Frankfort is a small Benzie County city on Lake Michigan, at the mouth of the Betsie River, about 39 miles southwest of downtown Traverse City by road, or roughly an hour's drive. About 1,250 people lived in the city at the 2020 census.
M-22 runs right through town. Coming north from its start near Manistee, the highway passes through Elberta and Frankfort, then curves around the north shore of Crystal Lake on its way up the coast.
I'm Taylor Brown. My mom and business partner, Janel, and I sell homes all over Northern Michigan, and Frankfort comes up with buyers who want to walk to the beach and the harbor from home.
The beach and the breakwater. Frankfort has a public beach on Lake Michigan, and the Frankfort North Breakwater Light stands at the end of the north breakwater. The steel tower was built in 1912 and moved to its current spot in 1932, and you can walk out the breakwater to it.
Downtown. Stormcloud Brewing has its pub on Main Street, known for Belgian-inspired ales, and runs a seasonal second spot, the Parkview Taproom. The Main Street pub keeps a full calendar well past summer.
Elberta. Across the harbor, the Village of Elberta has its own public beach. The Elberta Dunes South Natural Area protects 58 acres of dunes and forest, with a trail that looks out over Lake Michigan and the Betsie Valley. There's no shoreline access from the preserve itself.
Crystal Lake. About two miles northeast of town, Crystal Lake covers 9,854 acres and reaches 165 feet deep, making it Michigan's ninth-largest inland lake. In 1873 a failed attempt to cut a channel to Lake Michigan dropped the lake about 20 feet, which exposed the sandy beaches around it today, including the public beach in Beulah.
The Congregational Summer Assembly. Founded in 1901, the CSA is a summer community at Pilgrim, near where M-22 meets South Shore Road, with its own season of concerts, lectures and programs. It's a market of its own, and the comps there need some context.
The Betsie Valley Trail. The trail starts in Frankfort and follows the old Ann Arbor Railroad 22 miles east to Mesick. The first six miles, from Frankfort to Crystal Lake, are paved.
What buyers should know.
Short-term rentals in the city: Frankfort requires a permit, the ordinance lets the city cap permits at 120 a year, and there's a waiting list. A permit ends at closing, but under city policy a buyer who contacts the city within 15 days of closing and pays the fee can step into the seller's slot. The planning commission has been reworking the ordinance through 2026, so expect changes.
Short-term rentals outside the city: Elberta caps licenses at 25 a year and hasn't filled them, but licenses don't transfer to a buyer, and a rental under seven days limits you to one rental that week. Crystal Lake Township, which borders the city and includes Pilgrim, caps licenses at 75 and allows only one per owner. A license there can move to a buyer within the same calendar year if the new owner registers 30 days before the sale closes. Before you plan on rental income, check the exact address with our STR Checker.
City or township: Frankfort city, Elberta and the surrounding townships each have their own rules and tax rates, so confirm which one a property sits in before you compare prices.
Why our experience matters here. Within a few miles of Frankfort you have at least three different sets of rental rules, and a city permit only follows the house if the buyer moves within 15 days of closing. We'll check which one applies and where the waiting list stands, and keep Lake Michigan, Crystal Lake and in-town sales in separate piles, because they don't price alike.
Come see it. It's about an hour from Traverse City, so plan on making a day of it. Reach out and we'll walk out the breakwater to the light, drive around Crystal Lake past the Assembly, and figure out together whether you'd rather be in town or on the lake.
Thinking about being on the water around here? Here are the current Crystal Lake homes for sale and Lake Michigan homes for sale in Benzie County, checked against the MLS every day.
Janel & Taylor Brown
The Brown Team | Real Estate One
(231) 360-1510
