What the record
actually means
Writing on the West Michigan designations that decide what can be built on a lot: what each one restricts, which office settles it, and where to go and check the answer for yourself.
- How this works3 min read
What a free property lookup can and cannot tell you
An honest accounting of what public records answer instantly, what takes a phone call, and what only a survey, an inspection, an appraisal or a title search will ever settle.
- Records4 min read
Septic and well: the two records that are hardest to get and matter most
County health departments hold the permit history for on-site septic and private wells. What that record shows, what it never shows, which counties require an inspection at transfer, and what to test for.
- Records4 min read
How to read a West Michigan parcel record
Taxable value is not market value, the legal description is not a survey, and the acreage on the record is not always the acreage on the ground. A field-by-field guide to the county assessor's parcel record.
- Land4 min read
Zoning and future land use are not the same map
One map is law and controls what you can build today. The other is planning and describes what the township hopes the area becomes. Confusing them is the most expensive mistake made on Michigan land.
- Land4 min read
Wetlands on your parcel: what the inventory does and does not settle
The National Wetlands Inventory and Michigan's Part 303 layer are screening maps, not determinations. What they are good for, where the line between mapped and regulated actually falls, and how to get a real answer.
- Records4 min read
Reading your FEMA flood zone without a flood map class
What the FEMA flood zone letters mean, when flood insurance is actually required, why an elevation certificate can cut a premium in half, and why zone X is not the same as does not flood.
- Shoreline5 min read
High-risk erosion areas, and why the setback moves
Michigan designates shoreline receding at a foot a year or more as a high-risk erosion area and sets a construction setback from it. How the setback is calculated, why it differs from lot to lot, and what it means for a lakefront purchase.
- Shoreline5 min read
What it means when your lot is in a critical dune area
Michigan designates roughly 74,000 acres of Lake Michigan shoreline as critical dune area. What the designation restricts, who issues the permit, what it costs in time, and how to find out whether a parcel is inside one.
Every one of these is a check the lookup runs
Put in an address and it will tell you which of them apply to that property, and name the ones it could not reach.
Look up an address