Affordable lake view (Charlotte, Kings Mountain, King: for sale, condo, townhouse)

[eli499]

Hi,
We have been considering a move to the Charlotte area for a number of years, and are finally able to come for a short visit. We will need additional visits, but I am looking for input to be most effective in this first trip.
We will be empty nesters, with my husband working from home. I will probably look for a job, but that will be secondary and will not be a factor in deciding where we want to live.
We hope to live on a lake, both for a beautiful view out the windows and for the boating fun. We are also interested in affordable golf; either public with reasonable rates, or a club without exorbitant membership/greens fees.
I have been wishing on Lake Norman homes for years, but now that we are close to being able to move, the prices may be out of reach for us. We would need to stay $350-$400 for the house. Lake Wylie seems more affordable, but not drastically. The prices at High Rock Lake or Badin Lake seem more affordable, but I wonder if we would feel too out of it… I like the idea of being around shops, churches, people, festivals…
Also, I am wondering about the color of the lakes. Sometimes the photos I see make the lake look really brown… is that only in the small coves or channels? My main interest is a beautiful blue vista out the windows of my home.
Are there any specific areas you would suggest we see on this first trip? Are the communities on the northwest side of Lake Norman nice? Any golf courses come to mind?

[southbound_295]

Originally Posted by eli499

Hi,
We have been considering a move to the Charlotte area for a number of years, and are finally able to come for a short visit. We will need additional visits, but I am looking for input to be most effective in this first trip.
We will be empty nesters, with my husband working from home. I will probably look for a job, but that will be secondary and will not be a factor in deciding where we want to live.
We hope to live on a lake, both for a beautiful view out the windows and for the boating fun. We are also interested in affordable golf; either public with reasonable rates, or a club without exorbitant membership/greens fees.
I have been wishing on Lake Norman homes for years, but now that we are close to being able to move, the prices may be out of reach for us. We would need to stay $350-$400 for the house. Lake Wylie seems more affordable, but not drastically. The prices at High Rock Lake or Badin Lake seem more affordable, but I wonder if we would feel too out of it… I like the idea of being around shops, churches, people, festivals…
Also, I am wondering about the color of the lakes. Sometimes the photos I see make the lake look really brown… is that only in the small coves or channels? My main interest is a beautiful blue vista out the windows of my home.
Are there any specific areas you would suggest we see on this first trip? Are the communities on the northwest side of Lake Norman nice? Any golf courses come to mind?

Check Moss Lake/Kings Mountain reservoir.

[spankys bbq]

Water view obviously won't be as pricey as waterfront. Wylie will be cheaper than Norman, but not by too much when it comes to a regular house and not some monstrosity. Norman is larger and a bit cleaner than Wylie. Wylie is a shallower lake so it will look a bit more brown. If you were to go on Wylie now, it wouldn't be too bad. The mud gets churned up a lot in the summer. Don't wear a white bathing suit in there. Wylie also seems to have an annual sewer spill, some larger than others.

Lake Norman seems to have more going on around it.

Several friends and I lovingly refer to Wylie as the Redneck Riviera.

Expect to pay $350k or better for waterfront on either unless you find a deal on a house needing work. Norman also has much better big water views. Wylie is more of a river, hence a lot of old timers say "we're going down to the river."

[Boss]

Check out High Rock Lake Association, Inc. for information and look in zip code 28146 for listings.

[carlaagnini]

Originally Posted by eli499

Hi,
We have been considering a move to the Charlotte area for a number of years, and are finally able to come for a short visit. We will need additional visits, but I am looking for input to be most effective in this first trip.
We will be empty nesters, with my husband working from home. I will probably look for a job, but that will be secondary and will not be a factor in deciding where we want to live.
We hope to live on a lake, both for a beautiful view out the windows and for the boating fun. We are also interested in affordable golf; either public with reasonable rates, or a club without exorbitant membership/greens fees.
I have been wishing on Lake Norman homes for years, but now that we are close to being able to move, the prices may be out of reach for us. We would need to stay $350-$400 for the house. Lake Wylie seems more affordable, but not drastically. The prices at High Rock Lake or Badin Lake seem more affordable, but I wonder if we would feel too out of it… I like the idea of being around shops, churches, people, festivals…
Also, I am wondering about the color of the lakes. Sometimes the photos I see make the lake look really brown… is that only in the small coves or channels? My main interest is a beautiful blue vista out the windows of my home.
Are there any specific areas you would suggest we see on this first trip? Are the communities on the northwest side of Lake Norman nice? Any golf courses come to mind?

Don't forget about Lake Norman just yet! Try looking in Sherrills Ford. I personally have a lake view home in a lake access neighborhood with a boat slip just above that price range, I remember finding others that were closer to your price point when doing comps.

[eli499]

Thank you all for your responses. Doesn't sound like Lake Wylie will be a good match for us....really want as blue a view as possible. is that a problem with Kings Mountain Lake also? When I visit in 2 weeks, will the lake color in Lake Norman, High Rock, and King Mountain not be representative also? Or is that more a characteristic of Lake Wylie?

Does anyone have an opinion on High Rock Lake/ Badin Lake area? Does it have much of a community feeling? Any social events for the residents?

Also, how about mosquitos? Is it worse at any specific spot? Do they have abatement programs? Are they effective?

Finally.... when do you start seeing the most inventory of houses for sale on the lake?

Thanks to all for the help.

[spankys bbq]

You really need to just get down here and look at properties. You may decide NC is for you, or not at all for you. You really need to spend some time here. Not just a weekend. Get out and experience the traffic. See the area. Take it all in.

Posts on a message board should have about 0.01% effect on your decision of where to move.

[eli499]

As I mentioned.... we plan to make several trips in making our decision... questions on this forum are simply research to prepare for our initial trip.

Can anyone speak to the community environment around High Rock and Badin Lakes?

We will be visiting the last weekend of February... based on a previous poster's comments about Lake Wylie, would you expect the color of the rest of the lakes be very different now versus during spring/summer when the lake is more active?

Are there mosquito abatement programs? Are they very effective?

Thanks for all helpful responses.

[spankys bbq]

The difference in water color won't be too great.

[LItoCharlotte]

eli499

I moved to Lake Norman last year, and my main priority in buying was the view!

Are you looking for a single family house? a condo? a townhouse?

How many bedrooms?

There could be waterfront/view properties in your price range - depending on answers to the above.