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We’re (still) searching for the place we’d like to retire to in a few years, and we’re attracted to Lake Keowee, particularly one of The Cliffs communities or The Reserve. We will definitely be coming up soon from Atlanta to visit, but I’m curious to hear from locals what the differences are, and why one would choose one community over another. We’re both fairly serious tennis players, will continue to work on our golf game, and love outdoor activities. I know I want to be on a Lake. The price range for all seem somewhat comparable, so that doesn’t seem to be the difference. We really like Reynolds Oconee, too, but I’d love to be closer to the mountains! Thanks for your input!
I am not local but recently did a similar comparison. I need to be close to good medical for my spouse which is a big of an issue at all the cliffs communities in SC as I understand. The Cliffs Valley location was likely best in terms of proximity to hospitals. I also heard the property taxes on the options near the lakes is higher than in the mountain options.
FYI, I am living in Plano, Texas now and am retired. I am considering a move to NW Arkansas, Knoxville Tn area or Greenville SC area for what its worth. I just heard of a place closer to atlanta called Big Canoe I think, I have not assess it yet. Health matters may well keep me where I am now.
Look forward to comments on your question from local experts.
Thanks for your response. I’ve read an earlier post that is possibly yours. I’m familiar with Big Canoe, it’s just up the road from us an hour or so. Very pretty property, but one thing to consider if it’s important, is that there is not a big lake, but rather three smaller lakes of varying sizes. If I remember right, one of them is more or less a big golf course pond. Just depends on what you’re looking for.
There aren't really any locals that live in these communities. They are almost 100% retirees from other parts of the country. I'd be surprised if you get any responses from anyone that lives in any of these communities in these forums.
I am not local but recently did a similar comparison. I need to be close to good medical for my spouse which is a big of an issue at all the cliffs communities in SC as I understand. The Cliffs Valley location was likely best in terms of proximity to hospitals. I also heard the property taxes on the options near the lakes is higher than in the mountain options.
FYI, I am living in Plano, Texas now and am retired. I am considering a move to NW Arkansas, Knoxville Tn area or Greenville SC area for what its worth. I just heard of a place closer to atlanta called Big Canoe I think, I have not assess it yet. Health matters may well keep me where I am now.
Look forward to comments on your question from local experts.
I think I may have replied to one of your earlier posts. You might want to consider Kenmure or Champion Hills in Flat Rock and Hendersonville, respectively. We had been looking for years and had narrowed our choices to either Cliff's Valley or Kenmure. Ended up buying property in Kenmure. It is a more active community with a greater number of year round residents, plus it's relatively close to 2 hospitals in the Hendersonville area. Mission Hospital in Asheville is about 25 miles away. Proximity to medical care was also one of our criteria.
The Reserve is probably more financially stable than The Cliffs.
You will find there are not a lot of year round residents in The Reserve.
Home prices are generally more stable in The Reserve.
Selling a home is going to be harder in The Cliffs because there is a lot of inventory and you are also selling against The Cliffs own properties.
Not a big fan of the views from the Cliffs Vineyards (north) because of the dam and power lines
Good aspect of the Cliffs is that if you are active in sports etc, they have more options and facilities
The Reserve is probably more financially stable than The Cliffs.
You will find there are not a lot of year round residents in The Reserve.
Home prices are generally more stable in The Reserve.
Selling a home is going to be harder in The Cliffs because there is a lot of inventory and you are also selling against The Cliffs own properties.
Not a big fan of the views from the Cliffs Vineyards (north) because of the dam and power lines
Good aspect of the Cliffs is that if you are active in sports etc, they have more options and facilities
I'm not convinced the Cliffs are on firm financial footing. They had major financial difficulties several years ago. If they have trouble again, this could lead to a decline in property values and/or special assessments. It's unfortunate since they have some beautiful developments. They have an aggressive sales staff; I'm sure the past financial difficulties makes selling challenging.
Hello Pstoep, we recently retired in November 2018, and we too are looking to relocate to a permanent retirement home. To begin our research on communities, our Google search was "lakefront, tennis and golf". We're avid tennis players (USTA leagues, tournaments, etc.), and have found that lakefront and golf is fairly easy to find, but it's a real challenge to find a community that has the third requirement of an active tennis community. Anyway, our search has brought us to the same two communities that you mention in your post, The Cliffs and Reserve at Lake Keowee and Reynolds Lake Oconee. We prefer the lake at Lake Keowee, while it seems that the tennis community and full-time resident activities are better at Reynolds. I noticed that you are from the Atlanta area, and must currently enjoy the infrastructure that ALTA affords. There are a lot of other factors that we are considering, but I would be interested in hearing and learning from the insights from your search.
