sewer Department bills connected homes quarterly and asks for a week's notice before a move so it can take a final reading. The Byron-Gaines Utility Authority's FAQ says the authority reads meters while the township does the billing. Off the system, budget for a well and septic inspection.
What rides on the winter bill. Drain and streetlight assessments and unpaid water or sewer charges land on the winter tax bill. The treasurer's page links the township's online records for special assessments and tax history.
Plaster Creek. Lots along the creek between Breton Avenue and East Paris Avenue north of 76th Street are the ones to look up on FEMA's Flood Map Service Center before your contingencies run out.
Condo and land paperwork. For an attached condo, ask the association for its budget, reserves and insurance. For a manufactured home, confirm whether the land is owned or leased, which our manufactured home loan page explains.
The homestead exemption. Send the Principal Residence Exemption affidavit to the township assessor. The township lists June 1 and November 1 as the deadlines for new claims, and without the exemption the rate rises by 18 mills.

The neighborhood figures on this page come from Census estimates for 2020 to 2024 and the assessor's 2026 sales study, and either can miss on a single street, so ask us to pull fresh comparable sales before you settle on a price.

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Gaines Township mortgage questions

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

What do homes in Gaines Township sell for?

No Redfin figure covers the township alone. Across the 49316 ZIP code, which reads Caledonia and holds most of the township’s land, Redfin’s median sale from July through September 2026 was about $472,000, up about 7%, and homes sold a little under list price. The township assessor’s 2026 study, covering 380 sales from April 2023 to March 2025, found a median near $362,000, from about $220,000 in the Fontenelle Gardens plat to about $675,000 at Preservation Lakes. The Census figure of $325,200 is owners’ own estimate of value across 2020 to 2024.

My address says Caledonia, Byron Center or Kentwood. Is the home in Gaines Township?

It may well be. By the Census geocoder, the township hall at 8555 Kalamazoo Ave SE, Caledonia, sits inside Gaines Township, and so do 811 Water Ridge Dr SE, Byron Center, 1489 Smith Farms Ct SE, Kentwood, 7321 Brooklyn Ave SE, Grand Rapids and 10411 Eastern Ave SE, Wayland. It runs the other way too: Gaines holds only about four tenths of the 49316 ZIP code and about a tenth of 49315, so many Caledonia and Byron Center addresses belong to other townships. The parcel record names the township and the school district.

Which school district taxes my parcel, and how much does it matter?

The parcel decides, and the township’s district map shows the lines. Caledonia Community Schools covers about two thirds of the land, Kentwood Public Schools the north end and Byron Center Public Schools the west side, about a sixth each. In 2025 a homestead paid 30.38 mills in Byron Center’s part, 29.42 in Caledonia’s and 27.96 in Kentwood’s. On $200,000 of taxable value, Byron Center’s part costs about $485 a year more than Kentwood’s. The mailing city does not settle it: 811 Water Ridge Dr SE reads Byron Center and sits in Caledonia’s district.

Is a Gaines Township house on public water and sewer, or a well and septic?

Check the parcel. The Byron-Gaines Utility Authority, formed in 2002, runs the water and sewer systems for Gaines and Byron townships: the water is Lake Michigan water bought from the City of Wyoming, and most sewage goes to Wyoming’s treatment plant, with a smaller share to Grand Rapids. The township bills connected homes every quarter, and its 2026 rates put an average household’s quarterly bill near $146. Not every parcel is connected, and the township’s 2016 sub-area plan sets bigger minimum lots where sanitary sewer is not available, so on a rural lot ask about a private well and septic system and inspect both.

What else shows up on a Gaines Township tax bill?

Beyond the school, county and library levies, the winter bill carries the township’s own 0.80 mills and a 1.50-mill township special assessment. Where they apply, it also picks up drain assessments, streetlight assessments in subdivisions with lights and any water or sewer bill left unpaid, and every bill adds a 1% administration fee. The summer bill becomes a lien on July 1 and is due without interest through September 14, and the winter bill is due February 14. Before closing, ask the treasurer’s office whether any assessment or utility balance is attached to the parcel.

How much of Gaines Township is in a flood zone?

Very little. By our sample of FEMA’s flood map, well under 1% of the township’s land is in the high-risk zone. Nearly all of it is Zone A along Plaster Creek, which begins in Dutton Shadyside Park, and the streams feeding it between Breton Avenue and East Paris Avenue north of 76th Street, with a sliver of Buck Creek’s zone at Division Avenue. Zone A is drawn by approximate methods and shows no base flood elevation. Federally backed lenders require a flood policy on a home inside that zone, so get a quote early if the lot touches the creek.

Will I hear the airport from Gaines Township?

Gerald R. Ford International Airport sits just northeast of the township in Cascade Township, about 15 minutes from the township hall. The airport authority’s posted noise exposure map is from 2005. Its 65 DNL line, which the FAA uses as the threshold of significant noise for homes, dips south of 60th Street only east of Patterson Avenue, in Caledonia Township, and stays out of Gaines. That map is old, so if noise matters to you, visit the house at a few different times of day.

Can I finance a manufactured home or a condo in Gaines Township?

Yes, with the right loan. The Census counts about 1,500 manufactured homes here, roughly one home in eight. A manufactured home that sits on owned land and a permanent foundation, and counts as real estate, can take a conventional, FHA or VA mortgage, while one on a rented lot in a community is personal property and usually needs a chattel loan. Condos made up about one sale in five in the assessor’s study, from Leisure Creek near $285,000 to the Creekside View condos near $390,000. For those, the association’s questionnaire, budget, reserves and insurance decide which programs work, so request them as soon as the offer is accepted.

Talk with a local mortgage expert

Tell Samantha what you are trying to do in Gaines 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.