I bought in 2014 and bought 40K below original asking price, but I will admit, it was a fixer upper that had been on the market for quite some time. Also, not waterfront, it's shared with three other homes. I caught the end of the market slump, things started to climb in 2015. Even after I bought it, I thought I paid too much as I started the 10 long DIY remodel. But I feel very fortunate now.
I couldn't afford to buy either one of my homes at today's values!

I definitely felt uneasy with the well sharing. The well was on the property being sold, so I felt a little better about that. We are looking in Winnisquam and Ossipee areas now too - pretty much all over. We prefer a lake community that is 2ish hours from Boston or less. We're hoping to find something in the Spring/early summer when there are more homes listed.

We can't bring ourselves to waive inspection. We lost out on another lake home earlier this month because someone offered to waive inspection. - Our offer was for full price with an escalation clause that went up an additional $22k. We offered to only renegotiate any home inspection issues over $20k and to bring an additional $50k to the close if the home didn't appraise for full sell price. The offer that waived inspection was for full asking price. The fact that the seller was willing to forego another $22k makes us wonder if the sellers were concerned the inspection would show major issues. The home had been completely gutted and redone with the kitchen & bathroom moved to another floor. That one hurt; the house was gorgeous with a beautiful view.

Also, hi from Mass! We're south of Boston.

Just a guess: If you move the kitchen and bathroom to another floor, it's a split entry and an inspection will show settling, cracks in the foundation and signs of water which later turns to mold. Fire (smoke) damage and mold are two excellent reasons for gutting. You don't do it because the wall paper is ugly. It's nice now that with Google Earth and an iPhone you can see a lot of properties from home. Last year I was looking at property in FL (Amelia Island) and Myrtle Beach. In both cases my Buyer's Realtor toured the property while I watched from NH and could say, move closer, look at that again, etc. Neither deal worked out due to engineering studies and IRS deadlines. I did a home inspection on one and there were no significant problems but the engineer had problems with the whole complex. I got my deposit back in FL. Never made an offer in SC.

Or it’s as simple as no permits were pulled and signed off when it was remodeled. Happens quite frequently here in the lakes region


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I had a house in a lake community on Winnisquam many years ago, great lake. Very good boating lake North of the bridge, South of the bridge, not so much.
We were like you, tried to stay within 2 hours of our home in Mass. I was willing to go further but my wife was adamant about keeping it under 2 hours and I'm happy we did.
That shared well would have been a non-starter for me.
I would be patient, we could see a slow down this year. I don't think prices will collapse but I do think the price wars of the past will reside, JMO.
I'm 70 and have had many properties in Ma and NH, the only one I ever regret buying was a hasty decision, getting caught up in FOMO.

Hard to say.
A lot of ''flipping'' is being done on the lake.

Buyers purchased what was available at the time, many did renovations...
But when a better location comes up, they purchase the new using equity of the old and try to sell the old quickly.

Thank you for this. Two more homes that have recently come on the market have had a series of sales in the past few years too. When I pull the RedFin data I can see the previous listing pics - it does look like the homes were bought when they were dated, lots of improvements were done, and then they were listed at a much higher price. I know prices have seen a huge jump from 2020 to 2025 too - so maybe people are cashing out their equity.

Looking up the current owner/seller on the tax card and then looking up that person (if it's a person) on line will tell you a lot.

Looks like OP is suffering from paralysis by analysis. Sooner or later you need to jump in, if this is something you really want. You know the old expression: it’s waterfront and they Aren’t making any more of it.

Good luck, Bill

We bought our Lakefront house in November, never having been to the Lake before. This was 22 years ago and we have never regretted it. Our key to success was our realtor. She was brutally honest about the pros and cons of this location, the quality of the builder (or lack thereof) and all we needed to know to make an informed decision.

Her name is Susan Bradley and she’s still in business.

Times are little different right now. I would be hesitant to buy right now, JMO!

Hesitant. Why? What’s your reasoning behind it.


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I think we are headed for recession, just my take on the current situation.

Lotta signs agreeing with you...

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I hope I'm wrong, but the current situation has made me put a hold on big ticket purchases for the foreseeable future, necessities only.
I haven't felt this uneasy about the economy in over 16 years!

