Living on the lake vs. getting a slip

[Tad]

For those of you living on the lake is it worth it or is there so much extra work/upkeep that you wish you just had a slip to keep your boat in? I am in East Texas and interested in moving to the water but keep hearing about upkeep and bugs, spiders, etc that take a lot of clean up time. Waterfront is not cheap so want to research before I get too far down that path.....

[markj]

Sorry in advance for busting your balls, but a guy named Tad is afraid of spiders... hmm. You may consider telling Muffy to hire a crew to clear those dreaded spiders out before you show up and wet yourself as you try to enter your boat. The horror!

Kidding aside, how is owning any different than renting a slip in terms of bugs? Is it that much worse in Texas than other places?

Waterfront is something you have to want. There are trade offs. You can’t be a sissy about bugs, bats, varmints etc unless you have money to hire other people to deal with it. That said, it never gets old looking out on the water while having your coffee in the morning or wine in the evenings and wondering what the poor people are doing. Impromptu runs or cruises of all types at all hours of the day are always fun too.

We just made the switch to a waterfront place last year after 20+ years of renting a slip. Despite a major downgrade in house size and amenities, we are WAY happier. We’re empty-nesters with nothing to prove. I’m not sure how we’d feel if we still had kids in the house.

[Nautiquehunter]

I live across the street 1/10 of a mile to public ramp . I chose to be close but not on for privacy and more land . I built a 40'x60' pole barn so all my boats have inside storage.
Currently there is 6 boats pulse the tow vehicle stored inside.

[bturner]

A lot depends on if this is going to be your primary residence of a summer home. If it's your primary residence then you're living with lake living and have to deal with spiders and such which can be handled with a service. Maintenance is going to be slightly more due to the environment but with the proper building materials and design of the house this too can be mitigated.

Now if this is a second home that you're going to leave empty 4 months a year then this is a whole new level of maintenance that can be too much for some unless they have the means to have someone else do the work. All the work you do on your primary residence you'll do here and probably a bit more depending on the condition and age of the summer home. Have a wife that likes to remodel and decorate? Get ready as you now have a whole new play house for her to go nuts in. Again, if you have the money this can be a great hobby and distraction for both of you. As much as I like to tease my wife about it I'm guilty about it with our garage at our cottage, just at a different level. In the garage it's the beer fridge, posters, shelves, tools and work benches. In her "cottage" it's a new kitchen, bath room, furniture and decorations for the place. Basically we're moving the decimal point a couple spots between the two of us.

Lake living isn't for everyone and more so is having a cottage or summer home. My BIL has always said you're way better renting a place for a month a year than buying one after figuring the initial investment, upgrades, repairs, taxes and all the other stuff that goes into owning a place. After 6 years of owning ours I would have to agree. Then again there is something about being able to pick up and go live somewhere else for a while whenever you want. Don't know how much longer we'll continue owning ours but for now we have no regrets. Guess we'll see in another 5 or 10 years if we still feel this way.

[72Miles]

Water. Always water.

I have a primary residence and a lake place an hour away. Grilling, sitting on the back deck, or on the dock, looking at the water. There's just nothing like it. And for me, the few chores involved - brushing webs off the dock posts, occasional power washing, etc - give me something to do. Piddling. And I love having the boats right there. Makes projects & cleaning much easier & convenient.

[srock]

No brainer...waterfront is so much better. I don't see the difference is maintenance unless you are on salt. Hang a bug zapper over water it makes for great fishing.

[Tad]

It would be our primary residence and only 2.5 minutes from my office. We are so close to getting our house paid off (within 12-18 months) and have no other debt other than business debt that is is tempting to keep going. But......the lot will not be there for long and I like the location and it is on a quiet cove so the kids could be in the water safely. Here in Texas we are not scared of bugs (actually one of my sons, my daughters barehand bugs and can bait their own hook) but I am scared of general upkeep cutting into our lake time. My wife has a friend named Dave Ramsey so he has an opinion on this also. I am telling my wife that buying the lot, paying off our house and building on our lot in 3-5 years would be a great for the kids and they would want to come back home to visit (not stay forever) once they leave home. I have a buddy that takes the bug spray to his blower in his boathouse to get all of the spiders, etc. cleaned up and says it is not too bad.....then I hear others talk about all the work it takes to keep it up. First world problems.....

