Fremont · Investment Property
Investment Property in Fremont
Numbers before emotion, and an honest read of the property. When it does not work, I say so.
Here, Holding Ground Is Actually Within Reach
On the lakeshore the price of entry puts simply owning land out of reach for most people. Inland it does not, and that changes what is possible.
A parcel bought and held is a real option here rather than a theoretical one, and it is bought that way more often than people outside the area would guess. No tenants, no roof, no furnace. Taxes, and patience.
Which makes the obvious mistake easy to make: assuming that cheap ground is the same as good ground. Acreage is the least informative number on the listing, and two parcels at the same price can be worth wildly different amounts depending on what can actually be done with them.
What the Land Is Permitted to Become
For a parcel held rather than used, almost all of the value sits in the answer to one question: what could the next owner do here?
Whether it will carry a septic system, which separates a building site from a pleasant place to own. Where the water comes from. What reaches the property line and what it would cost to bring in what does not. How it is legally accessed, and who maintains that road. Whether it could be divided, which varies by township and by the ground itself. And whether any of it is wetland or low ground, which a buyer will find on a map whether or not they walk it.
Those are not details to settle later. They are the asset. Ground that cannot carry a building is worth what the next person can do with it, and that is frequently less than the listing implies.
What I Walk Before You Commit
My office is here, so walking a parcel is not a trip I have to arrange. I walk it, including the back of it.
I check where the lines truly run against the record, what the ground is like away from the road, how it drains after a wet spring, how it is accessed and who maintains that, and what the buildings can honestly still carry where there are any.
Where something needs confirming with the township or your attorney, I say so rather than guessing at a rule on your behalf.
More than $4 million in closed sales over my last twelve months, up from under a million the year before. Land is a real part of that rather than something I do occasionally.
This describes the property questions I check. It is not investment, tax or legal advice, and nothing here is a projection of returns. Those are for your own lender, accountant and attorney.
Before You Commit
Tell me how long you expect to own it and whether you want it to do anything in the meantime. Ground held for a long time and ground meant to earn soon are different purchases.
More about the town is on the Fremont area page, the wider approach is at investment property, and the land side is at land in Fremont.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does buying land and simply holding it make sense out here?
It is a real option here in a way it is not on the lakeshore, because the price of entry is reachable, and it is done more often than people outside the area assume. Whether it suits you depends on your time frame and your own finances, which is a conversation for you and your accountant rather than for me.
What makes one parcel worth more than another at the same price?
What can be done with it. Whether it will carry a septic system, where water comes from, what reaches the property line, how it is legally accessed and whether it could be divided. Acreage is the least informative number on the listing, and ground that cannot carry a building is worth what the next person can do with it.
Can a parcel be split later?
Sometimes, and it varies by township and by the ground itself rather than following a general rule. It is worth establishing before you buy because it can change what the parcel is worth considerably. Where it needs confirming with the township I will say so rather than guess.
Fremont
What investment property looks like in Fremont
Inland in Newaygo County, where Gerber started in 1927 and where the same money buys land instead of frontage. My office is here.
Fremont is the one town I cover that is not on the lakeshore, and I would rather say so plainly. It has Fremont Lake by town with a public beach, a campground and a boat launch, and M120 runs across to Twin Lake and on toward Muskegon.
The trade is the point. The same budget that gets you a modest cottage on the water will generally get you a house with real acreage here, which is why people who start out searching for lakefront often end up looking at this side of the map.
Investment Property: keep exploring
Ready to make your move with Tamara Hekkema?