Weekly Article 2026

Weekly Article 2026 Labor Day’s Over, the Grill’s Put Away, and So Are Some Asking Prices 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 […]
Weekly Article 2026 The Six Biggest Mistakes Home Sellers Make Selling your home is a big deal—financially and emotionally. Most sellers want two things: a smooth process and the best possible price. Reasonable goals. Unfortunately, there are a handful of common mistakes that tend to get in the way. Let’s walk through the ones I see most often, so you can avoid learning them the […]
Weekly Article 2026 What Is an “Agency Relationship” — and Why It Matters When You’re Buying or Selling a Home Remember when buying a house meant a handshake, a listing in the Sunday paper, and an agent working out of a card table in the back of a strip-mall office with a bowl of hard candy on the desk? Those days are as gone as your old 8-track player. These days there’s an actual legal […]
Weekly Article 2026 Summer’s Circling the Drain: What Labor Day Means for the Clare County Market Ready or not, Labor Day is rolling in fast, like a cannonball off the dock when you were mid-nap on the raft. For those of us who remember when “back to school” meant Trapper Keepers and a fresh box of 64 Crayolas (the one with the built-in sharpener, if your parents really loved you), Labor […]
Weekly Article 2026 EMAIL Q & A Hello Daniel, I’ve been a city dweller my entire life, but lately I find myself daydreaming about wide open spaces, fresh air, and a slower pace of living. My husband thinks I’ve lost my mind, but I can’t shake this feeling that we’re meant for something more than our tiny backyard and noisy neighborhood. Last […]
Weekly Article 2026 Buried in Someone Else’s Belongings Dear Daniel, I recently bought a home and used an out-of-area agent. It was someone who called me after I clicked a box on a real estate search site. I didn’t realize I’d end up with an agent who didn’t know anything about the area the home was in, or any pertinent information about the […]
Weekly Article 2026 Should You Renovate Before Selling, or List As-Is? Every year, I sit down with dozens of sellers who ask me the same question: “Should I fix this place up first, or just sell it the way it sits?” After two decades of walking through Mid-Michigan recreational properties, farmhouses, lake cottages, and chalet-style homes built in the ’70s, I can tell you the honest […]
Weekly Article 2026 Real Estate Terms You Should Know Before Buying or Selling Real estate has its own language, and if you’re not in the industry, some of the terminology can feel like alphabet soup. This week I want to break down some of the most common terms you’ll encounter when buying or selling a home and do it in plain English, no jargon required. Pre-Approval: This is […]
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Weekly Article 2026 Some Clare County Homes Are Flying Off the Market. Others Aren’t Moving at All. If you’ve been thinking about buying or selling a home in Clare County this spring, you’re probably feeling something between cautious optimism and outright confusion. Mortgage rates went up, then down, then back up again like a new pontoon boat driver trying to back into a dock for the first time on Memorial Day weekend. […]
Weekly Article 2026 AREAS TO WATCH The city of Clare itself continues to be a steady and popular choice for buyers. It offers convenient access to shopping, restaurants, schools, and healthcare, while still having that small-town feel that so many people are looking for. The data backs this up: Redfin currently scores Clare’s housing market at 70 out of 100 for […]
Weekly Article 2026 What Is Everyone Asking AI About Real Estate Right Now? If you’ve typed a real estate question into Google or asked ChatGPT something about buying or selling a home lately, you’re not alone. (And if you haven’t yet, give it time—your neighbor already has.) Across the country, and right here in Clare County, the most common question people are asking AI tools right now is […]
Weekly Article 2026 How to Make a Competitive Offer Without Losing Your Mind (or Your Wallet) Let me tell you something about buying a home in a competitive market — it feels a lot like showing up to a potluck and finding out everyone else brought a warm potato salad. You want to win, but you also don’t want to show up with something you’ll regret. Let’s talk about how to […]
Weekly Article 2026 Lakefront and Recreational Property: A Clare County Specialty If there’s one thing that sets Clare County apart from a lot of other real estate markets in Michigan, it’s the abundance of lakes, rivers, and recreational land. This is truly a special place for people who love the outdoors, and that makes our market “unique” in interesting ways — a word that does a […]
Weekly Article 2026 The Role of Local Real Estate in Our Communities Economies Real estate is more than just buying and selling homes. I know, shocking right? But stick with me here, because in small communities like ours in Clare County, the real estate market quietly does a lot of heavy lifting for the local economy, and it doesn’t get nearly enough credit at bar stools and BBQs. […]
Weekly Article 2026 The Home Inspection: What It Is and Why It Matters to You If you’re buying a home, one of the most important steps in the process is the home inspection. And yet, it’s also one of the most misunderstood, right up there with why your neighbor’s car without a muffler and the stereo blaring needs to warm up for 45 minutes at 5 a.m. every single morning, […]