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 some version of this: “Is now a good time to buy, or should I wait?”

It’s a fair question. It’s also the real estate version of asking, “Should I have invested in Apple in 2005?”—we’d all love a crystal ball, but here we are. It’s being driven by a very real tension that families in Harrison, Farwell, Lake, and Clare are feeling every day: home prices have climbed significantly over the past few years, mortgage rates are hovering around 6.3%, and yet somehow the houses people actually want, keep selling before they can make a move. (Funny how no one’s in a bidding war over the one with the shag carpet and “vintage” smell.) So let me answer that question the right way: with real, local information that no AI chatbot can give you, and no, not even the one that sounds very confident while being slightly wrong.

What’s actually happening in Clare County market tells a more nuanced story than the statewide headlines suggest, which to be fair, are designed to get clicks, not get you keys. According to my data, the median home sale price in Clare County was around $150,000 in late 2025. That is well below Michigan’s statewide median of roughly $255,000. That’s not a sign of a weak market. “That’s what we call an opportunity, or as people from downstate say, “Wait, that’s the whole price?” Clare County has consistently been classified as a seller’s market, meaning demand is outpacing supply. In mid-2025, the median sold price had jumped nearly 18% year-over-year, reflecting just how competitive things have become for move-in-ready homes in our area. At the same time, homes are now taking a bit longer to sell, averaging around 73 days on market compared to 51 days the year before. That’s a meaningful shift. Not exactly “take a month to think about it,” but at least you can sleep on it without waking up to a “sold” sign. What does that mean practically? The frenzy has cooled slightly, but the fundamentals haven’t changed. Well-priced, move-in-ready homes in Clare County are still attracting strong interest. Homes that need work or are priced based on optimism and a few HGTV episodes are sitting longer. Sellers in those situations are increasingly open to negotiation on price, repairs, and closing costs. Listening to your real estate professional when it comes to pricing is critical. You can want what you want… but the market has the final say, and it doesn’t negotiate with feelings. What AI gets wrong about our market. Here’s the problem with asking a national AI tool whether now is a good time to buy in Clare County: it doesn’t know Clare County. It doesn’t know your street, your neighbor, or which houses come with a dock versus just a strong opinion about the lake. I spend a lot of time reading, and the studies I’ve found suggest AI tools give incorrect answers on local real estate questions roughly 30 to 40 percent of the time. Which is impressive confidence for something that’s basically guessing with a straight face.

The algorithms default to statewide or national data, which can paint a very different picture than what’s actually happening on Colonville Road or along the shores of Budd Lake, Five Lakes or Crooked Lake. For example, the same week AI tools might be telling someone that Michigan home prices are surging and competition is fierce, a buyer in Harrison might be sitting across the table from a motivated seller who just dropped their price and is offering to pay closing costs. That’s the kind of hyperlocal intelligence no chatbot can replicate, or even pronounce correctly, but a local agent can.

The “Marry the House, Date the Rate” strategy. I’ve been hearing this from lenders over and over. One piece of advice that’s actually made its way through AI tools and financial blogs alike is worth repeating: many buyers today are adopting a “marry the house, date the rate” mindset. The idea is simple: buy the right home now, and refinance when rates come down. Think of it as committing to the

house, not the interest rate, because the rate is a lot easier to break up with later. Most economists expect rates to gradually ease toward the mid-5% range over the next year or two. When that happens, more buyers will flood back into the market, competition will increase, and today’s modest pricing advantages will likely disappear along with your negotiating leverage.

For Clare County buyers, that math is especially compelling. When you’re purchasing a $150,000 to $200,000 home, well below the state median, even a one-point drop in your interest rate represents meaningful monthly savings. Waiting might get you a better rate… but it may also get you more competition and a higher price. It’s a bit like waiting for gas prices to drop while everyone else fills up.

The bottom line for Clare County, whether you’re a first-time buyer eyeing a cottage near one of our dozens of lakes, a family looking to upsize in one of our communities, or a retiree considering downsizing in the city of Clare, the answer to the big AI question—“Is now a good time to buy?”—is this: it depends on your situation, and your zip code matters far more than the national news (or whatever headline popped up between cat videos). What’s clear is that Clare County remains one of the more affordable entry points into Michigan homeownership, inventory is slowly growing, and sellers are more willing to negotiate than they’ve been in years. That’s acombination that doesn’t come along often and usually doesn’t last when everyone finally agrees it’s a “good time.”

No AI can shake your hand, walk through a property with you, or tell you that the neighbor two doors down just listed and it’s a better fit for your family. It also won’t point out that the “cozy” bedroom technically fits a bed if you’re very committed. That’s still a people business, and it always will be. Real relationships matter in real estate.

