Day 1

This is the first day of serious looking for a second home in northern Michigan. I'm still not sold on the idea but Bill is seriously interested. He thinks that the time is right with a lot of northern property being dumped right now with the state of the economy here. We're looking at cabins/homes on a lake with beach front. It would definitely be more of a summer place, but still want it winterize just in case we (I mean Bill) gets the urge to go up there in the winter. I would really prefer a second home where it's warm in the summer. Michigan has awesome summer's, but I hate the winters. Bill's argument is that we could buy a place up north now and then when we retire, sell our primary home and buy something somewhere warmer. Live there in the winters and in northern Michigan in the summers. I suppose that would work. If nothing else, it would be a great investment opportunity. Hopefully, Michigan's economy would improve and we could sell it for a profit.

Here were the three candidates from Day 1:

I like this place alot. There were two things however that I didn't like. It had only one bedroom. They made up for this by turning the entry room into a bedroom. Very awkward. The living spaces were actually upstairs which consisted of a bedroom, kitchen and bathroom. There was only the one room downstairs that you walked right into that was converted to a bedroom. It would be more appropriate as a den.

The second thing that bothered me was the steep hil to get to the lake. Not bad going down, but a real bear coming up. I'm sure it won't be appreciated in 10 years!
I loved how cozy the living space is!



This place was a real dump. A fixer-upper. Too much work. It was so hard to get a really good look at this place with all the junk the owners had.

Now this place was my favorite. However, it was on a river that was damned to form this little lake. It had no beach but you could still go swimming. Loved the house with only a few minor drawbacks that were easily fixable. It had two bedrooms and a den/bedroom.

I love the view!

The owners recently did some renovating and did a great job. I didn't like the carpeting in the kitchen or dining area. I could totally see the whole thing redone with hardwood floors.

We're planning to go again in a few weeks for Day 2 of searching.