It’s best to work with a local agent to get the best offer and representation at Lake Oconee.
We recommend Kim and Lin Logan Real Estate, the top-selling team since 2008.
Shameless plug aside, there’s a clear cut benefit to choosing a Lake Oconee area agent when buying or selling your home: local agents have local and lakefront expertise to provide the best representation for both buyers and sellers.
Since Real Estate is a sales and service-based industry, we understand the importance of relationships. Real estate transactions are often the biggest financial commitments people make, and to do so, requires an immense amount of trust with your agent.
When you find the right agent, whether at the lake or otherwise, you often want to use them for other transactions. Unfortunately, not all agents are equipped to provide the best representation for buying and selling lakefront property.
Here are the major issues we’ve seen from out of area agents working to represent buyers are sellers at Lake Oconee.
1. Out of Area Agents Are Unaware of Community Covenants and Specific County Regulations
Example: We’ve talked to buyers looking for vacation rental properties after speaking with an out of area agent. The agent did not know the differing short-term rental regulations in Greene, Putnam, and Morgan county. They used AirBnB and VRBO as their source and recommended a buyer to invest in a home with the idea of renting in a county that outlaws short term rentals.
You can see why this would be a problem.
2. Out of Area Agents Are Unaware of Community Membership Tiers and Regulations
Example: A client wants to buy a home in Great Waters (Reynolds) but isn’t aware they need a particular Golf membership at Reynolds.
The buyer doesn’t know you must get a Reynolds membership before closing the Real Estate transaction, or they’ll lose the ability to attain a golf membership on the property entirely.
Unfortunately, this is a mistake we’ve seen that’s cost buyers (and future sellers) hundreds of thousands of dollars.
3. Out of Area Agents Don’t Know the Local Market Dynamics or Pricing, Specifically for Lakefront Property
At Kim and Lin Logan Real Estate, we’re very fortunate to have an agent who’s also an Appraiser. All of our agents can break down the pricing of lots versus the home. This is crucial because a home will depreciate over time, while land will continue to accrue value as it becomes tougher to find a lakefront property.
An agent who can’t correctly price a lot, specifically lakefront property, can’t possibly understand the value of the property, particularly on lakes as big as Lake Oconee and Lake Sinclair.
This is the biggest issue we find with non-local agents: Because they don’t know the land’s values or regulations, they aren’t equipped to represent their buyers and negotiate the best possible deal for their clients.
4. Out of Area Agents Don’t Know the Specifics of the Lakes
When buying lakefront property, you must know the water’s quality and depth around your dock and be able to navigate in and out. You must be aware of dock regulations, what size dock you can have relative to frontage feet, and the water depth needed for specific types of boat.
Think of it this way: How upset would you be if you made a sizable investment into a lakefront home. Yet, you didn’t know there was a sandbar in the middle of the cove that made getting back to your dock impossible at night when water levels drop?
Or what if you spent $87,000 on a new Supra, but your agent didn’t know the water depth at the dock was 2.5 feet despite the presence of a new boat light?
Unfortunately, these are issues we’ve seen buyers run into, and they’re either forced to get a different boat or invest in dredging.
At Kim and Lin Logan Real Estate, we work individually with our buyers and sellers to understand every piece of property from water depth and the navigability of the area around their home to the specific regulations of Georgia Power.
5. Out of Area Agents Don’t Know the Specific Lot Types at Lake Oconee and Lake Sinclair
The most significant difference between Lake Oconee and Lake Sinclair lot types is no-one owns property up to the water on Lake Oconee. There are yellow markers around the lake that denote the boundary to where Georgia power owns the lake.
Each year, Georgia Power charges a nominal $100 fee to access the lake.
All Lake Oconee lots are fee simple up to those mentioned Georgia Power boundaries.
It’s important to know you must contact Georgia Power before making any changes to the land passed these yellow markers, such as removing trees or building a dock. Our skilled agents will help you navigate this with ease to ensure you’re working within the guidelines.
Lake Sinclair has over 6000 lots that are full fee simple, meaning you own property to the seawall. Roughly 15,000 lots on Lake Sinclair have some type of lease access based on a 340 contour line.
Depending on the lease lot, there may be a transfer fee and an annual payment required for access to the lake. In either case, the expert agents at Kim and Lin Logan Real Estate are well-versed in each lake’s specifics.
6. Out of Area Agents Haven’t Mastered the Local Inventory
Have you heard the phrase “jack of all trades, master of none?”
Unfortunately, we see many out of area agents come to the lake country without an accurate gauge on the local market dynamics, inventory trends, and history.
They may know Atlanta, Macon, or Augusta, but they don’t know Lake Oconee or Lake Sinclair.
This makes it tougher to price homes accurately and difficult to represent buyers during negotiations optimally.
Real estate goes through ebbs and flows by neighborhood, county, and type of property. Without being fully immersed in the specifics of the market, many agents enter the arena, unaware of the dynamics at play.
A Better Option?
If you have an agent you trust, consider asking them to refer you to a local agent. They’ll make a generous commission for the referral, and you’ll get optimal representation.
Recently, one of our agents had a buyer who purchased two pieces of property in two months. This same buyer also had a piece of property they needed to sell on Lake Burton in Northern Georgia and wanted the same agent to list their house in Lake Burton.
But our agents don’t know lake Burton. Though by law agents have the ability to sell throughout the state of Georgia, it’s safe to say if an agent doesn’t know an area, they can’t optimally
In this case, the Kim and Lin Logan Team put the client first, referring out to a local expert in another area knowing they would provide a better level of service, even if it meant losing a full listing. That same mindset to dominate the local area and put our customers first is one reason the Kim and Lin Logan Team has stood at the top of the leaderboard for since George Bush was in office.
7. Out of Area Agents Don’t Have the Existing Network for Local Products and Services
From septic cleaning and yard work to dealing with builders and membership directors, real estate is built on relationships. Over the last 20 years at Lake Oconee, Kim and Lin Logan have created an extensive network of the top service providers in the area.
We’ve hired these folks ourselves, vetted them to find the cream of the crop, and help simplify every aspect of buying, selling, and owning a home in the lake area.
And Commission?
We’ve seen many out of area agents work to undercut pricing and decrease listing commissions with local property. We can understand the draw. But given the problems we’ve seen and illustrated above, what you pay for is what you get and given the size of financial transactions in real estate, an unwise move.
Those who end up working without area agents often make the mistake of stepping over dollars to pick up pennies–and are stuck with subpar representation that costs them thousands more down the road.
We realize buying and selling real estate is a big matter. That’s why we specialize in providing expert-level service and unparalleled local market expertise to our buyers and sellers.
If you’d like to experience the Kim and Lin difference to buy or sell your dream home, we’d love to chat.
Please reach out to our offices at:
1041 Village Park Dr #204, Greensboro, GA 30642
1028 Lake Oconee Parkway, Eatonton, GA 31024
Or by phone at any time (706) 338-0757, and we’ll help you make the best personal and financial decision for you, your family, and your home at Lake Oconee.
