Buying Lakeshore Land in West Michigan
Vacant land is where buyers get hurt. I walk the parcel, and on a back lot I time the walk to the water.
Land Is Where Buyers Get Hurt
A house tells you most of what is wrong with it if you look properly. Land does not. It sits there looking like possibility, and everything that decides whether your plan is achievable is invisible, or underground, or written in a township office.
The failure mode is always the same. Somebody falls in love with a view, buys the parcel, and then finds out what it costs to put a house on it. Or that the septic will not perc where the view is. Or that the road is not maintained in winter. None of that is bad luck. All of it is checkable beforehand.
That is the whole argument for having somebody walk it before you offer, and it is why land is the part of this job I am most careful about.
Where would you like to start?
What Gets Checked Before You Offer
Buildability, before you fall in love with it. Can the thing you are picturing actually go there, at a cost you would accept.
Septic and well. Out here you are usually not on municipal services. Where the septic can go, and what the ground will take, shapes the whole site plan.
Setbacks and what governs the parcel. Township rules, and anything specific to water frontage, decide where a building can sit.
Access, and access in every season. How you reach it, who maintains that route, and whether it is passable in February. A seasonal road is a real category here.
Where the lines actually run, against what the listing claims.
And on a back parcel, the walk itself. If the water is reached across shared ground, the honest question is how far that really is. I walk it and I time it, because twenty minutes with a cooler is a completely different property from five, and they can look identical on a plat map.
In their words
What working with me is like
I had a very specific idea of what we wanted. An unspoiled piece of lakefront land on a wooded lot. I quickly learned that finding such a property is like looking for a needle in a haystack. Tamara diligently stayed on the search for our dream property and was always on the lookout for us... When that perfect property finally came up, Tamara knew it was the one. She called us from her car urging us to come up and see it immediately.
How It Works
You tell me what you want to build or do. Then I go and walk the parcels that might work, and report back with what I found rather than what the listing says.
Where something is a problem, you hear it plainly. A good deal on a parcel you cannot use is not a good deal, and telling you so is most of what you are paying me for.
Where it works, you get to move with actual confidence, which on the right piece of land matters, because the good ones do not sit.
Land Across the Areas I Serve
Land in Twin Lake, where frontage versus shared easement access is the central question. Land in Montague, with wooded parcels and acreage outside town. Land in Whitehall. Land in North Muskegon. Land in Fremont, which is where the same budget generally buys the most ground.
Frequently Asked Questions
What should I check before buying vacant land?
Buildability first, before you get attached to it. Then septic and well, setbacks and whatever governs that parcel, and how you reach it in every season rather than just in July. Where the boundary lines actually run matters too, because it is not always what the listing implies. All of it is checkable before you offer, which is the point.
What is a seasonal road?
A road that is not maintained year round, which out here usually means not plowed in winter. It can be entirely fine if you know about it and plan for it, and a serious problem if you find out in January. It is one of the first things I check on a rural parcel.
The parcel is not on the water but has lake access. Is that as good?
It can be, and it is cheaper, but it is a different thing and you need to know which you are buying. Ask who maintains the access, what is permitted at the water end, whether a dock is included, how many parcels share it, and whether any of that is written down. Then ask how long the walk really is. I go and time it.
Keep exploring
Ready to make your move with Tamara Hekkema?