Island Life
Posted 05-19-2008 at 03:07 PM by hazelnut
This is a great new feature and I applaud the Webmaster for allowing this. I have decided to use this space to blog about Island Life.
THE SEARCH BEGINS
So often questions arise concerning Island Life and all that comes with it. There are so many great things about life on Cow Island that probably mirror those experiences on many of Lake Winnipesaukee's islands. As most islanders would attest there are many challenges to life on the islands but the reward is so sweet.
My history on Cow Island is relatively short as my wife an I have only been on the island for 6 short years. However, I feel that I can offer a unique perspective as somebody who grew up spending summers on the lake. Back in 1984 when I was just a boy my parents bought our first Lake Winnipesaukee vacation home in Orton Shores a small association on Moultonboro Neck. We shared a beach with about 10 houses. Those were some of the best times of my life. We made some close friends during those times and I'll never forget the many fun adventures while "cutting our teeth" on the big lake. After about five years my parents found a waterfront home that they fell in love with. At the time $300,000 was a huge amount of money but my parents bit the bullet and bought the house. It barely had 75 feet of waterfront but it was ours. So many great times over so many years. My then girlfriend, now wife spent countless weekends and vacations enjoying the lake. We used to dream about one day owning our own piece of heaven. As time went on and my brother and sister moved away and my parents became obsessed with golf the lake house became less and less a priority until one day, the unthinkable happened. My parents called a family meeting and announced that they would be selling the house. My wife and I were devastated. We could not think of spending even one summer away from the lake. We immediately went into panic mode.
Secretly we had been casually looking at Island Property. We had been discussing it for years as a fantasy of ours. To have our own little camp on an island. We could keep our boat at my parents house. It would be perfect. After the announced selling of my parents house we immediately contacted John Bridges of Island Real Estate. He scheduled a meeting with us. We were so excited to officially begin our search for our own property. During that meeting with John I think he could sense the excitement in our voices as he tried his best to calm our overzealousness. At the time there were not too many properties available and he knew that it might be a long road ahead.
Being the overanxious buyers that we were we scheduled a private showing of a house we saw posted on the Winni Classifieds. It was March 2002 and it was one of the mildest winters in recent memory so we were able to actually travel by boat to the property. The gentleman took us out on his pontoon boat. We didn't love the property but it was fun to look. The next house we saw we absolutely fell in love with but the owners took it off the market so we were left with nothing to start the 2002 summer season. All the while there was this property on Cow Island that we had never looked at. The price was way out of our range so we never gave it a second look.
Then one day.... Right after 4th of July 2002 on a whim we decided to do a drive by (or boat by). Did I mention we had already bought a boat. Yeah that's a whole other story. Anyway, we drove by the house and pulled up to the dock. My wife was giddy so she called John Bridges. He agreed to send out a fellow agent to show us the house. Well, lets just say my wife was hooked. I on the other hand was picking the place apart. At that price I wanted something a bit more polished. Well to make a long story short two days went by and John Bridges called to see if we had liked it. My wife said yes but my husband thought it was priced too high. He replied well what if I told you they lowered the price $50,000. Needless to say we have enjoyed the house immensely over the past 6 years.
Up next, moving day.....
THE SEARCH BEGINS
So often questions arise concerning Island Life and all that comes with it. There are so many great things about life on Cow Island that probably mirror those experiences on many of Lake Winnipesaukee's islands. As most islanders would attest there are many challenges to life on the islands but the reward is so sweet.
My history on Cow Island is relatively short as my wife an I have only been on the island for 6 short years. However, I feel that I can offer a unique perspective as somebody who grew up spending summers on the lake. Back in 1984 when I was just a boy my parents bought our first Lake Winnipesaukee vacation home in Orton Shores a small association on Moultonboro Neck. We shared a beach with about 10 houses. Those were some of the best times of my life. We made some close friends during those times and I'll never forget the many fun adventures while "cutting our teeth" on the big lake. After about five years my parents found a waterfront home that they fell in love with. At the time $300,000 was a huge amount of money but my parents bit the bullet and bought the house. It barely had 75 feet of waterfront but it was ours. So many great times over so many years. My then girlfriend, now wife spent countless weekends and vacations enjoying the lake. We used to dream about one day owning our own piece of heaven. As time went on and my brother and sister moved away and my parents became obsessed with golf the lake house became less and less a priority until one day, the unthinkable happened. My parents called a family meeting and announced that they would be selling the house. My wife and I were devastated. We could not think of spending even one summer away from the lake. We immediately went into panic mode.
Secretly we had been casually looking at Island Property. We had been discussing it for years as a fantasy of ours. To have our own little camp on an island. We could keep our boat at my parents house. It would be perfect. After the announced selling of my parents house we immediately contacted John Bridges of Island Real Estate. He scheduled a meeting with us. We were so excited to officially begin our search for our own property. During that meeting with John I think he could sense the excitement in our voices as he tried his best to calm our overzealousness. At the time there were not too many properties available and he knew that it might be a long road ahead.
Being the overanxious buyers that we were we scheduled a private showing of a house we saw posted on the Winni Classifieds. It was March 2002 and it was one of the mildest winters in recent memory so we were able to actually travel by boat to the property. The gentleman took us out on his pontoon boat. We didn't love the property but it was fun to look. The next house we saw we absolutely fell in love with but the owners took it off the market so we were left with nothing to start the 2002 summer season. All the while there was this property on Cow Island that we had never looked at. The price was way out of our range so we never gave it a second look.
Then one day.... Right after 4th of July 2002 on a whim we decided to do a drive by (or boat by). Did I mention we had already bought a boat. Yeah that's a whole other story. Anyway, we drove by the house and pulled up to the dock. My wife was giddy so she called John Bridges. He agreed to send out a fellow agent to show us the house. Well, lets just say my wife was hooked. I on the other hand was picking the place apart. At that price I wanted something a bit more polished. Well to make a long story short two days went by and John Bridges called to see if we had liked it. My wife said yes but my husband thought it was priced too high. He replied well what if I told you they lowered the price $50,000. Needless to say we have enjoyed the house immensely over the past 6 years.
Up next, moving day.....
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