Lakefront Property

• Find Lake Burton Ga Homes For Sale
• $200,000 – $1,000,000
• $1,000,000 – $2,000,000
• $2,000,000 – $3,000,000
• $3,000,000 +

• Find Lake Rabun Ga Homes For Sale
• $200,000 – $1,000,000
• $1,000,000 – $2,000,000
• $2,000,000 – $3,000,000
• $3,000,000 +

• Find Seed Lake Ga Homes For Sale

About Rabun County Lakefront Property

Lake Burton offers a wide range of lakefront real estate options, from small summer bungalows on lake access lots up to grand Adirondack style lake lodges with commanding water views.  You can spend as little as the low $200’s or as much as $10 million — and almost anywhere in between.  For the resort minded, Waterfall Country Club offers high-end homes with an amazing golf course, club house, and lakefront amenities.

With four residential lakes in Rabun County, there are over 100 miles of shoreline to consider, but not necessarily a lot of lakefront homes or lots available for purchase at any given time. For many buyers, it’s a matter of narrowing down the type of lakefront property you are looking for, and then waiting for a good home or lot to come on the market. Many lakefront shoppers come to Rabun County looking for a home on a particular lake.  Our first trip out together focuses on “lake shopping” rather than house shopping to get a good feel for the lake options, house styles and price points.  Many buyers are pleasantly surprised to see the differences in prices and amenities on Lake Burton, Lake Seed, Lake Rabun, and Tallulah Falls Lake.

If you are planning to bring a boat with a cabin up to Lake Burton, think again.  Houseboats and boats with marine toilets are prohibited on any Georgia Power lakes in Rabun County.  A strong preference for a lake that permits water sports such as skiing and tubing is a key factor when determining which Rabun County lake is right for you.  Lake Burton offers plenty of room for water sports, but some lakes in the system have horsepower restrictions for inboard and outboard motors.  Boats on Tugalo Lake are limited to motors under 25 horsepower.  Tallulah Falls Lake is under a city imposed motor restriction of 10 horsepower.  Boating laws are enforced by the Georgia Department of Natural Resources, and all Rabun County lakes have public boat launches for you to use.

One of the most important differences in property on Lake Burton is Georgia Power leased land and privately owned fee-simple land.  When Tallulah River was dammed and the lakes were built, the company that is now Georgia Power purchased as much of the land directly flooded by and around “the project.”  Later, as recreation became more important on Lake Burton, some of this lakefront property was offered to be leased for summer homes and fishing cabins.  Much of the property on the lakes, and especially the prime property, is Georgia Power leased land.

The opposite is privately owned fee-simple land.  Some of the property that was not originally purchased for construction of Lake Burton was subject to flooding rights, but still privately owned.  Through the years, some of the now private lots on Lake Burton and Lake Rabun came into possession of Georgia Power executives as supposed retirement bonuses.

The most noticeable difference between leased and fee-simple property a Lake Burton buyer will encounter is the Georgia Power lease transfer fee, which can be as much as $20,000, and the Georgia Power “pass through” property tax.  For many properties, this pass-through tax was close to the $9,000 mark for 2009.  Additionally, Rabun County taxes improvements on the leased land.  For fee-simple property there is no transfer fee other than usual closing costs, and taxes are based on assessed value like the rest of the county.  Whether a property is leased or privately owned usually does not affect sales price, and at most price points and lake settings there are leased and fee-simple options.
Up until the 1980’s, most of the lakefront property on Lake Burton consisted of small, remote fishing cabins with a swim dock or small boathouse.  These were mostly summer getaways for Atlanta families, often spending extended periods at Lake Burton during the summer months..  It was not uncommon to pull household water from the lake… sometimes it was returned.  Board and batten style homes were common, and many still exist and are still used today.  These older homes are the polar opposite of the latest trend in mega lake homes, and they hold a special place in the hearts of the people who have been coming to Lake Burton for decades.

What I’ll call the “new style” Lake Burton home is a modern, lodge-styled home ranging from 2,500 to 15,000 square feet and higher.  Some of these are absolutely staggering examples of how vacation lake homes can be taken to the extreme.  Many of the better locations are considered “tear-down lots” because the value of the land is far greater than the older structures that may already be there.  It is not uncommon for these tear-down lots to sell upwards of $1.5 million.  A typical newer home with good position on the lake is worth about $2,000,000 and higher.  Very modest lakefront homes on Lake Burton start at about $700,000.