Lake Martin Voice Realty
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Buying At Lake Martin? Bet You Haven’t Thought About This
If you put any thought at all into buying a waterfront home on Lake Martin, there are plenty of things to consider. You might compare the price, size of the home, its view, the privacy, water depth, or any other of a number of factors.
Here’s one that I bet you haven’t thought about:
Is the home in a flood plain? Will you need flood insurance?
I know, it sounds crazy. I can hear you now:
Wait, John – Lake Martin is a man made lake, all of that water is held up by Martin Dam. Lake Martin (at some points) is more than 150 feet deep.
How can a home sitting up above the water level be concerned about being flooded? Furthermore, if a home is sitting above the elevation of the top of the dam, how can it be flooded? Impossible!
Nope. Nothing is impossible with FEMA.
Yes, FEMA. That bumbling bureaucracy that brought you Katrina Relief is at it again. They have redrawn the flood maps for much of the tri-county area that stretches over Lake Martin. Bucking a century long trend of technological advancement, this broad brushstroke made their master map less accurate. It threw many more homes into the federally designated flood zone.
Why should you care?
If you buy a Lake Martin home and your mortgage company requests certification that the home is not in a flood zone, you would be flagged.
What should you do?
Your options would either be to:
1.) pay for flood insurance (many quotes are at $3,000 per year)
2.) pay a licensed surveyor or civil engineer to come shoot the elevation ($500 – $800) and apply to FEMA for a permanent exemption for your particular home. You show this to the mortgage company, and they remove the flood insurance requirement. Obviously, most home buyers choose this option.
Crazy. It sounds like FEMA is passing along the cost of getting accurate maps to individuals.
Agreed. If you are buying a waterfront home on Lake Martin, or even refinancing one, you need to budget this money, just in case.
Wait a minute – this is nuts, you say. How can a home that sits above the elevation of the dam be worried about a flood? Shouldn’t FEMA be worried about the people DOWNSTREAM of Martin Dam? That’s like worrying about your little rubber ducky that sits in the soap dish. There is no physical way he can wash away if the tub overflows. He is above the tub.
You are being too logical. Besides, FEMA says there is a “choice” - you can just buy hugely expensive flood insurance if you don’t want to pay a surveyor. Who sells flood insurance? Oh yeah. FEMA.
To summarize: FEMA says that most of Lake Martin needs flood insurance. They can’t tell us exactly which homes need it. They need us to tell them if we need flood insurance, but only if we hire a professional. If we don’t want to hire someone, we can pay for it. They sell it.
It’s a formula that only Yossarian could appreciate.
Read more about the Lake Martin flood insurance issue here. It is a transcript from a meeting that FEMA held with concerned citizens.
Lake Martin Concrete Sea Wall Construction, Part 2
From the shores of beautiful Lake Martin – here’s the second installment of the concrete seawall construction video series at Water’s Edge. In the first video we watched Henderson and Coker Contractors pour the footings, and in this video we watch them set and fill the forms for the seawall.
During the summer, when the lake is at full pool, we rarely stop to think about what is under the surface. In this case – a lot of carefully planned rebar and concrete. This sea wall will protect the huge peninsula portion of Water’s Edge from erosion for years to come.
Stay tuned for the next installment in this series . . . at this point, your guess is as good as mine about exactly what will happen in the next phase of seawall construction.
If you’re unfamiliar with Water’s Edge, check out some of these video tours below. Give me a call if you’d like to see the homes at Water’s Edge, or any property in the Lake Martin MLS.
Announcing Water’s Edge on Lake Martin
Water’s Edge Architect’s Notes: Interior Spaces
Water’s Edge Architect’s Notes: Exterior Features
Deer Take Refuge In Stillwaters
Cold weather means deer season here in Alabama. Whether or not you are a deer hunter, you can’t help but notice the increase of pickup trucks dragging loaded down trailers, driven by hunters in orange clothing. It’s definitely a little more dangerous to be a deer this time of year.
Except in one neighborhood.
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You still see deer in the Lake Martin neighborhood of Stillwaters.
Stillwaters is a gated community on the Dadeville side of Lake Martin. It is large by Lake Martin standards, and has a mixture of off water homes, waterfront homes, and waterfront condos. It also has a golf course and marina.
Stillwaters also has a large herd of whitetail deer. It is not uncommon at all to see them on the side of the road, placidly grazing, not a care in the world.
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I have seen a doe in this same general area several times. I guess this is her fawn. They are almost tame. Check out this video to see how close I got to them in my car. I originally posted this on my media blog on posterous.
I filmed this when I was on the way back from one my listings. I have a waterfront condo for sale in Stillwaters, inside one of the condo developments named Villas on the Harbor.
