Afraid of COVID in the city? Buy a home in Leelanau

The Nickey family, which moved here from Columbus, enjoys a day in Sleeping Bear Dunes.

By Jacob Wheeler

Sun editor

Glen Arbor has long felt like home for Ian and Katherine Nickey, who recently left Columbus, Ohio, to purchase a home on Dunn’s Farm Road with the help of LVR Realty. Ian has vacationed up here for 20 years with his family, which has ties to the area. His grandfather was good friends with Jim Treat of the Treat Farm.

“We kept our boats in their round shed barn that Jim’s dad made out of concrete,” said Ian. “This place has always spoken to me. There are more opportunities, even unplanned time, to leave behind that sense that we are constantly rushing.”

The Nickeys and their kids decided now was the time to buy their home in Leelanau in part because of the Coronavirus and the inconvenience of living in a big city during this trying time of physical distancing.

“The pandemic has levied a huge human toll on the world,” said Ian. “During this time we have realized, as a country, the possibilities of remote work and that we can be just as productive away from the office while also attending to ‘the real business of life’.” 

Lauren Haberman and her husband (who chose to remain anonymous because he hasn’t yet informed his boss in Chicago that he plans to move to Leelanau County) were enjoying what was to be a six-month sojourn in Argentina to learn Spanish when the pandemic began to shut down the western hemisphere in mid-March. They got a cab to the airport in Mendoza without tickets home, flew initially to Brazil (which infamously dismissed COVID early in the spring), then made it to O’Hare Airport, stopped at their apartment in Chicago’s Lakeview neighborhood long enough to grab winter clothes (it was occupied by a renter), and drove directly to Glen Arbor, where Lauren’s parents live in Burdickville on Big Glen Lake. Their first load of groceries from Anderson’s Market was left for them at the front door of a house in Glen Arbor they rented in order to quarantine. After 14 days they moved in temporarily with Lauren’s parents.

Lauren, 30 years old, a copywriter in advertising, and her husband, who works in software, have no plans to return to Chicago. They are part of a wave of creative class 20 and 30-somethings who are ditching cities for the easier, and perhaps safer Up North lifestyle. They are working with Serbin Real Estate’s Ron Raymond to eventually buy a house in Leelanau County.

“It’s wonderful to have space and not have to worry about getting sick,” said Lauren, who grew up in Holland, Michigan. “The longer we’ve been up here, the more we enjoy going out to paddleboard at night, or just relax in the back yard. We’ve lived in cities for 10 years now. This is a nice break. … We knew we’d always want to be here. We figured we’d come back to retire, but here we are, a little early.”

The realtors, themselves, tell similar stories. The pandemic is here, it’s not going away, and life in a big city or suburb seems claustrophobic. If you have the means, and can work remotely, why not buy a home, or even vacant property, in Leelanau?

Rob Serbin remembers packing a banker’s box full of files and leaving the office on Friday, March 13, the day Michigan realtors were shut down by Governor Whitmer’s order. He had no idea whether he would still be in business by April. Within a week, his phone began to ring off the hook. People were home, they were bored, and they were anxious about the weeks and months ahead. The real estate business was booming long before he was allowed to show properties again on May 7.

Serbin sold a piece of land in Glen Arbor to a registered nurse who worked at the Beaumont Hospital System in Dearborn Heights and was relegated to the Intensive Care Unit to work with COVID patients. This was serious business, and she wanted to move on. They corresponded back and forth during the state shutdown. By the time Serbin’s office reopened, the nurse had already driven north to check out the property on her own.

Another Serbin client closed on the purchase of a 38-acre piece of land with views of Lake Leelanau on a Friday. He met them for the first time the next day. “They wanted to secure their part of northern Michigan,” said Serbin. “We’ve sold more vacant land during the first half of the year than we did during all of last year. It’s absolutely an uptick. I had two offers on a piece I’ve had listed for at least three years.”

“You’d think people would be squirreling their nuts away and holding back to see how COVID works out. But no, the market is rocking. I am so grateful that this is happening right now.”

Other area realtors tell a similar story.

“We are blowing up. It’s very exciting,” said LVR Realty owner Ranae Ihme. “I don’t know if I’ve ever been as busy as I am now … We are selling properties to people who can work remotely and foresee their job isn’t going to be what it once was. Or they’ll bring their family up here and stay until school starts.”

Jon Zickert, a realtor in Benzie County, has a client from Washington state who works for an Amazon technology-driven business and can work from home. “Folks that are still working are realizing that their businesses can switch to remote offices. You can work from anywhere in the country.”

Zickert said the pandemic is also affecting the luxury second home market. Properties on Crystal Lake worth over $1 million are attracting offers from California, Texas, New York and New Jersey.

“Ever since the restrictions were lifted on realtors, we’ve been working day and night,” said Zickert. “The lack of supply is forcing prices up a bit.”

Chris Stapleton said she’s as busy as she’s ever been. 

“Often we meet people up here on vacation in July and August who dream about buying real estate, then they go back home and we never hear from them again. This year we have way more serious buyers. I’m getting a lot more younger families that see the benefit of buying a getaway place to get their kids out of the cities or suburbs.”

Stapleton added that the relative lack of high-speed Internet service in some areas is a hurdle when showing properties.

“Especially in Benzie, a lot of Internet is DSL or broadband. Young people will tell me, I need something faster than DSL. That’s a bigger concern than it’s been in the past.”