where should an Atlantan buy a weekend home?

Old Jun 26th, 2005, 05:17 PM
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where should an Atlantan buy a weekend home?

We are considering purchasing a weekend/vacation home, and are interested to know where others from Atlanta have done the same. I would love a beach home, but I know that the distance and expense make that a sure bet to never get used! (if you know a beach area to the contrary, please do share!)

We would be interested in water, not too overdeveloped, close enough to some good dining - and, we have small children, so something that offers things to "do" with them as they grow up (my parents had a vacation home on a tranquil, beautiful, secluded small lake in the Pocono mountains, and as children we HATED it because there was "nothing" to do and whined about going to the shore instead - while we were SO WRONG in our judgment, you couldn't have convinced us of that, and i would like to avoid that dreadful battle).

We are also particularly interested in someting we might be able to rent out as well, to help pay for itself, and that is a good investment (well, who would wish for a bad investment?).

thanks in advance. . .
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Old Jun 26th, 2005, 05:37 PM
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Go to Big Canoe..there's lots of Atlantans there.
 
Old Jun 26th, 2005, 05:39 PM
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I thought nearly half the owners of the beach condos on the Florida panhandle, particularly Destin were from Atlanta. It is possible to drive down there for a weekend.
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Old Jun 26th, 2005, 06:13 PM
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I thought Destin was upwards of a 6 hour drive, but I am "new" (as in newly returned, at a different stage of life ) to the area, so I could be mistaken. I am worried that anything more than a 2-ish hour trip wouldn't get visited as easily or frequently as I would hope. . .
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Old Jun 26th, 2005, 06:59 PM
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Patrick is right. It seems like everyone that owns in Sandestin, Seaside, etc., is from the Atlanta area. That area has become increasingly pricey. When we were last in Seaside I looked at the real estate hut where they have properties listed for sale. Tiny cottages were going for $1 million and up, and they weren't on the beach.

You might want to look on realtor.com, and type in some of these beach areas: seaside, santa rosa, seagrove, and rosemary. It's not a bad drive at all from Atlanta, and in my opinion the panhandle beaches (of course, not Pensacola) are for the most part the best beaches in Florida (and my parents retired to the St. Pete/Clearwater area). Although the beach isn't as nice as it is in the areas I previously mentioned, you might also look at Navarre and Perdido. The real estate won't be as expensive, it's more quiet, and the beaches are still very nice.
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Old Jun 26th, 2005, 07:43 PM
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Why not go NORTH? South Carolina's inland areas are full of lakes and a reasonable drive from Atlanta. Decide on max. drive time and distance and take a ruler to a map and draw a circle; whatever falls within that circle are ur possibilities.
Then go to www.mapquest.com to map it out. That's what we did to help us start our search for a vacation home. Good luck.
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Old Jun 27th, 2005, 07:00 AM
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Am also interested in this post as we're considering the same thing. We've got small kids too and heard that there's some great spots near Lake Rabun, Lake Chatuge and Lake Burton.
We've also heard good things about Lake Hartwell tho I don't know much about the towns around there. Worth some day trips to explore. Please post your findings and I will too!!
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Old Jun 27th, 2005, 07:28 AM
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Most lakefront froperty on Lakes Burton and Rabun is inordinately expensive to purchase for only a weekend home. Also most of it is private one-family stuff. Lake Hartwell is nice, or Lake Keowee also, and there are lots of condos on both that I would think are much more what you are looking for. I assume you've already ruled out Lake Lanier. Lake Chatuge has some places of all kinds that should be along the lines of what you want.

If you want to go south, Lake Martin north of Montgomery might be a bit of a stretch for a 2 hour drive, but it's pretty nice too. Good luck.
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Old Jun 27th, 2005, 07:29 AM
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Almost forgot--a newly developed lake not too far east of Atlanta -- Lake Greenwood is worth checking into.
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Old Jun 27th, 2005, 07:55 AM
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First, you need to define what you want from a weekend home.

Are you going to rent it out?
How far do you want to drive?
How many weekends to you plan to visit?

I consider a weekend home something within 2-3 hours from home. I don't like driving further than that. 1 hour 50 minutes was perfect for me. Now, it's 2 1/2 hours and that extra time is noticeable.

Most friends/associates who have bought at Sandestin or similar have their condos on the rental market. Even when they go down to visit, they are rarely in their own unit. I would not like that.

