pricey island home
 

Not sure if this is appropriate here? An island home on Bear Island .... www.facebook.com/islandrealestatewolfeboro/ .... just sold for $1,570,000 with an asking price of $1,595,000

Bear Island #310 ..... http://www.islandre.com/listing/5046...dith-nh-03253/ ..... 1.17 acres directly across the narrow water way from Cattle Landing town dock and parking lot on a small point with a long one to five mile view down to Gunstock/Belknap Mountains and Governors Island.

How to get there in the off season? That spot has a lot or open water in the winter. So maybe the new owners will wear a wetsuit & pfd, and be walking and paddling a 20-lb, 11' inflatable paddleboard to get across the 300-yards of ice, slush, and open water there in Jan, Feb and March to get to their million dollar house? Or, maybe paddling and dragging a kayak or canoe will get it there? Or, maybe by a small helicopter?

310 Bear Island
 

The previous sale price was 750K in 2018, I thought that was a lot for a seasonal island property. Much has changed in the perceived value of real estate property since then. I say perceived value because, of course, value is determined by what someone is willing to pay.
I was lucky. I purchased my families place on Bear in the same area as 310 in 1986 for 128K. The 2024 tax assessment is 675K, go figure. Sounds like a good investment. For some who only keep their property for a few years and then move on that may be the case. For others, like me, an average person who would like to leave a legacy property for future generations to enjoy it is worrisome. I've been lucky enough to have spent summers on the lake, first on Locks Island now on Bear, since the early 1960s. In many cases the average family has been forced to sell by the ever-increasing assessed value and associated pressure of taxation of their family property. The average person should not be forced out because the monied class has moved in willing to pay millions of dollars thus inflating the cost of owning property for the average person.

Does the average person own a home on the lake?

Average Person
 

The average person who may have inherited a family residence on the lake and couldn't afford the taxes is the more likely scenario. I, for one, had a beautiful piece of property on the southern side of the broads overlooking the lake between Welch and Diamond Island. I may not see the sunrise or sunset but have a commanding view of The Ossipees and Mt Washington.
The family has owned the place since 1892, many memories and reunions. 1998 was the turning point when property tax evaluation, was determined by the state. Basing on appraisal value of the property, hench the 'view' tax, drove many of the average families off the lake. Cute little fishing cottages became huge McMansions. Cabin colonies and tent sites became condominiums.
The lake was never the same.

What sounds cheap now wasn't cheap over the years when you relate income to cost. I remember being in my 20s and thinking how expensive houses were on the lake even then.

Some still do, but for how much longer?
The gap is widening between the "haves" and "have nots".

True.
And we don't tend to save enough to completely keep moving forward on income after retirement on average.

Agreed...sort of. The idea that increasing real estate values benefit homeowners is a myth. On paper, you're ahead, and you could sell the house...but you still need a place to live, and you have to buy another at the new higher price level or move to a less attractive spot. Yeah, you can leave it to your kids, but they are also facing higher real estate prices. Yeah, you could cash out on the lake house, but the lake house is priceless if you love it.

Maybe rent the place for a couple of weeks to cover the taxes? Not ideal, but better than letting her go.

If it is left to the children, they generally wouldn't have a mortgage, and the basis I believe is reset.

Correct...
 

When my parents reached their late 70's, they determined they were getting too old to maintain two houses, so they came to me and said, "we're either gonna sell the Laconia house or we'll transfer it to you". Of course we agreed on Option B. It was all done through their/my estate planning attorney. The house was appraised by an RE appraiser and that value was the transfer price (on paper)/new cost basis for me.

Nope, Not even close. The out of state money has made it impossible for the average New Hampshire Resident to own pretty much any house now.

This is a Fact. Nitrovandam said this in 2019 on here.

