Small wonders
John and Kim Daubl searched for lakefront property for 20 years before purchasing a two-bedroom, one-bathroom cabin with 50 feet of beach at Diamond Lake. The Spokane Valley couple paid $172,000 for the property two years ago, did some renovating and watched the market value of their cabin and two outbuildings increase to $450,000.
“If I don’t get taxed out of it, on paper it looks like we made a fortune,” said John Daubl, 58.
The Daubls are among a lucky group of cabin owners who purchased property before availability declined and prices took a hike. In today’s highly competitive recreational-property market, even some of the beachfront cabins on the region’s smaller lakes are clocking in at more than $500,000.
Richard “Dick” Bockemuehl, a Tomlinson Black agent who has specialized in waterfront property for nearly a decade, said over the past few years, property values have increased dramatically on small lakes like Diamond, Loon, Deer, Waitts, Sacheen and Newman.
“Prices have moved up. The market is strong especially on the little pristine lakes,” Bockemuehl said. “For deeded property, you’re going to have to go about $250,000 to $300,000 to be right on the water.”
He attributes part of the rising prices to the lack of affordability on big lakes like Coeur d’Alene and Priest, where properties with modest homes can sell for $600,000 and above and estates costing millions are increasingly common.
Among this year’s sparse listings are the occasional overpriced fixer-uppers including a half-million-dollar cabin on Deer Lake with exposed kitchen wiring and a nice-looking place on Newman Lake that lacks bathroom plumbing: Forget about a flushing toilet, it’s time to visit the outhouse.
Listings for cabins priced under $500,000 are in short supply this season. Places costing under $350,000 are typically on smaller lakes, like Davis, which is beautiful but has a 5 mph-mile-an-hour speed limit for boaters — a plus or minus, depending upon a buyer’s recreational interests.
Values and prices change from lake to lake and river to lake, he said. In addition to varying types of beaches, trees and terrain, some lakes are relatively clean and may even be hooked up to public sewer and water systems. Local lakes also battle varying degrees of an aquatic weed called milfoil.
David and Linda Edwards started searching for waterfront properties a year and a half ago. Initially, the empty nesters, who live in Coeur d’Alene, wanted a second home with 100 feet of beachfront on nearby Hayden or Coeur d’Alene lakes.
After seeing one- and two-bedroom cabins selling for $800,000, the couple started canvassing smaller lakes in North Idaho and Eastern Washington.
Bockemuehl, who also found the Daubls’ property, connected them with a 3,000-square-foot home on Diamond Lake. Although they spent $685,000, David Edwards, who looked over hundreds of listings, estimates that the same year-round, quality house on Hayden or Coeur d’Alene would have cost $300,000 more than that.
“I kind of look at it as investment property that I can play on,”51-year-old Edwards said.
Craig Johnson, a Realtor with The Property Store, a small Loon Lake-based agency, said it’s a seller’s market as far as waterfront properties go. Listings have decreased and more people are interested in waterfront ownership.
“It’s just crazy and the demand is what’s driving the market up,” Johnson said.
In the spring of 2004, Johnson paid $40,000 for a primary lot with 65 feet of beachfront on Deer Lake. While he’d initially planned to build there, he and his wife decided to sell the property and buy land near Priest Lake. In sixteen months, the Deer Lake property had nearly tripled in value and sold for $115,000.
Johnson said the appreciation of his own property coincided with a pop in the market that brought about a shortage of waterfront cabins and lots and a waiting list of potential buyers.
Although the Spokane Association of Realtors doesn’t keep specific statistics for lake property buyers, there has been an increase in buyers from other areas, says Courtney “Kap” Kappen, also a Realtor at The Property Store. Many of his clients purchasing prime waterfront property are baby boomers and retirees from California and Seattle — some buying cabins sight unseen.
“A $350,000 home on a lake is nothing to them. That same home in California or Seattle would be $1.5 million,” Kappen said.
People from the greater Spokane area often end up purchasing secondary properties, he said, adding, “They’ve kind of gotten priced out of the (primary waterfront) market.”
In addition to increased demand, Kappen said that many cabin owners are holding onto their places and passing them down through generations. “A lot of the homes you’ll never see coming on the market because they’ve been in the family.”
Some lakes have secondary lots with lake access for people who are willing to build a place or set up a mobile home. Deer Lake has a secondary lot for $45,000 and Long Lake has something for $66,500. Diamond Lake has property for $80,000 and Deep Lake has a lot listed for $27,500.
While recreational property prices have risen, there are still ways to get onto the water. Kappen suggests that property seekers with smaller budgets look at less-populated lakes, like Jumpoff Joe in Stevens County, and be open to a longer drive because property can decrease in price when it on lakes that are more remote. Sometimes better deals arise in the off-season, he said, so it helps to be in contact with a Realtor who is watching the listings.
Bockemuehl said people with budgets of $150,000 to $200,000 can usually find secondary property with a small cabin and beach access at a nice lake.
In the $200,000 price range, Bockemuehl suggests looking at float houses and waterfront lots at Bayview on Lake Pend Oreille. Bayview also has some prime lots where people can set up a trailer or mobile home and build later. Once they make a purchase, property owners typically see their investment appreciate at a good rate — something he dubs “play as you pay.”
Those facing more modest budgets can also lease places for a trailer, RV or mobile home and have a slice of the recreational dream. Bockemuehl suggests renting seasonal space at resorts in Granite Point Park on Loon Lake, Bayview and Hope, Idaho, also on Pend Oreille, 12 miles from Sandpoint.