Want to buy a cabin Up North this year? You’ll need these strategies and some luck

At a property showing earlier this month on Lake Vermilion near Tower, Minn., real estate agent Lisa Janisch hustled her clients into the lower level of the home as a spring storm blew in.

Shingles sheared from the roof, trees toppled and sheets of ice pushed ashore on the still-partly frozen lake. The house was damaged, but her clients were safe.

Lake home buyers in Minnesota and Wisconsin are facing another challenge that doesn’t pass as quickly as a thunderstorm: There are simply very few homes for sale.

New listings in popular parts of the state for lakeshore buyers have dwindled dramatically. In Aitkin County, there were only 27 listings last…