Hello Pstoep, we recently retired in November 2018, and we too are looking to relocate to a permanent retirement home. To begin our research on communities, our Google search was "lakefront, tennis and golf". We're avid tennis players (USTA leagues, tournaments, etc.), and have found that lakefront and golf is fairly easy to find, but it's a real challenge to find a community that has the third requirement of an active tennis community. Anyway, our search has brought us to the same two communities that you mention in your post, The Cliffs and Reserve at Lake Keowee and Reynolds Lake Oconee. We prefer the lake at Lake Keowee, while it seems that the tennis community and full-time resident activities are better at Reynolds. I noticed that you are from the Atlanta area, and must currently enjoy the infrastructure that ALTA affords. There are a lot of other factors that we are considering, but I would be interested in hearing and learning from the insights from your search.
If being near/on a lake is a requirement, I'd choose either the Reserve or one of the Cliffs, as I think the location is much better than Reynolds Lake as they are nearer the mountains. Of these, I'd choose the Reserve because of past financial issues at the Cliffs. I don't know where they stand now, but my understanding is that they were bought out by a large company/investor several years ago. My guess is they are in a better place now, but I don't know. This was too much risk for us, given our large investment in a piece of property/home. I am also an avid tennis player (USTA league) and we looked at all the developments you mentioned, except for Reynolds Lake, which we didn't consider because of location. We wanted to be in a development with a diverse group of activities, on a lake, surrounded by mountains, conveniently located close to a decent size metropolitan area. We could not find a development that checked all boxes. So we had to prioritize. Decided on Kenmure in Flat Rock, NC, which is very close to Hendersonville and 25 miles to Asheville,and within an hour's drive of Lakes Keowee and Jocassee, and about 45 minutes to Lake Lure. All three are beautiful, but prefer Jocassee and Lure to Keowee, as I think they are more scenic.
Update: The Cliffs has been sold again (March 2019) to Southstreet Partners, out of Charlotte. In 2012, when it came out of bankruptcy, Silver Sun acquired it. In 2014 it was sold to Arendale Holdings. No way would I buy anywhere in the Cliffs.. Too much uncertainty.
The Cliffs are actually on pretty solid financial footing now.
As referenced above, there has been a recent transaction but that was for the Club properties specifically (Golf Courses and Clubhouses). These were purchased by South Street Partners who also did the same for Kiawah Island (Sanctuary). I can not think of a better sign for the future of the Cliffs as it relates to the quality of the amenities. SSP just announced a new management team to run the Cliffs facilities coming from the Moutaintop Golf and Lake Club (Highlands) which I suspect will raise the already good club experience to another level. Combine Sanctuary & Mountaintop type quality and I think you can assume that Cliffs is going places.
The Lake properties are selling close to asking price now (with the exception of some 'unique' properties). The bankruptcy inventory from the real estate crash no longer exists, existing homes are selling at a good clip and new construction is exploding on the 3 lake communities. Cliffs is seeing a transition to full-time residents and away from the vacation homes, probably as boomers start to shrink their real estate portfolios and eliminate the hassle of maintaining multiple properties (at least that was our logic).
There was also a major transaction in the past year that closed recently with a major real estate developer for the remaining unsold lots in the Cliffs Falls lake community. I suspect there will be a strong marketing push within those gates that will really put upward pressure on the lakefront properties as that inventory is getting skinny.
Of the 3 lake communities, both Falls and Vineyards have full clubhouse amenities. Keowee Springs is building a Lakehouse restaurant (essentially informal) and a full clubhouse is in the works as resident density has reached the requisite milestone needed to support/fund it.
Springs is the most convenient to Clemson/Seneca for shopping. Vineyards most remote. Falls is good for Seneca/West Union/Wahalla.
Bottom line ... I suspect the Cliffs is going to start to shine even more brightly in the Upstate.
Last edited by Shadetree930; 04-22-2019 at 10:53 AM..
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