the family is looking to buy a cabin. we’re thinking central wisconsin to avoid the twin cities. looking for any advice on good lake in the area. looking for something within 3 hrs of rochester. thanks any help is appreciated.
Petenwell or Castle Rock area would get my vote.
Our cabin is in Cumberland WI. There are a bunch of nice lakes in the Amery, Siren, Balsam Lake, to Spooner area that would be within 3 hours of Rochester. One of our neighbors is from Rochester and has his place for sale now.
Pay close attention to the property taxes in Wisconsin. That was a deal-breaker for us and we ended up buying in Minnesota
Pay close attention to the property taxes in Wisconsin
My parents are selling their cabin in WI for this reason and looking for one in MN.
Depends what you are looking for. Trego, Minong, Webster, etc. The further north you go the more public land there is. We live east of the metro so distance wise Wi is the best choice for us even though I would rather be in MN.
2 hours and 10 min door to door. We didnt pick Wi. Wi picked us.
I suggest getting up there and driving around. Maybe even enlist the services of a realtor.
You will easily find what you want by seeing all the choices.
Mike, I’ll come visit, see if what you say is true. All I ask is for some Spotted Cow
Little more than 3 hours, but hayward has a few great lakes, like lac courte oreilles, the chippewa flowage, and Grindstone. I absolutely love the area and would recommend it to anyone!
also 2nd home mortgage interest is no longer deductible. 
also 2nd home mortgage interest is no longer deductible.
EPG,
I hadn’t seen this before. You sure?
also 2nd home mortgage interest is no longer deductible.
I believe that actually survived in the final revision of the new tax laws.
Our cabin is in Cumberland WI. There are a bunch of nice lakes in the Amery, Siren, Balsam Lake, to Spooner area that would be within 3 hours of Rochester. One of our neighbors is from Rochester and has his place for sale now.
Address? Lake?
It seems obvious from the replies but are property taxes significantly higher in Wisconsin?
I would stick to MN, wi northwoods crowded, fishing no good,high taxes… 
Munchy, You are correct. Whew that’s awesome. I’m going to celebrate tonight!!!
While earlier incarnations of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act proposed axing the mortgage interest deduction for second homes, the version of the plan signed into law preserves the ability to do so, if with less impact due to the $750,000 cap. The limit applies across all mortgages, meaning if a buyer with a $500,000 mortgage borrows $300,000 for a second home, the interest on $50,000 worth of those mortgages is not deductible.
I don’t know about NW Wi but taxes around Minocqua and St. Germain are cheap compared to southern wisconsin.
Sand Lake. North of Cumberland about 5 miles.
<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>bzzsaw wrote:</div>
Our cabin is in Cumberland WI. There are a bunch of nice lakes in the Amery, Siren, Balsam Lake, to Spooner area that would be within 3 hours of Rochester. One of our neighbors is from Rochester and has his place for sale now.Address? Lake?
Sand Lake. 5 miles Northwest of Cumberland.
I would stick to MN, wi northwoods crowded, fishing no good,high taxes…
I’m sure too far for the OP for consideration, but Iron County WI…not crowded at all, in fact quite remote. And because of the fact that is remote, not many schools and therefore low taxes. Little or no social services or programs and no agriculture to drive up property values on which you would be taxed.
And fishing good and nice at times to have a lake entirely to yourself.
But I get’cha…tongue in cheek. 
Good thing it’s too far for away.
I would stick to MN, wi northwoods crowded, fishing no good,high taxes…
no good fishing if your no good at fishing! Plenty of SMB, walleye, and muskie near Hayward. Also the turtle flambeau flowage is a real treat if youve never been up there (iron county). Absolutely love it there.
Wisconsin taxes drove us to buy in MN. We were looking in WI but between cabin prices, crime rates and taxes we settled on MN. Make sure to check crime reports on the lakes you are considering. Parts of Lac Courte Oreilles, and Grindstone have a lot of break-ins.
<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>gregory wrote:</div>
I would stick to MN, wi northwoods crowded, fishing no good,high taxes…no good fishing if your no good at fishing! Plenty of SMB, walleye, and muskie near Hayward. Also the turtle flambeau flowage is a real treat if youve never been up there (iron county). Absolutely love it there.
I’m thinking Gregory was winking when he made his comment.
Wisconsin taxes drove us to buy in MN. We were looking in WI but between cabin prices, crime rates and taxes we settled on MN. Make sure to check crime reports on the lakes you are considering. Parts of Lac Courte Oreilles, and Grindstone have a lot of break-ins.
Pretty sure that’s not just exclusive to that area. Pockets of criminal behavior all about some MN recreational areas too. Desperate souls are indiscriminate on where they happen to be, and what looks to be an easy solution to their addictions.
The tax disparity…I don’t know, could be? Years ago the taxes on the lakefront cabin I had in Iron Cty WI were relatively low. But then it was a divided property consisting of old resort cabins sold as individual units.
Now, the property tax I pay for a villa on Mille Lacs is $350 a year to Aitkin Cty. That’s pretty cheap for a lake front view.
Nobody mentioned that the beer is cheaper in Wisconsin. That should make up for the higher taxes….LOL
Im selling my lot…its on Red Cedar Lake. Unimproved lot that you could build a cabin on. PM me if interested.
Wisconsin taxes drove us to buy in MN. We were looking in WI but between cabin prices, crime rates and taxes we settled on MN. Make sure to check crime reports on the lakes you are considering. Parts of Lac Courte Oreilles, and Grindstone have a lot of break-ins.
I vacationed on Leech 20 years ago. Met a retired policeman. He told me breakins were pretty common on cabins with absentee ownership even then in that area.
I have a cabin on big McKenzie between spooner and web lake. Got the upnorth feel closer to cities not super crowded like. Or there Minnesota. Sure taxes might be higher but you get more for your money so that’s a trade off. Lots of decent lakes to fish. I own hunting land too. Lots of game around lot of public. Sure the big weekends are busy but the rest of the year fairly quiet.
I should mention that we found our cabin (right down the road from Mr Klein apparently) from a fellow IDO’er after a post I made just like this one 12 years ago… Thanks again Scott!
We looked for over a year, never thought it would be that difficult to find a cabin. Went thru 3 realtors, finally used my realtor from the cities. I found the realtors up north didn’t seem to be that motivated, at least what I have been used to.
We knew every place that was for sale within our parameters. Over 1000 acres, the lake needs to hold potential trophies, has to have a bar/burger joint that we can boat to.
Then it was just a matter of watching the daily hotlist every morning. We placed an offer on our place 2 days before it hit the market.
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