Waterfront Retirement Home, $350K, Suggestions Please (Philadelphia, Pittsburgh: for sale, foreclosure, rental) - Pennsylvania (PA) - City-Data Forum

cedardra · 07-08-2018, 08:22 AM

Hello! My husband and I would like to retire to a lakefront or riverfront home in Pennsylvania priced around $350K and not far (20 minutes?) from a city and hospital. The outskirts of Harrisburg, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia and the Lehigh Valley all interest us. Does anyone have some suggestions? We appreciate feedback. Thanks very much.

cedardra · 07-08-2018, 08:33 AM

We do NOT want a rental area. We have kayaks and a pontoon. Would like a 1/2-acre lot or more. Thanks!

Wells5 · 07-08-2018, 05:33 PM

I suggest Lake Wallenpaupack, which is the biggest lake in NEPA. Unfortunately, you can't buy a lakefront there given your price limit. Ditto for Harvey's Lake, the biggest natural lake in NEPA. There aren't too many lakes around Philly or Pittsburgh. You can buy a lakefront foreclosure in one of the many Pocono HOAs within your price range, but the lakes are small and many don't permit power boats. Suggestion: Zillow lists 5377 waterfront homes for sale in Minnesota ("land of 10,000 lakes") and 11,362 waterfront homes for sale in Michigan.

acenturi · 07-09-2018, 05:20 AM

Are you familiar with the Philadelphia waterfront areas and if so, which ones seem to match your lifestyle?

Gypsy3n8 · 07-09-2018, 05:53 AM

You won't find lakefront within 20 minutes of Pittsburgh. If you stretch that distance a bit, check around Shenango Lake.

Riverfront is more do-able in the Pittsburgh area. Look for something on Atlantic Avenue in Monaca, PA. Many of those homes have direct river access and docks on the river. However, the back yards are steep getting down to the river.

The property along/around waterways is owned by the government, so having private property with direct river access isn't all that common that I know of.

toobusytoday · 07-09-2018, 06:12 AM

The three things that you are looking for- 20 minutes from a hospital, 1/2 an acre and $350,000 cost make your search a real challenge. You may find a house on a lake an hour from a hospital. Or a house on a lake for $350,000 but it won't be on 1/2 an acre. Can you prioritize what you really want? The 20 minute distance from a hospital and city is pretty much out as far as I know. Are you looking for a fixer-upper?

NewtownBucks · 07-09-2018, 06:28 AM

Look on lakehomes.com to get a better idea. I'd guess the Poconos are your best bet, like Arrowhead Lakes or Lake Harmony or something like that. It's not going to be within 20 mins of a city, depending on what you consider a city, but there are plenty of retirees and therefore hospitals in the region, so it should check most of your boxes and is within 2 hours of both Philly and NYC for day trips.

wharton · 07-09-2018, 07:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NewtownBucks

Look on lakehomes.com to get a better idea. I'd guess the Poconos are your best bet, like Arrowhead Lakes or Lake Harmony or something like that. It's not going to be within 20 mins of a city, depending on what you consider a city, but there are plenty of retirees and therefore hospitals in the region, so it should check most of your boxes and is within 2 hours of both Philly and NYC for day trips.

One of the significant reasons that we decided to leave the Lake Harmony, west end of the Poconos are is a specific lack of health care, and emergency care. As a retired builder from the area, I can assure you that there are not "plenty of retirees" in the area. Like most parts of PA. there are some, but most dwellings in the area are unoccupied for the vast majority of the time, since they are typically weekend vacation homes. One development I built in had roughly 300 full time residents, spread out over ten square miles, with 85% of the homes in the community being unoccupied 90% of the time. There were retirees, but they got old and bored pretty quickly. Secondly, as you noted, there are no hospitals within twenty minutes of anything in that area. Harmony and Arrowhead are both 25 miles and thirty minutes away from the closest hospital, the new St. Lukes in Bartonsville. That assumes that both the weather and traffic are cooperating, which is one heck of a risk. I know that a serious accident or injury in that part of the state, can mean an hour from the time you dial 911 to being rolled into the ER, in many cases. I once waited for FORTY FIVE minutes for an ambulance and advanced life support to arrive , following a serious event in in the west end of Monroe County, a few minutes south of Lake Harmony. I built several homes for retirees from NYC and Philly. When it was my turn, I knew that it wasn't a good fit for my retirement. If the OP feels that being 45 minutes from civilization, isolated and bored, is all worth the benefit of staring at your own lake frontage, the Poconos are your best shot at fairly low budget lakefront property, but this is a case where I would rent for a year before pulling the trigger on a place.