Lake value factors explained by Lake Lanier Fine Homes Resort Specialist Arlene Ingram

In these challenged times, more that ever, you need a real estate specialist with extensive credentials to lead you in the right direction and who knows just what a real deal is when she sees one!

Lake Sidney Lanier Property Value Factors

These Factors apply to ALL lake properties:
Vacant Lots, Tear Downs & "Turn Key" lake homes

(In my Lake Lanier property appraisal reports, as I am a former licensed real property appraiser, I always included this information page to give insight to the underwriter and/or the client as to why the subject lot value estimate is concluded as it is in the cost approach section of the report. It also relates to the lake comparables used to explain lot adjustments taken in the market approach section of the report.)      Arlene Ingram

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NEW LAKE LANIER
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4/27/08: 160 PERMITS LEFT!
 ACCORDING TO THE US CORPS OF ENGINEERS WHO ISSUE THE PERMITS.
 IT'S TIME TO BUY RIGHT NOW!!
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H O M E

BY THE NUMBERS:
 2,500: Private docks on Lake Lanier in 1974
 10,500: Private docks on Lake Lanier in 2007
 100+: Outstanding applications for new docks

Good Waterfront lots are Scarce...
Not just on Lanier but anywhere there's water!
The waterfront lot prices on Lake Lanier are, almost always, valued as high or higher than the structure built on them.
Supply and Demand holds true.

This search engine is provided as a courtesy. For specific lake front assistance, call Arlene

There are so many factors to consider in buying waterfront property...Demand a true Lake Lanier Specialist to provide you with top notch, time proven, professional service.

Numerous factors are taken into account to determine values of lots located on Lake Sidney Lanier.  There are way too many to list here because each lot is unique and all values must be taken on a case by case basis. With that said, below is a general overview. Prices of lots & homes are determined by how closely they meet the following characteristics and how typical they are for the lake area they are located. The US Army Corps of Engineers have authority over every aspect of permitting on Lake Lanier. They have official guidelines that they and you must follow. These guidelines have much if not all to do with the values of each lot. In other words, What you see when you buy is what you get!

   Topography/Site:
       A) The steepness to accommodate ease of construction and access.

 B)  Depth of water to allow for a boat dock, which is considered PERSONAL PROPERTY.

C)  Proximity to US. Government line to water's edge, permitting a brief walk from the residence to the water.

D) Wooded or cleared. The US. Government has instituted regulations regarding clearing of their land; presently lots may not be cleared beyond the US Government Line.

  View:
 Because of US Army Corps of Engineers, regulations regarding clearing of their land, the view of the water has become a very important factor in determining lot values. Lots on Lake Lanier, in this respect, range from no view at all to a 500 foot view to a 6-7 mile view.

       Location:
Lots on the South end of Lake Sidney Lanier, are demanding higher prices than other areas of the lake due to the close proximity to Atlanta, via GA 400 or I-85. Also sailing enthusiasts prefer to be located below the bridges which are located at the mid section of the lake. The lake has evolved to become an Atlanta "bedroom community" with permanent residences being on the increase, versus only weekend homes.
 THE FOLLOWING IS AN OVERVIEW OF MANY OF THE MAIN FACTORS WHICH DETERMINE MARKET VALUE OF LAKEFRONT PROPERTIES AT LAKE SIDNEY LANIER:

  1). Amount of property located on the USGL. The size & quality of the actual useable frontage on the lake will give a higher value to a lake lot.
 2). Availability of a floating facility (boat dock) in place and the size of that dock. 4/27/07 The Army Corps of Engineers has a dock quota that has reached it's limit. They have officially stated there will be NO more dock permits issued on Lake Lanier when all the allotted permits are gone. In all my years selling on Lanier, obviously this is an unprecedented occurrence. Where the values will spike as all the dock permits are gone, is anybody's guess.

  3).Position of boat docks in respect to other docks located in the area.

  4). Effect of lake traffic and effect of the wind on the boatdock.

  5). The direction the house and lot face and that effect.

  6). Zoning restrictions on subject and surrounding properties. Depending on the county, new conforming lot sizes may differ and what once was enough land to cut into 2 or more lots, now may not be enough square feet to be separated for building permits.

  7). Landscaping.

  8). Domestic Water supply.

  9). Especially for vacant lots: Availability of sewage disposal, through public means or private septic. Almost all lakefront property at Lanier is on septic tank. Therefore, because health and building codes are constantly being updated, it is of utmost importance to have a verifiable soil survey to determine if and where a residence may be permitted on any given lot and, it may be different in each of the 5 counties surrounding Lake Lanier.

  10) . Privacy: The proximity of neighboring residence.

 Hopefully, this information will be helpful to you in gaining an insight into various factors which effect the prices of lake lots and homes on Lake Sidney Lanier.
For a full appraisal of your property or
to obtain the guidance of a seasoned Lake Lanier expert...

