Buying a lake home

My inlaws retired and are looking to get a lake property to spend more time at and have it serve as a hub for their 3 kids’ families. So far the search has gone poorly. Their agent has not impressed us at all – he doesnt move very fast and doesnt seem to know much about the properties. Whenever they send us a link and say they are going to see it next Tuesday we groan because our last two house buying experiances have been viewing as soon as they hit the market and making an offer asap (fail, rinse, repeat).

Any tips to help them? Is there more than just finding a better agent? They seem to get info faster than we can online. They are looking for a place somewhere between fargo and the cities, hopefully less than 3hrs from the cities.

They need to lay out their expectations very clearly with the agent – requirements of the property and lake, price range, location, etc. If they have done that, I’d expect immediate responses from the agent with listings on a daily basis. Sounds like you understand the need to move quickly!

If they are vague in the requirements (within 3 hours of the cities is a massive area) I could understand slow responses. However, if they are clear on what they are looking for the agent should understand how competitive the market is. If the agent isn’t cuttin’ the mustard then find a new one.

Do you know where?

Uh, yeah, in this market, they need to be ready to jump in the car at any hour of the day to get check a place out. Or if they have family and friends in the area, have them go check a place out before they can get up there. As you know, they couldn’t have chosen a worst time to be in the market. Especially if they are in the lower price range.

My response would be good luck, as their is almost no inventory. It might be better to look for a lot and build

I heard through a friend that recently bought a cabin that another listing sold for $70K over list price! I can’t imagine looking for one right now…

There are listings out there. Might be on smaller, shallower, less desirable lakes but they’re out there. These smaller lakes still have decent fishing and they are big enough for recreation and such.

Don’t get discouraged by others saying there’s nothing out there..

But to answer your question…I would say you need a different realtor and I echo what some other have said is they have to provide some priorities/requirements/budget to the realtor so they at least have a starting point.

Get a new agent. Although the northwoods do operate at a slower pace, so there may be some delay regardless of who you get. Also, whoever the new agent is, should setup an MLS search area with property/financial parameters, so that as soon as something in their metrics gets listed they get it emailed to them immediately. And if you end up in the Park Rapids area (on the edge of your 3 hour requirement), BelleTaine will buy you a beer and I’ll drink them with ya!

Does not hurt to look, but be ready to wait-the more people say this is the wrong time the more it becomes the right time.

Any reason they wouldn’t expand their search into Wisconsin. Lots of nice lakes within 3 hrs to the Twin Cities. Your relator should be able to give them automated alerts on new listings meeting their criteria. Yes, they will need to move very quickly when they get listed.

We we bought our place we tried using an Agent from the lakes area. That didn’t work well so I used my Realtor form the cities and it went much better.
You need to make the wants/needs list.
It will take a couple weeks or so and you will know all the properties available. When you get to that point check the new listings EVERY morning and be ready to jump.
Make sure you have your ducks in a row and realize you will be spending more than you budget for.

Good luck!
Life is better at the lake.

I would get a realtor locally where they want to look. My co-worker since they were not close the agent did a FaceTime call with them to see the property’s. These were places that had multiple showing and had to get in quick.

Somewhat luckey for me, we got ours over the winter but mine is my full time residence. I think it would have sold now within a day.

bzzsaw wrote:

Any reason they wouldn’t expand their search into Wisconsin. Lots of nice lakes within 3 hrs to the Twin Cities. Your relator should be able to give them automated alerts on new listings meeting their criteria. Yes, they will need to move very quickly when they get listed.

Except then you start competing with people from Chicago buying places, too.

If you look in WI – keep an eye on property taxes.

Eelpoutguy wrote:

If you look in WI – keep an eye on property taxes.

Yes, our taxes are not cheap. That is for sure. But don’t know how they stack up against MN.

“Except then you start competing with people from Chicago buying places, too.”

I’m sure there are some FIBs in Western WI but I don’t see that many. Mostly MN/WI plates.

This one just hit…. hurry ! Browns Lake

big_g wrote:

This one just hit…. hurry ! Browns Lake

hey just out my back door. Well close.

Literally down the road from where I grew up… same street. Great fishing lake. Is my best friends parents cabin, his dad passed and it became too much for his mom. They retired in the 90’s and turned it into a home.

big_g wrote:

Literally down the road from where I grew up… same street. Great fishing lake. Is my best friends parents cabin, his dad passed and it became too much for his mom. They retired in the 90’s and turned it into a home.

sheez, maybe we’ve crossed paths back in the day. Ever go to the old river roost.

glenn57 wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>big_g wrote:</div>
Literally down the road from where I grew up… same street. Great fishing lake. Is my best friends parents cabin, his dad passed and it became too much for his mom. They retired in the 90’s and turned it into a home.

sheez, maybe we’ve crossed paths back in the day. Ever go to the old river roost.

My buddy owns the house right next door to the old river roost

glenn57 wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>big_g wrote:</div>
Literally down the road from where I grew up… same street. Great fishing lake. Is my best friends parents cabin, his dad passed and it became too much for his mom. They retired in the 90’s and turned it into a home.

sheez, maybe we’ve crossed paths back in the day. Ever go to the old river roost.

Oh yeah, go way back with Corky. Loved his 3 for 1 friday nights & sometimes 5 for 1 !!! Also the Rainbow was fun too ! And when Rock N Roll Buck had the Riverside…

Eelpoutguy wrote:

If you look in WI – keep an eye on property taxes.

