A Fixer-Upper Farmhouse on 10 Wide-Open Acres
$95,000 Ripe for Reimagining
Just outside Custer, in Mason County — 10 acres of Michigan homestead land, flanked by open farm fields on every side.
This 1900 farmhouse needs real work, and the price says so: water-stained ceilings, an unfinished subfloor upstairs, and a kitchen and bath that haven't been touched in decades. What is already here is worth building on — the footprint, a weathered barn, and ten open acres that aren't asking anyone's permission for what comes next. 3 bd / 1 ba, 1,326 sq ft, built 1900, on 10 acres.
Listed at $95,000. Listing courtesy of Priscilla Cazier, Keller Williams GR East.
Homestead Potential
Water & Infrastructure
Expect well and septic typical of rural Mason County, and treat both as unknowns until proven otherwise — with a house this original and this untouched, get the well tested and the septic inspected before you budget the rest of the renovation. At this price, a failed septic system is the kind of surprise that changes the math.
Crop & Income Potential
Mason County sits in Michigan's fruit belt, where Lake Michigan's moderating effect on temperature supports the orchards and row crops visible from nearly every window here. Ten acres of sandy loam won't make you a commercial grower overnight, but it is real, workable ground in a region that already knows how to farm it.
Sustainability
There is nothing built toward self-sufficiency here yet — no solar, no wood stove, nothing already decided for you. What you get instead is a blank slate: a barn already standing for storage or animals, and ten open acres to shape into whatever homestead you actually want, rather than working around someone else's choices.
The Boundaries
A property this overgrown and this original is worth a current survey before you finalize a renovation plan — confirm exactly where your ten acres end and the working farmland next door begins. Given the scope of work here, check with Mason County on permitting before you commit to a rebuild this extensive.
Beyond the Property Line
Local Flavor & Small-Town Character
Custer Township is quiet, rural, and still genuinely farming-oriented — this is not a bedroom community dressed up as country living. Nearby Scottville, the Mason County seat, is a short drive for anything the township itself doesn't have, and the Western Michigan Fair fills the Mason County Fairgrounds in Ludington every year with a five-day run of the kind of county fair that still means something here.
Agricultural Resources & Neighbor Networks
The MSU Extension office for Mason County, based at West Shore Community College in Scottville, offers soil testing and general agricultural guidance for anyone taking on land like this. The bi-weekly Scottville Farmer's Market, running May through September in downtown Scottville, is a good measure of just how much local produce this ground can support.
Outdoor Recreation & Natural Surroundings
Ludington State Park, one of Michigan's most popular, is a short drive away with over 21 miles of hiking trails, nearly seven miles of Lake Michigan shoreline, and the Big Sable Point Lighthouse at the end of a flat two-mile walk. Hamlin Lake and its canoe trail add another way to spend a weekend without leaving the county.
Listed on Zillow
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