Tips on a Winter purchase for a lake home!

I have owned many lake lots and or lake homes and I have found these tips and suggestions helped me out when I bought a property. And now when I represent a Buyer on a Transaction to buy a Minnesota lake home.

1) If at all possible try to Waite until the Ice is off and you can walk or boat in to the shore line.

2) Ask the Neighbors what the lake shore is like

3) Drill a hole every 10' to 30' out from the shoreline to see what the bottom is like.

4) use a under water camera to see how weedy it may be

5) Look for protruding weeds out in the water this is a good indication it is a very shallow bay

6) Look for Muskrat houses they typically like shallow bays for feeding and they will have little domed house in the water.

7) Look at lake maps they usually have depths on lake maps, GPS does the same thing with lake specific software.

8) Ask a good local Realtor, about the lake who will assist you with these items if they frown on it. There probably is a reason why? So ask them

I as a Real Estate Professional offer to assist a buyer with these things but I want them to be right by my side when we do them so they can SEE for themselves how things look, or if I have a friend of there's with me I will do it then. But I always go do it for my own personal curiosity to see if they are making a good decision based on my opinion. It is also nice to refer back to notes if I sell or list a neighboring home, I can then pull out the file and share it with them and then introduce them to a possible new neighbor.

On Big Sandy Lake we are all neighbors.

Rick Borden