TIPS ON BUYING LAKEFRONT

 

WHY IS LOCATION ON THE LAKE IMPORTANT?

 

It impacts the value of your home. For example, every lake must have a wetland area.

It’s what keeps the lake clean. As “dirty” water flows into the wetland, the aquatic plants

filter it by absorbing nutrients. The result is, clean water flowing back out. While you

certainly want a wetland area on the lake, this is not the area of the lake in which you

want to live if you want to be able to swim in front of your home. As a result, homes in

the wetland areas of lakes will be less expensive, since the frontage is considered less

desirable. However, if swimming isn’t important, but wildlife is, then this is the spot for

you. Wetlands support wildlife and nesting aquatic birds. As a result, wildlife tends to be

abundant in those areas of the lake. Also, it’s a quieter part of the lake, since

powerboats have a difficult time navigating wetlands.

 

WHAT ARE “RIPARIAN RIGHTS” AND WHY DO I WANT THEM?

 

Keep in mind that in Michigan, The DNR (Department of Natural Resources) controls

the water. If you have a property with Riparian Rights, you own the shoreline and the

land under the water to a specific point in the lake, the DNR “owns” the water. When

you buy a lakefront home, be sure you have Riparian Rights. That's very important. If

it's "greenbelt"  lakefront you don't. Greenbelt means you own the property up to a

certain number of feet away from the shoreline, but not the shoreline itself. If you don't

own the shoreline you don't have any Riparian Rights, which means you don't own the

land under the water. That means you only have the right to walk over the Greenbelt to

get to the lake (but so can anyone else). You can't alter the shoreline in any way, which

prohibits you from putting in a dock or anchoring your boat there. If those things are

important to you, avoid Greenbelt properties.

 

WHO WILL HAVE ACCESS TO MY LAKE?

 

The DNR has boat launches on certain lakes. Those are considered “public access”

lakes. Anyone can launch a boat there. As a result, those are very busy lakes. Large

lakes (over 250 acres) can handle that traffic, but smaller ones cannot. As a result, most

small lakes would not have DNR access. But a few do, so avoid them. Go to my

website; www.cathyblight.comand click on "DNR Lake Map Info" to connect to the DNR

lake maps. They'll indicate the size and depth of the lake, what type of bottom (sandy,

marl or muck) and whether or not there's DNR access.

 

WHAT SIZE AND TYPE OF LAKE DO I WANT?

 

The lake you choose depends on your lifestyle. Remember, the larger the lake, the

more you’ll pay. Why pay a premium for a large “all sports” lake if you only want to enjoy

the wildlife and kayak?

 

VERY SMALL “PRIVATE” LAKES 20-40 ACRES

 

If you’re not interested in power boating, pontooning, skiing, or jet skiing, and prefer

wooded seclusion, lots of wildlife, kayaking, canoeing and fishing, stick to small private

lakes. These tend to be around 20-40 acres. Private lakes limit access to residents only.

Some of these lakes allow small electric motors, or small pontoons with electric motors,

but nothing larger. These are “no wake” lakes. However, some don’t allow any type of

motorized boat at all. These are “no motor” lakes.

 

SMALL“SEMI-PRIVATE” LAKES 50-75 ACRES:

 

If you want to be able to have a pontoon or a ski boat, but still want to be on a small

quiet lake, choose a little larger one, around 50-75 acres. Due to their size, these lakes

often limit access to the surrounding homes only. So they’re quieter than larger all

sports lakes.

 

“LIMITED ACCESS-ALL SPORTS” LAKES 100-200 ACRES;

 

If you want to be on a bigger all sports lake with limited traffic, choose a limited-access

lake that's larger; 100-275 acres. These lakes don’t have a DNR access for the general

public, so boat traffic is reduced. Some limit the access to residents only. Others allow

an entire township or more to have access. So it’s important to find out who qualifies for

access.

 

LARGE “PUBLIC ACCESS-ALL SPORTS” LAKES AND “CHAINS OF LAKES”

 

If you like to stay out in your boat all day, choose a very large lake (350 acres or more)

or a lake on a “Chain of Lakes”. The largest chains are in Livingston County. These are

the “Portage Chain” of 7 lakes or the “Patterson Chain” of 5 lakes. Homes on Chains will

be more expensive because you have access to so many lakes. Occasionally you can

find a home on the chain that’s less expensive because it’s located on one of the

waterways that connect the lakes or it’s on one of

the small lakes in the chain. However,Chains will be busy, because there will be at

least one DNR public access or more, andoften there are public marinas as well.