I am also uneasy about the economy--too much uncertainty right now

I thought we were talking about purchasing lake front property. Not the economy in general. I disagree, the economy is as stable as it has been over the past five years. Those buyers of lake front property are immune to inflation and other economic pressures


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Yes and no--true that buyers today are not scraping together for a mortgage. But they are likely pulling cash from the stock market to buy their lake homes. If the S&P falls, waterfront homes are likely to do the same.

This kind of thing is always speculation, so I will not be putting money where my mouth is :)

Is a price reduction from $2.5 million to $2.3 million actually a reduction? Monopoly money to this writer


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GDP might see a dip for a quarter or two.

But I think the lake will always attract, so really don't expect prices to move downward.

As more people choose to spend recreational dollars on boating over other formats, the limitation of public launching may make shorefront homes surge.

She didn’t ask if the time was right to buy a home expecting a return on her investment. She asked about not being able to see certain things in the winter time under the snow.

My daughter was married in 2005, just when the economy was starting to crash, and bought a rowhouse in Baltimore that summer. The house went down in value year after year, but they had payments that they could afford and ended up living there for 18 years before they moved out to the county. They sold it for $25,000 more than they paid for it but they enjoyed every minute that they lived there.

The point is that, if the market slows, the OP won't be in as difficult a situation—houses wouldn't be selling out from under them, giving them more time to do their due diligence.

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There's a lot of evidence that younger generations might not want the baggage that comes with second homes or, even if they'd want to, might not be able to afford them.

For that reason, and given that luxuries go before needs, I don't think it's unreasonable to think we'll see prices drop at the lake...or at least not increase in value as aggressively in the past.

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You asked why I was hesitant and I gave you an honest answer.
You are entitled to your opinion as I am mine, only time will tell who's right.

I was responding to Thinkx, not the OP.
I've been around a long time, I'm 70. I know real estate is a great investment if you hold it long enough. But I also think of it as an investment, and when prices are topped out and people are reacting to FOMO, it's not a great time to buy.
The old saying in stocks pertains to real estate also, "be a fireman, run in when everyone else is running out".

I disagree with some of what has been said. We never purchased real estate for an investment. We purchased property because we liked it and wanted to be there. Having said that, we always purchased in attractive areas (location, location, location).
We have bought/sold many properties over the years and always did well financially. Maybe luck of the draw? More Likely making solid decisions.
Lake property should always appreciate, whether waterfront or nearby. We have also owned ocean front, historic homes, etc.
I dont think you can go wrong purchasing property that has some kind of unique feature. It may take some sweat equity and/or time, but you should build equity.

To summarize: buy it because you like it. If the property has some kind of unique feature, you will build equity.
Life is short, don’t be afraid to take chances. It ain’t all about money! Do it because you want to.

Maybe not as aggressively.
But unless a reasonable amount of properties come onto the market, it will always have that ''shortage effect".

The OP was asking about waterfront communities. There are different levels of buyers. You have to have considerable wealth to buy and support a waterfront home on the lake today and I agree "there's a limited supply".
I bought my first property on the lake in Alton Bay back in the 70's, I was in my 20's. I can't afford lake front at these prices anymore.
But waterfront communities are more abundant and don't require the same level of wealth. They also don't appreciate at the same pace as waterfront property.
I never had that kind of wealth, so I always had to be more precise in my purchases.
Everyone has a different approach to life purchases. I just follow what has worked for me and my family.
I'm a DIY buyer so I always look for a property that needs TLC.

I sort of wonder whether other influences will affect prices more than the economy. I sold my Winni house I owned for 27 years to buy on a different local (smaller) waterbody. I was driven away by overcrowding/noise, water quality degradation, and the desire to boat and fish on non-motorized craft...

Thank you for this thread. It certainly is interesting. We have been going back and forth about moving to Florida as we have been getting older. Yes waterfront properties are all unique in their own ways. We have owned our place for 25+ years and do love it. But the winter is starting to take its toll on our old bones. After talking with many folks and of course realtors everyone is all over the place as to what we could sell our place for. Our small condo association has only 6 units and just last spring one unit sold for 615K and has changed hands a few times over the last 5 or 6 years. It's definitely the least desirable unit here but you wouldn't know that unless you've lived here like we do. Realtors that want our listing seem to want to give it away (quick sale maybe) while friend realtors say it's worth much much more. Especially since there's nothing close to it on the market. To be honest we don't even know if we're making the right decision wanting to move, but we created a FSBO listing with a price that would probably make us say yes. We would love to hear what others have to think.

https://www.forsalebyowner.com/listi...4ccd177a058ad5

P.S.
Not trying to sell this here. Figured it would be a good place to hear opinions. We've gone down this road before and have changed our mind.

