Hole in the Wall Cottage for sale
 

So I was doing my weekly scanning of zillow for properties in the area and this just popped back onto the market. It was listed earlier this year and I thought it sold, but it is now up for 55K less than before. At 295k do you guys think it is worth it? My wife didn't totally shut down the idea when I started talking about it which is the only reason I am even contemplating it. Anyone familiar with it or the current owners?

The owners are real nice people. I think it is getting to be too much work for them. They have done a ton of work to it since they bought it. Know the purchased land behind it several years ago. FYI, the boat house that looks like it is theirs actually belongs to the place to the right of it.


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It’s a cool place on the lake but I wonder if the constant parade of boats going through the hole in the wall gets old?

Good point. Not much of a swimming area for the kiddos too from what I remember when I went through there last summer, but still intriguing. Maybe I'll reach out to the agent, might be worth a boat ride out to look at it at least...

Hole in the wall
 

I looked at that property when it was listed quite a few years back for 99000. Its amazing how island property prices have changed.

In 1965 my grandfather bought a 1/2 acre lot on the Barber Pole side of Cow for 3500 dollars.In those days a retired janitor could afford that.

At the same time in 1965 all of Farm Island was for sale for 5000 dollars. My Grandfather was not interested because there was no electricity. I think its now listed for 1.6 million.

Hole in the Wall
 

If you have kids, they could make a killing selling lemonade on busy weekends.

Here goes.....post #5000

link https://www.beangroup.com/homes/35_L...dex.html?cnt=0

That place has changed hands a number of times over the years. I also recall it needed a lot of work and I think it had changed hands at least a couple of times since I looked at it a number of years ago.

If I were you I'd reach out to Nancy Deporter, she's quite familiar with that part of the lake and many of the island properties in the area. Her and her husband are agents too that specialize in island property. I bet she can tell you a lot about the history of that place.

https://www.nancydeporter.com/

Suggest that tired looking dock gets a couple coats of gray, solid color latex deck stain. Docks look totally super-duper when done in medium gray.


So ....... just out of curiosity ...... what's the difference between gray and grey?

Thanks for the info everyone. I am not scared of some work, the royalties I charge the kids on their lemonade stand money should help finance any upgrades :laugh::D

Thanks for the contact info for Nancy too, if we end up getting more serious about it I will reach out.

Present owners have held it for close to ten yrs. when they bought it, it needed a lot of work but they did a nice job of it. He even built a Japanese soaking tub in the “basement” area. The previous owner basically used it as a weekend dock for his cruiser.

Boat traffic can be daunting when you first move in. You get used to it after awhile plus you spend most of your time on the deck “above” the traffic. I second talking to Nancy. Not only does she know that part of the lake, she summers 3 cabins down from HiW and has been a neighbor of it for most of her life!


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I really like the field stone fireplace & the view of the channel.

Both are fine. The Brittish prefer one, Americans the other.

This property is very interesting for the price!

I second that recommendation. Nancy and Doug DePorter are terrific. And no, I'm not a relative ... just a happy customer! :)

Congratulations on achieving your 5,000 post milestone, McDude! You have made a great many informative contributions to the forum over the years.

(Sorry to hijack the post, but I thought McD should be recognized!)

I agree McDude is a fantastic contributor to the forum.


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Hole in the Walll
 

My father built that camp in 1958...we lost it when he passed away due to a loop hole in his will. It's a wonderful place to get away to. The dock was built in 1976 after a very bad winter took out the old one...this dock has never been replaced...just had new boards put on, maybe even turned over. The fire place was also built in 1976 and finished in 1977..it was built from the stone on the island and the lake..Having boats go by all day was never a burden, every one on the lake knew my Dad...Dr. Robert M. Howe...I go by all the time and even though it was tough at first, it makes me happy that the previous owners and Bob, who owns it now, loved it as much as we did. Forever in our hearts....Jo P.s. I do believe he paid 1200.00 for the lot back in the day.

That is some fantastic history on the property, Thank you!!!

My in-laws owned one of the camps directly before the hole in the wall on the other side in the 80's. It was your Dad I believe who was always sitting out on the deck when we would go through the hole, with his same saying. "Hey, how about those Red Sox?" Great memories.

Who were your in-laws?

