Buying a Lake House advice.

[06 SB]

My wife and I are considering buying a lake house. Oldest son still lives at home but is leaving soon and youngest son is finishing up college this year. We like our current house but a friend of a friend wants is and made a “make us move offer.” We both love being at the lake and are in complete agreement on our next move. We are looking are Lake West Point, Lake Oconee in GA. I am familiar with both and work with my job. This is not a second home. It will be our primary residence.

Any advice for a first-time buyer of a lake house? I figure their are dock permits and dealing with the USACE. Any help would be appreciated!

[Dirt Ball]

Lake Oconee is a Ga Power lake. They are who you will have to deal with for the lot, dock, etc. Ga Power owns the water front property and you have to lease from them.

[Jeffth]

Oconee is a madhouse in summer with waterskiers, wakeboats, jet skis, etc. If you're looking for a lake primarily for fishing, I'd probably go West Point.

[Bill2e]

Lake Oconee is absolutely beautiful. But yes busy in the summer. That said. You could easily fish in the morning before the tubers and jet skis get out.

[delee36]

I dont know that many people with a lake house - except my cousin. The only thing I know about it is - my cousins sold their first lake house and bought another, back off the main lake, because the main lake was too noisy in the summer.
This is the extent of my lake house experience. :)

Good luck though.
Living on a lake would be SWEET!

[Odawg]

Lived lakefront on Oconee for 19 years. Georgia Power dock permit lease is $100/yr - no big deal. Bigger question for a newcomer is how important amenities are to you. If you and/or your spouse enjoy golf, health club, organized social events, etc., then Reynolds, Cuscowilla or Harbor Club are places to consider.

[BMCD]

Be prepared for the house not appraising for what they are asking.

[larryhyco]

I live on a lake year round. I hope you are a hands on guy that can do maintenance. On any waterfront home it takes a lot of maintenance. Duke Energy owns our lake and we lease the waterfront. The lake authority can be difficult to work with and will nickel and dime you to death. When you start looking make sure you have deep water year round.

[rboren]

Love ours on Pickwick but be ready to shell out some $$$. We bought some that were run down at a good price and since I don't mind working,we ended up with a lot less in them than they are worth on the market. But if you have money you need to spend,get what you want ready to go. Good luck!

[LewStulePH.D.]

You'll fish a heck of a lot more.. It becomes much easier when the Skiff is already off the trailer...

I looked for some 'waterfront homes' and some popped up from Salem, Al. is that near where Y'all want to move?

I found these :https://www.realtor.com/realestatean...-41269?view=qv

https://www.realtor.com/realestatean...-35906?view=qv


the 2 that popped up from Salem, Al.

https://www.realtor.com/realestatean...-15811?view=qv

Check this boathouse/ dock: Lake Harding

https://www.realtor.com/realestatean...711700&view=qv

[DennisMH&F]

Lived at a suburban lake for 12 years and loved it. Just moved 2 years ago for family reasons. As mentioned above, lake homes are high maintenance and high hassle. If your a handy guy you'll have a leg up. I knew nothing about docks, sprinkler pumps, grinder pumps, etc....so I had to learn some stuff. My wife wants everything neat & clean 100% of the time so shoreline maintenance, deck/dock power washing and landscaping was a chore. You can hire some of out but that will add to the budget and the smaller tasks can still wear you out.

[tcesni]

There is nothing better than having a couple of spare hours and walking down to your dock, stepping into the boat, and going fishing. Yes, lakes are busy during the summer but at least for where I live (Smith Mountain Lake - VA) it is only busy on weekends. Week days are essentially quiet and outside of the June - August window the weekdays are empty on the lake. We love it, very quiet overall and extremely quiet in the winter.

[Ken Braun]

Be prepared for the house not appraising for what they are asking.

[TableRock55]

I have lakefront, but no slip. Lakefront is great cause there are only so many and you are pretty much guaranteed it will appreciate. On other hand, when we have high water/flood it's a helluva lot of work. If I was doin it again, I would probably opt for "lakeview," get more lot for my money and therefore be able to build more house. Corps lakes limit what you can do between your house and the water.

[Charles Prestridge]

West Point is a Corp Lakes built in the 1970's. Shoreline is totally owned by the Corp's. If the house you buy does not already have a dock, talk to Corp and understand what it will take to obtain a permit.

Water-level will easily fluctuate between 628 feet and 636 feet from Winter to Summer. Deeper-water lots are a premium.

Corp used to draw down to about 625 feet every winter. You can look at Corp website for historical water elevation. Some of the recent years, they have tried to keep it at 627-628 during the winter.

Depending on where you are on the lake, it could take 30-45 minutes to drive from your home to the interstate on-ramp. Relatively few bridges crossing lake and traffic downtown, can increase commute times.

Lake has a good number of public boat-launches. Many who live on the lake, will launch boat from public ramp, especially if lake is down a several feet.

Lake Wedowee (R. L. Harris), is a also a nice lake, you might want to consider.

[Kromer]

I did this last year and perhaps like you, it was a long time goal. The only difference is I kept the other house and i am "part time" at the lake becasue retirement is still a few years away.

One of the things I never thought about was the cost of the utilities, not that I would have changed my mind but still to this day I am floored.
Primarily it is the cost of water, we are on a private utility and they absolute crush you.
I do have a pool and I do have lawns but water at the other house is about $50.00 a month.
Up at the lake, where I am roughly 12 days a month, $400-$500 a month

[printman71]

For the lake, and quality of life, I would choose West Point over Oconee.

[BASSBUZZ]

I did this last year and perhaps like you, it was a long time goal. The only difference is I kept the other house and i am "part time" at the lake becasue retirement is still a few years away.

One of the things I never thought about was the cost of the utilities, not that I would have changed my mind but still to this day I am floored.
Primarily it is the cost of water, we are on a private utility and they absolute crush you.
I do have a pool and I do have lawns but water at the other house is about $50.00 a month.
Up at the lake, where I am roughly 12 days a month, $400-$500 a month

4-500 a month for water?

[grandbassslayer]

Someone has a leak.

[Dan21XRS]

Bring your checkbook, everything is more expensive living on the lake... When we bought ours the wife said the 10x20 foot dock was all she needed, kids and grand kids would be happy just swimming off the dock... Next summer she said she thought it would be nice to have a pontoon, nothing special just something to get out on the main lake... Next summer she thought it would be nice to upgrade to a bigger pontoon so we could ski and pull a tube... Next summer she wanted a cover dock so we didn't have to put the mooring cover on all the time. This year she decided the deck on the back of the house needed to be replaced with a bigger deck because when the whole families there it seems small... That's not counting the new bathroom, flooring, carpet, appliances and other incidentals to make the house feel like a home... Don't get me wrong, I love waking up and being on the water, it's been our dream for as long sa I can remember, but sometimes it's a never ending money sucker... Do it if you can afford it... Dan