Fremont · Lakeshore Land
Buying Land in Fremont, Michigan
Vacant land is where buyers get hurt. I walk the parcel, and on a back lot I time the walk to the water.
This Is Where the Ground Is
Fremont is inland, in Newaygo County, and it is the one town I cover that is not on the lakeshore. For land, that is the point rather than a drawback.
The same budget that gets you a modest cottage on the water will generally get you real acreage here. Not a bargain, a trade. You are not paying for Great Lakes frontage, and there is simply more ground.
Which is why a lot of people who start out searching for lakefront end up looking at parcels here. Often what they actually wanted was space and a slower week, and the water was the shorthand they were using for it.
This is also farm country. Orchards, blueberry farms, sweet corn that people from Chicago comment on unprompted, and Michigan tomatoes. If the plan involves a garden, animals, or simply not seeing a neighbor from the kitchen window, this is the part of the map for it.
Where would you like to start?
If You Are Thinking About Animals or Outbuildings
Ask this before you buy rather than after, because the answer is local and it is specific.
What a township permits varies, and so does what it permits where. Livestock, the number of animals, outbuildings, a pole barn, a second dwelling: all of that is decided at a level below the county, and a parcel that looks identical to the one next to it can sit under different rules.
Then the practical layer that has nothing to do with rules. Where the water is and how deep the well needs to be. Where the septic can go, and whether the ground will take it. What it costs to fence what you are picturing. How a driveway gets in, and what it costs to make it work in winter.
None of that is a reason not to. It is the difference between a plan and a wish, and it is all answerable before you own the ground.
In their words
In their words
I had a very specific idea of what we wanted. An unspoiled piece of lakefront land on a wooded lot. I quickly learned that finding such a property is like looking for a needle in a haystack. Tamara diligently stayed on the search for our dream property and was always on the lookout for us... When that perfect property finally came up, Tamara knew it was the one. She called us from her car urging us to come up and see it immediately.
What Gets Checked Before You Offer
Buildability first. Whether the thing you are picturing can go there, at a cost you would accept. Acreage tells you nothing about this on its own.
Septic and well. Where the septic can go and what the ground will take shapes the site plan before anything else does.
Setbacks and what the township governs. Where a building is permitted, not where the view is best.
Access in every season. Who maintains the route in and whether it is plowed. On a longer rural driveway that is a running cost, not a one-off question.
Where the lines actually run, against the listing. On acreage this is worth more than it sounds, because a boundary you assumed from a tree line is not a boundary.
I walk parcels before anybody offers, and you get what I found rather than what the listing says.
The Roads Out Here, and the Town
Two practical things a newcomer finds out in the first week. Buggies and tractors use these roads. Slow down and pass carefully, and expect to be behind something on a county road. Some of the larger stores keep parking set aside for horses and buggies. If a slower pace is part of why you are moving out here, that is what it looks like on a Tuesday.
In town: Gerber started in Fremont in 1927, and it has been headquartered here since. The July festival is officially the National Baby Food Festival, though everyone local calls it the Gerber Festival. The Harvest Festival comes round in late September, with a hay art competition you vote in by donating canned goods, all of which go to the True North Food Pantry.
Fremont Lake sits by town with a public beach, a campground and a boat launch. M120 runs across to Twin Lake and on toward Muskegon.
More on the town is on the Fremont area page, water is at waterfront in Fremont, and the general land questions are on buying lakeshore land.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I keep animals on land in Fremont?
It depends on the township and sometimes on where in the township, and the same goes for outbuildings and a pole barn. Two parcels that look identical can sit under different rules. It is answerable before you buy, and it is worth answering then rather than after the offer.
Why is land cheaper here than on the lakeshore?
Because you are not paying for Great Lakes frontage, and because there is more ground. The same budget that gets a modest cottage on the water will generally get real acreage here. It is a trade rather than a bargain, and which side of it suits you comes down to what you want your weekends to look like.
What should I check on a rural parcel?
Buildability first, because acreage on its own tells you nothing about it. Then where the septic can go and what the ground will take, the setbacks and what the township governs, how you reach it in every season including who plows a long driveway, and where the boundary lines actually run rather than where a tree line suggests.
Fremont
What lakeshore land 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.
Lakeshore Land: keep exploring
Ready to make your move with Tamara Hekkema?