Welcome to your daily briefing on real estate developments in Michigan. Today we're covering 7 key stories including updates on michigan real estate headlines, background & context. Let's dive in.
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4 stories
Bankrate explains how agents get paid via commission, typically as a percentage of the home's sale price, and who covers the cost.
MI agents can use this breakdown to clearly communicate their compensation structure to clients and build trust in transactions.
The Michigan Assessors Association has unveiled its official website at maa-usa.org.
Real estate professionals in MI can connect with assessors who determine property valuations affecting transactions, taxes, and market analysis.
PropertyChecker.com has launched a Michigan-specific platform that lets users check property records, find owner information, search permits and purchase history, and look up deed, tax, loan and lien records.
Real estate professionals in MI can consolidate multiple research steps into one search, reducing time spent on title research, ownership verification, and lien checks before closings.
Macomb County has expanded its open data offerings through a centralized portal.
Real estate professionals in MI can access parcel boundaries, zoning, and property data to inform valuations and market analysis in one of the state's largest counties.
Reach real estate professionals in this market
3 stories
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 policies may not cover redemption rights in some cases; consult a title professional or attorney to review specific policy terms.
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.
The buy-vs-lease decision for owner-occupants leans on three factors most spreadsheets undercount: (1) tenant-improvement amortization that lease holders expense and owners capitalize, (2) opportunity cost of the down payment, (3) the fact that most growing businesses outgrow space in 5-7 years and end up subleasing the wrong building.
The "ownership creates equity" intuition is real but smaller than the operational flexibility cost for businesses still finding their footprint. A 5-year lease is often cheaper than a 10-year mortgage on the wrong square footage.
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.
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