Lakeshore
Sell my house fast in Manitowoc County, Wisconsin.
From a flat in Two Rivers to a farmhouse outside Valders, Manitowoc County houses are an easy drive down I-43 from our Appleton office. Dan or Diana will come and see the property, then give you a written cash offer that shows each figure behind it.
The market here
What Manitowoc County housing is actually like
The houses we see
Two old lake ports anchor the county: Manitowoc and Two Rivers, both built by industry, both dense with modest frame houses and many flats. Inland, the villages of Mishicot, Valders, Reedsville, St. Nazianz and Francis Creek each have an older core around a church and a main street. The rest is dairy country, with farmhouses, outbuildings and private septic systems, plus a scattering of lake cottages around the inland lakes.
Why people here call us
The calls we get from around the county are usually about time and distance: an heir in another state, a farmhouse left after the cows were sold, a rental that has become more trouble than it pays. Repairs are often part of it, but rarely the whole story.
The septic inspection every rural sale here needs
If your property in Manitowoc County is on a private septic system, there is one rule to know before you sell. The county's Planning and Zoning department requires a complete inspection of the system upon conveyance or transfer of the property, on top of the inspection every system needs every three years. In other words, the condition of the septic will be checked as part of the sale, whoever the buyer is.
That rule protects the next owner, but it puts the seller in an awkward position. If the inspection finds a cracked tank or a failing drain field, a buyer using a mortgage will almost always want it fixed before closing, and a new system is not cheap. Sellers with no spare cash then face a choice between borrowing to replace it and watching the sale fall through.
When we buy a house with a septic system, we work it the other way round. We ask what you know about it, how old it is and when it was last inspected, and we look at the ground ourselves on our visit. Our offer assumes the inspection may find a problem, and if it does, the repair or replacement is ours to arrange after closing. You do not need to hire an inspector or pumper before you call, and the deal does not depend on the result.
This covers most of the county outside the sewer areas of Manitowoc, Two Rivers, Kiel and the villages: the farm towns, the lake lots and the country houses along the rivers. Our well and septic guide explains more about what usually comes up.
Miss January 31 and the whole tax bill is late
Most Wisconsin owners know that property taxes can be split into installments. What many do not realise is how unforgiving the first deadline is in Manitowoc County. According to the County Treasurer, if the payment due by January 31 is missed, the entire tax becomes delinquent. The installment option is lost, and interest of 1% a month runs on the full amount until it is paid.
That catches people out every year, particularly families looking after a parent's house, owners of a cottage whose bill went to an old address, and landlords whose rents fell short in December. Once taxes are delinquent, the County Treasurer collects them, and if they go unpaid long enough, the county can take the property through tax foreclosure. Property it acquires that way is later sold through the county's Public Works department.
If you want to keep the house, the answer is simple: call the treasurer and pay as soon as you can, because the interest only grows. If the house is one you no longer want, a sale can close out the whole amount. When we buy, the title company asks the treasurer for the exact payoff and pays it at closing from the sale price, and what remains goes to you. You do not need to pay anything first.
The sooner you call, the more options you have. Our page on selling while behind on property taxes explains how this usually works.
Lakeshore cities, river villages and farm towns
Manitowoc County runs along Lake Michigan from the Sheboygan County line to the Kewaunee County line, and its rivers run east to meet the lake in town. The Manitowoc River reaches the lake at Manitowoc; the East and West Twin rivers meet at Two Rivers. North of Two Rivers, much of the shore belongs to Point Beach State Forest.
Inland, the county is villages and dairy farms. Mishicot sits on the East Twin upstream of Two Rivers. Valders, Reedsville, Whitelaw and St. Nazianz are farm villages in the west, and Kiel straddles the Calumet County line in the south-west. Outside the villages, seventeen towns fall under the county's own zoning code, and land within 1,000 feet of a lake or 300 feet of a river falls under its shoreland rules.
