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Clare County. Grab your coffee! The good stuff in the percolator, not the pod machine your daughter-in-law bought you, and let’s talk real estate.
Labor Day weekend has come and gone for another year. The boat’s out of the water or scheduled to be, the last of the sweet corn is gone, and somewhere a folding chair is still sitting on a beach nobody’s coming back for. So why does that matter to you, sitting there with your coffee?
Because historically, this is when the end-of-season deals show up in the Clare County real estate market, and if you’ve spent all summer watching a particular house just sit there, unbothered, like your neighbor’s above-ground pool, now is the time to reconsider writing that offer.
Here’s why: folks selling recreational homes and cottages generally do not want to maintain them through a Michigan winter. Nobody wakes up in November excited to shovel a driveway for a house they’re not even living in, deal with a frozen pipe two hours away, or explain to their insurance agent what “ice dam” means for the third year running. Mud season, ice, snow, and whatever meteorological fresh hell Michigan decides to throw at us between now and April. Sellers know it’s coming, and a lot of them would rather close a deal than close the cottage for another season. That’s leverage, and it’s yours for the taking if you’ve been on the fence.
The latest county figures are in from July, so let’s see how things shook out: Eighty-one houses on the market in July and sixteen walked off the shelf that same month. That’s not a fire sale, but it’s not exactly gathering dust either. Think more “the good donuts at the church coffee hour” than “the fruitcake nobody touches until February.”
And that land number is worth pausing on: 55 vacant parcels active in July with only 5 sold and 3 pending. If you’ve been eyeing a spot to build that dream cabin or finally get around to putting a pole barn where your workshop dreams live, there’s more selection out there right now than there’s been in a while. Somebody’s unwanted land is somebody else’s opportunity.
Let’s talk about rates (Deep breath). The 30-year mortgage rate hit 6.77% this week — a 52-week high — after Fed Chair Kevin Warsh gave a speech that made Wall Street nervous about another rate hike, and a stronger-than-expected jobs report piled on for good measure.
Now, I know what some of you are thinking, because you’ve told me directly at the Isabella Bank counter: “Daniel, I bought my first house in 1982 at 16.5%, and I walked twelve miles through a Michigan blizzard to sign the paperwork.” I hear you. I respect you. Compared to that, 6.77% is basically a blue-light special. But for today’s buyers, many of whom are your kids and grandkids, that number still moves the monthly payment more than they’d like, and it’s worth planning around rather than ignoring.
For those of you thinking about selling and downsizing to something with one level and a lot less lawn to mow, here’s the upside: buyers who are still shopping in this rate environment are serious. Nobody is out here browsing 6.77% mortgages for fun on a Tuesday night. If they’re pre-approved and looking, they mean business.
Should you list this winter? Absolutely. I get this question every single year around now, usually from someone who assumes real estate shuts down like the Clare Dairy Queen after Labor Day. It does not. If anything, listing your home or property over the coming months can work in your favor, for one simple reason: buyers who move in the winter months are usually doing it because they must.
Nobody relocates to Clare County in January for fun. It’s a job transfer, a new grandbaby they can’t stand to be far from, a health situation, a downsizing decision that finally can’t wait any longer, some real, motivating life event. Winter buyers aren’t casually strolling through open houses with a cup of cider; they’re on a timeline, they’re serious, and they’re far less likely to waste your time. Fewer tire-kickers, more real offers.
What this means if you’re selling? The countywide numbers back this up. Median sale price is sitting around $159,500, up 3.9% from last year, and one in five homes is still selling for above asking price. Homes are taking a bit longer to sell than they did a year ago, about 46 days versus 32, but 97.2% of sellers are still getting nearly full asking price at the closing table, if they put the right price on the home on day 1.
Translation for my fellow people who remember when a stamp cost a dime: this is still very much a seller’s market. It’s just no longer a “list it on Thursday, sold by Sunday potluck” market. Pricing it right from day one matters more than it did a year ago and if you’re one of those recreational-property owners weighing whether to winterize or sell, see above.
What this means if you’re buying (Especially you, lake people). If you’re eyeing a place on the water before next summer, and let’s be honest, a solid chunk of my phone calls this time of year are from folks who spent August at the family cottage and came home determined to make it permanent, the fall and winter months are traditionally a quieter, less competitive window than spring. Fewer buyers touring in the cold means a little more breathing room to negotiate, and a lot fewer awkward moments where you’re competing with six other offers over Labor Day weekend. Combine that with sellers who’d rather not winterize a place they’re ready to let go of, and this is genuinely one of the better times of year to make a move.
The Bottom Line. The grill’s covered, the dock’s coming out soon, and Labor Day is in the rearview, which means the window for end-of-season deals is officially open. Eighty-one houses. Nineteen pendings. Sixteen sold. Fifty-five empty lots waiting for someone’s retirement project. That’s the July report card. And mortgage rates that would’ve made your younger self laugh but still matter plenty to your grandkids trying to buy their first place. That part’s happening right now.
Whether you’re selling the family home, hunting for your forever cottage on the lake, or just enjoy reading this over your second cup of coffee before Wheel of Fortune comes on — I’m here for it, and here for you.
Daniel Dwyer-Snyder, Associate Broker with CENTURY 21 Signature Realty. I can be reached at 989-708-1845.
