Realistic minimum purchase price of owned waterfront on Winnipesaukee?

jeffk · 08-06-2016, 07:20 AM

My house in Moultonborough sold last year for $565K. It is on 2/3 acre, 106 ft of shore front. The house is an older, 4 season, 2 bedroom ranch; about 1000 sq.ft.. The water access is good but it was a bit of a ride to get out to places on the lake. It has well water. The septic was undersized but grandfathered and functioning. The house was in good shape but needed some work, probably about $20K - $40K. In my mind, the "price" includes any post purchase work that has to be done so the "cost" of the house was closing in on $600K.

You could probably find some cottages on the lake that could be had for a little less but those types of bargains are disappearing as people buy them and "upgrade" to something significantly larger. When someone is dropping half a million into a property they are probably not going to be happy with a small cottage. Then the property is 3/4 million plus when it is sold the next time.

Plus, some of these cottages are not really waterfront but water "access" or shared water access or the water front is poor/shallow/rocky.

Taxes are a big consideration as well. I was paying around $5K a year in Moultonborough, one of the best property tax environments in the state. Move the same property into some other areas of the lake and you are turning over $10K+ annually for a fairly small property.

08-06-2016, 07:20 AM	#11
jeffk Senior Member Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Center Harbor Posts: 1,173 Thanks: 206 Thanked 437 Times in 253 Posts	My house in Moultonborough sold last year for $565K. It is on 2/3 acre, 106 ft of shore front. The house is an older, 4 season, 2 bedroom ranch; about 1000 sq.ft.. The water access is good but it was a bit of a ride to get out to places on the lake. It has well water. The septic was undersized but grandfathered and functioning. The house was in good shape but needed some work, probably about $20K - $40K. In my mind, the "price" includes any post purchase work that has to be done so the "cost" of the house was closing in on $600K. You could probably find some cottages on the lake that could be had for a little less but those types of bargains are disappearing as people buy them and "upgrade" to something significantly larger. When someone is dropping half a million into a property they are probably not going to be happy with a small cottage. Then the property is 3/4 million plus when it is sold the next time. Plus, some of these cottages are not really waterfront but water "access" or shared water access or the water front is poor/shallow/rocky. Taxes are a big consideration as well. I was paying around $5K a year in Moultonborough, one of the best property tax environments in the state. Move the same property into some other areas of the lake and you are turning over $10K+ annually for a fairly small property.