The selling problems differ by place. In the two lake cities they are about age and money: older houses where a full renovation often costs more than the result is worth, and flats that have been rented for decades. In the villages they are usually about an estate. In the countryside they are about outbuildings, wells and the septic inspection at transfer. We buy all three kinds, and we tell you plainly when listing would get you more. This comparison sets out both options side by side.
Communities
Where we buy in Manitowoc County
The main communities we work in, and what the housing is actually like in each.
Manitowoc
The county seat and a shipbuilding town at the mouth of the Manitowoc River, with long blocks of early-1900s frame houses and a good number of flats and converted two-unit homes.
Two Rivers
A fishing and manufacturing city on the lake just north of Manitowoc, where the houses are small, older and inexpensive, so every repair dollar has to be weighed.
Kiel
A small city on the Sheboygan River at the county's south-western corner, partly in Calumet County, with an older centre ringed by farms.
Mishicot
A village on the East Twin River north of Two Rivers, with a small historic core and rural property all around.
Valders
A small village in the farm country west of Manitowoc, with older village houses and farmsteads nearby.
Also across the county
- Manitowoc
- Two Rivers
- Kiel
- Valders
- Mishicot
- Reedsville
- St. Nazianz
Local specifics
Selling a house in Manitowoc County: what is different here
A Manitowoc County sale is recorded at the courthouse in Manitowoc, and the county treasurer there handles any overdue taxes. The step that sets this county apart is the septic system: a complete inspection is required when a property served by one is transferred. We plan for that from the first visit, so it never becomes a surprise in the final week before closing.
Free, no obligation
What is your Manitowoc County house worth to us?
Tell us the town and whether the house is on a septic system, because in this county that shapes the closing. We will arrange a visit and send the written figure the next day.
Rather talk to someone? Call or text (920) 259-4326 — a real person answers.
Manitowoc County sellers ask us
Does Manitowoc County really require a septic inspection when a house is sold?
We missed the January tax payment. Can we still pay in two halves?
How can we see what is in our parent's probate file?
Do you buy farm properties out in the county, or only city houses?
Free guides for Manitowoc County sellers
Local resources
Useful Manitowoc County offices and services
Manitowoc County Register of Deeds
Manitowoc, Wisconsin
The Register of Deeds in the Manitowoc courthouse records deeds each weekday, requires the electronic transfer return receipt to accompany each original deed, accepts e-recording through five vendors, and offers an online document search and tract index.
Manitowoc County Treasurer
Manitowoc, Wisconsin
The County Treasurer at the courthouse collects postponed and delinquent real estate taxes, and a bill not paid by January 31 becomes delinquent in full, losing the installment option and accruing 1% interest a month until it is paid.
Manitowoc County Circuit Court
Manitowoc, Wisconsin
The Register in Probate at the courthouse in Manitowoc, who also serves as a circuit court commissioner, keeps probate files as open records that can be viewed or copied at the office, with the court record itself online.
Manitowoc County Land Records / GIS
Manitowoc, Wisconsin
Planning and Zoning administers the county's septic ordinance, requiring a septic inspection every three years and a complete inspection whenever a property served by one is transferred, and enforces shoreland rules within 1,000 feet of a lake or 300 feet of a river.
Lakeshore floodplain and bluff considerations
Property near Lake Michigan can carry floodplain or bluff-setback constraints. County zoning can confirm what applies to a specific parcel.
Two-family conversion records
Conversions are common in Manitowoc and Two Rivers, and both cities keep records worth reviewing before a sale.
Free statewide help: CFPB housing counsellor search · Wisconsin Judicare · Wisconsin Department of Revenue · HUD-approved housing counsellors · WHEDA · Legal Action of Wisconsin · 211 Wisconsin · Wisconsin Circuit Court Access (WCCA). General questions: our FAQ.
Next steps
We also buy nearby
Get a cash offer on your Manitowoc County house
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