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Buying MI lake house- which lake is warmer, medium sized and clear?

Buying MI lake house- which lake is warmer, medium sized and clear?

Old Jul 19th, 2017, 04:54 PM
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Buying MI lake house- which lake is warmer, medium sized and clear?

Looking to buy a vacation house on a Michigan lake but don't know where to start. Love the look of Torch, Higgins, Charlevoix, etc. but they are too cold and too big. Looking for something medium sized (500-1000 acres.), very clean and clear, but not too deep (less than 75 feet.) so that the water is not so cold. Would love something not too far north, as I live in Ohio and would like a shorter drive. Would also like to be within a half hour of a decent sized town for restaurants and shops.

Any thoughts or suggestions?

Any help is much appreciated!
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Old Jul 19th, 2017, 05:34 PM
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Price range?
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Old Jul 20th, 2017, 02:45 AM
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Look at the Irish Hills area.
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Old Jul 20th, 2017, 05:30 AM
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What does the depth have to do with it? Warm water always stays on top.
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Old Jul 20th, 2017, 05:33 AM
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Forgot to add. We lived in Ogden Dunes on the very southern tip of Lake Michigan. Very warm and swimable three months of the year with a shallow beach. And public transit to Chicago. Great location.
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Old Jul 20th, 2017, 07:16 PM
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I was told that deep lakes take longer to warm up in the summer.

Thanks for the responses. Any specific lake in the Irish Hills?

Price range under 550K.
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Old Jul 22nd, 2017, 04:59 PM
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Ask a realtor? One with a thermometer?
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Old Jul 23rd, 2017, 07:44 AM
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Lakes in this area never truly warm up because they do not have any vertical circulation. The surface water will warm up to maybe a depth of 3 to 5 feet but you have a thermal boundary that is very obvious. So it really is not going to make difference in the depth of the lake. Then if you have a storm or something that stirs up the lake, it will get cold in a hurry.

You may have an unrealistic price barrier given you original statement.
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Old Jul 23rd, 2017, 11:38 AM
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Thanks for the replies. I'll try to find a realtor with a thermometer

I did find a house on Lake Thumb, in Boyne Falls, Charlevoix county. Anyone heard of it?
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Old Jul 26th, 2017, 08:43 AM
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Decades ago, I took my basic scuba 'final exam' on Higgins Lake. Went down about 30'. Wasn't anywhere NEAR as cold as Torch Lake on its warmest day ever. So I suppose cold water at depth only matters if one swims at depth.

Googling Lake Thumb, looks nice enough; but that'd be about 6 hours from Cleveland, non-stop. Nothing closer, like in the Irish Hills?
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