Name:	Bully5 -	Reply
Subject:	Real Estate question
Date:	9/22/2015 7:54:28 PM

My wife and I are looking at becoming full timers in a year or so.  We are in late fortys and empty nesters.  What part of the lake would you recommend.

Name:	roswellric -	Reply
Subject:	Real Estate question
Date:	9/22/2015 9:47:06 PM

Well as a retiree I would want:

1. Access to quality medical care

2. Access to social  and spiritual support.

3. Access to basic shopping; pharmacy, grocery, service and whatever your personal needs are

4. Transportation access suffuicient to get to family.

5. A neighborhood with folks that have similar curtural backgrounds

Name:	Broke Point -	Reply
Subject:	Real Estate question
Date:	9/23/2015 8:31:11 AM

Willow Point first choice.  

Stillwaters second choice

Other considerations:  Ridge, Windemere, Trillium

Name:	MartiniMan -	Reply
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.

Name:	Talullahhound -	Reply
Subject:	Real Estate question
Date:	9/23/2015 9:19:48 AM

Totally dependent on how much you want to spend and whether you want to live in a gated community or not. 

My husband and I are full times and built our home in Parker Creek.  We are the only full timers on our street.   Very peaceful, not a lot of boat traffic, and an abudence of wildlife.  We made a conscious decision that we did not want to live in a gated community with its various restrictions.  For example, we wanted a boat house and if we lived in a gated community, that would be impossible.  It's really just a matter of what you want. 

Name:	MartiniMan -	Reply
Subject:	Only full timer?
Date:	9/23/2015 9:46:22 AM

Wow, on our street we are more the exception as weekenders.  Everyone to the right of us live there full time and most in the other direction do.  We really like being surrounded by full time folks as they have been great in moments of need, especially when we are not there and need something done.  Have developed some great friendships with them as well.  I suspect your situation is more the norm but it would be interesting to see a map with full time vs part time homeowners.

Name:	MrHodja -	Reply
Subject:	Only full timer?
Date:	9/23/2015 9:51:28 AM

If such a map were to be drawn, it should be close-hold and shared only on a need-to-know basis, else the ne'er do wells use it to target week-enders' homes.

Name:	lucky67 -	Reply
Subject:	Real Estate question
Date:	9/23/2015 10:40:54 AM

agree--it all depends on your budget--just had a guy from Colorado contact me recently with same question; wants to retire here & wanted to know what he could get for $350,000; i told him: 1] a lot to build on; 2] a lot with a single wide; 3] house not on the water; needless to say he was stunned; perception is everything

Name:	MartiniMan -	Reply
Subject:	Good point
Date:	9/23/2015 12:51:10 PM

Shouldn't be done for that very reason.......sigh.......

Name:	John C -	Reply
Subject:	Real Estate question
Date:	9/23/2015 3:09:16 PM

When buyers ask me this question, I usually respond somewhat similarly to the above, but here are the questions I ask:

1.) which town do you want to base your life around: Alex City, Dadeville, or Eclectic.  Meaning - where would you rather shop, go to church, activities, medical care, etc.

2.) what sort of experience do you imagine yourself having - a neighborhood feel or more rural feel?

3.)  do you have hobbies like boating or fishing, and what are your off water hobbies?

4.) then look at price range

By the way, in the last 12 months over 90 deeded waterfront homes (not condos) have sold for under $350,000. True, some of them needed a lot of work. But most of them did not. If you consider that in that same time frame about 318 waterfront residential properties have sold (homes plus condos, not lots), then the under $350k homes market segment is actually quite large - about 28% of the market.

Name:	Talullahhound -	Reply
Subject:	Only full timer?
Date:	9/23/2015 4:38:52 PM

Yes, we are the only full timers on our street.  So we watch out for the other's houses. 

Name:	Osms -	Reply
Subject:	Amazing retirement area
Date:	9/23/2015 9:02:57 PM

We retired to our lake home after Katrina hit our home town, and the most amazing aspect of living here has been the various talents of the other people who choose to retire at the Lake.  First, retired people accept you for who you are, no quizzes about what you did, how much money you have, or who you know.  It simply doesn't matter and it is very refreshing.  Once you get to know folks, it is amazing what the background and talents of Lake retirees really is. 

We live in an area that is about half full time, and half weekenders, and I wouldn't want it any other way.  Lots of friends in the neighborhood, but we are not crowded on top of each other.  There are many homes built on ex-Alabama Power lease lots that have about 300'-350' waterfrontage which keeps spacing between homes just right.  Regardless of you desired home price range you can find what you want here.  Come on.

We live on Sandy Creek and Auburn shopping is 35 minutes away, Montgomery is 45 minutes, B'ham is 1 and 1/2 hrs, and if you really have to go, Atlanta is about 2 hrs.  If you can't find what you need in one of those places, you probably don't need it.

Name:	boataholic -	Reply
Subject:	Real Estate question
Date:	9/23/2015 9:33:10 PM

You say "in a year or so".  If you haven't already done it, ride your boat all over the lake the next year.  Obviously can't be done in one weekend, but you can travel to a different far corner every time you visit.  Well worth the cost of the gas to see how the different parts look and the exploration will make your next year a memorable adventure.   

Name:	GoneFishin -	Reply
Subject:	Real Estate question
Date:	9/23/2015 10:01:31 PM

Spend alot of time going through this topic on the Forum. You will see some of the issues that residents have during the summer. You can email some that you may want to question. It is important to see the water where you may want to locate during the summer so you can see the traffic and noise from neighbors at night. These are not issues until you buy and find out too late that the noise and traffic are not what you want from lake living. 

Name:	Samdog -	Reply
Subject:	Real Estate question
Date:	9/24/2015 2:32:14 PM

Good advice to visit many areas of the lake. I think my area is the best but many on the forum would disagree and like theirs best.

Name:	Broke Point -	Reply
Subject:	Real Estate question
Date:	9/26/2015 10:53:01 PM

And I would drive to the area once you identify you like a certain area by boat.  You may (or may not) like what you see on the journey there by car.

Name:	TotheLake -	Reply
Subject:	I totally agree with this one!
Date:	9/27/2015 8:50:33 AM

I can't tell you how many miles we put on our car over the last few years riding and looking at houses.  I would like several from the water but then we would go by land and I would get the creeps on some because of houses we had to go through to get there.  I made sure that I was comfortable with what we chose since we will be living there full time in a few years.  I want to feel comfortable going to the house during the day and at night since we still have small children and will be coming and going from different activities at night.

Good luck with whatever you choose!