Where would you move to....

[hcooperrn]

Just wanted to put this question out to the TO world -- if you could move to waterfront property to be able to surf year round, where would it be?

We're strongly considering moving away from the Denver area -- we love Denver, just don't like putting an expensive boat in storage. This is probably a 2-3 year plan, however, I'm getting to the point of starting to think about buying a final property (retirement is about 25 years away).

Our current leading idea is somewhere in the Austin area; we have family in Arizona; though we're really wide open to ideas, hence the callout.

Here are the 'must-haves' we're trying to keep in consideration:

• Dockable lake front property, ability to build a trolley/boat house
• Minimal HOA intrusion
• Willing to custom build if we can't find the house we want
• Total budget, either buying or building, will probably cap at about $500k
• Minimum 1 acre, prefer 2-5
• Ability to boat year round (we'll go out in 50*/50*)
• Within 45-60min of a decent metropolitan area for the wife's work
• Within 1-1.5hours of an international airport for my work
• Other things I'm not thinking of???

[007]

If you don't like pythons, crocodiles and alligators (oh my!)...then Florida is out!

[D&P Powell]

Lake Possum Kingdom in Texas. However, you would have to realize it can be a madhouse during the summer months on the weekends. If you go into it with a mindset of boating during the week, it would be ideal. Disclaimer; I might be bias, it’s where I hope to retire one day.

[chpthril]

Gotta give a shout out to the Charlotte NC are. 3 local lakes

As stated, 3 lakes that are and still developing. Norman, Mtn Island and Wylie
Many lots are NOT in a neighborhood, so nearly zero HOA intrusion, but there are lake laws though.
500K can get you a decent lot and home around here. However, some of the lots are small and large houses take up most of the dirt. Might find an existing lake house on a larger lot, raise the hold house and build your own new home. 2-5 acres would be 2+ lots around, that could consume most of your budget.
Lakes dont freeze hear and typically get no lower then the low 50's. A 60-70 degree day in the winter is not unheard of
Depending on traffic, Charlotte uptown is 45 minutes from the northern points of norman. The other lakes are closer
About the same drive to Charlotte Douglas Int airport

[hcooperrn]

Good to know NC doesn't freeze, will definitely take a look into those areas.

I've heard about Possum Kingdom as well; one of the first checks I do is a Google satellite view to make sure I see docks, and there are definitely a lot there, will add it to the list of potentials.

Pythons, crocodiles, alligators -- would probably rule out areas with those, don't want to mess up the prop...

Guess I should add freshwater to the list of requirements just to be safe, not really interested in salt or even brackish maintenance...

[KoolAid]

Possum Kingdom is a beautiful place. The nearest major airport is the DFW airport which is about 2 hours away and Weatherford is right at an hour away if you live on the southeast side of the lake. 1 acre on the lake may be hard to find with $500k being the budget. Worth a look and highly recommended.

[Bakes5]

Possum kingdom is nice but I believe it has a rep as a prop killer lake. It was pretty low a few years ago. We went last march and it was beautiful.

Really, hard to go wrong living on any lake where your boat is on a lift.

You may need to recalibrate your $500K, lot size and proximity to metro area requirements though. Once you start getting close to civilization, small lots seem to start about $500K without the house.

[bsreid]

I spent some time in Dallas in the lake grapevine area and it was nice. I was only out on evening weekdays and it was so nice and warm. Close to airport and city centres.

I would honestly love to move somewhere warm where boating would be possible all year.

[BJM]

Grapvine is as close as you can get to the DFW airport. Grapvine is a nice lake during the weekdays. It’s crowded during the weekends. Every lake in the metroplex is though. It is controlled by the Army Corps of Engineers. The downside to that is there are very few houses that have boat docks. You can almost count them on one hand. The corps owns the first 50 yards or so of shoreline. Grapvine doesn’t have many deep water coves and the south / southeast wind (normal summer wind pattern) can easily blow out the whole lake.

Lake Lewisville is 20ish miles north of Dallas. It is a corps controlled lake with just a few private boathouses. Lewisville is very busy on weekends but it is also large with lots of protected coves. You can get good water until 10 or 11 on most weekends.

