Affordable Lake Access

With spring right around the corner, and temperatures hitting around 55 today, people begin to think about summer, and summer getaways, and I anticipate the phone to begin ringing with people looking for that house with the magical "water."

So many prospective buyers have that on the list. Either a stream, the Delaware or a lake. Access to a spot to swim. Why? perhaps it conjours up childhood memories, thoughts of relaxation--who knows, I think mostly it just represents, "downtime"--lazy summer days on the water.

There are four I have on my list for this season. Now full disclosure, two are my listings, however I truly believe they are good deals. The other two are also excellent deals. All four are not lakefront, but have lake access, and on all, the lake is less than a mile away, and on one, you can see the lake from the deck.


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Two of these 27762 and 26543 have access to Lake Loch Ada, which is a little known lake down by Glen Spey. It is a quiet non-motorboat lake, About 250 acres. It is a really nice spot tucked in the mountains, and it is lower Sullivan County, so the drive is under two hours.

27762 needs some work, but it is closer to the lake. It can bee seen from the decks. 26543 has been fully renovated, and has a cool lake home feel. Both are priced under 200K, which you can't get a studio for in the Hamptons. Bot of these are really good value.

27941 is on York Lake, which is a little smaller than Loch Ada and it is a motor-boat lake. It is frankly my least favorite lake, but the home is big and impeccable. I don't think the pictures do it justice, everything is high end, and it sits on two acres. at $239,000 it is less than the owner paid for it, and in my opinion another great value. York Lake is again in lower Sullivan County, so the drive is less.

27611 is brand new construction, again great quality. It has access to Tennanah Lake which is a much bigger motorboat lake. This house is the furthest away from any of the lakes, but it has complete privacy on over five acres--were you to be on the lake, the homes are all tucked in together, as is the case with most Catskill lakes. Tennanah Lake is a great lake community, very lively in the summer. There is a 18 hole golf course, just off the lake, and Roscoe is just a few minutes away. Older, smaller homes on the lake do not go for less than half a million, so this is another one that in my opinion is a great value.

I know that there is something about being on the water, being able to wake up and see it, be next to it as you barbecue or have a glass of wine and read a book, and hear the water lapping, but at half the cost, these homes offer 90% of what you would get with a lakefront.