Lake Lanier Herald
newspaper articles on value factors written by Arlene

A dock can add a six-figure bonus to the value of a home on Lake Lanier; likewise, a home without one could languish unsold for months.

Other related articles

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E-Mail: arlene@lakelanier.net

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With Lanier docks near limit, home values w/o one may sink
By MATT KEMPNER
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 07/17/07

When Joyce Mashburn received permits for four new boat docks last summer, she kissed them one by one.
"My husband and I went around singing the Hallelujah Chorus," the 64-year-old former accountant said. They had good reason: The dock permits more than doubled the price they were able to get a few months later when they sold their three-bedroom, 1960s-era Lake Lanier cabin and 10 acres, she said. The right to put in docks added "hundreds of thousands of dollars.
"But the Mashburns are among the last to ride a wave of new docks at metro Atlanta's mega-lake. Lanier property owners and people looking for homes there are running into a federal cap on the number of private boat docks allowed at the lake.The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which manages the lake, recently extended a moratorium on accepting new dock permit applications while it works through the requests it already has. There's "a good chance" that when the tallying is done in October, the last of the 10,615 private boat dock permits allowed will already have been given out, said Pat Taylor, the Corps' assistant project manager for Lanier.
Hitting the dock limit could put an even bigger premium on lots that have dock rights and push prospective buyers to less expensive lakes, Lanier real estate professionals said. But it also could cut into the value of some dock-less property, they said.
With so much money on the line, applicants rushed to Corps offices earlier this year trying to get permits before the allocation ran out.
"I know people are quite nervous," said Jackie Joseph, the president of the Lake Lanier Association, a nonprofit that works to protect the lake.
Nerve-wracking traffic
Visitors and property owners have complained for years about the growing crowds at Lanier, particularly on holidays and summer weekends. Boating traffic can make cruising nerve-wracking on busy portions of the 39,000-acre lake. Once a magnet for weekenders with second homes, Lanier has become a spillover for metro Atlantans and their primary homes. Nearly 500 subdivisions bound the lake in five counties, according to the Corps.
"Limiting the number of docks is going to make a difference in traffic, in pollution and has an overall ultimate beneficial result," Joseph said.
Previous Corps rules at Lanier would have allowed more than 25,000 private boat docks. But in 2004, after gathering public input, the Corps issued a new management plan that included capping private docks at less than half that number.
The rush for new docks has only grown. Lanier property owners have added about 2,000 docks in the last six years. And that doesn't include the surge of day visitors who put boats in at Corps ramps or store speedboats and hulking houseboats at the lake's marinas. While marinas aren't covered by the cap on private docks, several already are at or near the dock capacity called for in their master plans with the Corps, Taylor said.
Many homes along Lanier come outfitted with boat docks. That's a crucial option when it comes time to sell, said Susan Moss, a real estate agent who specializes in Lanier for The Norton Agency.
"Ninety-five percent of my buyers are looking for properties with a dock," she said. "They want to be able to sit on their dock and enjoy the convenience of being right there where their boat is and socializing with their neighbors.
Moss recalled a Lanier property she marketed last year that sold for $400,000, just half what she said it would have gotten had it qualified for a dock. A house on another part of the lake has languished on the market for six months, though it is priced at about $300,000 less than nearby properties. The problem: the $750,000 property doesn't qualify for a dock because it is too close to a public park, Moss said.
The federal cap has raised expectations that the value of docks will soar even higher at Lanier, Moss said.
"A lot of people think their values are going to double."
But she said she doesn't expect that anytime soon.
Big docks for big houses
Lanier is suffering from some of the same problems as the overall real estate market. Lots of lake properties are for sale and many owners have been cutting asking prices.
It could take two years for the impact of the cap to have much effect on the value of docks, Moss said. Mary Thompson, a real estate appraiser at Lanier, also expects delayed market impact from the dock limits. And for some Lanier property owners, the effect might not be positive. Some people have factored into the value of their land the potential to put in a dock.If they never get a dock permit, that value could be lost.
There's already speculation that property owners might file lawsuits or pressure their members of Congress to ease the dock cap.
Dock controversies aren't new for Lanier. Even before the cap, the Corps had specific limits about where docks could be built. Property owners who already had docks sometimes shifted them five or 10 feet along the shore in an attempt to prevent neighbors from meeting distance requirements to put in new docks.
There's also a growing hierarchy among docks at Lanier, where many homes are being torn down and replaced with mega-houses.
Typically, local private docks had only a single slip for boats, said Paula Elliott, who co-owns Browns Bridge Dock Co. Now, most buyers want two slips and a sun deck, with prices easily hitting $55,000, she said.
"They brought their big houses up from Atlanta. They want the big dock to go with it."