Welcome to your daily briefing on real estate developments in Michigan. Today we're covering 5 key stories including updates on michigan real estate headlines, background & context. Let's dive in.
Listen to today's briefing(3:09 min)
2 stories
Bankrate explains how real estate agents earn commission as a percentage of home sale price, who pays, and what it costs.
Understanding commission structures helps MI agents clearly communicate their value to buyers and sellers in local transactions.
PropertyChecker.com now offers Michigan real estate professionals a centralized platform to search property records, owner information, permits, purchase history, deeds, taxes, loans, and liens.
Having instant access to comprehensive property records in one place saves MI agents and investors hours of county-by-county research and reduces due diligence risk.
Reach real estate professionals in this market
3 stories
A Phase I ESA is required for most commercial loans and is strongly recommended whenever a site has had industrial, gas-station, dry-cleaner, or auto-repair use in its history. The ESA itself does not test soil — it researches historical use and identifies Recognized Environmental Conditions that may justify a Phase II (which does test).
CERCLA liability for contamination attaches to current owners regardless of who caused the contamination. A Phase I performed before purchase establishes the "innocent landowner" defense, which is otherwise nearly impossible to claim.
Some MI jurisdictions give the foreclosed owner a statutory right to redeem the property within a window after the sale (often 6-12 months). Buyers at foreclosure auctions in those jurisdictions take title subject to redemption — meaning the prior owner can reclaim the property by paying the auction price plus interest. Title insurance does not cover this exposure.
A redeemed property is returned to the prior owner, not refunded with the original purchase price plus appreciation. Auction buyers in redemption-rights states need to hold capital reserves for the entire window.
Even after a clean title commitment, four issues commonly surface post-close: undisclosed easements (often utility), boundary discrepancies between deed and survey, unreleased mortgages from prior owners, and mechanic's liens filed within the lookback window. Owner's title insurance covers most of these; lender's policy alone does not.
The cost difference between owner's and lender's title insurance is one-time and small; the cost of resolving a title defect without owner's coverage is often five figures.
Get Michigan real estate intelligence delivered to your inbox every morning.
Subscribe FreeView all past issues
Feature your brand across the U.S., Canada, and select international markets and 10 industry verticals.
Become a National Partner