Lakefront Living

12/23/2025

12/23/2025

Love my little town😊

12/23/2025

And she’s back!

12/21/2025

11/21/2025

HOORAY! THEY WON! The Detroit Boat Club will be restored, not destroyed!

10/28/2025

10/28/2025

Is Lakefront Living Good For Your Mental Health?

When I was a child I always wondered why my father would just sit in a lawn chair and stare at the lake when we were at our cottage in northern Michigan, but he never actually went IN the lake. Made no sense to me. Now when I get home after a stressful day I find myself sitting on my deck just staring at the lake. And I understand completely. According to an article by Stacey Leasca in Southern Living magazine, best-selling author and marine biologist Wallace J. Nichols, merely being close to a body of water, be it sea, river, lake, or ocean, promotes mental health and happiness. And he wrote all about it in his book, “Blue Mind”.

“The term ‘blue mind’ describes the mildly meditative state we fall into when near, in, on or under water,” Nichols told USA Today in 2017. “It’s the antidote to what we refer to as ‘red mind,’ which is the anxious, over-connected and over-stimulated state that defines the new normal of modern life. “As Nichols noted, research proves his theory that being near water can help us all achieve “an elevated and sustained happiness.”

That elevated level of happiness happens because, according to Nichols, water helps in “lowering stress and anxiety, increasing an overall sense of well-being and happiness, a lower heart and breathing rate, and safe, better workouts. Aquatic therapists are increasingly looking to the water to help treat and manage PTSD, addiction, anxiety disorders, autism and more.”

Moreover, being near water can increase our creativity, including our conversational abilities. But, being near water doesn’t only help us during our waking hours. It can help us in our sleep, too.

“There is some research that says people may sleep better when they are adjacent to nature,” W. Christopher Winter, M.D., author of The Sleep Solution, told Conde Nast Traveler. “No wonder sleep machines always feature the sounds of rain, the ocean, or a flowing river.”

And this gift of Mother Nature’s to soothe us all with a simple drop of water is precisely why Nichols believes it’s so important to protect this precious gift.
Perhaps this is why we are all willing to pay more for a house along the water, or a room with an ocean view.

If you’re looking for your own lakefront Zen garden, just go to my website https://www.cathyblight.com to see full list of lakefront homes for sale in all price ranges.

09/03/2025

Is the water in your lake crystal clear? That may not be a good thing. Zebra Mussels, the bane of inland lakes, may be the cause. Zebra Mussels are a non-native invasive species that hitched a ride on ocean going freighters coming into the Great Lakes from the St. Lawrence Seaway.

Zebra mussels are filter feeders. They open their shells to filter the water and absorb nutrients. In doing so, they make the water clear, but they also disrupt the ecological balance of the lake. Sunlight is able to pe*****te deeper, causing w**d growth to increase, while at the same time depleting nutrients other species need to survive.
Since their colonization of the Great Lakes, they have spread into lakes and rivers throughout the US. They can grow so densely that they block pipelines, clogging water intakes of municipal water supplies and hydroelectric companies. Their shells are very sharp, and they are known for cutting people's feet, resulting in the need to wear water shoes wherever they are prevalent.

How do we get rid of them? The short answer is we don’t. But scientists are working on controlling them. Researchers are testing the use of a copper-based product to reduce the survival of zebra mussel larvae. By targeting the youngest zebra mussels, it’s hoped the overall zebra mussel population can be decreased. One simple method to prevent their spread is to make sure your boat hull is hosed off before putting it in the water. Also, be sure to drain all bilge water, live wells, and bait buckets before leaving infested areas. This will stop the hitchhikers from traveling from lake to lake. Responsible boaters can make a significant contribution to the control of Zebra Mussels in our lakes and streams.
I've lived on lakes all my life, originally on Maceday Lake in Waterford. And now Thompson Lake in Howell where we've lived for over 45 years. We also have as a lakefront home in Ga***rd. And I'm a Realtor who specializes in lakefront property. The more you know about lakes, the better equipped you’ll be to find that perfect lakefront home, or sell your current home. To see thousands of lakefront homes throughout the state, just log onto my website; http://www.CathyBlight.com or message me.

07/21/2025

TIPS ON BUYING LAKEFRONT PROPERTY - PART ONE

THIS IS FIRST IN A SERIES OF TIPS ON BUYING LAKEFRONT PROPERTY - MORE TIPS TO FOLLOW!

WHY IS LOCATION ON THE LAKE IMPORTANT?

