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.
Listen to today's briefing(3:56 min)
4 stories
A centralized online directory for accessing Michigan public records has been launched.
Real estate professionals can streamline due diligence, verify property histories, and support transaction accuracy with direct access to official MI records.
Propertychecker.com offers a centralized search for Michigan property records including owner information, deeds, permits, purchase history, tax, loan and lien records.
MI real estate professionals can streamline due diligence and reduce transaction risks by quickly verifying property details in one place.
Bankrate explains how real estate agents get paid via commission, typically as a percentage of a home's sale price, and who covers that cost.
MI agents and brokers can use this commission structure breakdown to better communicate their value to clients and navigate fee conversations in local transactions.
Macomb County launched an open data portal for exploring publicly available county data offerings.
MI real estate professionals can access parcel boundaries, zoning, and property data to inform valuations and market analysis in Macomb County.
Reach real estate professionals in this market
3 stories
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.
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.
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