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I would prefer to stay in the lower midwest all the way down to the southern states (meaning all the way over to places like SC and Mississippi, though NO ILLINOIS).
I lived in Illinois before right by a lake and the house was VERY affordable and it was about a half hour drive to the nearest suburbs of St. Louis.
We have since moved to the city and I now hate it.
I don't want to move back to the same place in Illinois but I am looking for
-affordable houses on a lake or within a quick walk (mile walk isn't a big deal). By affordable I mean $200,000 TOPS (and this is extreme extreme tops that I would be willing to pay).
-half hour or so drive to the nearest suburb of a city
-smaller town (5,000 or so?)
Can anyone give me any names to look at? If you want more info on what Im looking for, just post here and Ill reply. Thanks for the help.
Location: New Albany, Indiana (Greater Louisville)
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Kentucky has TONS of lakes to chose from, including the largest man made lake in surface area (KY Lake) and water volume (Cumberland). Cumberland is one of the top tourist destinations in the SouthEast, having over 6 million visitors a year, nearly as many as the Smokey Mountains
There are lots of nice subdivisions off Taylorsville Lake and Guist Creek Lake, each is about 20 miles from the edge of Louisville. T'ville Lake is larger and gets more speed boaters, GCL is small and winding, I think the whole thing is no wake so it's great for canoeing or kayaking as well as fishing.
Housing in the L'ville area is very affordable, so I don't think you'd have a problem with your price range. The land in that area is absolutly beautiful.
Location: New Albany, Indiana (Greater Louisville)
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Quote:
Originally Posted by The Village Idiot
Maybe Kingston, TN near Watts Bar Lake. It's not too far from Knoxville.
It would help to know what type of lake you want also - for recreation if fishing, what kind? Lake Cumberland is very deep (main channel averages 200 feet!!) and cool, so it is mostly a Striped Bass and Trout lake. Kentucky & Barkley Lakes are warm and shallow (main channel rarely over 30) and are great for crappie and catfish. Both are in more rural areas (about 75 miles+ to any major city). Taylorsville & Guist Creek are similar to KY & Barkley, Lake Herrington is a lot like Cumberland - these 3 are just 30 minutes outside 'large' cities. Doe Valley Lake in Meade Co is also near Louisville
If you want a large lake in the mountains, Norris & Cherokee Lakes in East Tennessee are awesome. One of my grandpa's had a nice place on Norris L.
It would help to know what type of lake you want also - for recreation if fishing, what kind? Lake Cumberland is very deep (main channel averages 200 feet!!) and cool, so it is mostly a Striped Bass and Trout lake. Kentucky & Barkley Lakes are warm and shallow (main channel rarely over 30) and are great for crappie and catfish. Both are in more rural areas (about 75 miles+ to any major city). Taylorsville & Guist Creek are similar to KY & Barkley, Lake Herrington is a lot like Cumberland - these 3 are just 30 minutes outside 'large' cities. Doe Valley Lake in Meade Co is also near Louisville
If you want a large lake in the mountains, Norris & Cherokee Lakes in East Tennessee are awesome. One of my grandpa's had a nice place on Norris L.
Kentucky and Tennessee are indeed blessed to have some amazingly beautiful lakes. I've always enjoyed camping around Land Between the Lakes (Barkley and Kentucky lakes).
I'm not sure if the OP will be able to find what s/he is looking for since it's almost impossible to find homes on or near these lakes for less than $200k unless s/he doesn't mind living in a trailer near one of the more rural lakes such as Cumberland in KY and Dale Hollow in TN/KY. Since TVA and the COE have restricted most of the lakes' shorlines from development it's tricky anymore to find cheap homes around the lakes. A little (and I mean LITTLE) cabin near (not on) Center Hill Lake that a buddy of mine bought for $20k in the 1970s sold for $300k a few years ago.
Kentucky and Tennessee are indeed blessed to have some amazingly beautiful lakes. I've always enjoyed camping around Land Between the Lakes (Barkley and Kentucky lakes).
I'm not sure if the OP will be able to find what s/he is looking for since it's almost impossible to find homes on or near these lakes for less than $200k unless s/he doesn't mind living in a trailer near one of the more rural lakes such as Cumberland in KY and Dale Hollow in TN/KY. Since TVA and the COE have restricted most of the lakes' shorlines from development it's tricky anymore to find cheap homes around the lakes. A little (and I mean LITTLE) cabin near (not on) Center Hill Lake that a buddy of mine bought for $20k in the 1970s sold for $300k a few years ago.
Well then, they might not be the right lakes. We had a 2000 ft sq. house about .5 mile walk down a sidewalk right to the lake in Illinois for $120,000. This was about 30-40 min. outside a major suburb. It was a nice lake I just wasn't fond of the town though it wasn't a horrible place or anything. We are more looking for recreation for the kids, not really fishing or anything.
Im sure there are plenty of them around, if KY and TENN aren't the right states then Ill look somewhere else.
THanks for all the help so far and I would appreciate more input. THanks.
This is interesting. You are the 2nd to say this, and before we had moved I was interested in areas in Kentucky around Louisville. I will definitely look into it. Thanks a ton.
I'm looking at a map of Louisville and don't see any lakes. Am I missing something?
But back to the OP, you might be able to find something in rural KY or TN. I haven't really investigated it much. I just know that around Nashville (Center Hill, Percy Priest, and Old Hickory lakes) and Knoxville (Norris, Loudon, Watts Bar, and Tellico lakes) you'll have a heck of a time finding something for less than $200k. But if you check the more rural lakes you might have more luck.
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