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Muskoka Waterfront Cottages for Sale. 

What to look for when buying a cottage.

If you are a nature lover you might be thinking about buying a cottage. Many people even invest more in their cottages than in their homes as they plan to move to their second home permanently when they retire. What to look for when buying a cottage? And what are the most important factors to impact your cottage value?
 

Before you start seriously looking into Muskoka waterfront cottages for sale I would like to walk you all factors which you should consider before you buy any. Some are obvious. Some are usually forgotten.

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Cottage access
Not all cottages are accessible the whole year-round. Look for the year-round municipal road leading to the cottage or private year-round access which means that you will have to pay some fee for maintaining the road. Buying a cottage with only seasonal access may be a problem if you need a financing unless you can pay cash for the property. You can and very good deals for the cottages with the water access only if you don’t plan to spend winter there but other expenses will be much higher every year as you will have to buy reliable boat, spent on gas and other costs can be involved for launching your boat, winterizing and storage. But it can be fun! It can be a paradise for the snowmobile and ice-fishing enthusiasts.

 

Location
In cottage country you can see signifcant differences in prices. In many locations you can be scratching your head how there can be such a big discrepancy by comparing 2 similar properties. Here are the most important criteria which effect the price of the waterfront property:

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1. Access – year round, seasonal, water only
2. Size and location of the lake and the quality of the water. Farther

from big cities you can find great deals if you are willing to drive

to your cottage for more than 3 hours…
3. Size of the waterfront (water frontage)
4. Size of the property.
5. Exposure. The most popular is southwest exposure.

6. Quality of the shoreline and views.
7. Utilities available.

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Differences between city homes and cottages

 

Owning a cottage is far from cheap. In your city/townhome you enjoy the comfort of the municipal services such as gas, hydro, water, sewer, phone, internet, garbage disposal. If you never lived in a cottage or a rural property you don’t realize how fortunate you are to have this comfort. Make the list of the necessities. It is late to find out after closing that the internet access not available in this lovely place :(.

Electricity/hydro

So first of all if you don’t want to live off the grid check if the cottage has hydro. Many areas have higher hydro expenses because the companies charge higher delivery costs to the rural properties.

Water

Water supply for the cottages is a dug well, a drilled well or a water line. If the cottage has water supply from the lake or the river you can have a regular waterline or a heated waterline. To have a heated waterline installed can be very expensive as the cost depends on the distance from the water to the lake and also you should add the cost for heating the line in wintertime. Drilled wells are the most popular and people believe that water from this kind of well has the best quality. The cost to have a drilled well installed is higher comparing the heated line but in the long run you will save on heating the water line in winter. In the end, you don’t need a heated line if you don’t plan to use the cottage year-round.

Septic
 

Septic feels like the scariest word when people buy cottages. The reason is simple. To have the septic changed can cost the owner thousands of dollars. It can be $6,000 or even $30,000. It all depends on the land and what kind of septic can be installed on the property. Many cottages in my area which are in  Muskoka (Ontario, Canada) are built on a bedrock and the options to have the cheaper septic installed can be limited. Another issue is that they are hard to inspect. You can open and look at the septic tank but it is filled with water and other more To get the best visual inspection is at the time when the septic is pumped. Inspection of the whole septic system very challenging because septic tank and drain field are hidden from the view. To make sure that your investment is well protected you hire a septic specialist to check it properly and run all-important tests. Find out when the septic was built.

Phone and Internet

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Excited to find the cottage you like? It is private, beautiful views…! As an
escape from the busy city life, you cannot wish for the more. Just a small
reminder! If you are planning to have it as your retirement home in
the future, renting when you don’t use it or even do work from your cottage
check the phone and internet connection. More and more jobs depend
on you to be able to communicate with your clients or bosses through
the internet. You can have installed satellite or connection hub (or not in
some areas) but the speed is lower and the cost for the usage much high
comparing hi-speed internet connection from your home.

Maintenance of your cottage

 

To keep the cottage in a good condition means for many people becoming handy in small repairs. The beautiful natural surroundings – trees, bushes, animals don’t help and cottages deteriorate faster than the city homes. More trees, more water mean higher humidity. Leaves on the roofs, clogged eaves can damage the roof system faster. Small animals love the wood and insulation and they are looking for their winter accommodation…. If you want to take good care of your property then it means spending many hours cleaning and fixing if you cannot afford to pay the professional to do the job for you. Seasonal cottage has to be properly winterized before the winter otherwise you can get unpleasant surprises when opening the cottage in springtime. Broken pipes, water leak, damaged water pump and other damages caused by unprofessionally winterizing and opening your property.

In the end, all the headache is worth it! You cannot put the price to a wonderful memories you, your family and
friends will share spending weekends, weeks or months there.


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I hope this overview helped you be aware of some issues you might be facing when cottage hunting and what
to look at when buying a cottage!


Feel free to send me your comment. What was your experience?

Thanks! Message sent.

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