Today we’d like to introduce you to Elaine Soble.
Elaine, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
In 2012, my husband Jeff and I bought a second family home in South Haven, MI. We decided to rent it out a few weeks a year to help pay the bills. It did so well that we began to rent the house more and more, and eventually it became a full-time rental.
Based on our experience, we decided to buy another rental home. During the process, I realized how much I loved renovating and decorating the properties. As our rentals increased, I also recognized how much I enjoyed being a host and connecting with so many people, and wanted to do it more.
Three years ago we had the opportunity to buy a very special, three-acre parcel on Saddle Lake, and we built a large, luxury rental home. We sold our other rentals, and the lake house became my main focus. We are now developing a comparable property in Three Oaks, MI. To make communication with our renters easier and to reach a wider audience, we recently created our brand, Michigan Family Retreats, and have a website, social media presence, and are working on additional features, such as a digital guidebook.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
The only difficult piece has been building the team I need, which took a long time. I now have a superlative house cleaner, who also functions as my general assistant. Having a reliable and capable handyman, landscaper, HVAC, plumbing, electric service people, etc. is key, both for successful rentals and for being relaxed when problems come up – you know someone has your back!
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
My background is in fine arts. I have a master’s degree in art history, and worked for some years buying and selling art and antiques. I have always had an avid interest in architecture and decorative arts; I love both designing and furnishing a home. With every rental home I have done, I try to create a house that is a real home, not just a rental. For the house on Saddle Lake, I have been fortunate enough to find interesting antiques and artwork, including an Aboriginal painting Jeff and I brought back from Australia, and some beautiful landscape photographs by a Midwest photographer.
As a grandmother myself, I love hosting multi-generational families. Especially during the summer, grandparents gather their children and grandchildren from all over the country and spend a week together at the lake house. One of my favorite experiences was seeing the fairy castle built by one family group. There to celebrate her 90th birthday, the grandmother, a wonderful artist, assigned all the family members to gather tiny stones, leaves, bits of moss, etc. from the property. Then together they created a beautiful fantasy home for little fairies. Her granddaughters spent the whole week playing with it. These are the types of family memories we love to hear about!
The house on Saddle Lake has a reputation both for being beautiful and for having all the things renters need. I put a lot of time and energy into achieving both these goals, which sets our houses apart. Inside, the kitchen has everything you would need to prepare meals for 17 people, from two dishwashers to a huge popcorn machine and large ice cream maker. Similarly, the laundry room also has two washers and two dryers. Outside, there are activities for all ages – we have a canoe, kayaks, a pickleball/basketball court, a sand volleyball court on our private beach, bocce ball, baseball, and more. We have a large firepit area for s’mores, a hot tub, and are now building a big swimming pool. I love hearing from our renters that they never had to leave the property, they were busy every minute of their stay.
Is there any advice you’d like to share with our readers who might just be starting out?
The most important advice I would offer is to make sure you have a good service/repair team you can rely on. It would be impossible for my renters to have such good experiences without my team to keep the house and grounds in order, and to show up in an emergency.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://michiganfamilyretreats.com
- Instagram: @MichiganFamilyRetreats
- Facebook: @MichiganFamilyRetreats