Have a real estate question you’d like answered in this column? Reach out to me. I promise a more accurate answer than the internet… and at least slightly less sarcastic in person ;).

Data sourced from the local MLS, Compass, Redfin, Rocket Homes, and Michigan housing market reports. All figures are for informational purposes and reflect recent market conditions. Consult a licensed real estate professional before making any buying or selling decisions.

Daniel Dwyer-Snyder is an Associate Broker with CENTURY 21 Signature Realty in Clare & Lake. He can be reached at 989-321-9927.

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 make a smart offer. Not a reckless one. A smart one. And the very first smart thing you can do? Hire the right buyer’s agent before you do anything else. It’s like hiring any other professional, there will be a Buyer’s Agency Agreement that you be asked to sign. This has been required by law a while now, so don’t be alarmed when you ask to commit to your buyer’s agent.

Your Agent Is Your Secret Weapon — Choose Wisely. There’s a big difference between an agent who works in a market and an agent who knows a market. An experienced local agent has watched that neighborhood for years. They know which roads flood in April, which lakes and townships are appreciating, and — maybe most importantly — they likely know the listing agent on the other side of the table. In a competitive situation, that relationship and that LOCAL CREDIBILITY can quietly tip things in your favor in ways that never show up on paper.

If you’re considering a purchase in a specific area, do yourself a favor and find an agent with a solid, proven history there. Not someone who drove through it once on the way to a showing. Someone who has closed deals in that zip code, knows the inventory, and can tell you, without hesitation, whether a price is reasonable or if someone got a little carried away on one of those “I refreshed the home estimate page seventeen times this week” websites. Keep in mind that any of those automated home values are just a computer algorithm and that AI bot as never physically set foot on the property, nor will ever have a relationship with the practicing real estate agents in the area. Relationships are everything in the real estate industry.

First, Do Your Homework — And Then Do Your Due Diligence. Before you start throwing numbers around, ask your agent to pull comparable sales. These are recently sold homes similar to the one you’re eyeing. This tells you what the market actually thinks the home is worth and not what you hope it’s worth after falling in love with the kitchen backsplash. An offer grounded in real data is an offer you can defend with a straight face. A good local agent won’t just hand you a spreadsheet, they’ll walk you through what those numbers actually mean in that specific market.

But homework and due diligence aren’t the same thing — and both matter.

Homework is what you do before you make an offer. It’s the research, the comps, the market knowledge. Due diligence is what happens afteryour offer is accepted, and it’s every bit as important. Due diligence is your opportunity as a buyer to thoroughly investigate the property before you’re fully committed. We’re talking title searches, surveys, flood zone checks, HOA document reviews, utility history, zoning considerations, and yes — the home inspection. Think of it as the period of time where you get to look under every rock before you sign on the dotted line. It’s not paranoia. It’s just smart buying being guided by a professional.

A seasoned local agent will guide you through every step of the due diligence process and make sure nothing slips through the cracks. This is another reason why experience matters, someone who has been around the block knows which rocks are worth looking under and understands how to utilize technology and relationships in that particular neighborhood.

Get Pre-Approved. Not Pre-Qualified. There’s a Difference. Pre-qualified is like saying you think you can run a 5K. Pre-approved means you’ve already laced up your shoes and done the training. Sellers notice. In a stack of competing offers, a strong pre-approval letter is the difference between being taken seriously and being politely ignored.

Terms Matter Just as Much as Price. Everyone fixates on the number, but a clean offer with flexible terms can win the day even without being the highest bid. A generous earnest money deposit, a flexible closing date and fewer contingencies. These things signal to a seller that you’re serious and easy to work with. That matters more than people think. An agent who knows the local market can advise you on what terms tend to resonate with sellers in that area, because what works in one market doesn’t always fly in another.

Do Not — I Repeat, Do Not — Waive Your Home Inspection. I’ve seen buyers skip the inspection to look more competitive. I’ve also seen those same buyers discover a furnace held together by duct tape and good intentions. There are smarter ways to strengthen your offer. Giving up your right to know what you’re buying isn’t one of them.

About Those “Love Letters” to the Seller. Some buyers want to write a heartfelt personal letter to the seller, telling them all about their family, their golden retriever, and their dream of raising kids in that very house. I understand the impulse. It comes from a good place. But here’s the thing: those letters can create serious Fair Housing problems for everyone involved.

When a seller starts making decisions based on who a buyer is rather than what they’re offering, we’ve wandered into legally dangerous territory. Protected characteristics like race, religion, national origin, familial status, and others can inadvertently surface in a personal letter, even when no one means any harm. That puts the seller at risk. It puts their agent at risk. It puts your agent at risk. And it puts you at risk.

