Who is self-employed in Michigan
- The supplier tier. Machine shops, tooling and prototype firms, and 1099 engineers and designers in Oakland, Macomb and Washtenaw counties, paid on program milestones and depreciating equipment aggressively.
- West Michigan manufacturing and trades. Grand Rapids furniture and fabrication subcontractors, and the contractors building out Ottawa and Kent counties.
- Up North. Traverse City, Petoskey, Charlevoix and the lakeshore towns run on seasonal businesses — restaurants, marinas, outfitters, wineries — and on vacation-rental owners whose deposits peak from June through color season.
- The fruit belt and farm country. Cherry, apple and blueberry growers along Lake Michigan, dairy and row crops elsewhere, all with income concentrated at harvest.
- Detroit's rebuilders — small developers, contractors and business owners in the neighborhoods coming back.
What is specific to a Michigan file
- The Principal Residence Exemption is a useful tell. Michigan's PRE on the property tax bill identifies your primary residence. If your Up North cottage does not carry the PRE, it is a second home for this program and qualifies with lower maximums.
- No spousal dower. Michigan abolished dower in 2017. A spouse not on title is not required to sign to release a dower interest.
- No mortgage recording tax. Michigan's transfer tax applies to deeds. Recording a home equity line involves register of deeds fees only.
- Lakefront and cottage property. A year-round home on an inland lake or the Great Lakes shoreline is eligible; the review confirms insurance and, on the shoreline, flood coverage where it applies. Seasonal-only structures are a different question — ask.
- Valuation. Metro Detroit, Grand Rapids, Lansing and Ann Arbor have deep automated-valuation data. Northern and Upper Peninsula counties are thinner, so an appraiser is more likely there even under $400,000.
The supplier's return
A prototype shop bills a program in milestones — a large deposit in March, another in September, steady smaller work between — and writes off the machines that produced the work on an accelerated schedule. The return shows a modest business. The operating account shows a healthy one. A bank underwriter can only use the first; this program reads the second, over 12 consecutive months, with nothing averaged against a prior year.
Common questions
Our cottage near Traverse City doesn't have the PRE. What does that mean here?
It is a second home for this program and qualifies with lower maximums than a primary residence. Twelve months of deposits are still the income.
Does my spouse have to sign if the house is in my name?
Michigan abolished dower in 2017, so there is no dower release. Whether a spouse signs depends on how title is held, not on a marital-interest rule.
Is there a Michigan tax when the lien is recorded?
No. The transfer tax applies to deeds. Recording a home equity line involves register of deeds fees only.
I'm a cherry grower. My income lands in July and August. How is that read?
As 12 consecutive months of deposits, harvest included. Nothing is averaged against a prior year's return.