Somebody Help Me Please! Resisting the Glossy Brochure

C

chinaco

Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
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Feb 14, 2007
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I just saw the shiny lure. It looks tempting. How do I overcome my instinct to take the bait? My brain says no, but there is something deep in my psyche that hears the Siren song.



I just received a nice glossy brochure for lake front homes on Norris Lake in Tennessee.

3 acres with 2000 Sq Ft. log home with boat slip for $79,900.

Or 7.7 Acre mini-estate - Private wooded with boat slip for $89,900

Rock Harbor on Norris Lake
 
sounds nice.. You really need to take into account.. and examine yourself/your family seriously on this:
-how much time you really expect to use the property? and
-how close by is it to where you live?

My old biz partner bought some nice land in VT - 26 acres, stream running through it, bordered on Nat'l. Park.. It had a crappy cabin but they had plans to build some kind of log/kit home. One of the first things they did was set up a wood-fired, stream-fed hot tub.. it was pretty sweet!

But it was 3 hours away. They didn't think of the realities of their kids' weekend commitments. Within several years they ended up selling. I think even w/o kids a place would have to be pretty awesome to gear up for a regular multi-hour commute.

You might have other ideas, though, such as the possibility of loaning it out to family/friends, renting it, spending months at a time there.. which would all make it more worthwhile.

-----

As for this particular offer: I don't see that any of the "homes" are actually built yet (photos show only lake area). Also the fact that these "specials" are "Only Available on June 16" would give me pause.

There's many a slip 'twixt the cup and the lip. There are a lot of really dirt-cheap pre-development offers here too. The developer pockets a wad of cash, and then may or may not begin, continue, or finish building, and may or may not declare 'bankruptcy' in the process. Some friends of ours got caught in one of these scams - too long a story to fully recount but the most glaring aspect was that they later found out the land the condos were built on was mortgaged by the developer and they didn't even "own" it.

I don't think I'd ever purchase anything sight unseen. I think in this case your brain is telling you the right thing.
 
chinaco said:
I just received a nice glossy brochure for lake front homes on Norris Lake in Tennessee.

3 acres with 2000 Sq Ft. log home with boat slip for $79,900.
Click to expand...

Are you sure? Why so cheap? The cost of building alone would be more than 79K? What's the catch?

Anyway, I agree with you, it's tempting.
 
Sure sounds and looks like some of the poconos related specials. When you add in all the extras like you want water and sewer with that home sir and maybe doors between rooms and locks double that price on the brochure.
 
We have a log home. It's nice and all, but there is a lot of maintenance (think regular treatments, bugs that like to eat wood...) After 5 years, "maintenance-free" sounds more enticing to me.

CJ
 
The brochure says it's a log home PACKAGE. Who actually builds the house?
 
I used to live not far from Norris Lake. I have been to many of the resort properties along this and the other nearby lakes like Louden, etc. There is no way you could buy 20 feet of waterfront for $79K much less a 2000sq ft house.

A log cabin package will come in many different levels. Some are very basis..just the outside logs to form the basic structure and some are complete homes with even the light fixtures. Ask before you buy. Unless you have some heavy equipment and lots of skilled friends plan on hiring a competent log home assembler to do the work. Otherwise, you will have some major problems over time. Log homes have to be adjusted periodically as the wood moves and all good log homes have screw jacks built into the support beams to keep the structure from splitting apart as the verticle logs shrink.

Go there and check things out but be very careful of this deal. It smells.:bat:
 
my brother is in love with norris. he bought two properties there for future development, one directly on lake and one across street from lake but with a slip at the local marina.

just this afternoon at lunch he invited me up there this july for 7 days where he rented a cabin and two jet skis. could be fun, but just in case i think i'll take my own car so i can escape if need be.

ps. i agree with above posters that the price does not look quite right.
 
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Agreed. The price looks fishy. Plus... I think it indicates that there is one at that price. Of course, it probably has already been sold.
 
pps. just looked at brochure again. to clarify: it does not say these specials are on the lake. it says there is a lakefront land sale. but then separately it says for $79,900 you can get a log cabin package on 3 acres with a boat slip. it does not say the slip is on the property.

though the way the brochure is laid out, it leads you to believe the land is on the lake, it does not say it is on the lake. also it does not say how far a drive the boat slip is from the 3 acres of land.

just spoke to bro, lake norris is huge; it has 880 miles of shoreline. it is actually two rivers which were damned up. an acre on the lake without a house starts at $70k. to get an idea of the lake, bro suggests googling flat hollow marina
 
We have some places like that up in the northern part of CA. The guy that used to play Ponch on CHiPs is their spokesperson.

Is that good enough to help you resist? ;)

Here...watch his advertisement if you've still got the itch...
Welcome to California Pines
 
was just listening to the radio as i did my weekly shave (now i only have a 1-o'clock stubble) when on comes an advertisement for a seminole tribe casino. "and if you sign up now" the announcer says quickly & with lots of background noise, "you'll be eligible for exclusive access to event invitations."

it's sounds so exciting and they make out as if you're actually getting something when all that is happening is you are signing up to buy something and in the process they will have the opportunity to sell you even more crap.

juxtaposition is everything.
 
Yeah, it says on one of their pages that you have your acres with your log home package (again, not saying it's a built home, so I suspect that putting your logs together for you costs extra), and that you'll have access to their million dollar marina, with boat slips. So I assume you'll have a deeded boat slip along with your acres. Now how close those acres are is anyone's guess.
 
I will be meeting a salesman on Saturday to look at some of the lots off the water. As long as the additional fees aren't too high and the bylaws and covenants aren't too restrictive I will probably buy a lot as long as their willing to include a covered boat slip. I currently rent a boat for $180.00 per month s
 
I need to correct my post. I currently rent a boat slip on Norris lake for $180.00 per month and I feel like It would be an investment even if I don't develope the property. Norris lake is a very clean lake compared to others in the area. The lake wraps around a large wildlife refuge "Chuck Swan" and there are 2 state parks on the lake. Big Ridge and Norris lake. Another advantage of the Rock Harbor developement is that is relatively easy to get to compared to others. It's not to far off the beaten path.
 
I just received another Brochure. Different Company, Different Lake, Different State.

I must be on a mailing list. Lakefront land and log home 1800sq ft $69,900.



The Peninsula on Lake Cumberland
 
Might be a good time to bargain for property on Cumberland. They're draining the lake to repair the dam.
 
Umm.. would this property be above or below the old water line in that case? ;-)
 
At that price it sounds like a timeshare ... FWIW we completed a Moosehead Cedar Log home last year. The KIT was 96k (2200 sq.ft, includes pella windows and delta plumbing fixtures). Expect to spend 2-3X the kit price to BUILD (clearing, driveway, septic, foundation, well ...). Amenities (silestone, jacuzzi, ...) of course are extra. Forget about COPPER - you can't afford it - all plumbing is plastic.

Oh yeah, you still need to buy LAND ... good luck with that.
 
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