The strongest offer you can write is a clean, well-structured one, not a tearjerker. Leave the storytelling to the novelists and internet vloggers and let your terms do the talking.

Set Your Walk-Away Number Before Negotiations Start. Decide the most you’re willing to pay before emotions enter the picture, because they will. Bidding situations have a way of making people do things they’ll explain to their spouse later with great difficulty. Know your number. Stick to it.

The goal here isn’t to simply outspend everyone else in the room. It’s to win the home you want at a price you’ll still feel good about when you’re unpacking boxes six weeks later. And with the right local agent in your corner, one who knows the market, knows the players, and knows how to put together an offer that gets taken seriously, you’re already ahead of most of the competition. Looking for a reliable professional real estate agent? Contact me today.

Daniel Dwyer-Snyder is an Associate Broker with CENTURY 21 Signature Realty in Clare & Lake. He can be reached at 989-321-9927.

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 lot of heavy lifting in real estate conversations, though I’ll admit I’ve heard worse at dinner.

Lakefront property has always been in high demand here, and that demand has only grown in recent years. In large part due to the Seacord, Wixom, and Sanford Lakes dam failures. The buyers who would have typically sought out those lakes quickly discovered Clare County’s lakes and what a great value they could get. In turn, we have seen prices for lakefront homes increase leaps and bounds. It will be interesting to see how our county’s lakefront homes hold their market value as the dams in Gladwin and Midland County are repaired and those lakes begin the restoration and attempt to bring back the health and ecosystems of those lakes starting this year.

Additionally, when the pandemic changed the way people worked and lived, a lot of buyers from larger cities started looking at lake homes in a new light. Instead of a place to visit a few weekends a summer, a lake home became a place to live full time, or at least a significant portion of the year. Turns out, sitting in traffic isn’t a mandatory part of the human experience.

That increased interest has had a real impact on values. Waterfront and water-access properties have appreciated significantly. If you own a lake home and haven’t thought about what it might be worth in today’s market, you might be surprised — pleasantly, for once. A local agent will be able to educate you on lake dredging projects, special assessments, Central Michigan District Health Department well and septic requirements, and homeowners association particulars. This is an excellent example of how working with a local agent will benefit you, as opposed to learning about special assessments at the closing table because your agent wasn’t knowledgeable in the local market.

For buyers looking at lake property, there are a few things to keep in mind. First, know the difference between lakefront, lake access, and lake view. Lakefront means your property directly touches the water. Lake access means you have the right to use a shared access point, but your home isn’t on the water. Lake view means you can see the water from your property — sometimes only with binoculars while standing on the roof. Each of these has a meaningfully different value.

Also consider whether the lake is all-sports, allowing motorized watercraft, or restricted. All-sports lakes tend to command higher prices. Look into the depth of the lake, the water quality, and the homeowner’s association rules if one exists. The Department of Natural Resources has good resources on the public lakes across our county, and additional information can be found on their website.

Seasonal versus year-round use is another consideration. Some lake homes in our area are set up for year-round living with full utilities and insulation. Others are more cabin-style and better suited for three seasons. Know what you’re buying. Is the home on a paved road? Does it have natural gas or propane? What internet service, if any, is available? These details will impact both the price of the home and your quality of life.

Whether you’re looking to buy or curious about the value of a property you already own, I’d love to help — stop by the office, give me a call, or send a message. Lake property is one of my favorite things to work with, and I promise to keep the enthusiasm professional.

Daniel Dwyer-Snyder is an Associate Broker with CENTURY 21 Signature Realty in Clare & Lake. He can be reached at 989-321-9927.

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.

When a home sells, the economic ripple effect is broader than most people realize. Inspectors show up to deliver bad news professionally. Appraisers arrive to confirm what you already suspected. Surveyors walk your yard with purpose. Title companies handle the closing, which is essentially a very expensive paper-signing ceremony. Then the movers (AKA family and the people you find out are your real friends fast) show up, and the new owners realize the paint color is, in fact, not their problem anymore. Except now it is. So they paint, renovate, landscape, and furnish, and suddenly half of Clare County’s contractors are booked out six weeks and the hardware store is out of paint rollers.

Property taxes are another important piece of the puzzle, and I say this as someone whose job depends on home values going up. Those taxes fund schools, roads, emergency services, and the other infrastructure we all use while pretending we built it ourselves. When home values rise, the tax base grows. When they fall, everyone remembers they have opinions about the economy.

New residents bring economic activity with them. A family relocating from a larger city isn’t just buying a house. They’re enrolling kids in local schools, shopping local, eating local, and generally participating in the community whether the community is ready for them or not. That has a genuine, measurable impact. We have measured it. It’s good.

