Topic
Home & Property
Buying or owning a home in Michigan comes with a few surprises — property taxes that jump after you buy, a principal-residence exemption you have to claim, closing costs nobody warned you about. Here's what helps you make sense of the money side of your home.
Tools & guides
Start with the Michigan Porch tools and longer guides connected to home & property.
- ToolProperty Tax Pop-Up CalculatorUse the Michigan Porch property tax pop-up calculator.
- ToolClosing Cost CalculatorUse the Michigan Porch closing cost calculator.
- ToolHomebuyer Timeline CalculatorUse the Michigan Porch homebuyer timeline calculator.
- GuidePrincipal Residence ExemptionRead the Michigan guide to principal residence exemption.
- GuideRecycling & DisposalRead the Michigan guide to recycling & disposal.
Local context
Start with a Michigan place
Place pages connect the statewide rules to local millage rates, school districts, nearby communities, and official links.
Porch Notes
Home & Property notes
- Seasonal Roads: The County Stops Plowing Your Street in NovemberSome Michigan roads are legally designated seasonal, meaning the county road commission won't plow or grade them November through April, and a buyer inherits that with the deed.
- The Lady Bird Deed: How Michigan Passes a House Without ProbateAn enhanced life estate deed hands your home to an heir at death outside probate, yet you keep the right to sell it, mortgage it, or tear the deed up tomorrow.
- Where Michigan Wants Smoke and CO Alarms in a HomeMichigan's code wants a smoke alarm in every bedroom, outside each sleeping area, and on every floor — but for existing homes it only kicks in when you pull a permit or add a bedroom.
- Where the Road Meets the Lake: What the Public Can and Can't Do at a Road EndA public road that dead-ends at a Michigan lake is an access point, not a private beach — no boat hoists, no overnight docking, and only one seasonal public dock the township signs off on.
- Who Plows a Private Road in MichiganOn a Michigan private road, plowing, grading, and repair fall on the owners who use it, not the county road commission — and the plow truck won't turn in.
- Why You Can't Just Keep Splitting Off Lots From Your LandEvery rural parcel comes with a fixed budget of splits tied to its acreage; run out and the next lot needs a full plat, not a signature from the assessor.
- You Can Walk a Great Lakes Beach Below the High Water Mark, Even a Private OneMichigan's public-trust doctrine lets anyone walk the wet-sand strip of a Great Lakes shore past private frontage, up to the ordinary high water mark — but only walk, not sit and stay.
- A whole town planned by one woman in the 1920sLathrup Village grew out of 1,000 acres that Louise Lathrup Kelley bought in 1923 and laid out as her own planned community — masonry houses, attached garages, and a shuttle to the shops.
- Buying on Hamburg's chain of lakes? You may help pay for the weedsMany Hamburg Township lake homes sit on the Huron River chain of lakes, where a township special assessment district bills waterfront owners for invasive-weed and algae control each year.
- Buying on Lake Diane? It's a lake somebody built in the 1960sLake Diane in Amboy Township is a private developer-built reservoir from the mid-1960s, held back by a dam and ringed with small platted lots — facts worth knowing before you buy on it.
- Garden City: a suburb laid out so every family could grow its own foodGarden City was platted in the 1920s on the English garden-city idea — home lots sized near an acre so each household could raise fruit and vegetables to feed itself.
- The dam Gladwin County bought for a dollarWiggins Lake crosses Sage and Grout townships behind Chappel Dam, a former hydropower dam that Gladwin County bought for one dollar in 1961.
- Buying a home with well and septic in Chippewa CountyChippewa County permits new well and septic work, and its Health Department offers existing-system evaluations for real-estate transactions. Buyers should arrange records, evaluation, pumping, and water testing before closing.
- Buying, splitting, and passing down Michigan landHow many splits does the parcel have left, will the taxes pop up at transfer, does the PRE reach the back forty — the questions that decide what rural land really costs, plus the estate-planning words to know before the attorney visit.
- Owning land in Michigan: rules, taxes, and who decides whatThe rulebook nobody hands you at closing: farming next to neighbors, the tax programs that reward keeping land green, property lines, wetlands and drains, zoning, and the solar-siting fight — and who actually decides each one.