A friend who used to have a two rental units elsewhere on the coast put 1 on the rental market and kept the other for family and personal rentals. If you have a similar set-up, most folks have a locked closet for personal effects that they store when they are not in the unit.

5-6 hours is too far for me to drive for a weekend home. There's also a big caravan from Atlanta to the coast before predicted storms to board windows, etc. Not for me.

A friend had a vacation home north of Asheville in Mars Hill. Beautiful home and location, but a 4 hour drive. The turn-off to my place was exactly half-way and virtually every weekend she wished they were already "home" instead of having another 2 hours to drive.

7 years ago, the lowest priced Fish Shack for sales on Lakes Burton or Rabun were just under 500K. Now, similar properties are selling for $1M - and then are torn down. A $2M house is built in their place. One concierge service on the lake does not accept vacation homes of less than 3000 square feet. (If you are interested I have two excellent contacts who are real estate agents in the area. Both are very nice and very honest). The water on these mountain lakes are crystal clear. Spring fed. No pollution. Incredible water. Lots of folks have places off the lake and visit.

Lake Hartwell is a good option. More reasonable. A friend is about to buy her financial planner's lake home (he's building another). Pretty good water. Large enough without being too huge.

Lake Lanier's water was a bit iffy when I grew up on it in the 70's. I would not swim in Lanier - much less buy a house there. Too crowded. Two much pollution. Corp of Engineer's control of lakefront puts any HOAs to shame. (But, I do wish my dad had bought a lot there for $5000 in the 60's when he had the chance. Lake Lanier is the most visited COE lake in the country. Really rough water from all the boat traffic. To me it's like driving in Atlanta traffic. Nothing peaceful about it.

Lake Oconee was a nice little country lake until a few years ago. I like the lake fine. I hate the snootiness of the new development and people. If you live and enjoy living in a gated community in a McMansion, then Lake Oconee is for you.

I'd go to the mountains where it is cooler. I drove up to my mountain place for the day on Saturday. Love the fresh air, creek music, and white rhododendrons in bloom. Magic.
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Old Jun 27th, 2005, 09:25 AM
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starrsville - what lake are you on? I think we agree on most points there - preferred distance, thoughts on Lake Lanier, etc. I would like it close enough that we would think nothing of going up overnight on a weekend and wouldn't have to wait for long weekends or use up my husband's vacation days in order to get a visit in (I work freelance from home, so am more flexible). I could give a bit on my 2 hour limit I mentioned earlier, but wouldn't want to go too much over. I love the beach, but know we will not make that drive - and if I wanted to be within 2 hours to the beach I suppose we shouldn't have moved to landlocked Altanta from LA, but there were plenty of good reasons to!

Renting it out would help with the costs initially, of course - though I realize that puts our visits at the mercy of others' schedule, but if we hated doing it that way we could always stop.

I will check out some of the lake areas mentioned. It sounds like Burton and Rabun are out of our league, as we are not (yet!) in the position to spend $3 mill to build a vacation house.


syd - I will be happy to share what I learn and look forward to hearing what you find out!
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Old Jun 27th, 2005, 09:52 AM
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Will do-
Sounds like we're in a very similar boat (nice lake pun) family-wise, work-wise and wish-wise! After our newest fodorite is born (in Sept) we hope to make more trips out to see what's out there...
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Old Jun 27th, 2005, 10:57 AM
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I have family who are now on their 2nd vacation home at Lake Blue Ridge.
90 minutes from n.w. Atlanta.
Dining options limited, but there are a few and they are expanding. Recently mentioned in a national publication as one of the top 10 areas in the US to own a 2nd home.
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Old Jun 27th, 2005, 11:03 AM
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Lake Keowee is stunning.

lschu, the water areas of South Carolina are actually south of Atlanta. The NC SC state line is parallel to Atlanta.
 
