Everyone who dreams of buying land in Michigan has a picture of their perfect place that they visit often on Zillow or Pinterest or Instagram.
It could be forty flat acres with a modern farmhouse and hobby farm.
Or perhaps a cabin in the woods with a stone chimney where you can hear nothing but wind and birds.
Maybe it's rolling hills that look like they belong in a postcard.
Mine was water. A piece of property where I could sit outside with a cup of coffee, watch the sun go down, and listen to the water moving past. I was able to buy mine last year.
Going through the process myself, and years of helping others do the same, I can tell you with certainty that buying land is nothing like buying a house!
Land Isn't a House Without Walls
When you buy a house, you're mostly evaluating what's already built. When you buy land, you're evaluating what's possible, and that requires a completely different set of questions. A few off the top of my head;
- Does the parcel perc for a septic system?
- What's the actual buildable area once you account for setbacks and wetlands?
- Is there road access, or an easement that gives you legal access?
- Is it zoned for what you actually want to do with it?
These aren't questions most people know how to answer, because most don't work in land. I do. I'm a member of the Realtor Land Institute, which means land transactions aren't a side interest for me, they're a specialty I've trained in. I've sold property across the state of Michigan and learned that every piece of land tells you something different once you know what to look for.
Buying Land Is Complicated. That's Where I Come In.
Land deals move differently than home sales. Financing works differently. Due diligence looks different. Even the negotiation process is different, because you're often working with sellers who've owned the property for decades and have an emotional attachment that has nothing to do with market value.
I've navigated it both for my clients and for myself. I know what it's like to fall in love with a piece of ground and need someone to tell you honestly whether it's actually going to work for your dream, or whether there's a problem hiding underneath the surface that a home inspection would never catch.
Planning to Build? I've Got You Covered There Too
A lot of land buyers eventually want to build, and that opens up a whole new set of questions: builders, permits, utilities, construction loans, timelines. So I've put together an Ultimate Guide to New Construction to get you started in the process.
Get Matched With Land Before It Even Hits the Market
Good land moves fast, and a lot of it never gets widely advertised. Fill out the form below, and I'll send you two things: a guide to buying land in Michigan, and a spot in our land search subscription, so new properties that match exactly what you're looking for land straight in your inbox, whether that's waterfront, wooded acreage, farmland, or hills of your own.
Whatever your version of sunset with a cup of coffee looks like, let's go find it.
