Oakland County Lake home buying tips

Let's go over some of the items that are unique to buying a lake house.

1.)  Type of lake   Do you want an all sports lake or is a non all sports lake ok for you?  It's all about what you and your family want to do on a lake.  Are you just pontoon people or are you active water sports people?  Then you will want an all sports lake in South East Michigan.  If you are a grand parent and want the kids to visit you have to keep them busy and keep them coming back you will need an all sports lakes.  Who knows, besides tubing they may want jet skiis later.

On the other hand you may hate boat and jet ski noise.  You may just want to swim, or kayak, or paddle board.  You may want a cleaner lake free of gasoline and oil  A non-all sports lake may be the lake for you. We just had a lady the other day that requested a non all sports lake due to these factors.

$1,200,000

10736 Bogie Lake Road

White Lake Township, MI

Beds: 4 • Baths: 3 full/1 partial

$700,000

10045 Highland Road

White Lake Township, MI

Beds: 4 • Baths: 4 full

$774,900

632 Sunnybeach Drive

White Lake Township, MI

Beds: 3 • Baths: 2 full/1 partial

$1,099,900

1745 Ridge Road

White Lake Township, MI

Beds: 4 • Baths: 3 full/1 partial

$955,000

3453 ORMOND Road W

White Lake Township, MI

Beds: 3 • Baths: 2 full/1 partial

2.)  Size of the lake.  Water sports enthusiasts usually want a bigger lake to tube, ski, wakeboard, and surf on.  Some lake home buyers do not want a small lake because it would get boring to them.  So they want a bigger lake with lots of bays and canals.

3.)  Lake bottom.  Do you want to go swimming in front of your lake home? Then you want a sandy bottom lake front.  I have shopped for lake homes where the buyers absolutely wanted a sandy bottom for their grandkids.  We would get out of the car, walk to the lake to see if it was sandy bottom or not.  If it wasn't we would not even go into the house.

Some people do not mind mucky lake bottoms or the cattails or lily pads.  You just have to remember that if there are cattails or lily pads you most likely cannot remove them.  A mucky lake bottom in many cases can be fixed by blowing sand over the muck.  You still have to get a DEQ permit to do this.

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4.) Parking.  When you own a lake home you may want to entertain family and friends.  Sometimes some lake homes have limited parking and narrow streets.  So does the house have enough parking for you and your guests.

5.)  Hillside or flat ground.  If the home sits on a hillside above the lake you most likely are going to have amazing views of the lake.  However with that you have a lot of stairs to go down to get to the lake and your boat.  So there are pros and cons of buying on a hillside.  Many people are ok with flat ground or gently sloping land.  Just be sure your basement is above the water level and the house itself sits above lake leve.

6.) Sunset side, canal, or bay.  Many people want the home facing the sunset side.  You will always get beautiful views of the sunset from your windows.  However, there is a con on living on the senset side.  You are living on the east side of the lake.  Our prevailing winds are usually from the west so you will always have junk (leaves, sea weed, and other stuff) blowing up on your shores.

If you do not want the heavy boat traffic and noise you may want to consider buying in a bay of the lake or on a canal.  It will be much quieter living in these off spots.  Anywhere there is no wake or hard for boats towing somebody behind to turn around will be quieter.  Less boat traffic, less noise. 

These are just some of the considerations that you have to take into account when buying a lake home.    This makes it harder to buy a lake home.  We tell most of my lake home buyers that you need to compromise.  If you are not willing to compromise on what you want then you probably are not going to get a lake home.  There is usually something that is "not right" or not what you exactly want.  Be willing to compromise and you will be living on a lake sooner.

$649,900

11770 WOODVIEW

Hamburg Township, MI

Beds: 4 • Baths: 2 full

$599,000

10191 Imus Road

Hamburg Township, MI

Beds: 2 • Baths: 1 full

$699,000

10868 Bob White Beach Boulevard

Hamburg Township, MI

Beds: 3 • Baths: 1 full/1 partial

$950,000

Hamburg Township, MI

Beds: 3 • Baths: 3 full

$2,900,000

3483 Windwheel Point Drive

Hamburg Township, MI

Beds: 7 • Baths: 4 full

Lake live is a great way of life.  Russ loves it and lives on White Lake and it is a wonderful life style.  If you need a really good watefront realtor to help you find a lake home, give us a call or text at (248) 310-6239.  Be sure to ask about our home buyer bonus or our participation in Michigan Hometown Heroes.  You may be elgible to save thousands! 

                                            The Bertera Ravary Lakes Team "helping make your next move easier and less stressful