Buying a Copper Harbor, MI Rental: What the $41,088 Number Actually Means

Aug 19

9 min read

Updated: Aug 27

Fort Wilkins Historic State Park barracks, Copper Harbor, Michigan

Copper Harbor's actual number is $41,088 in typical annual revenue across 11 active listings , not the $34,109 that belongs to Eagle Harbor Township, a separate market roughly eight miles down the peninsula.

Keweenaw County's short-term rental Conditional Use Permit took effect July 1, 2024, and it's administered from the Courthouse in Eagle River, not from the Grant Township hall inside Copper Harbor itself. Knowing which desk handles which paperwork matters as much as knowing which town's revenue figure belongs on your spreadsheet.

This guide separates what's actually documented for Copper Harbor from what belongs to its neighbors on the Keweenaw Peninsula, and lays out what a buyer packet needs to hold together before you make an offer.

What Copper Harbor's Numbers Actually Show

The figure to underwrite from is $41,088 in typical annual revenue across 11 listings, with a $308 average daily rate and 47 percent occupancy. That vintage runs August 2025 through July 2026, drawn from neighbor-market reporting and last updated August 8, 2026. A dedicated Copper Harbor-only report isn't currently published, which is why this figure comes from the broader neighbor-market dataset rather than a standalone local pull.

At this sample size, the source doesn't break out which three months carry the heaviest bookings or which single month runs slowest , both are listed as unpublished. That's a real gap in the data, not a rounding error, and it means a lender or buyer building a month-by-month cash flow model has to either estimate conservatively or verify the calendar directly with current owners before relying on it.

The full market reportgoes deeper on the annual figure, and thefinancing breakdownwalks through how a lender typically treats a figure like this one in a DSCR file.

Eagle Harbor's $34,109 Is a Different Township's Number

Eagle Harbor Township is a separate municipality with its own $34,109 typical annual revenue across 19 listings, 53.0 percent occupancy, a $212 ADR, and $116 RevPAR. Its peak months run July through September with July as the single strongest month, its low month is November, and its typical guest originates from the Minneapolis area with an average stay of 4.4 nights and a 113-day booking lead time. Professional management covers about 21.1 percent of that market's listings, with Freshwater Vacation Rentals managing four of them, and 57.9 percent of bookings there run 30 nights or longer.

None of those figures describe Copper Harbor. The two towns sit close together geographically, but they're administratively and economically distinct , different guest origin, different average stay length, different seasonality. A broker packet or lender file that blends Eagle Harbor's $34,109 into a Copper Harbor valuation is averaging two different businesses into one number that describes neither of them accurately.

The two-pins comparisonand theside-by-side permit desks breakdownboth go into more detail on why these two markets need to stay separated in underwriting.

The County Conditional Use Permit, Explained

Short-term rental use in Keweenaw County has required a Conditional Use Permit since July 1, 2024. The zoning office sits at the Keweenaw County Courthouse, 5095 Fourth Street in Eagle River, and Rebecca M. Hernandez currently handles inquiries at (906) 337-3471. The permit itself costs $50 to apply for a change of land use, though buyers should confirm the current-year fee directly with the county rather than assuming it hasn't moved. The permitted zoning districts are R, RR, CE, AG, RS-1, and RS-2, and the permit defines short-term rental as occupancy of 30 consecutive days or fewer. Conditions attached to the permit prohibit public meals, retail sales on the property, and parties beyond registered guests.

Grant Township's own hall, at P.O. Box 76 in Copper Harbor and reachable at (906) 289-4292, is not the CUP desk , it handles local township business, but the short-term rental permit itself runs through the county. Eagle Harbor Township, by contrast, runs its own separate STR permit process starting May 1, 2024, with its own contact point. Before making an offer, confirm the parcel's tax map location: a property that reads as Copper Harbor on a listing description but actually sits inside Eagle Harbor Township needs the Eagle Harbor process instead, and vice versa.

Michigan's use tax applies at 6 percent on lodging stays under 30 consecutive days, on top of any county or platform fees. There's no separate Keweenaw-specific lodging tax on top of that state rate as of this writing, so buyers shouldn't build a second local lodging percentage into their pro forma without confirming it with the county first.

The full county STR rules breakdownand thestartup cost guidecover the permit process and first-year costs in more depth.

Reading an 11-Listing Sample Honestly

Eleven listings is a small enough sample that it's worth treating as a directional read rather than gospel, but it's not too small to be useful. The $41,088 typical-year figure and the 47 percent occupancy rate both come from that same 11-listing pool, so they're internally consistent with each other even though a single new short-term rental entering or leaving the market could shift both numbers noticeably.

What isn't published at this sample size is the professionally managed share, average stay length, and booking lead time , all figures that Eagle Harbor's larger 19-listing sample does report. That absence is itself informative: it suggests Copper Harbor's current inventory skews toward independent owner-operators who manage their own listings, rather than a market dominated by professional management companies. A buyer weighing whether to self-manage or hire out is working with less local comparable data than they'd have in a larger market, which argues for talking to current Copper Harbor owners directly rather than relying solely on aggregate platform data.

Allouez Township and Houghton: Nearby, Not Comparable

Allouez Township, also on the Keweenaw Peninsula, reports $43,741 in typical annual revenue across 19 listings, with 39.8 percent occupancy and a $333 ADR. Its peak months run August, July, and September, its low month is November, and like Eagle Harbor, its typical guest originates from the Minneapolis area. Those figures sit close to Copper Harbor's on a map, but they describe a market with a meaningfully different occupancy rate and a higher ADR , evidence that even townships sharing the same peninsula can have distinct demand patterns.