Real estate investment, rentals, renovations, new developments, creates jobs and adds to the local housing stock. And frankly, our local communities are starving for affordable three-bed, two-bath ranch style new construction homes. All of which contributes to healthier, more vibrant local economies, which is the kind of thing that sounds like a chamber of commerce brochure but is actually just true.

I’m proud to work in an industry that connects people to this community. Every transaction I’m part of is about more than just real estate. It’s about people planting roots here in Clare County, like my family has been doing since the 1800s.

So what did March actually look like?

March was a seller’s market, but a mild one, which is probably the most Clare County way to do anything. A balanced market typically carries around a six month supply of homes. With 128 active listings and 22 homes sold in March, we’re sitting at roughly 5.8 months of supply, which puts us right on the edge of balanced market territory. Sellers still had a slight edge, but buyers had real options to choose from. Homes averaged 34 days on market, so things were moving but nobody was panicking. With 52 new listings coming in, inventory is healthy and building. If you’re thinking about selling, the timing is still solid. And if you’re buying, this is actually one of the better moments you’ve had in a while to take your time and make a smart decision.

My office team is growing, and I couldn’t be more proud of the agents making it a great place to work. Good things are happening here and we’re doing it the right way. If you’re just starting out in real estate or an experienced agent ready for something better, let’s have a conversation. My current agents will tell you, it’s a pretty amazing place to work.

Daniel Dwyer-Snyder is an Associate Broker with CENTURY 21 Signature Realty in Clare. He can be reached at 989-321-9927.

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, including Sunday.

Today I want to walk you through what a home inspection is, what it covers, and how to use the results wisely.

A home inspection is a visual examination of a home’s major systems and components, performed by a certified inspector. Think of the inspector as a good mechanic giving your future home a bumper-to-bumper look-over, except instead of checking your fluids and belts, they’re checking your rafters, foundations, plumbing and circuit breakers. The inspection typically takes two to four hours, and at the end you’ll receive a detailed written report including photos that describe everything the inspector observed. It’s a lot of reading, but trust me, it’s more useful than the owner’s manual for your riding mower that you’ve never once opened. It is important that you understand the findings are opinions of the inspector and their critical findings should always be followed up by with a licensed builder, plumber, or heating and cooling professional.

Here’s something important to understand: NO HOME IS PERFECT. I’ve been managing real estate offices across Clare County for years, and I can tell you I have never, not once, seen an inspection report come back completely clean. Even brand-new construction homes have findings. The goal of the inspection isn’t to find a reason to walk away from the deal. It’s to help you understand exactly what you’re buying so there are no unpleasant surprises after closing. Nobody wants to move the last box in on a Saturday and discover the furnace has been running on pure stubbornness and a prayer and the attic is full of bats and mice.

As a buyer, I strongly encourage you to attend the inspection in person if at all possible. This is your chance to learn about the home from someone whose only job is to give you an honest, objective assessment. No feelings hurt, no sales pitch, just the facts. Tag along, ask questions, and find out which items are minor maintenance issues versus which ones are more significant concerns. A good inspector will talk to you like a neighbor explaining what’s wrong with your truck, not like someone reading from a legal document.

One more thing on finding an inspector: choose your own. Don’t let your real estate agent hand you a name and call it a day. Ask your coworkers, your neighbors, the folks you trust. Find out who they used, how the experience went, and most importantly, whether they would hire that inspector again. Check online reviews too. A good inspector is worth their weight in gold, and the right one is out there. You just have to do a little asking around, which if you’ve lived in Clare County for more than a week, you already know how to do.

Once you have the report, you and your agent can decide how to proceed. You might ask the seller to make certain repairs, request a price reduction to account for the issues, ask for a credit at closing, or simply accept the home as-is if the findings are minor. In some cases, serious structural or safety issues might give you reason to reconsider the purchase altogether, and that’s okay. That’s exactly what the inspection is there for.

The cost of a home inspection is typically a few hundred dollars and often based on the home’s square footage. For a little perspective, that’s less than a weekend of poor decisions at the casino in Mount Pleasant, and the return on investment is considerably better. Think of it as due diligence on one of the biggest purchases of your life, not the homework you avoided in high school.

Don’t skip the inspection. Out here in Clare County, we’re practical people. We check the oil before a long drive, we don’t plant tomatoes before Memorial Day, and we don’t buy a house without knowing what we’re getting into.

It’s one of the best investments you can make in the home-buying process.

Daniel Dwyer-Snyder is an Associate Broker with CENTURY 21 Signature Realty in Clare. He can be reached at 989-321-9927.