Yeah, but what can I get for a half mil?

This is what $100k will get you in Eaton Rapids. It begs the question, what would a typical east or west coast budget get in Eaton Rapids?

An earlier post looked at what kind of house $100k will buy in fly-over country.

Some people have a bigger budget than that. Much bigger. Perhaps they had a lot of equity in their house and cashed out, looking to retire. Maybe they want to invest all of their gains in real estate for tax reasons. This post is for them.

First, a few pictures from the neighborhood:

The house is on the right, north side of this photo. It is not in a trailer park.

Looking up river.

Looking down river.

From overhead. There is a deep hole in the river right in front of the house. That hole holds walleyes and channel cats. Killer northern pike on the other side of the river and slightly down river. Largemouth bass everywhere.

Incidentally, the house comes with over 1000 feet of river frontage. Given a 1/4hp aeration unit, I have little doubt that portion of the river could hold brown trout and maybe rainbows.

It is worth noting that waterfront property in northern Michigan runs $10,000 a foot on sandy-bottomed lakes. A half a million dollars will buy you 50 feet of beach. That same price buys you twenty times as much frontage AND a beautiful house in Eaton Rapids. And better fishing.

A slough is just upstream and it is the cat's pajamas if you like to shoot carp with a bow when they are spawning.

Most of the 76 acres is in early-succession hardwood regrowth. Pretty decent for deer hunting.

Property
The house comes with about 76 acres of land and is a 1/4 mile from the road. A pain in the rear if you don't have snow plowing equipment.

It is 5.3 miles from the local hospital and the same distance to the grocery store and pharmacy. It is 5.4 miles to the closest brew pub.

It is 35 minutes to Sparrow hospital and the same to Michigan State University if watching Big 10 sports is your huckleberry.

Interior

Cozy dining area looking out at the river.

Cheerful without being fussy. Fireplace on the right side of photo.

The view looking down river.

A three season room.

Boring details

• 3200 square-feet. The same price will buy you an 1100 square-foot townhouse in San Jose with no yard.
• Backup generator included
• GE home security system

Realtor contact

I have no inside knowledge but I believe the sellers would seriously entertain an offer of $425k as long as they knew the buyers would appreciate the property for what it is.