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There. I said it.
Your house does not know what you paid for it. It does not know how much money you put into the kitchen. It does not know what you still owe on the mortgage—or how much you need to walk away with to buy the next house.
And it definitely does not care what your neighbor said their house was worth.
The market cares about one thing: what a qualified buyer is willing to pay for your property today.
That is an uncomfortable conversation sometimes. It is also one of the most important conversations a seller can have.
Northern Michigan has changed
We are not operating in the same real estate market we were a few years ago.
According to Realtor.com’s August 2026 Petoskey data, 219 homes were listed for sale—12.20% more than a year earlier. Median time on market reached 51 days, up 20.46% year over year.
Across Emmet County, active listings rose 18.94% from a year earlier. Charlevoix County was up 21.56%. Those are countywide figures, and the market for any particular home still depends on its location, condition, price range and competition.
Meanwhile, mortgage rates are not exactly helping. Freddie Mac reported a 7.03% national average for a 30-year fixed mortgage on September 24, 2026.
Put that together and you get a simple reality: buyers have choices. When buyers have choices, sellers have competition.
Pricing high “just to see what happens” is not a strategy
I hear versions of this all the time: “Let’s start a little higher. We can always come down.”
Technically, sure. You can. But your first couple of weeks on the market are often when a listing is newest to buyers watching property sites and MLS alerts. That is when you want buyers thinking, “We need to see this house.”
You do not want them thinking, “That seems expensive. Let’s watch it.” Because “let’s watch it” can turn into three weeks, then five weeks, then a price reduction.
Now the same buyers who originally thought it was overpriced are not necessarily thinking, “What a great deal.” They may wonder: What is wrong with it?
Sometimes nothing is wrong with the house. The price was wrong.
Your renovation does not automatically add its full cost to the value
This one can hurt. You spent $40,000 renovating the kitchen. That does not automatically mean your house is worth $40,000 more. You installed a $25,000 deck. That does not automatically add $25,000 to the sale price.
You finished the basement. Bought expensive appliances. Installed landscaping. Built the garage.
Those improvements may increase value and marketability. But there is a difference between cost and market value. Buyers decide how much additional value those improvements have to them.
That is why pricing requires looking at comparable closed sales, active competition, location, condition, acreage, improvements, market activity and—one of the most overlooked factors—what buyers are actually doing right now. For more on my approach, see my Northern Michigan home-selling guide.
Buyers are not powerless right now
If you have been sitting on the sidelines waiting for the “perfect” time to buy, you might be overlooking one of the most interesting parts of this market.
Yes, rates are high. But higher borrowing costs have pushed some buyers out of the market. Redfin reported on September 17 that U.S. pending home sales had fallen to their lowest level in nearly three years.
For financially ready buyers, that can mean more inventory, longer days on market, price reductions, less competition on certain properties and more room to discuss terms. It does not mean every seller will negotiate—or that every property is a bargain.
Realtor.com projected September 27 through October 3 as the best national buying week of 2026 based on historical patterns in inventory, pricing, competition and market pace. That is national research, not a guarantee about Petoskey or any specific Northern Michigan home.
I covered the buyer side in more detail in Northern Michigan Buyers Have Leverage. Mortgage Rates Don’t Care. Here, the point for sellers is straightforward: when buyers have alternatives, price has to hold up against them.
Sellers: stop competing with the market
The showing activity is low. The feedback says price. Similar properties are selling. Buyers are not writing offers. And the response becomes: “I still think somebody will pay it.”
Maybe. But hope is not a marketing plan.
If the market is giving us information, my job is not to explain it away. My job is to listen to it.
Maybe we need better presentation. Maybe we need different photography. Maybe the marketing is not reaching the right buyers. Maybe there is a property-condition issue. Maybe we need to reposition the listing.
And sometimes? The price is simply too high.
I would rather have that uncomfortable conversation than spend three months telling a seller everything is going great when it is not.
That is the kind of real estate business I want to run
I am not interested in telling somebody their house is worth a certain number just because that is the number they want to hear. And I am not interested in telling a buyer every house they like is “the one.”
My job is not to get everyone to agree with me. My job is to help people make good real estate decisions.
Sometimes that means telling a seller: I would not list it at that price. Sometimes it means telling a buyer: I think you are overpaying. Sometimes it means: This deal does not make sense. Walk away.
I care about getting the deal right. I care about protecting my clients, marketing homes aggressively, negotiating and getting properties sold. I do not care about pretending the market is something it is not because the truth might be uncomfortable.
The market eventually tells us who was right anyway. I would rather listen to it from the beginning.
Frequently asked questions
What determines a home’s market value in Northern Michigan?
What qualified buyers are willing to pay for that specific property in the current market. Recent comparable sales, competing listings, location, condition, improvements and buyer activity all help estimate that value.
Will I get back every dollar I spent on renovations?
Not necessarily. Improvements can make a home more appealing and may increase its value, but renovation cost and resale value are different numbers.
Can I start high and reduce the price later?
Yes, but an ambitious initial price can cause buyers to pass over the listing while it is new. If showings, feedback and comparable sales point to a pricing problem, adjusting sooner can be more effective than waiting without a plan.
What should I review before setting a listing price?
Review recent closed sales, competing homes, differences in location and condition, current days on market, and the response buyers are giving similar listings. The right price is specific to your home, not a countywide headline.
Thinking about selling in Northern Michigan?
If you are considering selling a home in Petoskey, Harbor Springs, Charlevoix, Boyne City or elsewhere in Northern Michigan, and you are looking for someone to simply confirm the number already in your head, I may not be the right agent for you.
But if you want to know what your property is actually competing against, where I believe buyers will respond and what we can do to put you in the strongest position to sell it, that is a conversation I am happy to have.
Chris Eckerman
Associate Broker
Coldwell Banker Schmidt
Eckerman Homes Real Estate Group
Serving Petoskey, Harbor Springs, Charlevoix, Boyne City and Northern Michigan
Source check: Petoskey, Emmet County and Charlevoix County listing figures are from Realtor.com market pages labeled August 2026. The national mortgage-rate average is from Freddie Mac’s September 24, 2026 Primary Mortgage Market Survey. The pending-sales observation is from Redfin’s September 17, 2026 national report. Realtor.com’s projected buying week is national seasonal research. Portal data and local MLS figures may differ; none of these broad figures establishes the value of a particular home.