It impacts the value of your home. For example, every lake must have a wetland area. It’s what keeps the lake clean. As “dirty” water flows into the wetland, the aquatic plants filter it by absorbing nutrients. The result is, clean water flowing back out. While you certainly want a wetland area on the lake, this is not the area of the lake in which you want to live if you want to be able to swim in front of your home. As a result, homes in the wetland areas of lakes will be less expensive, since the frontage is considered less desirable. However, if swimming isn’t important, but wildlife is, then this is the spot for you. Wetlands support wildlife and nesting aquatic birds. As a result, wildlife tends to be abundant in those areas of the lake. Also, it’s a quieter part of the lake, since powerboats have a difficult time navigating wetlands.

WHAT ARE “RIPARIAN RIGHTS” AND WHY DO I WANT THEM?
Keep in mind that in Michigan, The DNR (Department of Natural Resources) controls the water. If you have a property with Riparian Rights, you own the shoreline and the land under the water to a specific point in the lake, the DNR “owns” the water. When you buy a lakefront home, be sure you have Riparian Rights. That's very important. If it's "Greenbelt" lakefront you don't. Greenbelt means you own the property up to a certain number of feet away from the shoreline, but not the shoreline itself. If you don't own the shoreline you don't have any Riparian Rights, which means you only have the right to walk over the Greenbelt to get to the lake (but so can anyone else). You can't alter the shoreline in any way, which prohibits you from putting in a dock or permanently anchoring your boat there. If those things are important to you, avoid Greenbelt properties.

WHO WILL HAVE ACCESS TO MY LAKE?
The DNR has boat launches on certain lakes. Those are considered “public access” lakes. Anyone can launch a boat there. As a result, those are very busy lakes. Large lakes (over 250 acres) can handle that traffic, but smaller ones cannot. As a result, most small lakes would not have DNR access. But a few do, so avoid them. Go to my website; www.cathyblight.com and click on "DNR Lake Map Info" to connect to the DNR lake maps. They'll indicate the size and depth of the lake, what type of bottom (sandy, marl or muck) and whether or not there's DNR access.

WHAT SIZE AND TYPE OF LAKE DO I WANT?
The lake you choose depends on your lifestyle. Remember, the larger the lake, the more you’ll pay. Why pay a premium for a large “all sports” lake if you only want to enjoy the wildlife and kayak?

VERY SMALL “PRIVATE” LAKES 20-40 ACRES
If you’re not interested in power boating, pontooning, skiing, or jet skiing, and prefer wooded seclusion, lots of wildlife, kayaking, canoeing and fishing, stick to small private lakes. These tend to be around 20-40 acres. Private lakes limit access to residents only. Some of these lakes allow small electric motors, or small pontoons with electric motors, but nothing larger. These are “no wake” lakes. However, some don’t allow any type of motorized boat at all. These are “no motor” lakes.

SMALL“SEMI-PRIVATE” LAKES 50-75 ACRES:
If you want to be able to have a pontoon or a ski boat, but still want to be on a small quiet lake, choose a little larger one, around 50-75 acres. Due to their size, these lakes often limit access to the surrounding homes only. So they’re quieter than larger all sports lakes.

“LIMITED ACCESS-ALL SPORTS” LAKES 100-200 ACRES;
If you want to be on a bigger all sports lake with limited traffic, choose a limited-access lake that's larger; 100-275 acres. These lakes don’t have a DNR access for the general public, so boat traffic is reduced. Some limit the access to residents only. Others allow an entire township or more to have access. So it’s important to find out who qualifies for access.

LARGE “PUBLIC ACCESS-ALL SPORTS” LAKES AND “CHAINS OF LAKES”
If you like to stay out in your boat all day, choose a very large lake (350 acres or more) or a lake on a “Chain of Lakes”. The largest chains here in Livingston County are the “Portage Chain” of 7 lakes or the “Patterson Chain” of 5 lakes. Homes on Chains willbe more expensive because you have access to so many lakes. Occasionally you can find a home on the chain that’s less expensive because it’s located on one of the waterways that connect the lakes or it’s on one of the small lakes in the chain. However, Chains will be busy, because there will be at least one DNR public access or more, and often there are public marinas as well.

LARGE “PRIVATE-ALL SPORTS” LAKES OVER 250 ACRES
The best of both worlds! A large all sports lake, with very limited traffic. The only lakes I know of in Southeast Michigan like that, are Lake Shannon in northeastern Livingston County and Lake Sherwood in SW Oakland. Lake Shannon is over 350 acres and Lake Sherwood is about 265 acres. Both are completely private, with very active homeowners associations. They limit access to lake residents only. As a result, homes on these lakes tend to be more expensive than homes on similar size lakes.

STAY TUNED! MORE TIPS TO FOLLOW!