Linda Garrity, broker and owner at Songbird Realty in Grand Marais, the county seat and biggest town in Cook County, said buyers are not as aggressive as they were in “the COVID years,” but it remains a very competitive market.
“With so few properties available, especially those that would be considered remotely affordable,” she said, “our North Shore micro-market does still create multiple offer scenarios.”
Case in point: Last month, a two-bedroom, year-round cottage with 5 acres and 300 feet of Lake Superior shoreline in Lutsen was listed for $995,000. Within a couple of weeks of hitting the market, a buyer paid more than $100,000 of the asking price.
Buyers in Cook and adjacent counties have a range of options, she said, from remote off-the-grid “shacks” to in-town properties. While most buyers are still shopping for a second home, she often deals with buyers who want to buy a property that can be used as a short-term vacation rental.
“Most of these properties are well outside of what would be considered the ‘affordable housing’ price range,“ she said.
She recently worked with a buyer who paid $400,000 for a 929-square-foot condo in a building overlooking the Grand Marais harbor that allows vacation rentals. The two-bedroom condo sold in about 40 days for $5,000 more than the list price.