Our boat is at a marina on lewisville and it is wonderful on weekdays.

Look into Cedar Creek lake. It’s 45 minutes from downtown Dallas. Majority of the shoreline is privately owned and everyone has a boathouse. It’s a fun lake that we go to often. It is growing like crazy and lots of high end housing and neighborhoods are being built.

Let me know if you have any questions about the North Texas area.

[Germaine Marine]

Hard to go wrong in AZ.

[skier man]

This will probably sound crazy but, why not head north?
The Okanagan Valley is beautiful, Okanagan lake is gorgeous and doesn't freeze in the winter time. I know people that boat year round even when its below freezing. IF you don't want to surf in the winter then head to one of a few ski areas in the valley. Kelowna has an international airport and you can get there in under an hour from anywhere along the lake.

If I could live on any lake in the world it would be Shuswap Lake, or a lake in the Okanagan (Skaha, Kalamalka, Okanagan)

[TigeFamily]

X2 on Charlotte, NC area. I am getting ready to start building my next home in Denver, NC...which is about 30mins north of Charlotte, on Lake Norman. Big man made lake with 520 miles of shoreline and is pretty deep in most places (there are other good lakes in the area as well). You cant get lake front property for less than $300k in that surrounding area (Denver, Huntersville, Cornelius, Mooresville)....but if you go North another 15-20mins you can find lakefront house that is real nice for around $500k (Sherrils Ford, Maiden, etc). Its is building out that direction and property values keep getting higher every year, so it would also appreciate.
The other nice thing about Lake Norman, even tho like Chpthril said it does not freeze and doesn't get much colder than 50's at coldest, on the South side of the lake near Blythe Landing, there is a power plant reactor where warm water flows out of a cove and stays in middle 60's at coldest and is mid 70's right now even tho everywhere else is 10-15 degree's cooler. I went surfing with my buddies over this Thanksgiving weekend and water was 78 degrees still! Perfect place to start out and you can surf here all winter if you wanted. We usually winterize after Thanksgiving, but will go out occasionally with a friend who keeps his boat in heated shop, ready to go anytime.

Pic is from Nov 26th....wore the wetsuit cause after leaving the warm cove, we went into main channel cause it was glass everywhere that day.

[bsreid]

Skier man.

You do sound crazy and I live in BC! Yes it’s beautiful but the winters are brutal in the interior. Crazy pricy though for lake homes...

[jmcclain01]

Grapvine is as close as you can get to the DFW airport. Grapvine is a nice lake during the weekdays. It’s crowded during the weekends. Every lake in the metroplex is though. It is controlled by the Army Corps of Engineers. The downside to that is there are very few houses that have boat docks. You can almost count them on one hand. The corps owns the first 50 yards or so of shoreline. Grapvine doesn’t have many deep water coves and the south / southeast wind (normal summer wind pattern) can easily blow out the whole lake.

Lake Lewisville is 20ish miles north of Dallas. It is a corps controlled lake with just a few private boathouses. Lewisville is very busy on weekends but it is also large with lots of protected coves. You can get good water until 10 or 11 on most weekends.

Our boat is at a marina on lewisville and it is wonderful on weekdays.

Look into Cedar Creek lake. It’s 45 minutes from downtown Dallas. Majority of the shoreline is privately owned and everyone has a boathouse. It’s a fun lake that we go to often. It is growing like crazy and lots of high end housing and neighborhoods are being built.

Let me know if you have any questions about the North Texas area.

This is our little place in Cedar Creek, bought about 7 years ago for a while $169k. Put a little into but not into it more than $215k. Yard has full sod now too. Have close to an acre with 125’ of lake front.


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[JohnnieMo]

Where would you move to....

Skier man.

You do sound crazy and I live in BC! Yes it’s beautiful but the winters are brutal in the interior. Crazy pricy though for lake homes...

Agreed. If I could find work in Shuswap I would be there. But lakefront with things like a road and power would be $1M plus. Oh and the lake is only useable from April to October.

It really makes you wonder though. Canadians earn less, we have tons of lakes, and there is fewer of us. Why is it so expensive?