When a home is simply transfered to children from a living parent/owner the child obtains the property valued and at the tax burden at what the parent paid. Not sure if I said that right but another words a child is "given" a home their parents paid 50,000 for and they in turn sell it for 500,000 the childs capital gains is on that difference of the two prices. If/when the same property is inherited upon the parents death that same child acquires the property at the current value from the time of transfer.

Property Taxes...
 

Every homeowner pays "rent" to local governments. We don't own our homes outright. :rolleye2:

A few states, including Florida, are exploring elimination of property taxes.

:eek2:

It's true. We are "allowed" to live in our homes as long as we pay taxes.

Check out this just-listed tiny very rustic camp for 1.2 on Welch...

https://www.redfin.com/NH/Gilford/59...home/108649467

We were looking at a similar property on Welch in 2019 that went for just over $400k.

Two acres and 300' of frontage is pretty sweet, but that's insane for an island property that size.

It'll probably sell for over asking in fifteen minutes.

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I know that place well!... Yes it's old but the property and views and the 300' of frontage as well as being in Gilford make it desirable. Is it 1.2 million desirable?...that seems a little high as the property was purchased a couple years ago for a little under $900,000.00 I believe. I'm not sure what upgrades have been done other than a new septic that is being installed. It will sell eventually....Whoever buys it will buy it for the property and probably bulldoze the house...

Dan

Here is the thing from my point of view. NH Realtors, the towns, and the state have figured out the commodity that they have with lake front real estate. Be it on the main land and now even on the islands. There have always been more people desiring to be on the lake, the there are properties.

So as camps are coming down, and homes going up the values of the "property" continues to rise. Well how to you raise the values on a property where there is only a camp.... you raise the value of the land... and thus we have a circle, that makes every Property on the lake more valuable.

The values of the building on my camp, in the tax valuation has risen only about 25K since my parents bought it in the mid 90s..... the valuation of the land as risen almost 1M dollars in that same time frame... The entire Value of my property is in the land....... The problem is there is a limited amount of it and it is a known fact....

I think honestly what happens in a lot of cases, is times are good and people go to improve camps and borrow against the perceived value of the land... and while times are good there isn't an issue but them something happens, some get sick, or looses a job, and they have to sell because the extra mortgage is just to much.......or they take the other tack as my family has, we just leave the camp as it is, a new dwelling would make us enjoy the lake more... and so all we have to do is pay taxes... but the towns, and state want to see year around homes so they can get even more tax dollars.... so they keep raising the value of the land.... eventually the temptation gets to everyone.... I know how much easier my life will become when we do finally decide to sell the camp..... early retirement has an appeal......

Sorry for my rambling.... but they are thoughts, that I feel are germain.... Unfortunately the NH lakes are quickly becoming a destination for the privaleged few.... which is sad.....

So ..... http://www.nhfinehomes.com/homes/lis...ke_Island-Road ..... close to Lake Waukewan.

Where local high school rowing teams practice their rowing, and where Meredith get's its water for town water system.

Gilford Islands
 

59 Welch sold July 20236 for $875K. Only an outhouse at that time. Adding a septic, and presumably, an indoor bathroom, is a huge step forward. Note that while it is listed as 4 BR, part of that is a bunkhouse with no bathroom as far as I can tell.

Gilford Islands get top dollar because they have a long standing Gilford Island Association which lobbies for great services in Glendale, fire boat, etc. decades before other towns. Also, nearby marinas, Fay's and Silver Sands as well as Glendale YC, Gilford YC and Mountain View YC so mainland access is top notch.
Yes, taxes are top dollar too.

The towns/cities don't do anything, and the State simply cycles the property tax back.
The valuation is completely a function of the market value.

Only so much land, people want it, and whatever the price they are willing to pay sets the valuation.

I have been in this one. Septic is not installed yet. One bedroom cottage that is 600sqft, with no space for a bathroom to be added without an addition. The bunkhouse has 3 small rooms. All of the other outbuildings are very rough. The present bathrooms are located in the outhouse and outbuilding and are composting only. The ad is extremely misleading in my opinion.