Lake House - Buying Guide

[IOWASTATE]

Just curious on thoughts around buying a lake house. I think we would prefer MN, but open to MO WI or even in IA (Options seem somewhat limited)

Trying to factor in drive time from central IA, location (close enough to town with grocery store) but balance seclusion and peace. (No interest in Okoboji).

We’ve been to a few places in northern MN but I don’t even know where to start when considering all the possible lakes there.

Anyone else venture into this?

 

[BCClone]

Almost bought a cabin on lost island lake, by Ruthven. Decided we didn’t want to spend that money and basically feel like that would be our vacay every summer.

 

[IOWASTATE]

That’s a good point. I struggle with the financial sense. You could rent a cabin once every summer and come out ahead.

I grew up with access to one and I enjoy this every memories. That was a shared family cabin so financially much less constraining.

 

[baller21]

Instead of looking for a lake house you should be looking for people who already own a lake house to make friends with. Than you can go several times a year for free.

 

[Rabbuk]

Instead of looking for a lake house you should be looking for people who already own a lake house to make friends with. Than you can go several times a year for free.

Much like a boat

 

[xr4ticlone]

You'd be 1000 times better off renting.
Endless maintenance...even if you're not there.
The time you think you'll spend enjoying it...will be spent fixing it, maintaining it, updating it.

If you spent $5k a year renting one...you'd be money ahead.

Same for a boat or RV.

 

[cyclonesurveyor]

My In-laws have owned 3 different properties at Lake of Ozarks. Each one was missing something or had an undesirable view until the last one which was a dump but cheap. FIL gutted eveything and turned a shack into a very nice 4 BR house. Only took him 4 years, doing, most of it himself.

They are from SW Iowa, 6 hour drive to cabin and they love it. But they are retired and spend alot of time there. Their friends are also now retiring and buying there too.

 

[JDDDCy]

Not sure what your price range is. We share a condo at Lake Panorama. It can be a little pricey but there are a few condos as well as homes for sale. We do not use it a lot but would probably hardly ever go if it was farther away. Just a 40 minute drive from Des Moines.

 

[IOWASTATE]

Price range would be 150-200k. Thinking more of a cabin or simple home in the woods.

It is a battle of nostalgia. Going to a family cabin, family pictures on the wall, outweighs some of the math for me. I think I have an irrational attachment to MN for this reason!!

 

[BCClone]

As some said, having it close to home is convenient. It allows you to have a safe place to have some side action and just say you are going to go over and work on something.

 

[cyclonpediaJoe]

Sun Valley in southern Iowa has a really cool setup. Probably 1.5 hours from Des Moines. They have their own realty site. Good fishing, good recreation.

 

[2020cy]

That price range won’t buy you much. Lake Ponderosa by Montezuma, dumps go for $250K. Private lake which has certain advantages. A friend bought a cabin at a resort on Leech Lake in Minnesota, he gets like 8 weeks a year and they rent it out for him the rest of the year. He said it was half of normal price.

 

[WoodCy]

Some things to consider...

Look for something close enough to home that you can actually use it. Unless you are school teacher with summers off, if your cabin is too far away, you will go there once a year or you wil burn a bunch of time driving and be exhausted when you get there.

When you get there you will spend a bunch of time doing stuff, like mowing the grass. That will burn at least a half of a day. If it is a weekend trip, that means you have about 12 hours to enjoy the lake before you have to pack up, lock up and head home.

You have to be really careful where you purchase. Do not buy any stand alone property on an indian reservation. There is close to a 100% chance your house will get broken into. Law enforcement on the reservations many times leaves a little to be desired if something does happen. Stories include the following...
- A very close friend had a cabin on a reservation in MN. After the 5th time of getting broken into, he started leaving the front door unlocked, placed a note on the door stating such, and began using 2 vehicles to go to the cabin. One pulled the boat. One pulled an enclosed trailer full of all the furnishings. They would load/unload the house every time they went back and forth. They ended up selling the place after a couple of years that arrangement.
- I knew one guy who was going to "beat the system." He built his house out of concrete block and put bars over the windows and doors. Unfortunately the Achilles heel of the structure was the wooden roof. Upon arrival at the lake house he was greeted by the site of a hole cut in the roof of the house with a chainsaw. The thieves crawled down and opened the place from the inside and stole it clean.
- One neighbor to my friend above put up a tall chain link fence and a gate made from steel pipe. He came up to his home twice to find it had been robbed. Once the thieves drove through the chain link. Once they were suspected to have come in by boat because the fence was intact but the back door towards the lake was broken down.

