Lake Home Prices – Through the ROOF!!!

belletaine wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>Netguy wrote:</div>
belletaine

Great explanation on what you and your family did. I may do something similar. I would rather have a place not on a lake but with more acreage in an area with a lot of good lakes to fish than be on a good lake that is crowded.

We have access to 2000 acres of water from our dock but still have privacy, which is good, we get loud once and awhile 😉

It only took me about a year or two to find your place….not as private anymore, but I appreciate you keep the beer on ice! You have a beautiful spot there for sure Scott!

BigWerm wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>belletaine wrote:</div>

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>Netguy wrote:</div>
belletaine

Great explanation on what you and your family did. I may do something similar. I would rather have a place not on a lake but with more acreage in an area with a lot of good lakes to fish than be on a good lake that is crowded.

We have access to 2000 acres of water from our dock but still have privacy, which is good, we get loud once and awhile 😉

It only took me about a year or two to find your place….not as private anymore, but I appreciate you keep the beer on ice! You have a beautiful spot there for sure Scott!

Thanks Kory! I’m working on the 70″ tv to mount on the dock that plays Seafoam commercials on a loop.

My wife and I are one of the lucky ones and ended up buying a lake place on a whim 3 years ago. I’ve spent 90% of my time “up north” this past year and watch several local area Facebook sites… Emily, Outing etc. I’ve noticed a lot of posts this year of people who are looking to buy a place, seem to know what they want, and are ready to make a move. They are asking if anyone would want to do a direct seller, buyer, no realtor commission type deal. Not a transaction type I would recommend as I highly value the expertise a good realtor brings to the table (you’re welcome Jeff!). But it does show considerable creativity and might be a way to get something going. Identifying a possible seller and creating a relationship for a future transaction, right of 1st refusal, etc. should be considered. Offer to show up and lend a hand, there is always work to be done at a lake place. Fish the lake and drop by with a few extra fish filets for the owner. Get yourself on the inside track. Just a thought. And no, I’m not considering selling. This place will move on to the kids and grandkids. My wife and I agreed that what we really invested in are the memories. So far we are far richer 🤗. Good luck in your quest.

Ike, what lake ya on in that area?

Small lake … Leavitt. I mostly trailer the fish boat to one many of the lakes near me. Leech or Mille Lacs are an hour away with many other good lakes much closer. As for property values around here the insanity gets going fairly strong the closer one gets to Cross Lake as well as the 371 corridor north of Brainerd. Over by Outing it’s much more sane.

Ike Sell wrote:

Small lake … Leavitt. I mostly trailer the fish boat to one many of the lakes near me. Leech or Mille Lacs are an hour away with many other good lakes much closer. As for property values around here the insanity gets going fairly strong the closer one gets to Cross Lake as well as the 371 corridor north of Brainerd. Over by Outing it’s much more sane.

You trailer away from Roosie?

We’re literally 5 minutes apart. I’m right up the road from the Village on the North end of Roosie right across from Loon Island.

Oh no, I just put my car on autopilot if I want to go fish Rosie. I’ll be out there in the morning ice fishing. Do Rosie 1st then Lawrence on my way back home.
My other close by favs are Washburn and Thunder. OK so we will have to met up at the Bridge for a beer then and compare some more notes on local fishing holes.
email is [email protected]

I like your thinking.
I’ll be up next weekend to end walleye season. If your going to be up I’ll shoot you an email and we can meet up at the county line reef.

A lot of good thoughts here. I am kicking myself for not buying a place after the crash in 2008. There were places on the market for years at good prices. Today we have to compete with people moving up full-time because of remote work being an option, people with money to buy their cabin, and investors buying places up for Air BNB rentals.

What also makes this demand sad is that it puts even more pressure on the remaining resorts to just cash out and go live a nice life somewhere.

One option I’ve been thinking about lately is to buy a cabin at one of the resorts who have this sort of arrangement. The resort can rent it out for you while you are not using it. You can still have waterfront property, but at a reduced cost. I stayed at once of these last year up by Woman and it was an intriguing idea.

I’ve also been toying with the idea of just buying on a lake near the cities. That way I can just have one house and can increase my top price limit. However, as we know, nothing replaces the up north feel and fishing quality.