Old Jun 27th, 2005, 11:24 AM
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There'a a little known small lake in SC just below the NC border named Lake Lanier. Beautiful with reasonable housing - but it sounds like the childhood lake experience you described.
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Old Jun 27th, 2005, 01:27 PM
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starrsville - did you mean something other than Lake Lanier, or is there another one?

elaine - your specifics about NW Atlanta made me think to specify that we are in NE Atlanta - just inside 285 near 85. I'll need to take that into consideration when calculating driving times, especially if we ever plan to head out on a Friday afternoon/evening. . .
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Old Jun 27th, 2005, 01:39 PM
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I don't know your area at all, but I know a lot about lake real estate in general. Keep looking, and spend any extra time you have driving to different locations to check them out. Find a good realtor that works in lake property exclusively- they do exist. And the quality of the lake water is extremely important. Spring fed and unpolluted, with little boat traffic is highly valuable. But I would not want one that did not allow any motors at all. That's not everyone's choice or ideal, but if you want kids to like it- it will not be a motorless lake that will please them.

Anything close to the "do" things that your children will like, will be very expensive already. If you find a lake BEFORE it goes popular and gets "found"-the do things will come to your family in time. And your investment will get more return, and probably you'll be happier with the purchase five years from now as well. Plus they will get to know a more rural culture at the same time. No small lesson!

Distance will break it. Don't go more than 3 hours at the very outside for a one way drive. Mine is 2-1/2 hours and it is about a half hour too long, IMHO.

And I would not buy lake access, only lakefront. Lake access will never appreciate as the lakefront will, and the use and views are priceless in the long run.

I would be very careful about any lake under about 400 acres (over 1000 is best)- and I would be very, very careful about road access and ownership for anything you do find. I know 3 different people who love their homes, love their whole deals, and with later development now have to pay for roads etc. One is bailing out.

I hope you find what you are looking for. It's like looking for the Holy Grail in some ways, but you can also have a lot of fun with rental vacations as you are checking them out, in the meantime.

Lastly, do not forget about property taxes in the second home state. They may differ immensely.
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Old Jun 27th, 2005, 02:42 PM
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5 years ago my wife and I decided on a weekend home. My parents lived in Destin and while we love the beach, price and drive time made it impossible for a weekend/vacation home. After a lot of searching and elimination we found a mountain community, (Franklin, NC) just 15 miles across state line of Georgia. We leave around 8-9 on Friday evening and can be door to door in just under 2 hrs. (we live in the CITY of Sandy Springs!) We are at a high elevation that makes for cool summer breezes in the evening (NO mosquitos!), we have SNOW in the winter, spring and fall are very colorful, the views of the Great Smokies is unbelievable, sunrise/sunsets are incredible, (Go to weatherunderground.com, type in wunderphotos, Franklin, NC search) and their are tons of activites. (swimming, fishing, boating, hiking, skiing, casino, Asheville, Great Smoky Mountain National Park, waterfalls, waterfalls, etc, etc.) The great part is after a lot of searching we were able to find a property under 200K with 3br, 3ba, 3 floors, decks, secluded and woods! We are just 10 minutes from restaurants, Lowes, K-mart, Wal-mart, fast food and even a kids place that has go-carts, putt-putt, games, bowling, restaurants. On our property are creeks and a waterfall. We even have a backyard golf driving range! (In the winter we hike down our mountain collecting the golf balls we hit.) We searched, took our time and found our dream weekend home. As I speak right now we can't wait till this weekend!! I hope you are able to fulfill your dream of owning a vacation home a2dal!
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Old Jun 27th, 2005, 02:56 PM
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Although it's not on a beach, you may want to consider the Kingwood Resort area near Clayton, Georgia. It's right by the Chattooga River, where there is a lot of fun stuff to do. The Kingwood Resort (kingwoodresort.com) has a lot of amenities and you can buy real estate w/in the resort. Plus, it's about 2hours and 15 minutes away from Atlanta.
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Old Jun 27th, 2005, 04:01 PM
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JJ5 - thanks for the tips. Very good information that we should know when evaluating areas. Motorboat is actually a requirement for the big kid (my husband) as well. . .

Smokyboy - that sounds fantastic. Sorry to get you all amped for the weekend when it is only monday - can make for a loooong week.

We are about to head out for a family trip to Spain, and here I am already planning all sorts of trips for when we get back to start checking out some of these places - I am driving my husband nuts with all my travel planning! I have been looking for a place to meet up with my sister's family in late August, and we have since decided they will fly to Atlanta then we will go somewhere to escape the heat nearby, so I will use that as a scouting trip -- now to choose the place and find a rental!

You have all been really helpful - thanks, and I'll report back for the benefit of others.

Oh - one last thing - any travel books to suggest for the Southeastern areas, to start reading up and getting familiar with the lay of the land?
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