Metro Detroit Haunted Houses and Haunted Hayrides (2026 Guide)
Let me tell you something. About Halloween. I don’t do haunted houses. Never have. Someone jumps out of a closet; I’m running the wrong way with pee running down my leg. But here’s the thing. Metro Detroit has some of the best haunted attractions in the Midwest. People love them. So, I did the research.…
Read MoreThe Best Cider Mills in Metro Detroit (2026 Guide)
Few things say fall in Michigan like a warm cinnamon donut, a cold cup of fresh-pressed cider, and some hovering bees. Metro Detroit is lucky to have dozens of cider mills within an easy drive, from historic water-powered mills in Rochester Hills to full family farms out in Armada. To make planning easier, I grouped…
Read MoreThe Real Costs of Not Buying a Home Today
You’ve been pre-approved. You know how much you can spend. You go look at more than a few homes, you may even make an offer or two. And then you stop. I get two answers from potential clients, more than any other answer on why they stopped. “I want to save a bit more money,”…
Read MoreMSHDA Down Payment Assistance: What First-Time and Repeat Buyers Need to Know in 2026
For a lot of buyers in Michigan, the down payment is the biggest hurdle to owning a home, not the mortgage payment itself. The Michigan State Housing Development Authority (MSHDA) has a program built specifically to close that gap. It’s worth understanding how it actually works, because the eligibility rules are more nuanced than most…
Read MoreFHA 203(k) Loans in 2026: Full vs. Streamline, and What’s Changed
If you’ve been looking at homes in Metro Detroit, you’ve probably run into the same thing a lot of buyers are seeing right now. Move-in-ready houses get bid up fast, and the ones that need work sit on the market longer. That gap is exactly what the FHA 203(k) program was built for. It lets…
Read More5 Myths About Renovation Lending Debunked for Today’s Metro Detroit Market
If you’ve been house hunting in Metro Detroit lately, you already know the problem: there just aren’t enough move-in-ready homes to go around. Rates remain elevated compared to a few years ago, and a lot of homeowners who locked in a much lower rate aren’t in a hurry to sell. That’s kept inventory tight, especially…
Read MoreCan a Non-Permanent Resident Alien Get a Mortgage in the U.S.? A Metro Detroit Guide
If you’re living and working in the United States on a visa, you can still buy a home here. That surprises a lot of people. But the rules changed significantly in 2025, and if you’re anywhere near the Detroit-Windsor border, those changes matter more to you than almost anyone else in the country. Here’s what…
Read MoreBig Changes Are Coming to Condo Financing in Metro Detroit — Here’s What Buyers, Sellers, and Realtors Need to Know!
If you own a condo in Oakland County, Macomb County, or anywhere in Metro Detroit or you’re planning to buy or sell one, revised guidelines from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are about to change how that transaction gets financed. These aren’t small tweaks either. This is one of the most significant overhauls to condominium…
Read MoreThe Little-Known Loan Michigan Real Estate Investors Should Know About: DSCR Mortgages
If you’re investing in rental property in Michigan, whether that’s a duplex in Ferndale, a short-term rental up in Traverse City, or a portfolio of single-family rentals across Metro Detroit there’s a financing tool that flies under the radar for most investors: the Debt Service Coverage Ratio (DSCR) loan. Most people go straight to a…
Read MoreThe Michigan “Contingency Buster”: A Strategic Deep Dive into HomeLight’s Buy Before You Sell Program
In my 25 years as a mortgage lender in Metro Detroit, the “Catch-22” of real estate has remained the same: Do you buy first and risk carrying two mortgages, or sell first and risk having nowhere to live? In today’s market—from the historic streets of Royal Oak to the suburbs of Novi and Clarkston—sellers will…
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