Would you like to see deer like this on your morning walk?
Check out this page for more info on the condo for sale. It is a great one, conveniently close to the marina, with its own owners’ pool.
Russell Forest Trail Run 2011 at Lake Martin
Attention runners (and walkers): Click here to register for the 2nd Annual Lake Martin Russell Forest Run on Saturday, February 26, 2011! If you haven’t explored the new Russell Forest Trails yet, this is a great way to experience a part of this 20,000+ acre trail system that lies a little north of Kowaliga Bridge, off of Highway 63. It’s also a good reason to make a winter trip to Lake Martin.
I had a good time running the 10K last year, so I’m signing up again. The registration website describes the terrain as “gently rolling,” but since I am used to training on some pretty flat ground, it was more than gently rolling to me. And a little chilly. But definitely a fun time. There is a 5K option this year, and you can always walk if you don’t like running. Oh – and the shirts they gave out were that cool, athletic “breathable” kind, – a step up from yet another cotton t shirt (for 10K runners only). Maybe they’ll do that again.
I’m looking for runners and walkers to join the Lake Martin Voice Realty team, and I’d love for you to sign up with us when you register.
Here’s a quick video clip from last year’s post-party
Flickr VideoI recently filmed a hike my family took on some of these trails. To get a sneak peek at the roads you’ll run, check it out:
Looking forward to seeing you there!
Lake Martin Concrete Seawall Construction
A significant part of owning a lake house on Lake Martin is maintaining a sea wall. Today we’re going to look at a seawall under construction at Water’s Edge on the northwest side of Lake Martin, at the end of Coosa County Road 20. A company called Henderson and Coker of Alexander City is doing the work.
There are lots of kinds of seawalls (concrete, wooden, rip rap), and at Water’s Edge, the Henderson and Coker crew is pouring the footers for a concrete seawall that will wrap all the way around a big peninsula. This is about the biggest seawall construction I’ve witnessed, and I’m going to try and video it at different phases so you can see what’s involved.
Again, this is the first installment of what I hope will be a series, so stay tuned. I’m looking to film Henderson and Coker setting up the concrete forms soon.
If you want more information about the homes at Water’s Edge, check out these video tours:
Water’s Edge Architect’s Notes: Interior
Water’s Edge Architect’s Note: Exterior
November Home Sales On Lake Martin Mirror Last Year
Ten waterfront homes were sold in the Lake Martin MLS in the month of November, 2010. This equals the ten sold in November, 2009, and brings 2010′s total to 181, slightly behind 2009′s November total of 186.
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I don’t have too much analysis to add here except to say that November 2010 continues the trend of pretty much equaling last year. Normally that wouldn’t be too exciting news, but since 2009 was such a comeback year from the low of 2008, we will take it. Yesterday I read a big headline in my beloved Wall Street Journal that analysts fear the double dip in national real estate markets. A 2010 that is stable as compared to last year I think gives great evidence that Lake Martin will be able to avoid a double dip. Most markets that fear another slide have not really recovered from the first one.
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In short, we have much to be thankful for at Lake Martin. When you look at cumulative totals, we see that through November, 2010 scored 181 sales as compared to 2009′s total of 186.
Next is the all important chart where I look to compare each month’s sales to the same month last year. In my opinion this is the key factor to judge the momentum or direction of Lake Martin’s real estate market health. Since November 2010 equaled 2009 at ten, we are back to the zero axis.
I use Google Spreadsheets to make these, and Google updated their chart software. My charts are all wacky looking now. Instead of spending hours to figure this out for this month, I am going with it this month and hope to fix it for the year end review.
Gearing Up For The Year End Review
As a recovering accountant, I still twitch a little bit when I hear the term “year end.”
When I rolled up year end numbers for a privately held company, it wasn’t so bad. But publicly traded companies are a different animal altogether. All of us nerds in the accounting departments started to wince about December 15, knowing the pain that was ahead until March 1 or so. The heavy hitters from sales and production would actually stop by our cubicles and ask how it was going. It was nice to be noticed, I guess, but mostly it made us more nervous. We worked round the clock for weeks. It was kind of like studying for finals at college, except we wore cheap ties, had constant coffee breath, and it wasn’t fun. OK, maybe it was nothing like college.
However, year end in the Lake Martin real estate market means I get to indulge myself by rolling around in numbers that are a lot more fun. I get to slice and dice and revel in the nerdliness of the numbers. Because I do many more attempts at analysis, this post usually comes out in early February, so please be patient.
What To Expect
Nothing really shocking will be revealed. Total waterfront home sales on Lake Martin will pretty much track with 2009. Waterfront lot sales were up, though, and we will take a look at that.
