FINDS
The Collection · Thrive Homes Grand Rapids

The places I am genuinely excited about right now

Some are on the water. Some are short-term rental friendly. Some are simply places with too much character for me to keep quiet about. They live here after the post, and they stay here while they are pending and after they sell, so you always know what is actually still open.

Zillow shows you what's listed.
This shows you the ones I would want you to see.
The Collection

The ones I'd want you to see.

A few ground rules I hold myself to: it has to genuinely surprise me when I look closer, and if a find has a catch I will tell you what it is. When one sells I mark it sold and leave it up, so nothing here is a mystery about what is still open. Status is accurate as of the day I updated the page, so ask me before you fall in love.

Sand shoreline with chairs, a fire pit and a dock on Diamond Lake at 20308 Lakeview Drive Available
On the water Short-term rental · operating
20308 Lakeview Drive
Tustin, MI · Osceola County · Diamond Lake, all sports
$299,900
Why I am excited

Fifty feet of private frontage with a newer dock and public access within a mile, on an all-sports lake. It is already renting most weekends in summer and fall, and the seller says the booking history comes with it.

50 ft frontage Newer dock Well + septic
See the full breakdown →
Listed by Melissa Steenwyk, Indigo Key Realty. I am happy to represent you on it.
Aerial view of a green cabin on six wooded acres with Scott's Lake beyond at 3555 Wilson Road Available
On the water Short-term rental · verify 6.21 acres
3555 Wilson Road
East Jordan, MI · Antrim County · Scott's Lake
$249,900$299,900
Why I am excited

Six acres and 350 feet of deeded frontage on a small inland lake, with the dock, an older pontoon and two row boats included. Get the deed language and the lake rules in writing and this one is remarkable.

350 ft deeded Dock included Verify lake rules
See the full breakdown →
Listed by Jennifer Burr, Coldwell Banker Boyne City. I am happy to represent you on it.
Entry of the Hazel Park bottle house, a facade of concrete block set with glass bottle bottoms, at 39 W Elza Avenue Available
Short-term rental · licensed Not on water In town
39 W Elza Avenue
Hazel Park, MI · Oakland County · the bottle house
$250,000$350,000
Why I am excited

Omar Reese worked the line at Dodge Main and could not afford to buy a house, so he laid up concrete block and pressed roughly 20,000 glass bottles into the face of it, because he liked the way light broke through the colored glass. Short-term rentals are licensed here, and the caps matter, so check the block before you count on the income.

Folk architecture 2 car garage City water + sewer
See the full breakdown →
Listed by Christopher Hubel, @properties Christie's International. I am happy to represent you on it.
1946 Quonset Hut on Swains Lake, Concord MI Available
On the water Short-term rental · verify
Quonset Hut on Swains Lake
Concord, MI · Jackson County · all-sports lake
$240,000$250,000
Why I am excited

A 1946 Quonset Hut with 42 feet of private frontage, running as an active Airbnb with bookings the current owner says transfer. The arched roof earns a second look on its own, and the $50 a year HOA barely counts as one.

42 ft frontage Active Airbnb $50/yr HOA
See the full breakdown →
Listed by Breanne Speer, RE/MAX Perrett Associates. I am happy to represent you on it.
Cottage on Todd Lake, Reed City MI Sold
On the water Short-term rental · open
Cottage on Todd Lake
Reed City, MI · Osceola County · all-sports lake
$238,000
Why I am excited

A real cottage on 50 feet of level frontage. Newer roof, updated plumbing and electrical, well tested clean in 2023, and a new septic the seller is paying for. There is a sleeping porch over the water, and some of the furnishings are negotiable.

50 ft frontage No HOA Newer roof
See the full breakdown →
Listed by Susan Bean, Big Rapids Realty. I am happy to represent you on it.
PERCH
Sold
Turnkey A-Frame on Perch Lake
On the water Short-term rental · open
South Boardman, MI · Kalkaska County · no-wake lake
Under $250,000
Why I am excited

I expected a dated cabin and walked into cathedral ceilings, exposed beams, and a back wall of glass open to the water. Sixty feet of private frontage on a quiet no-wake lake, a dock, and a new septic in 2021.

60 ft frontage No HOA Turnkey
See the full breakdown →
Listed by Sarah Bailey, Coldwell Banker Schmidt. I am happy to represent you on it.
DUNES
Sold
M22 Platte River Retreat
Near the water Short-term rental · permit
Honor, MI · Benzie County · steps from the Platte
$295,000
Why I am excited

A 1968 cabin on a half-acre that backs directly into Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, so the woods behind you can never be built on. Two bedrooms, full of character, a short drive to the Lake Michigan beaches.

Borders federal land Half-acre wooded 2 bedrooms
Ask me about it →
Listed by Jon Zickert, Real Estate One (Beulah). I am happy to represent you on one like it.

Send me an address. I'll dig into it.

If you've come across a place on the water that seems too good to be real, email me the address. I'll pull the full story, the numbers, what it's likely to actually cost you to own, and whether it's the rare kind of good or the hiding-something kind. No cost, no catch. Just curiosity, the same way I find these in the first place.

Email Me an Address →

Because the good ones go to whoever sees them first.

I've been in real estate since 2015. Genuine character, on or near the water, doesn't last, and it almost never makes it to a casual Saturday scroll. Watching the market this closely is how I find the ones worth your attention, and how I know what they're really worth when it's time to make a move.

Real rarity, named honestly

I don't call something rare to make it sound good. It has to have something that genuinely sets it apart. If a find has a catch, I'll tell you what it is. Specific over reassuring, always.

Nothing disappears

When a find goes pending or sells, it stays on this page with the status changed. You can always tell what is still actually open.

No pressure attached

You can follow along, save these, send them to a friend, and reach out only when the timing's actually right. If you tell me what you're after and the timing's off, I'll tell you. That's the whole deal.

Built for the real move

I find creative solutions to the hard stuff: the stretch budget, the second-home math, the timing that looks impossible. Fine is a listing. Thriving is the place it turns into. These are the second kind.

THRIVE

I moved here because I believe where you live changes everything.

I've been in real estate since 2015. I hold a RENE certification, Real Estate Negotiation Expert, and I've worked with 350+ buyers and sellers. I work with people buying in Grand Rapids, people relocating here from out of state, and people chasing a place on the water Up North.

I bought my own Grand Rapids home sight unseen, moving my family from Atlanta in 2024. I know what it feels like to make that call with incomplete information, because I've made it. The Rare Finds are just the public version of how I look at the market every single week.

People are one of two things: fine or thriving. My job is to make sure you end up in the second category.

Get in Touch

Adrianna Berlin
REALTOR · RENE Certified · The Local Element · Grand Rapids, MI
MI Real Estate License #6501461347 · The Local Element License #6505424661 · 620 Century Ave SW Suite 130, Grand Rapids, MI 49503
One question is a fine place to start

Have a question? Ask me.

Type it in and I'll write back myself. It can be about buying, selling, a neighborhood, or something you read on this page.

Rather talk it through? Book 20 minutes or call 404.512.3466.