The Tata's The three cottages by the channel marker, we were the one in the middle. It was painted red then. Canopy over the dock.

I love hearing the history on places like this. My family has a cottage on Upper Suncook Lake in Barnstead that my grandparents built back in 1965. It is still in the family, but split between many aunts/uncles/cousins and when my father passed away back in 2012 at 53, I kind of lost the desire to go back there as it was usually the two of us who upkept the place and had many memories there.

I really wish I was in a better position to move on a place like this, but my wife and I are expecting child number 3 this July and it would probably be unwise to jump into this right now. If we were a few years down the road I would be skating accross whats left of the ice to put in an offer!!

Congratulation on child #3. When my kids were young we started out with a 19' travel trailer because at the time that's all we could afford. We managed to spend many times at different campsites along different lakes and rivers. We have fond memories of those camping years before we could afford our own place. You do what you have to do when the kids are young and they will have fond memories too.

Hole in the wall takes a certain type of person to own, because it is so intimate to boaters going by. Having said that, this would really only be a weekend concern. That part of the lake is very quite during the week...I keep looking at the add for HiW and keep wondering how seriously I should let myself think about it.

If it could just be 6 years from now, with both my boys through college, I think I would be all over it at the current price....

People have been talking about prices on island properties, but its properties on the lake in General that have sky rocketed since the 90's... Lots of money came out of the stockmarket in the early 2000s and found its way into more stable real-estate investments...

As much as I love the lake, I am often wondering if the price of being on Winnipesaukee will ultimately drive me away and cause me to head some place more remote, like Moosehead in Maine.

That's what happened to me! .....and it worked out great! I'm not so far away that I can't head over to Winni when the mood strikes.

Hole in the Wall Cottage for Sale
 

It is absolutely my biggest fear that I will never be able to retire at near or around the lake.
Some of my fondest memories on the lake at West Alton.
Lost this family property some ten years ago, and have not bee the same since.


Attachment 13738

Waterfront is out of sight but there are plenty of affordable places away from the lake.

Visiting when the mood hits, is becoming more appealing..... I am in the process of looking around for places to retire too.... And while I love the lakefront camp my family currently has on Winnipesaukee. I realize that if I have to by my siblings out, plus pay the taxes, I will not achieve my goal of retiring early....

Having so many family members that have passed, in their early to Mid 60s, I am not going to take my chances, I want to retire early 55ish, and enjoy.... So I am considering my alternatives... And after visiting Moosehead in Maine, I am strongly considering it as an alternative... Prices and taxes are so much more reasonable.... I will always have a boat on a trailer, and visiting other lakes is part of what I want in retirement anyways...

Not looking to hijack but what are the other advantages to Moosehead other than cost and taxes compared to Winni?

Not nearly as crowded - but there is a reason for that. It's also a lot farther away from civilization.

Honestly I'd rather be on Lake Champlain or Lake Memphremagog in VT

This has worried me for a long time- That these towns will keep spending and therefore people on the lake will get sick of paying the high taxes. This is especially true if you only use your house or camp for a couple of months out of the year.

I have the reverse situation. I have a house in Londonderry and a house in Moultonborough. The lake house is worth more than the Londonderry house but my Londonderry taxes are more than double the Moultonborough taxes.

I can't justify staying in a soon to be too large Londonderry house that has far higher taxes and up keep.

Is the high lake taxes issue because they are in towns other than Moultonborough or because peoples non-lake home taxes are far lower than Londonderry's?

That's a tough one, sorry.

Yes, Moultonborough is $8 a thousand and Londonderry is 21 or so a thousand. Huge difference. Moultonborough is one of the cheapest in the state. Tuftonboro is around 10 and Wolfeboro is around 15. Here is a link if you want to look at all of them:

https://www.revenue.nh.gov/mun-prop/...-tax-rates.pdf

And this explains the difference in tax rate:

Total Property Value in Moultonborough: $2,944,716,030 with an operating budget of $23,954,328

Total Property Value in Londonderry: $3,153,456,557 with an operating budget of $82,084,119

So what you have here is nearly the same property valuation between the two but Londonderry is spending quite a bit more annually to run the town.

Yeah Londonderry has 5 schools so I am sure that is a lot of that operating budget.