The most fun part of it to me will be finally being able to calculate pricing trends. Lake Martin is a small market with a relatively small number of sales. Therefore our sample size is small, and prohibits (in my opinion) cogent average price analysis on a monthly basis.
Stay tuned!
Related Posts (I recently edited these links to make sure they work):
Lake Martin Real Estate Sales – October 2010
Lake Martin Real Estate Sales 2009 – Waterfront Lots
Lake Martin Real Estate Sales 2009 – Year In Review
Lake Martin Real Estate Sales 2008 – Year In Review
Lake Martin Real Estate Sales 2007 – Year In Review
All Lake Martin Market Reports
(*)Disclaimers: All of the above info was taken from the Lake Martin Area Association of Realtors Multiple Listing Service. Accuracy is not guaranteed but deemed reliable. The above does not include sales by FSBOs or developers that sell privately and not through the MLS. But, I do think that the above represents a very large majority of all waterfront sales on Lake Martin, Alabama.
Tour of Parker Creek Marina on Lake Martin
If you drive a boat on Lake Martin in the Parker Creek area, then you’ve probably been to Parker Creek Marina . . . many times. Marinas are scattered all over Lake Martin: some are small and independently owned, others are big and part of a group of marinas. Each marina has its own personality and unique features.
Parker Creek Marina is located on the far north west side of Lake Martin, and is operated by Singleton Marine Group. The owners of Parker Creek Marina also own Blue Creek Marina on the Dadeville (east) side of the lake.
Parker Creek Marina has a gas dock, dry boat storage, ship’s store, and a service facility.
If you’re looking to buy a waterfront home, that means you probably want a boat. And if you have a boat, you probably need some gas. When showing Lake Martin homes, I often get these questions, “Where is the nearest marina?” ” How do you get there by land?” and “How do you get there by water?” If you’re looking at the Parker Creek area, then take a look at what Parker Creek Marina has to offer.
Video tours of other marinas on Lake Martin:
Pizza at Chuck’s Marina on Lake Martin
Real Island Marina on Lake Martin
Kowaliga Marina on Lake Martin
Lake Martin Glass Minnow Traps
What a cool picture of a glass minnow trap made right here at Lake Martin:
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I found this pic in the Lake Martin dot com forum. A fellow on there is researching its origin. Another reader pointed out an old sign near McCain Road and highway 229. If you know anything about them, feel free to comment below or on the post thread on the forum.
I love to fly fish but I also am fascinated by traps of all sorts, used in the live bait fishing world. Two totally different extremes, I know. We still have the wire minnow trap that I used as a kid to get spot tail minnows. Later on my dad bought a bunch of clear plastic ones that a local dude made out of 3 liter coke bottles (remember those?). They worked well but were fragile.
Last year I bought my dad this trap from Cabela’s, thinking it would harvest a bounty of crawdads for bait. We put it out in a likely spot but all we caught were a bunch of turtles that nearly destroyed the trap. If anyone has any crawdad trapping tips (like how to keep out the turtles), please advise.
Why aren’t there many condos on Lake Martin?
As a Lake Martin Realtor, I get asked this question a lot. In this video, I do my best to give an explanation as to why (compared to the beach) there just aren’t that many condo units on Lake Martin.
Many second home / vacation buyers also consider the beach. On the Gulf Coast beaches there are tons of condos, and therefore many condos to rent. At Lake Martin, there just aren’t as many waterfront condos relative to homes for sale or for rent.
Don’t get me wrong – if you’re interested in a condo on Lake Martin, they do exist, and most offer great amenities like deeded boats slips, access to golf, and owner’s pools. For owners who don’t want the headache of second home maintenance, they are a great option.
What does a condo on Lake Martin look like? Below are video tours of two condo developments on Lake Martin (these are not the only two on the lake).
Villas on the Harbor on Lake Martin
Crowne Pointe Condos on Lake Martin
If you’d like to know more about the condo market on Lake Martin, or about any Lake Martin waterfront property, give me a call.
Here are two waterfront condos for sale right now:
Bald Eagle Fishing In Little Kowaliga
Winter at Lake Martin means the lake level gets drawn down. It gives us a chance to work on our docks, at least. It also sometimes means you get some rare wildlife spottings.
Check out these pictures of a bald eagle that was fishing in the Little Kowaliga area of Lake Martin. My fellow Lake Martin Voice Realty agent John Christenberry was over near Real Island Marina and saw this one capture a big bass.
The eagle dropped it on the shore, flew around a little bit, then came back to it.
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Taking off here
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Now he’s almost gone..
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Do you have any wildlife photos from around Lake Martin? Email us at info at lakemartinvoice dot com. Or, feel free to add them to the I Love Lake Martin Alabama page on Flickr or to our Facebook page.
