Tan-Tar-A Resort, Lake of the Ozarks

[austin-steve]

We just returned from our trip to Lake of the Ozarks and it was great.

The kids loved having such a large array of activities to choose from. We boated and tubed (their favorite), played putt-putt, did skeeball and other stuff at the "strip", swam at the state park, visited the Bridal Cave and Ha Ha Tonka, ate out a lot, swam a lot and had plenty of down time as well, just hanging out doing nothing.

The Tan-a-Tar resort was great. The shuttle system worked well - just called and they picked us up at the street and took us to the main area. We usually drove down there, but on Friday and Saturday, the parking filled up. The amenities were great. We had no complaints other than it would have been nice to stay in the main complex, but we needed a full kitchen, so the Estates section was our only choice.

My favorite activity, however, was exploring the lake areas and window shopping condos for sale on my final afternoon while the kids were swimming and the wife was getting a spa treatment. (I do this every vacation, wherever we go. I love looking at real estate)

Man, I can't believe what you can get with a stunning lake view for $150K to $200K. Unbelievable compared to Austin. And the property taxes for a $150K property are about $600 annually. We pay $4200 annually on $150K in Austin. I'm seriously thinking of buying a condo there in Osage Beach, but I need to let the pink cloud wear off first, then crunch the numbers. But the area is beautiful and, from what I saw, I think it's going to boom in the next 10-20 years as it becomes more and more discovered by retiring baby boomers. I didn't even know this existed until now. With the new highway system I saw being graded in, access to the area is going to improve and, though the market there seems soft now, it looks to me like a good place to own real estate long term.

Steve

[Thepreacherswife]

Originally Posted by austin-steve

Man, I can't believe what you can get with a stunning lake view for $150K to $200K. Unbelievable compared to Austin. And the property taxes for a $150K property are about $600 annually. We pay $4200 annually on $150K in Austin. I'm seriously thinking of buying a condo there in Osage Beach, but I need to let the pink cloud wear off first, then crunch the numbers. But the area is beautiful and, from what I saw, I think it's going to boom in the next 10-20 years as it becomes more and more discovered by retiring baby boomers. I didn't even know this existed until now. With the new highway system I saw being graded in, access to the area is going to improve and, though the market there seems soft now, it looks to me like a good place to own real estate long term.

Steve

Having owned a condo at the lake for 8 years, things have already gone through a big boom on the north end of the lake (say from Sunrise Beach back to Bagnell Dam). When we bought our place there were numerous secluded coves, especially along the north shore, where you could anchor a boat and do some swimming, or maybe some tubing. Now pretty much every piece of lakefront property, even going up the Gravois Arm a good ways, has at least a house if not a large condo unit.

If you want to do some tubing or swimming during the summer, you'd better choose a weekday or go early on a weekend morning otherwise you risk getting cut in half by any number of 30+ foot boats. My in-laws have a 26-foot open deck boat and it's nearly impossible for them to cruise the main channel (and sometimes even cross the channel) many days because the amount of large boat traffic creates 6-8 foot swells all day long. However, we haven't been there much this summer, but I hear that gas prices have really put a damper on the lake boat traffic. Down towards Tan-Tar-A and further south toward Truman Dam it's a bit quieter.

A lot of amenities have been built up in Osage Beach the past several years: Home Depot, Lowes, Super Target, several large grocery stores, and a ton of restaurants (upscale chains especially). I wonder if there's the employment base to staff all of these places.

I completely understand your feeling - after spending a weekend at the lake 9 years ago, we decided we needed to buy a place too. We don't regret it, although living in Chicago now we don't get there nearly as much as we once did, but it keeps my father-in-law happy. That's worth something.

[mjb62676]

LOTO is one of the places I wouldn't mind moving when I'm ready to practice...like you said, lots of baby boomers moving down there...so I keep a close eye on Lake Regional.

Been going to the lake since I was very young, and this is the first summer we weren't able to go at all. We miss it very much. The lakes here are beautiful, but just not the same as being able to hang out on the dock...plus, they lower these lakes around here A LOT in the winter.