Houghton, further south, is a separate and later-developing short-term rental market with its own reported figure of $31,015 in typical revenue. It shares a region with Copper Harbor but functions as a different city with its own economy, anchored more by Michigan Technological University than by the tip-of-the-peninsula tourist draw that shapes Copper Harbor's calendar. None of these three neighboring figures , Eagle Harbor, Allouez, or Houghton , should be substituted into a Copper Harbor pro forma. Each belongs in its own file.

What the Buyer Packet Should Carry

A complete underwriting packet for a Copper Harbor purchase should carry the $41,088 typical annual revenue, $308 ADR, and 47 percent occupancy for the August 2025 through July 2026 vintage, alongside a clear note that peak-season and low-season months aren't currently published at this sample size. It should also document the county CUP's July 1, 2024 effective date, the Keweenaw County zoning contact at (906) 337-3471, the $50 permit fee, and the 6 percent Michigan use tax on stays under 30 days.

Visitor traffic figures , Isle Royale ferry ridership, Fort Wilkins Historic State Park visitation, Brockway Mountain Drive scenic traffic, Mount Bohemia's ski season draw, and regional mountain bike trail activity , belong in an appendix about the area's tourism appeal, not on the revenue line. They're real demand drivers that make Copper Harbor an attractive place to own a short-term rental, but a busy ferry dock on a July Saturday doesn't tell a lender how a property performs across a full 12 months. Keep the two separated: one section for what the property earns, another for why guests come.

Frequently Asked Questions

What revenue number should a Copper Harbor purchase actually be underwritten on?

Use $41,088 in typical annual revenue across 11 active listings, an ADR of $308, and 47 percent occupancy, covering the August 2025 through July 2026 vintage published on neighbor-market reports and last updated August 8, 2026. Don't substitute Houghton's $31,015 or Eagle Harbor Township's $34,109 for this figure , they're different markets with their own permit desks and demand patterns.

Can Eagle Harbor Township's numbers be blended into a Copper Harbor bid?

No. Eagle Harbor Township is a separate township roughly eight miles away, with its own $34,109 typical revenue on 19 listings, a July-August-September peak, a November low month, mostly Minneapolis-origin guests, a 4.4-night average stay, and 21.1 percent professional management. None of those figures describe Copper Harbor's 11-listing sample, which has $41,088 in revenue and unpublished peak and low months of its own.

What county paperwork actually travels with a Copper Harbor parcel?

Keweenaw County's short-term rental Conditional Use Permit has been in effect since July 1, 2024, and it's administered from the Courthouse at 5095 Fourth Street in Eagle River , not from the Grant Township hall in Copper Harbor itself. The permit fee is $50 for a change of land use, and Michigan's 6 percent use tax applies to lodging stays under 30 consecutive days. Confirm the current fee with the county before closing, since local fees can change year to year.

Why are Copper Harbor's peak season and slowest month listed as unpublished?

At an 11-listing sample size, the underlying data source doesn't break out which three months carry the heaviest bookings or which single month runs lowest , it only reports the annual total, ADR, and occupancy. Borrowing Eagle Harbor's July peak or November low to fill that gap would be guessing dressed up as data. The honest approach is to underwrite the $41,088 annual figure and treat seasonality as an open question to verify with local booking calendars before finalizing a purchase.

Is an 11-listing sample too small to trust?

It's small enough to treat as a directional read rather than a certainty, but it isn't meaningless. The $41,088 typical-year figure and 47 percent occupancy both come from that same sample, so they're internally consistent even if a single new listing could shift them somewhat. Professionally managed share isn't published for Copper Harbor at this sample size, which is itself useful information: it means most of the current inventory is likely run by independent owner-operators rather than large management companies.

Is Allouez Township's $43,741 a stand-in for Copper Harbor's numbers?

No. Allouez Township, also on the Keweenaw Peninsula, reports $43,741 in typical revenue across 19 listings, with 39.8 percent occupancy, an August-July-September peak, and a November low , a materially different occupancy and seasonality pattern from Copper Harbor's own $41,088 on 11 listings. Two townships sharing a peninsula doesn't make them one market; each has its own permit process and its own demand curve.

What should a Copper Harbor buyer packet actually document?

Carry the $41,088 typical annual revenue, $308 ADR, 47 percent occupancy, the August 2025-July 2026 vintage, the county CUP effective date of July 1, 2024, the Keweenaw County zoning contact at (906) 337-3471, the $50 permit fee, a note that Grant Township's hall at (906) 289-4292 handles local business but not the CUP itself, and the 6 percent Michigan use tax. Keep any Eagle Harbor, Allouez, or Houghton figures clearly as neighboring-market context rather than Copper Harbor data.

Does Copper Harbor's tourist traffic , the ferry, Fort Wilkins, Brockway Mountain , inflate the revenue figure?

Isle Royale ferry ridership, Fort Wilkins Historic State Park visitation, and Brockway Mountain Drive traffic are all real demand signals for the area, but none of them substitute for booking data. A busy ferry dock or a full scenic overlook parking lot on a summer Saturday doesn't tell you how a property performs across a full year, including the shoulder and winter months. The $41,088 figure already reflects a full 12-month vintage, so tourist counts are useful context for marketing a listing, not a reason to adjust the underwriting number upward.

Work with Crest & Cove Creative

Copper Harbor's real number is $41,088 across 11 listings, not the $34,109 that actually belongs to Eagle Harbor Township eight miles down the peninsula — two markets listings still blend into one pitch.

We write Copper Harbor listing copy that names its own numbers and its own permit desk, instead of borrowing Eagle Harbor Township's figures or paperwork.

Reach out at crestcove.co or (256) 998-7502.