This is one of the ironies of the whole thing. An "expensive" property that appreciates fast is less expensive than a lower priced property that appreciates slow. We bought our place before the recent run up, thinking it was our once in a lifetime splurge. WRONG! We've made a large chunk of change. We don't expect to ever cash out, and we hope future generations will hang onto it. But there is something funny about a system where toys/luxuries are profitable for their owners

Until there not.

You've owned it for 25 years so whatever you sell it for it should make you happy if you decide to make the move.
You should make out very well on that move as much of Florida real estate is in decline right now, lots of listings.

Yes, that's fair, I should have mentioned that the past may not be repeated

Yes and no. Just thinking about moving is exhausting. Moving out of our cottage is easy. Moving our business and warehouse not so much. We want to duplicate our lifestyle as much as possible and find it will probably cost even more to do that. We won't be making any huge profit unless we give up the perks we have now. One of the newer places across the street I saw was under agreement for over 800K. Although nice, they're crowded and not even close to what this association has to offer. We've been looking at everything for years. We know nothing comes close and it's probably one of the only spots on the water where you can still build up. Hey, I have to stop talking myself out of doing this :)
As soon as I set up my deck and put the kayaks in the water it can quickly change our minds. It has before. We're older now and tired of winter though.

Florida looks good. Everyone we know that has moved there likes it. Although real estate can be a better value, to have a large boat slip, a jet ski lift, kayaks, and swimming right on the water takes big bucks. What we're looking at is not within reach so we know we will have to give up some luxuries we have here.

Snowbirds alternatives
 

Two couples I know have lake homes, one on Winnipesaukee and another in PA on Lake Wallenpaupack. They too were tired of long winters and close up their homes & lease condos in Fla from Jan 1 to April 1st. the pa couple has leased the same condo on Hutchinson Island near Ft Pierce for 14 years. The husband said leasing meant that once he went back to PA he had no worries about the condo and didn't have to deal with home owner insurance, hurricanes, etc. Would the snow bird life be a possibilty?

Lease in NH and FL. In a couple of years you can sell the NH property as an investment and roll it into a similar investment in FL and avoid capital gains taxes. That leaves options open. Talk to your CPA about 1031 Exchanges and DST passive income.

The snowbird life isn't for us. We have an online store and need to keep it going for regular income. Some type of permanent warehouse location is what we need. We were thinking a garage type condo for the business and maybe a fifth wheel or something in a mobile home park until we get our bearings in a new area. We need to worry about the business first and then we can explore a property to replace here if something exists. Wherever we end up it will be our last move at our age.

The thing I will miss most is having my morning coffee in my kayak while floating in the cove. It's been addictive to me personally. That's a tough one for me to give up.

We have it pretty good and are not desperate. But this winter has pushed our old bones and we think it's time for new warmer adventures with what time we have left. We're lucky to have our health. But all bets would be off if that changed and we wouldn't be going anywhere.

We haven't signed with any realtor because at this point if something goes down maybe us and a buyer could benefit. We've bought and sold many properties over the years ourselves with much success. This was FSBO when we bought it back in 1998.

We're trying to downsize our shop now and anyone who has seen it knows it's a monumental task. If we're here for a while longer that's fine. Obviously as a seller we want to get as much as we can, but of course we respect any buyer who wants to find the best deal. Waterfront properties are all over the place. From basic motel units for 500K to an acre of land for a few million. I guess it's just finding what you like and can afford. Although just a small cottage, we have basically any waterfront amenity you can find in the Governor's Island mansions. But what's better our taxes are pretty cheap!

Thanks for that advice. We're familiar with 1031 exchanges. Our online store does well and it's good retirement income. We're interested in basically doing the same thing minus the winters. Everyone we know has moved to Florida and are happy. We are pretty sure we will be too.

We have done everything you can on this lake for many years and enjoy it a lot. But being warm all the time and exploring something new is our goal. We do wonder if it's a mistake but we've made bold moves before. Buying this place was one. We drove by and saw a FSBO sale in the window and just bought it! We were staying on our boat at Silver Sands and was looking to trade up. We bought this place instead and it was one of the best things we ever did in life.