HomeHOUSING YOU CAN AFFORD
Housing You Can Afford
If you work here, you should be able to afford to live here.
Home prices in West Michigan have jumped roughly 40% since 2020. Our kids should be able to afford to live in the neighborhoods they grew up in - and your house payment shouldn't be a surprise.
Our kids should be able to afford to live in the neighborhoods they grew up in. If you work here, you should be able to afford to live here. That used to go without saying in West Michigan. Not anymore.
Home prices in our area have climbed roughly 40% since 2020. And when I talk to people trying to buy their first home, I realize just how different things are from when I bought mine. New buyers stretch to make the numbers work – and then get blindsided when their payment skyrockets after the first year, as their property taxes catch up to the sale price.
Your house payment shouldn’t be a surprise.
My plan:
When I’m in Lansing, I’ll introduce a bill freezing property taxes for the first five years after buying a home – for seniors and first-time buyers.
That does two things:
It gives seniors the confidence to move. Right now, longtime homeowners are stuck. Selling the family home means losing a low tax bill and taking on a much bigger one somewhere new – so they stay put, even when the house no longer fits their lives. A five-year freeze lets seniors downsize into homes that suit their needs, which opens up family-sized homes for the next generation.
It gives first-time buyers real stability. Anyone who’s owned a first home knows the surprises that come with it – the furnace, the roof, the water heater, usually all in the same year. A predictable tax bill means new homeowners can actually invest in their homes instead of just hanging on.
Right now, we’re penalizing people for moving – and it’s keeping our whole community stuck in a housing crisis. Seniors can’t afford to downsize. Young families can’t afford to buy. And the homes we need never change hands. Let’s get West Michigan moving again.
Life comes in seasons, and I think about what comes next for my family all the time. It’s overwhelming to think about what life will look like for my wife and me once our kids are grown. The one thing I know for sure: I want to have options.
It should be up to you and your family – not zoning boards, not anyone else – to decide what best suits your needs as you get older.
My plan:
One of the simplest ways to open up options is to legalize and incentivize accessory dwelling units – ADUs – so you can build an additional, small-footprint living space on your own property.
It’s your land. You should be able to build a space for:
Your adult kids — a place to stay while they get on their feet, save for a down payment, and stay close to family instead of moving away.
A home health aide — live-in support that lets you stay in your own home years longer, on your own terms.
Yourself — a manageable, single-level space of your own without the upkeep of the full house, while your adult children raise their family in the home where you raised them. The house stays in the family. The grandkids grow up down the walkway.
Right now, outdated zoning rules make this illegal or impractical in much of Michigan. That’s a policy choice – and it’s the wrong one.
Aging shouldn’t mean fewer choices. It should mean the freedom to write the next season on your own terms, in the community you call home.