- Property lines, fences, easements, and the 15-year clockBoundary law is the one area where no agency will save you — only prevention or a judge. Surveys vs. GIS maps, adverse possession, easements in writing, the 1840s fence law, boundary trees, and who really owns the minerals.
- Water on your land: wetlands, drains, ponds, and the beachThe soggy back corner may be a state-regulated wetland, the roadside ditch may be a county drain you can be assessed for, and the Great Lakes beach below the high-water mark is open to walking.
- Wells, septic systems, and what to check before you buyMost homes in Luce County's townships rely on a private well and septic system, and the county has no point-of-sale inspection rule, so it's buyer beware.
- What changed in Michigan land and property rules for 2026The PA 116 credit fix is signed and in effect, the Court of Appeals upheld most of the renewable-siting rules in May, the local-control ballot drive is suspended, and the annual tax numbers moved — the landowner's year in review.
- What to know about well and septic in Alger CountyOutside Munising, most of Alger County is on private well and septic. Michigan has no statewide septic code, and the local health department doesn't require an inspection when a property is sold -- so buyers should get their own.
- What to know about well and septic in Baraga CountyOutside the villages, most of Baraga County is on private well and septic. Michigan has no statewide septic code, and the local health department doesn't require an inspection when a property is sold -- though it offers one that some home loans and buyers ask for.
- What to know about well and septic in Delta CountyOutside Escanaba and Gladstone, most of Delta County is on private well and septic. Michigan has no statewide septic code, and the local health department doesn't require an inspection when a property is sold -- though it can evaluate a system if you ask.
- What to know about well and septic in Dickinson CountyOutside Iron Mountain, Kingsford, and Norway, most of Dickinson County is on private well and septic. Michigan has no statewide septic code, and the local health department doesn't require an inspection when a property is sold -- though it offers evaluations some home loans require.
- What to know about well and septic in Gogebic CountyOutside the cities, most of Gogebic County is on private well and septic. Michigan has no statewide septic code, and the local health department doesn't require an inspection when a property is sold -- though it offers one that some home loans and buyers ask for.
- What to know about well and septic in Houghton CountyOutside the cities and villages, most of Houghton County is on private well and septic. Michigan has no statewide septic code, and the local health department doesn't require an inspection when a property is sold -- though it offers one that some home loans and buyers ask for.
- What to know about well and septic in Iron CountyOutside the cities and the village of Alpha, most of Iron County is on private well and septic. Michigan has no statewide septic code, and the local health department doesn't require an inspection when a property is sold -- though it offers evaluations some home loans require.
- What to know about well and septic in Keweenaw CountyNearly all of remote Keweenaw County is on private well and septic. Michigan has no statewide septic code, and the local health department doesn't require an inspection when a property is sold -- though it offers one that some home loans and buyers ask for.
- What to know about well and septic in Marquette CountyOutside the cities, much of Marquette County is on private well and septic. Michigan has no statewide septic code, and the county health department doesn't require an inspection purely because a property is sold -- though it checks the septic when you apply for a well permit, and some home loans ask for one.
- What to know about well and septic in Menominee CountyOutside the cities and villages, most of Menominee County is on private well and septic. Michigan has no statewide septic code, and the local health department doesn't require an inspection when a property is sold -- though it can evaluate a system if you ask.
- What to know about well and septic in Ontonagon CountyAlmost all of Ontonagon County is on private well and septic. Michigan has no statewide septic code, and the local health department doesn't require an inspection when a property is sold -- though it offers one that some home loans and buyers ask for.
- What to know about well and septic in Schoolcraft CountyOutside Manistique, most of Schoolcraft County is on private well and septic. Michigan has no statewide septic code, and the local health department doesn't require an inspection when a property is sold -- so buyers should get their own.
- Bluffs, Dunes, and Erosion on Leelanau's Lake Michigan ShoreLeelanau's Lake Michigan bluffs and dunes are ancient glacial features still actively eroding — landslides, moving sand, and high-water years all matter if you're eyeing shoreline property.