I don’t know about NW Wisconsin but taxes in the Saint Germain/Eagle River area are MUCH cheaper than down state Wisconsin. I know that area is out of your driving distance. Just stating a fact about taxes.

mxskeeter wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>Eelpoutguy wrote:</div>
If you look in WI – keep an eye on property taxes.

I don’t know about NW Wisconsin but taxes in the Saint Germain/Eagle River area are MUCH cheaper than down state Wisconsin. I know that area is out of your driving distance. Just stating a fact about taxes.

When we was shopping we were looking in the Hayward area and were shocked by the Property taxes, quite a bit higher than comparable places in MN.

tindall wrote:

My inlaws retired and are looking to get a lake property to spend more time at and have it serve as a hub for their 3 kids’ families. So far the search has gone poorly. Their agent has not impressed us at all – he doesnt move very fast and doesnt seem to know much about the properties. Whenever they send us a link and say they are going to see it next Tuesday we groan because our last two house buying experiances have been viewing as soon as they hit the market and making an offer asap (fail, rinse, repeat).

Any tips to help them? Is there more than just finding a better agent? They seem to get info faster than we can online. They are looking for a place somewhere between fargo and the cities, hopefully less than 3hrs from the cities.

one would think some of the smaller lakes in the Alexandria area or glenwood area would be available. How much is anyone’s quests.

Maybe try extending your search to small towns located around the lake. It might not be a house right along the water but it could be just a walk away. This may expand your options if this is something you are willing to consider

My Neighbor is about to list his house. It is on a great lake in Chisago County. It will sell fast. The signs are up, but it has not been listed on the MLS yet. If anyone wants more information reach out.

Tindall,

My wife and I have been lake home shopping for 3 years now. In the 3 years of looking, the prices have risen over 40% for like properties. In the past year, if you are not getting a showing in the first 2 days, on decent properties, you will not get one. And all bids typically are accepted and reviewed by the 3rd day, and property is off the market. And be ready to offer more than asking price. Of the 5 properties we have looked at this year, all sold in 3 days or less, and averaged $20k over asking price. Also, we lost out on a bid because we were not pre-approved, with a higher offer, even though our bank will approve us in under 24 hours.

You really have to be your own realtor, go to Zillow.com and Realtor.com and make up some search criteria to match you needs, and visit it daily. We actually call a local realtor for each area a lake home shows up on either of those sites, and deal with someone local.

I just did this yesterday, a nice lake home was posted, I contacted 5 realtor companies in that area, only one responded. Within 2 hours they stopped taking reservations for walk-throughs because they had already received 5 offers. We are scheduled for this weekend, but they already stated they will not accept any offers after Monday 12 noon. So you have to be ready to make an offer, immediately. One trick, you can put a contingency in your offer for a specific price, but then say you will pay $1000 over the highest offer up to a certain amount, with proof of offer. Kind of like buying on eBay.

Lots of talk this has to burst, but experts are saying the opposite, prices will keep going up for a couple more years.

Good Luck

tried qouting and posting a response here several times, but when i hit the submit it vanishes???????

ok, lets try again, corky now owns the old Denny’s bar on main street richmond. Rainbow is now called Winner bar and grill….good food too!!! still visit corky’d but winners is in town so usually go there.

crappie some day we will hook up, cause i think we’ve talked about that before!!!!!

I am not sure if this is legal on the site or not but I am a real estate agent in WI and have been licensed for about 15 years.

Couple things that I would say in regards to all of this is:

1. working with one agent instead of several is a much better situation for you as a buyer. If you commit to an agent they will commit to you most times. As an agent it is frustrating when buyers are working through multiple agents. I have had situations where a buyer said “Hey if you find something let me know…” Only to contact them on a property that was just listed to find out… “oh yeah another agent we were talking to just sent us that one and we have a showing set up with them tomorrow?” I mean it is up to everyone to do what they want but for both sides it is nice to know that there is some trust involved.

2. Verify your agent. Most seasoned and well established agents will have a personal page with a short BIO that tells who they are and how long they have been an agent. Having a conversation with a potential agent prior to setting up showings sometimes is best. Agents do work harder when they know that they have “won” the job. Agents look at a buyer that has taken the time to look for an agent first as more serious and qualified and that leads to your agent working harder when they know they are not chasing the tail of a dog that isn’t going to hunt…

3. In this situation I would definitely look for an agent that is local to the area you want to be in. Big advantage is that the agent can preview homes for you so when things hit the market they can immediately get in there and check it out. I always tell my buyer that if I go look at something for them and I call them and tell them that they need to come look… that means ASAP. As everyone knows the market is tough now for buyers in a sense that there is a lot of competition. Another benefit of working with the local agent is that they would most likely know the listing agent personally and that can give you an advantage sometimes over working with an agent that does not know the agents in the area.

As a buyer now you just have to understand that the market is what it is. Is every buyer willing to pay $20,000 or something crazy over a list price? The answer to that is no. Is that what it takes now to get a property? Best answer to that is sometimes? Believe it or not even with higher listing prices you still sometimes find properties that undervalued even in this market. A buyer will know when they love something to the point that they will do what it takes to get the property and once again that is where having a good relationship and trust with your agent becomes important because you need to tell them that so they negotiate appropriately.

I wish I was in your area to help but I am in West Central WI but anyone looking please give me a shout through the site.

Good luck and embrace the hunt! Buying something in this market is more rewarding for buyers because it does take a little more effort and it is always worth it in the end!

My neighbors house is 4 acres on a nice lake. I am pretty sure it comes with dock, pontoon and pool table. It will go on the market official early next week. I think it is around $550k.