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Your are right Doobs. $6 of the total tax rate of $21 is town and county in Londonderry. They rest is for schools.

Just for comparison purposes I'm spending $9 per thousand in my little town. There is no town police force....just ambulance and fire. Policing is done by the York County police. The library is private and not financially supported by the town. There is no municipal trash pick-up.....but, hey....who doesn't like mixing with the locals at the dump? There is a regional school district. The high school kids in my neighborhood travel 17 miles each way to get to school. Regional schools save tons on transportation with state (or federal?) reimbursement. This is accomplished with no major industry in town and no lakefront mega-mansions contributing to the tax base.

ME also has a 5.5% sales and up to a 7.15% income tax which NH does not.

Since NH relies heavily on property taxes to fund everything that really isn't a fair comparison. Even so I like the way your town is run, keep it simple and fund the basics. Enjoy it while it lasts....

Our Gilford Taxes up 6.1% last year will not be long until we are forced to move!!
 

Our Gilford Taxes up 6.1% last year will not be long until we are forced to move!!

Gilford is not for family's.

Awesome
 

What a great property! The listing says lot size is 2.58....that's a big lot.

Unless I am missing something, I say it will be under agreement before this weekend is over.

I doubt somebody is going to buy it sight unseen and there is no way to get out there and "show" it which is a rather dubious tactic by the listing agent who SHOULD know better as it's not supposed to be listed if it cannot be shown.

The last time this place sold it sat on the market for a while.

Well, it's been for sale for a while hasn't it? I thought it was for sale last summer when we went by.

Hit the market July of last year


Attachment 13740

Weird that in a hot market this wouldn't be selling. Can't tell a ton from listing, but maybe the premium for HItW isn't worth it to some buyers?

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I think it’s more location related. It’s obviously going to take a special buyer that wants to be near the hole in the wall so the market is limited. I know it’s busy really only weekends and holidays but that’s when most people are at there camps.


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I am guessing that it needs some work, plus the fact that it is on an island creates issues as well. If it needs work, getting back and forth isn't easy, and I'd need to figure in the cost of a main land slip or figure out where to keep a truck and trailer while you are up there.

If I sell the boat I picked up last year I'd have an extra 20k to put down on this, just no way to get there hahaha!

I agree, Joey. I think because it's so busy on weekends, it makes it a tough sell. But it's like everything else, it just takes the right person.

[QUOTE=tis;293145]

Yes sir. It’s about finding the right butt for your very specific seat. [emoji23]


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Does anybody know the total acreage of little bear Island

It's about 1/2 mile wide and 3/4 mile long. Nice part of the lake, water quality is real good.

As it has already been pointed out the challenge is the location of the property itself right in the channel where there is lots of traffic at certain times so swimming or being in the water is a challenge because it's so tight in there.

Here is a pic of it's location

I would guess about 150 - 175 acres. The middle of the island is one lot that is (I believe) 100 acres. There is actually a road shown on the plan of the island called Forest Avenue, that runs behind some of the waterfront lots. Years ago, there was talk of putting a bridge between Long Island and Little Bear, which is why the road was put on the plan (I guess?).

Another bit of trivia: The official name of the island is Samoset Island.

wikipedia lists islands by size. Little bear is at 143 acres behind Welch (187) ahead of Stonedam (141).

To clarify, there is no road. Only on the map.


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Also, person(s) who owns will discuss selling acreage behind waterfront lots to the waterfront owner as long as it doesn’t infringe on neighbors


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Who said there was an actual road?

Thank you. Do you know if there is an HOA?

You’re welcome. There is no HOA.

Is there an interior walking trail around the island? I know many have these to allow for exercise and to visit neighbors.

No real trail but there is a right of way path that goes around the island (right past some front doors) and you can hike around the center of the island.


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Looks like someone snagged it up!

Will be interesting to see what they paid.

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Listing now says back on the market. I am sitting in the hospital with my wife who just gave birth to our third son.......should I try convincing her now that buying this place is a good idea?!?! I am thinking she is still under the influence of meds and sleep deprivation, the outcome could go either way!!!

Yes! Three boys would LOVE playing out there! Congratulations!!!!!!

Take advantage of the meds! :D

Definitely worth a shot [emoji23]. Congratulations on the birth of your third son !!! [emoji322][emoji322]


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