thinking of moving up to lake of the woods

cant decide if we should by a house to live up there full time or buy a smaller place more just for the summer.i am retired and wife is younger so she may have to work a while longer if buy a house or if buy a cheaper summer place she may be able to quit sooner. if not there all the time we have to find someone to check on it and keep the yard up and whatever else.we are 12 hrs. south so not easy task, do any of you guys do this or it just to big of a pain? give me your thoughts and ideas

You only live once. If your wife is on-board go for it. I know in International Falls you can buy houses for $35 to $50k so I’m sure you can find something like that in the area you are looking at. Get a kid or lawn service to handle the yard work. The other option is park a camper on a seasonal lot and come and go as you like.

we are considering that also,we would like to buy or stay more around Baudette or north toward wheelers point. the thing I am afraid of with the camper is keeping the mice out. we have one now and no about keeping it clean and no food left in it and some of the other tricks but it still worries me but it is also a good idea

I would go up for a week and scout around. There will be mobile homes for sale up there. Both in town and in campgrounds I would think. Just ask around in the restaurants and resorts. Somebody always knows somebody who knows something. You just have to find that person.

I was just up there a week ago fishing and did some looking around,i am trying to stay away from trailer houses I used to work on them and don’t want to again lol. just trying to get all the pros and cons.thanks for all the ideas

One thing to remember, up there summers are great but short, winters are long and cold.

munchy wrote:

One thing to remember, up there summers are great but short, winters are long and cold.

I know that is one of the big things in considering this venture,thanks

I know an apple to orange comparison but I already have my retirement home set and am well on my way to having it paid off. A villa at Mille Lacs…so no, not LOTW but still close to the cities. Some reasons for that, closer to family and also medical attention which yeah is and will be an issue when getting older. Some of these villa’s sold recently for $50,000-55,000.

I would think carefully about a trailer because you may not be looking at much more than a field or some trees. Not bad for awhile, but could cause cabin fever madness upon time.

If you’re looking to isolate that might be good place. Where I am at is year ’round with heat at the flip of a switch and the association takes care of all maintenance, lawn cutting, pool maintenance and snow plowing in winter.

But most important is the view…

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nice

LOW is a little to far north for me. I have friends that grew up on farms in the Baudette area. They still own the family farmstead and spend about a month a year up there.

Winter is my favorite time of the year, I love the peace and quiet but winter is another month longer up by LOW.

Don’t underestimate the value of civilization, especially in retirement.

I can not speak for your lifestyle. I usually fish 2 to 3 times a week, summer or winter; and I don’t hunt anymore. There is a whole lot more to life than hunting and fishing.

I don’t sit in bars or the Legion, but my wife does like to go out once in a
while. Civilization brings competitively priced groceries, gas, and building materials; all important in retirement. Unless you are a lottery winner.

As you get older, quality local medical care becomes even more important.

I have more than enough water in my area to fish. There are more than 150 lakes within 30 miles from my home. From lake trout to 14″ crappies with walleyes in between. Part of fishing is the challenge, either in the water in front of my house with the moored pontoon or my trailer mounted fishing rig.

Have fun dreaming and house hunting. Retirement is great.

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I’d look at moving there assuming it makes sense for both of you. Buying a vacation place 12 hours away doesn’t make much sense, imo, you will spend a lot of time working on your home instead of enjoying the area which is the reason you want to buy there. Plus for the cost of buying, you could probably do an all-inclusive plan through one of the high end resorts a couple times a year and still come out significantly further ahead than buying for 3-6 trips a year.

To live up there fulltime you’d have to really enjoy winter weather. There isn’t much to do besides fish and hunt which is ok, but for a spouse may become pretty dull.

thats quite far but people in the twin cities winter in florida which is 20+ away. I like you would love to spend summers in northern MN. i’m in Illinois.

homes are relatively inexpensive up there from what we’ve seen for nice getaway homes. i love fishing that river and I love the lake.

i too have thought about this. i’m 20 years away from considering something like this but i’d love to have a home that i can go to in may spend my summer there into october and then come back to illinois for hunting and fishing season here. following the fall walleye bite.

You could look at a place like Arnesen’s, it’s a bit far from town, but they have some really nice trailer lots. Seems like more and more people are building more all-season type trailer things up there too.

I don’t think lot leases are super expensive either. It’s a pretty nice community up there, plenty of people around to give you a hand.

Like I said though, it’s a bit far from town, so not sure if you’d like that.

You could look at a place like Arnesen’s

Unless you have an ATV, then you’d be considered the spawn of Satan.

my 2 cents, rent first. Try before you buy. Do a longer lease to see how the day to day over a couple seasons treats you. Lakes are nice but not the end all be all for day to day living as commented on above. Do you like the weather? Civilization or the lack there of over time? Do you like the local people and are you making friends? etc.

My aunt and uncle have been up there for 12 years or so. He retired and moved up there and guided for the resorts. But the guiding thing got old because of the amount of work involved and now medical issues have forced them down to civilization to be near hospitals. They would go somewhere south for Jan-March to get away from the winter. But the nice thing is that he still go out ice fishing in December before they left and well into the spring after they got back. So he had the best of both worlds.

But yeah, not much up there to do and the drive up and back grinds on you. Just drags on. If you are young enough, get it out of your system now or you will always regret it. I second others, however, in getting something temporary or a seasonal lot for now as a trial run before you put down big bucks. Houses can take a while to sell up there after you have bought one.

thanks for all the ideas we are talking about all of this,maybe pull camper up for a month or two and see how it goes. the winters don’t excite us but we can allways go south on trips and visit family. the wheels are turning