Name:   MartiniMan - Subject:   Real Estate question Date:   9/23/2015 9:15:02 AM

I would add to the criteria to help you pick an area.

1. Do you want to be close to a marina with fuel and repair facilities or not?  There are areas of the lake with no marina (ie, Sandy Creek)
2. Do you want to be on the Atlanta or Montgomery side of the lake?  If you are from Atlanta and don't want to add a lot of travel time you will want to be on the east side of the lake and vice versa for Montgomery
3. Busy big boats or more secluded.  If you don't care about lots of boats and big waves then the southern part of the lake is more convenient to restaurants, marinas, etc.  Areas like Sandy Creek and others have lots of undeveloped shoreline and are less busy.
4. Speaking of waves, will ignorant boaters making big waves make you crazy?  If yes, you may want to find a place up a slough, keeping in mind that it will not have water in the winter or may be too low for boats.  Spending every weekend screaming at wakeboard boats is not my idea of enjoyable lake living.  Big waves are a fact of life and if you don't like them buy up a narrow slough.
5. In a development or not?  There are lots of both so you have to decide if you want to go it alone so to speak or have the amenities and additional cost of a development.