- Inland Lake Levels and Special Assessments in Leelanau CountyMichigan law can set a lake's water level by court order, and both waterfront and lake-access parcels may owe annual special assessments to maintain it.
- Leelanau Township's Private Road OrdinanceLeelanau Township has a formal ordinance governing private roads — a useful first stop for anyone buying property on a private road there.
- Short-Term Rental Permits in Leelanau TownshipLeelanau Township requires a permit for any short-term rental, with guest limits tied to bedroom count and septic capacity.
- Sleeping Bear's Moving Shoreline: Bluff Erosion and Coastal LandslidesThe bluffs at Sleeping Bear Dunes are glacial moraines that erode continuously and can slide suddenly — and Lake Michigan's cyclical water levels mean the risk rises and falls over the decades.
- Wells and septic in Newaygo County: what buyers should knowNewaygo County does not require point-of-sale well and septic inspections, so rural buyers should make their own checks part of the offer.
- Wells and septic in the townshipsPresque Isle County township buyers should understand private wells, septic systems, DHD#4 permits, and the lack of a sale-time inspection rule.
- Wells, septic systems, and what to check before you buyMackinac County township buyers should check private wells and septic systems because there is no automatic sale-time inspection rule.
- Wells, septic systems, and what to check before you buyMontmorency County buyers should confirm well and septic requirements with DHD4, then inspect the system and test the water before closing.
- Wells, septic, and the rules out hereOceana County township buyers usually need to check private wells and septic systems themselves because there is no point-of-sale inspection rule here.
- Wells, septic, and what to check before you buyAlpena County township buyers should check private wells and septic systems themselves because there is no automatic point-of-sale inspection rule.
- Wells, septic, and what to check before you buyCheboygan County township buyers should check private wells and septic systems themselves because there is no automatic point-of-sale inspection rule.
- Wells, septic, and what to check before you buySt. Clair County township buyers should check private wells and septic systems themselves because there is no automatic point-of-sale inspection rule.
- Wells and septic in Lake County: what buyers should knowLake County does not require point-of-sale well and septic inspections, so rural buyers should make their own checks part of the offer.
- Wells and septic in Mason County: what buyers should knowMason County does not require point-of-sale well and septic inspections, so rural buyers should order their own checks.
- Wells and septic in Missaukee County: what buyers should knowMissaukee County does not require point-of-sale septic inspections, so township buyers should order their own well and septic checks.
- Wells and septic in Wexford County: what buyers should knowWexford County well and septic inspections are voluntary at sale, so rural buyers should order their own inspection and check permits early.
- Well and septic in Benzie CountyBenzie County has required well and septic evaluations at property transfer since 1992.
- Well and septic in Grand Traverse CountyGrand Traverse County has a 2026 time-of-transfer well and septic rule for homes near surface water, plus township-level record checks.
- Well and septic in Kalkaska CountyKalkaska County requires point-of-sale well and septic evaluations before many rural property transfers.
- Well and septic in Leelanau CountyLeelanau County has a countywide time-of-transfer rule requiring well and septic evaluations before most property sales or transfers.
- Buying in Canadian Lakes: it's a private communityCanadian Lakes buyers should budget for property-owner membership, dues, and community rules.
- Buying in Sugar Springs: it's a private communitySugar Springs is a private lake community in Butman Township, Gladwin County, with POA dues and rules.
- Buying on Secord, Smallwood, or Wixom Lake? Know the dam storySeveral Gladwin County townships are in the Four Lakes dam-rebuild special-assessment district.
- Out in the township? Plan on a well and septic -- and check them before you buyArenac County townships are buyer-beware for private wells and septic systems at sale.
- Out in the township? Plan on a well and septic — and check them before you buyOsceola County townships are buyer-beware for private wells and septic systems at sale.
- Out in the township? Plan on a well and septic — and check them before you buyRoscommon County townships are buyer-beware for private wells and septic systems at sale.
- Secord Township: a septic inspection is required when you buySecord Township is the one Gladwin County township where CMDHD requires a well and septic evaluation at sale.
- Well and septic in Antrim CountyAntrim County township buyers should expect wells and septic systems, with mandatory time-of-transfer checks in a few lake jurisdictions.
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