Cumming on Lake Lanier? (Forsyth: for sale, HOA, vacation home)

[SeanFL]

We're in Tampa and considering a place that's on Lake Lanier in Cumming. Anything I need to know about the area? I've seen it and it sure looks beautiful.

How has the housing market been? Seems like a slight buyers market? No wild increases over the past 5 years like we've seen in Florida? (We're now seeing a steep decline and houses staying on the market for much longer).

Schools ok? Is there any concern about the lake flooding or they can control the level so that never happens?

Thank you much for any advice. Sean

[john1963]

i doubt it would ever flood, as they release water at buford dam which flows into the chattahoochee river and provides water for atlanta and cities further south all the way down to alabama and florida. I assume they would keep releasing water however it is a balancing act cause many homes are on the banks of the river. The army corp. of engineers controls the levels.
If anything, i would be worried about low lake levels...they screwed up bigtime a few years back by releasing a bunch of water to float some barges and the lake stayed verylow for a few years.

My dad lives on lake lanier and it is very beautiful.

I'm not familar with the current housing market there, but in the past many homes were second vacation homes etc or retired people or people who had a small home passed down to them. You don't see wild price fluctuations as you do in florida. I assume the regular rules of "timing the market" would not apply here as most people hold onto their lakefront property as it is in short supply, but then again, atlanta is growing so fast, it would not supprise me to see a bidding war in the next 20 years.

[darkone]

To the O.P.

I hope not. Sorry.

[Snowman]

I moved here from the Tampa Bay area 3 months ago, and bought a house in the Cumming area. I'm not on the lake, but it's within a few miles. Most of the places I've seen for sale start around the $200.00 and up, depending of course where the property is located. One thing I did notice in my housing search is that some of the streets that separate the front of some townhome communities were so close together that the fire department couldn't drive their trucks in case of an emergency. I've never seen anything built like that ever. Just FYI in case you're thinking of buying a townhome. Again, not all of these communities are like this, just a few. Some communities have what they call out here "Swim-Tennis". Translation is that the community has a swimming pool and tennis courts that are included in your HOA payment. Forsyth county's taxes are lower than some other counties, I've heard. It's peaceful out here. I no longer hear the steady wail of the emergency vehicle sirens racing to some mishap on US 19, or Dale Mabry, or wherever I happen to be in the Tampa Bay Area. Living here is like a breath of fresh air compared to Florida. The only exception to this would be finding a job. They're certainly ellusive here, at least for me they are.