The idea of a lake condo seems really good. The down side is that they generally do not have a dedicated boat dock and they aren't as quiet.

Good luck in whatever you do.

 

[JSmoove]

Price range would be 150-200k. Thinking more of a cabin or simple home in the woods.

It is a battle of nostalgia. Going to a family cabin, family pictures on the wall, outweighs some of the math for me. I think I have an irrational attachment to MN for this reason!!

I'd loved to be proved wrong, because I too would love to have a lake house someday, but at this price you're not even getting on Twin Lakes near Manson, IA.

 

[Gunnerclone]

Skip it. Use that money for other vacations. Nostalgia is dead.

 

[SCyclone]

Believe it or not, some lots will go for as much as $175,000 in the area where my Mom lives (Eagle River, WI area - heart of Wisconsin's resort area). I'd agree that $150-200K isn't going to buy you much.

You might consider looking at timeshares in these types of areas, they are getting more and more popular because of high taxation, upkeep issues, etc.

My Mom and Dad bought a 2-bedroom bungalow in 1992 on a lake that is part of a chain, for $63,500. Of course it needed work - and updating - but Dad did it slowly, by himself mostly (I helped with a lot of it), and then added on about 500 more square feet, including a basement. It now appraises for nearly $300,000.

 

[Bobber]

I have enough friends with lake places, get to go a few times per year and get the fix out of my system.

Love the idea of owning a place and have the cash to make one work, but the business side of me screams run away as fast as you can!

We have enough diverse interests think it would be a bummer spending all our time going to the lake place to get our money out of it.

Agree with the fellow who said spend 5k per year renting and you will be better off and also will have the freedom to go multiple places.

 

[DeereClone]

Price range would be 150-200k. Thinking more of a cabin or simple home in the woods.

It is a battle of nostalgia. Going to a family cabin, family pictures on the wall, outweighs some of the math for me. I think I have an irrational attachment to MN for this reason!!

With that price range you will have better luck buying a little hunting shack/cabin in Southern Iowa on 20-40 acres of timber.

If you aren't attached to the lake idea, I would look at increasing your budget a bit, buying 40 acres with some timber, a pond, and CRP for income to help pay for increasing your budget a bit, and building a little primitive cabin/home on it. You could buy the ground now to start using and add the cabin later. This would provide fishing/kayaking/swimming in the pond, ATV riding through the CRP/Timber, hiking, and hunting if you are into that. I would try to look for something within 15 miles of a nice park so you have other recreation opportunities close by.

 

[chadly82]

That’s a good point. I struggle with the financial sense. You could rent a cabin once every summer and come out ahead.

I grew up with access to one and I enjoy this every memories. That was a shared family cabin so financially much less constraining.

Or you could buy it, go whenever you choose to and do an Air BNB with it and profit from it. That'd be something you may want to consider.

 

[knowlesjam]

Parents owned a very nice place on Gull Lake in Minnesota (North Central near Brainerd and Nisswa)...right on the lake, about 20 minutes to services, etc.). They lived there, so the commute from Iowa (6-7 hours) wasn't really a factor. Things to consider....most decent places on lakes in Minnesota start at $500K; maintenance due to the extreme winters is very high; getting people to fix things is tough; utilities are high; etc. But the views, fishing, sking, etc. is absolutely great...at a cost. Winters are a *ITCH.

Wife's brother has a small condo on Tablerock in Missouri...love it. Cost for a 2 bdrm was right around $100K. 6 hour drive...they use it about once a month year round to escape Iowa. Low maintenance, low taxes, easy access to services. Only downside is dozens of very close neighbors.

Personally, I'd rent if you only intend to be up there for some of the time. And, I'd absolutely rent something for a week to experience the area before I even considered buying.