Lake House

[Chad C]

We have a little casita on PK, make sure you can have a dock or it has one. Preferably deep water. That my 2 cents. The end of our dock is in 20’ of water.


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[bklem]

Bought ours in 2018. Little 2/1 house on LBJ. Our plan then was to retire there so we thought we might as well get started. Glad we did. We have used it every weekend except during hunting season! Lol. Putting in the paper work to retire this week and about to break ground on renovations of the house to make it big enough for our expanding family. In the meantime we are prepping our home of the last 18 years here in Comfort for sale. Bittersweet, as Comfort is my hometown and we raised our kids here, but retirement calls and you ain’t about to get this smile off my face.

Pros
It’s the lake!
Fish when I want, not when I can
Entertaining
Lbj is constant level so that was the deciding factor for us.

Cons
Taxes
Smaller lot. Going from 5 acres to 50x150’ lot. No place to store all my crap!
Less house for more $$. Going from 3100 sq ft to what will be 2500 sq ft. True now it is just 1000 sq ft but expanding

[RR 314]

Bought ours in 2018. Little 2/1 house on LBJ. Our plan then was to retire there so we thought we might as well get started. Glad we did. We have used it every weekend except during hunting season! Lol. Putting in the paper work to retire this week and about to break ground on renovations of the house to make it big enough for our expanding family. In the meantime we are prepping our home of the last 18 years here in Comfort for sale. Bittersweet, as Comfort is my hometown and we raised our kids here, but retirement calls and you ain’t about to get this smile off my face.

Pros
It’s the lake!
Fish when I want, not when I can
Entertaining
Lbj is constant level so that was the deciding factor for us.

Cons
Taxes
Smaller lot. Going from 5 acres to 50x150’ lot. No place to store all my crap!
Less house for more $$. Going from 3100 sq ft to what will be 2500 sq ft. True now it is just 1000 sq ft but expanding

Yes sir. If in central Texas I think constant level is a necessity--especially with all the growth and strain on water supply.

We are on LBJ as well. About 40 minutes from home and 30 minutes from the ranch in Llano. Last year I went to the lake twice on Friday with the family, took my son to the ranch for Saturday afternoon hunts, dropped his deer off at the processor (yup, that's how I roll) and was back at the lake by 7:00 to join the women folk. :-)

Our house on LBJ is new construction; however, as stated above, there is always something to tinker with. Seems like local contractors charge fur lined underwear prices to out of town weekenders and their customers don't bat an eye. One of my friend's contacts wanted $3K to do a fairly simple fire pit. Ended up doing one myself. For this reason (I'm cheap) I have also been doing a lot of work on the day dock, boat and jets lifts etc. myself. My wife sold me on the place by saying, "Let's buy a lake house. It will be soooo relaxing." It has been for her!

We just started leasing it out for short term rentals as we have been slammed with kid's activities and sports for months (along as aging parent issues) and even though only 40 minutes or so away we have been too busy to use on the weekends. I will usually knock off half a day or so every couple weeks and head out to get work done.

I don't know if we will ever move out there, but hopefully will be able to spend more time out there one of these days. it is nice to have the option to do so instead of jumping on a plane for a long weekend etc.

[LHPanther]

Yes sir. If in central Texas I think constant level is a necessity--especially with all the growth and strain on water supply.

We are on LBJ as well. About 40 minutes from home and 30 minutes from the ranch in Llano. Last year I went to the lake twice on Friday with the family, took my son to the ranch for Saturday afternoon hunts, dropped his deer off at the processor (yup, that's how I roll) and was back at the lake by 7:00 to join the women folk. :-)

Our house on LBJ is new construction; however, as stated above, there is always something to tinker with. Seems like local contractors charge fur lined underwear prices to out of town weekenders and their customers don't bat an eye. One of my friend's contacts wanted $3K to do a fairly simple fire pit. Ended up doing one myself. For this reason (I'm cheap) I have also been doing a lot of work on the day dock, boat and jets lifts etc. myself. My wife sold me on the place by saying, "Let's buy a lake house. It will be soooo relaxing." It has been for her!

We just started leasing it out for short term rentals as we have been slammed with kid's activities and sports for months (along as aging parent issues) and even though only 40 minutes or so away we have been too busy to use on the weekends. I will usually knock off half a day or so every couple weeks and head out to get work done.

I don't know if we will ever move out there, but hopefully will be able to spend more time out there one of these days. it is nice to have the option to do so instead of jumping on a plane for a long weekend etc.

That’s exactly how this lake house would set up for us too. Less than 30 minutes to our ranch gate. Hunt the ranch. Let whoever wants to stay at the lake, stay and be back to the lake house after dark. Would be a breeze to do both over a weekend.

[LHPanther]

Just got back from Lake House...I'm beat lol. It is a lot of fun, work and money. We bought a project in 2018 on PK and gutted it. It has been a cash cow on vrbo and not sure I would want it if I couldn't rent it out. Plan on buying a boat, jet ski's, gas, beer, food and pulling kids all weekend but we have had some great times with friend's and family.