[72Miles]

First world problems.....

Ain't it the truth. You bring up the kids and that's a good point. Our weekend place has mostly assured us that our kids spend weekends with us. Now they bring more kids, but that's fine too. Both my daughters are in college now but we really enjoyed sharing so many weekends on the lake with them and their friends. I plan to one day use the lakehouse to lure my grandkids in for summers.

[Gtsum2]

Ain't it the truth. You bring up the kids and that's a good point. Our weekend place has mostly assured us that our kids spend weekends with us. Now they bring more kids, but that's fine too. Both my daughters are in college now but we really enjoyed sharing so many weekends on the lake with them and their friends. I plan to one day use the lakehouse to lure my grandkids in for summers.

We are looking at getting a summer house at lake Gaston to spend time with our kids...we have been doing the rv thing the last few years but kids are getting a bit older now and riding in the Rv visiting places isn’t as exciting to them as it once was....I grew up boarding and skiing so time to introduce it to them and I’m sure they will be bringing some friends when we go


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

[LakesideRec]

Never considered just renting a slip, but we did consider getting a weekend lake cabin like many in MN, and instead opted for building our main residence on a lot on a lake within commute distance of the Minneapolis metro area. What made the decision easy was we did not want the typical lake cabin experience of driving for hours and then spending half the weekend maintaining a 2nd home only to enjoy a couple hours of relaxation on Sunday afternoon before having to leave early for the drive home.
The largest benefit is that boating no longer has to be an all-day epic event. Instead of loading up and remembering to bring everything needed for a whole day, we can just walk down to the dock and go. Because the overhead is a lot lower, we go boating a lot more frequently. A 30 minute cocktail hour cruise after work, or a quick hour of surfing on a Saturday morning before heading off to the numerous kids events. And if the weather is bad, no big deal, it will change in a few hours, and we can go boating then - the whole day is not ruined.
The only added mandatory maintenance is the dock and boat lifts themselves. We do choose to maintain a groomed sandy shore, but lots of homeowners opt for a more natural shoreline which requires no added work.

[Wake.BC]

Yes the above would be one of my top reasons. Being able to go out often and come back home is huge. Currently we have a summer place at the lake with an rv and going out in the morning and again after lunch or dinner is just so easy. You will definitely use your boat more.


Sent from my iPhone using PLT Nautique

[srock]

Build on it and sell your other house. I bet the upside on the investment will be worth every penny. A great lifestyle will be a bonus on the deal.

I cannot even believe the subject of a few bugs on the lift is being discussed as an issue...

[surroundsound64]

Hey Tad!

I moved to Cherokee a year ago. Love it. Assuming you would be looking at Lake Tyler? They have a ton to offer over there. Do it and don’t look back.

[Tad]

I am actually looking at Lake Palestine. It is actually less crowded than Tyler and closer to where I want to live since the kids go to Bullard and my wife works in Tyler. Of course there is the fear of what is going to happen in the next decade once they get the pipeline finished so they can send water to Dallas in a drought. I also thought of just building on some land we already have paid off and getting a small place on Palestine or Jacksonville. The water is very clear on Jacksonville for a Texas lake but the jet skiers are bad on weekends. My main thing is I want a boathouse so I can drop a boat and go and be able to enjoy the lake without too much maintenance on the property. Of course I might just sit back for the next couple of months and see what becomes available with the economic issues we are having (and unfortunately will probably continue for a while).

[LakesideRec]

...but the jet skiers are bad on weekends...

If you live on the lake, you won't even care. I bet you will have plenty of times when you have the whole lake to yourself. Even on the weekends you can find less busy times - just get up a little earlier on Saturday, or wait until after 3 or 4 on Sunday afternoon.