What can you tell about Emerald Lake community (buying a home, buying)

[Ann Ham]

poconogirl,
Yes, I will make Emerald lakes a vacation home? I purchased some land and now I will build. I am hopeing I did not make a bad decision.
Ann

[poconogirl]

We end up bought a vacation house not far from Emerald Lake, in Indian Mountain Lake instead.

We like Emerald Lake too and have met a few resident there online and they are very nice people.

The only thing that stop us from buying in Emerald lake was that the house we wanted originally, the bank rejected our HIGHER offer and picked the lower offer instead because we demand an inspection.

1 week later, the one with the lower offer, refused to buy the house and the bank asked if we are still interested.... well... it is too late since we do not like to be rejected.

The advantage of Emerald Lake is that they have an active community center with an in door pool.

The disadvantage (that comes with the advantage) is that the community fee is higher (to maintain the pool), and the whole Emerald lake is located in Monroe county, which is 2-3 times the tax rate of Carbon.

One thing we like (and it is arguable in here) is that we prefer to be in the gated community. I know all about the discussion about the gate cannot keep bad people out and all the horror stories (that never happened)... since the house will be used as a vacation house, we feel better that not everyone can just pull over their truck and do a little house shopping inside at 12 am at night. at least with the gate, everyone's driver licenses are marked and recorder and there is a track record and trace.

anyway, it is no big deal, just preference.

you did not make the wrong choice for sure.

pocono girl

[Bob L.]

Just wrote this to a loan officer this morning concerning a house I have been considering in Emerald Lakes.

I spoke to a realtor on Saturday in that area. I let him know
of some concerns I had with that area of the Poconos. I told him about things
I had read about that were happening in the Tobyhanna area in Pocono Country Place
and the surrounding areas, and a shooting I had read about in Emerald Lakes a few weeks ago.

He appreciated that I was informed about the area and told me he would not
recommend buying a house in that area and wouldn’t want to sell me a house that
I couldn’t sell in the future. I guess that is why the price dropped from 79K when
I first saw it last year to $64K now. The prices for homes (very nice homes) in that end are of the poconos are considerably less than the prices in the Lake Harmony/Blakeslee area, I guess I know why now!

[poconogirl]

To be fair Emerald Lake is a HUGE area and it is open to the public.

So to have a shooting a few weeks ago in the past year or 2 should not be a measuring stick to value the good or bad of an area.

To be fair we also need to know why, who, what, where the shooting have occurred. Is it from someone who lives in the area?

To compare Emerald Lake to PCP is unfair, they are at least 20-30 minute drive (assume no traffic) apart.

By saying Emerald Lake is like PCP --- is like saying the Lower East Side is terrible because it is "close" to East New York, since they are only 30 min drive apart.

Pocono Girl

[Bob L.]

Sorry if I wasn't clear.

1. I wasn't comparing EL to PCP. I know PCP is a hole. There is a lakefront house for sale that I saw last year at $119,000.00, it is still for sale and now $99,900.00, (lakefront) wonder why?

Same with the Emerald Lakes house I was looking at, last year $79,900.00 now $64,000, wonder why?

2. Here is the article about the shooting AND stabbing, It was in the Pocono Record, sorry it was in January at a house party.

Two stabbed, one shot in Long Pond fight | PoconoRecord.com

3. I neglected to mention I saw and I believe it was somewhere on this board that someone was asking about renting their house out, Section 8 in Emerald Lakes, not a good sign.

[poconogirl]

Housing market in most area has been doing horrible. This cannot be the yardstick to judge an area.

Any place and any area have teens, and some wild teens. This is one incident where some teens broke out a fight during a party due to probably stupid things --- even the police is not sure about it.

while i understand what you are saying, teen get in trouble is not un common.

last but not least the section 8 issues... many said many things in these forum but i have never seen a section 8 at all.

besides being a section 8 does not label them as horrible people. not everyone is as fortunate as some of us who have stable jobs, good income and decent life style.

Just my humble opinion.

Pocono Girl

Originally Posted by Bob L.

Sorry if I wasn't clear.

1. I wasn't comparing EL to PCP. I know PCP is a hole. There is a lakefront house for sale that I saw last year at $119,000.00, it is still for sale and now $99,900.00, (lakefront) wonder why?

Same with the Emerald Lakes house I was looking at, last year $79,900.00 now $64,000, wonder why?

2. Here is the article about the shooting AND stabbing, It was in the Pocono Record, sorry it was in January at a house party.

Two stabbed, one shot in Long Pond fight | PoconoRecord.com

3. I neglected to mention I saw and I believe it was somewhere on this board that someone was asking about renting their house out, Section 8 in Emerald Lakes, not a good sign.

[Bob L.]

The housing is not good anywhere but...

The housing prices near Blakeslee are
considerably higher than the areas near Long Pond and
yes housing prices are absolutely a yardstick.
Why can you get a 3 bedroom lakefront house in PCP for $99k
and nothing less than 3, 4, 5 times higher than that anywhere else.

Yes teens sometimes get in trouble with mischief.
Mischief is beer, firecrackers, loud music...not Guns, knives and Drugs.

I saw someone ask about Section 8 and Emerald lakes on a message board maybe
it wasn't this one but I saw it somewhere and I will try to find it.

People who have to rent via Section 8 are not bad people, I never said that but, If I'm buying a vacation/second home
I don't want my neighbor renting their house out Section 8, rent to ski...yes, rent to spend a summer vacation or weekend...yes Section 8...Sorry, no one buying a second home would want that..

[Bob L.]

Here you go...

I would like to rent out my home in emerald lakes long pond,section 8.How do I go about doing this?

On the Trulia real estate web site, here is the link

I would like to rent out my home in emerald lakes long pond,section 8.How do I go about doing this? - Trulia Voices

[niceshoes6]

My father has lived in Emerald Lakes for a few years now. I took a week long vacation up there recently and I only have positive things to say about that community. The majority of the homes are in great shape, the community center has been refurbished and the pools and lakes were great to hang out by. Home prices have been bashed all over the country and using that as some sort of indicator would be foolish. The best advice that I can give to anyone who is interested in moving to any area is to spend some time up there and rent short term before you buy or vacation. Only by experiencing a neighborhood first hand can you really get a feel for what its like.

[Ann Ham]

I want to build my home for weekend get aways. Maybe in a few years retire

I did purchase some land in Emerald Lakes and now i noticed the taxes are higher than i orginally thought or researched because they are reassessing the property value. With taxes high, perhaps I should stay in Jersey and sell the land I purchased.

In addition, there are homes that are less expensive then building a brand new home. Perhaps I should buy a preexisting home and just remodel. I am now more confused then ever.

Nonetheless, "Thanks" for the information.


Van Ham