I live in MI and have signed a 13 month rental apartment lease. Can I
break the lease if my job has been transferred over 30 miles away from
the apartment or if i am a first time home-buyer without facing any penalty?

That is going to depend upon your state's law and what the lease you
signed said.  I think there is a warning here, in fact it is below me
as i type, that we are not supposed to substitute for professional
...legal... advice.

This is a perfect case for getting advice from an attorney in MI. 
Every case is different, and yes, in some cases, you are in trouble if
you jump out on a lease. I have had that problem before in a different
state, and it can be messy. don't mess it up worse by taking free of
cheap advice on the Web.  A landlord has a basic right to know a lease
signer means to stay as promised, which is what a lease is all about.

Here is what one "expert" says about breaking the lease:
http://experts.about.com/q/Buying-Selling-Home-1476/lease.htm

Here is the Michigan Landlord Tenant Law:
http://www.thelpa.com/lpa/landlord-tenant-law/mi-landlord-tenant-law.html

More useful, perhaps, is this from the State:
http://www.michigan.gov/documents/Landlord__Tenant_Guide_10-2005_142052_7.pdf

But nothing seems to indicate any special rights for you.