 

LARGE “PRIVATE-ALL SPORTS” LAKES OVER 250 ACRES

 

The best of both worlds! A large all sports lake, with very limited traffic. The only lakes I

know of in Southeast Michigan like that, are Lake Shannon in northeastern Livingston

County and Lake Sherwood in SW Oakland. Lake Shannon is over 350 acres and Lake

Sherwood is about 265 acres. Both are completely private, with very active

homeowners associations. They limit access to residents only. As a result, homes on

these lakes tend to be more expensive than homes on similar size lakes.

 

WHAT KINDS OF FEES WILL I PAY LIVING ON A LAKE?

 

Virtually all lakes will have some sort of a “lake maintenance” fee. This is often added to

your property tax bill, but sometimes a homeowners association will collect it. The fee

usually covers things like weed control and sometimes lake level, dam maintenance,

(not all lakes have dams), association beach maintenance, and other costs. Fees can

range from $50-$350 a year, depending on the lake size and other factors. The average

is about $150 annually. Some lakefront properties are in flood zones, and will require

flood insurance, which is expensive. This is why I always check to see if a property is in

a flood zone before we go look at it. Some lakefront properties will have special

assessments for sewers or water lines that still have a balance due. This is another

thing I always check before we look at a property. There's a misconception that

lakefront homeowners pay a special "premium" in their taxes for living on the lake that

the other residents don't. Tax assessments are based on property value. Since a

lakefront home is worth more than a similar house across the street, the assessment

will be higher.

 

WHAT ABOUT WETLANDS?

 

Did you know every lake must have a wetland area in order to survive? Wetlands are

natures "water treatment facility". Polluted water flows in, then the wetland plants

absorb the organic matter and silt, and the filtered water flows out. They also provide an

important habitat and nesting grounds for a wide variety of wildlife, birds and fish. In

addition, they serve as a valuable watershed and provide flood and storm control.

However, as lakefront property dwindles, more homes are being built on property

bordering wetland areas. This often results in property owners dredging wetlands to

erect docks, beaches, and provide better water sports areas. This is beyond

shortsighted, it's a fatal mistake for the health of the lake, and it's prohibited by theDNR.

Finding the perfect lakefront home can be a challenge. The more you know about

lakes and wetlands, the better prepared you are to find that perfect home.

 

WHAT ABOUT IMPOUNDED LAKES?

 

An impounded lake is a lake that was created when a dam was erected. Sometimes

referred to as "man made" lakes. There are two types of impounded lakes. One is

created when one or more small lakes are dammed up to create a bigger one, like the

one I live on. It was once three small lakes until the late 1800's when a local family built

a dam at one end to power their grist mill. So three small lakes became one big lake.

The second type of impounded lake is created when a river is dammed to create a lake.

This type of impounded lake will tend to be long and rather narrow by "lake standards"

and sometimes a bit shallow. And it still wants to be a river. So there will be a current,

which will kick up sediment from the bottom (depending on how deep it is) which can

have the effect of clouding the water. What's the advantage of living on an impounded

lake? The dam controls the lake level. So your lake is not as adversely affected during

long dry summers or exceptionally wet springs, as are lakes that do not have a dam to

control the water level. The downside? Your lake assessment will be a bit higher,

because there will be dam repairs from time to time. Mine is about $300 a year for lake

maintenance, weed control and dam maintenance. Recently an impounded lake in

Midland county was in the news. The dam on the Titabawasee river that created Wixom

Lake failed and flooded it, along with the surrounding homes. Shortly thereafter, the

dam at the other end of the lake failed from the pressure caused by the first dam failure.

The result was the lake disappeared in a matter of hours. It turns out the dam was

privately owned and poorly maintained. That's why it's important to know who owns the

dam on an impounded lake. It's much better if it's government owned, like the one on

my lake. The maintenance is better, because they have a ready source of funds (the

taxpayers) to make timely repairs.