Had our schedules matched up, we would all would be talking about my Oklahoma property lol. Missing out on that one stung a bit lol. Glad the lake house has worked out for y’all.

[RR 314]

That’s exactly how this lake house would set up for us too. Less than 30 minutes to our ranch gate. Hunt the ranch. Let whoever wants to stay at the lake, stay and be back to the lake house after dark. Would be a breeze to do both over a weekend.

Stop asking questions and put down some earnest money! :-)

[rvd]

Bought ours in 2018. Little 2/1 house on LBJ. Our plan then was to retire there so we thought we might as well get started. Glad we did. We have used it every weekend except during hunting season! Lol. Putting in the paper work to retire this week and about to break ground on renovations of the house to make it big enough for our expanding family. In the meantime we are prepping our home of the last 18 years here in Comfort for sale. Bittersweet, as Comfort is my hometown and we raised our kids here, but retirement calls and you ain’t about to get this smile off my face.

Pros
It’s the lake!
Fish when I want, not when I can
Entertaining
Lbj is constant level so that was the deciding factor for us.

Cons
Taxes
Smaller lot. Going from 5 acres to 50x150’ lot. No place to store all my crap!
Less house for more $$. Going from 3100 sq ft to what will be 2500 sq ft. True now it is just 1000 sq ft but expanding

Congrats on your retirement! LBJ and Tablerock are my two favorite lakes, I have wonderful memories on both but wouldn’t choose to to go back to either unless to visit good people like yourself.

[LHPanther]

Stop asking questions and put down some earnest money! :-)

I’m trying! Called my agent tonight and made an offer. The waiting game begins!

[Tryton]

I have 2 acres with a house on lake limestone that is a 2 hour drive from my permanent residence.

It is a major commitment since it is just me and my wife. There is always work to be done but we balance it with fishing and cook outs with the neighbors. The neighbor who I have become friends with also has 600 acres on the river bottom where I hunt with him and his family. A great bonus. The effort is worth it to me.

[Big pig]

I’m trying! Called my agent tonight and made an offer. The waiting game begins!

Good luck. I regret not buying one for my family.
I bought a ranch when I was single and never “gave it up.”
For the family I think yall will really be happy. you can always sell it if things change.

BP

[powderburner]

I have a Bay house. Yes... Maintained it is awesome. Leave it alone for a few weeks and you will spend a few weeks getting it back together.
I spent a full day gutting my shop and cleaning it back up. Guest will destroy your organization. Rods, reels, hooks, weights etc.

Everyone is your best friend
Its a love hate relationship.
I love it
I love having people down there.
I hate having people down that I have to babysit.

Boat is always a hit. This weekend was a prime example. Thursday - Saturday AM it was beautiful. Saturday PM - Monday night the wind was 20mph. No boat rides.
Kept the heat down but kept everyone around the house.

Cleaning up sucks. Took us all day Monday to wash/dry all the towels, bed linens, laundry.

Second home Taxes suck

For me on the coast I have rebuilt my pier 3 times in 5 years.
Re ran all the electrical on the pier this year
installed LED lights
Replaced the deck
AC is the next thing to get replaced.

take your home.
list everything that goes into it...
Now double it
and add time to get there and do it all
Subtract that time from your expected play time.
that is your down time at the house

[mjhaverkamp]

We built our lake home 6 years ago, it was a lifelong dream for us to have a home on Lake Texoma, we grew up going there, we have a lawn service so not too much for us to keep up with, no dock but we do have a large slip down at the marina. Never want to say never but I seriously doubt this home will ever be sold in my lifetime, we built it for the family. Pretty much all pros for us.

[Rwc]

Can't really comment on the pros/cons of a "Lake House" just yet, but since buying my lake lot its all pro's, especially if the bride keeps mowing!

I'll check back in once we get the house part complete. Ha.

Rwc

[Throwin Darts]

I've considered it but the thought of being at the mercy of the county taxing authorities has me leaning towards renting anything on the water vs buying it

[CaptainDave]

Most has already been said.

The most significant con is simply the added expense of owning a 2nd home. As stated, take the standard list of expeditures on the 1st home and literally double that. 2X on the property tax bill, basic utilities, basic upkeep (i.e. yard, etc.). Those types of expenses are incurred regardless of the amount of usage of said property.

The closer to your primary home the better. Being within an hour or so, allows for more opportunities to use the property and it also allows you to do maintnence/upkeep without needing an entire weekend.

Air bnb or renting out can be an option, but also comes with it's own set of issues. For starters, short-term renters are pretty rough on property and you are always going to be fixing something a renter messed up. Also, peak rental times also often coincide with the times you might want to use the place for family. Also, depending on where you buy, some communities and/or HOAs don't allow short term rentals and I don't blame them.