I have a friend who bought off the lake near Woman on this quiet, heavily wooded lot. Pine trees everywhere. He has his choice of lakes to drive to.

i sometimes just check on zillow once in a while and im a little surprised by cabin prices right now. im seeing a lot of very nice looking places on decent lakes for between 300-400k. it seemed like in the past you couldnt have a turd sandwich for 300k. i know generally zillow is a poor website in the sense that half of the stuff is already sold but thought i would open up the topic again and see if others are noticing more properties becoming available at better prices

crappie55369 wrote:

i sometimes just check on zillow once in a while and im a little surprised by cabin prices right now. im seeing a lot of very nice looking places on decent lakes for between 300-400k. it seemed like in the past you couldnt have a turd sandwich for 300k. i know generally zillow is a poor website in the sense that half of the stuff is already sold but thought i would open up the topic again and see if others are noticing more properties becoming available at better prices

I see prices near us dropping at a pretty good rate. As well I seen a few lake homes in the area that I could afford. Which was not the case 1 full year ago

That’s interesting Bearcat. Not in NW Wisconsin. Very few places on the water for sale, and the ones that are for sale are still at pretty ridiculous prices (in my eyes).

Prices are finally starting to drop,”affordability” unfortunately is still at an all time high when you factor in the new mortgage rates. A quick payment calculator will show you that 500k cabin now has the same payment a 700k cabin had 5-6 months ago….

Smellson wrote:

A quick payment calculator will show you that 500k cabin now has the same payment a 700k cabin had 4 months ago….

Not if you put $500K down,,,,,

HRG

Hot Runr Guy wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>Smellson wrote:</div>
A quick payment calculator will show you that 500k cabin now has the same payment a 700k cabin had 4 months ago….

Not if you put $500K down,,,,,

HRG

You’re right… depending on where that 500k was sitting, it might be even more than 700k.

A house/cabin on the water near me has been on the market for 3 years.
It has been a VRBO rental. It originally was priced at 469k and gradually lowered to 399k last year. Taken off the market last October I think. Put back on the market this spring at 439k. I just laughed and laughed. Apparently they really don’t want to sell.

I will back up NW WI prices. On my in-laws lake there is a 2br 1ba with no out buildings, not a large lot, on a small lake, not good fishing, and the asking price is $499K, OUCH!

My in-laws place need a ton of work, but it is 4br 2ba with a very nice lakefront and a pole shed. Would be a potential gold mine if I were into fixer upper.

But I see the market stagnating, or maybe going down.

MX1825 wrote:

A house/cabin on the water near me has been on the market for 3 years.
It has been a VRBO rental. It originally was priced at 469k and gradually lowered to 399k last year. Taken off the market last October I think. Put back on the market this spring at 439k. I just laughed and laughed. Apparently they really don’t want to sell.

These people always make me laugh, like do they not know the internet exists and any potential buyer can see their previous listing?

Interesting article in the StarTribune this week:

https://www.startribune.com/looking-for-a-place-on-a-lake-in-minnesota-this-summer-get-in-a-long-line/600185204/

toddrun wrote:

I will back up NW WI prices. On my in-laws lake there is a 2br 1ba with no out buildings, not a large lot, on a small lake, not good fishing, and the asking price is $499K, OUCH!

My in-laws place need a ton of work, but it is 4br 2ba with a very nice lakefront and a pole shed. Would be a potential gold mine if I were into fixer upper.

But I see the market stagnating, or maybe going down.

Probably will get blasted for this..but for most people looking at lake property, good fishing is not a high priority.

BigWerm wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>MX1825 wrote:</div>
A house/cabin on the water near me has been on the market for 3 years.
It has been a VRBO rental. It originally was priced at 469k and gradually lowered to 399k last year. Taken off the market last October I think. Put back on the market this spring at 439k. I just laughed and laughed. Apparently they really don’t want to sell.

These people always make me laugh, like do they not know the internet exists and any potential buyer can see their previous listing?

I think that sites like Zillow are starting to hide this information. I think there were a lot of people that bought right before the pandemic, and are now listing their houses for double what they paid. Add in the surge of remote workers, and it just creates the perfect storm. I am not excited to pay more property taxes due to inflation though…

There was a tiny 2bdrm 1 bath cabin down from us that sold for 139k 2 years ago. It went up for sale in June and is in escrow right now. 279k. It’s tiny, there’s room for 1.5 adults and that’s it

stout93 wrote:

Probably will get blasted for this..but for most people looking at lake property, good fishing is not a high priority.

Definitely not going to blast you for saying this because its true in some cases, but cabins on quality fishing lakes carry a significant price premium vs. those on poor fishing lakes.

In general I agree the market has finally started to stagnate, but the significant price drops have not started (and may never start) in my opinion.

belletaine wrote:

Thanks Kory! I’m working on the 70″ tv to mount on the dock that plays Seafoam commercials on a loop.

Let me know if you want the edits that had all the juiciest cuts.

I’m in the wrong crowd if a $500,000 lake home is considered a cabin.

I have been “blessed” to become partial owner in a pair of cabin families (not incommon in N MN). I have spent a combined total of Zero nights at either in 10 yrs…. If it’s not on a lake I would pay to recreate at, I don’t like spending my free time there working. I am the only person in either party that feels this way and wants to sell. I simply keep my yap shut and carry on. These high prices of lake places give me ulcers.