Greetings.

I am looking at purchasing a lake house in the north/northeast Texas area. Either dockable lakefront or close to the lake. I may make this a primary residence, so I'm looking for something more than just a cabin. I'd like to keep it within an hour and half of D/FW. I've considered as far north as Texoma, east to Fork, south to Richland Chambers. If someone has a good suggestion just outside that requirement, I'm open to it. I'd also like to keep the price down; definitely no more than 500 and prefer less than 400.

I enjoy most kinds of freshwater fishing: bass, crappie, strippers, hybrids, catfish, etc. I wouldn't mind duck hunting, too. Not a big skier, but I may get a pontoon boat for parties. I'm wondering what are the lakes I should look at? Ray Hubbard seems too expensive. Tawakoni seems to be too much a criminal element to live there. Thoughts on Cedar Creek? Richland Chambers? I have never fished either. I'm open to suggestions. What say you Outdoors Board?

TIA

Do you have kids that will be enrolled in a nearby school if you make the lakehouse your primary residence? Do you work from home or will you be commuting to work in Dallas area? Is this a home you plan to live in after retirement? If so, find a lake that has a decent sized hospital nearby. That starts to be important the older you get. Texoma has 2 decent hospitals close by in Denison and Sherman, but you will have a really hard time finding dockable lakefront there. I'm also hunting for a lake house and dockable lakefront is one of my top requirements. I've been hunting a little father east than you- Lake Palestine, Lake Cypress Springs, Lake Bob Sandlin, Lake Cherokee. Looked at Texoma, but had no luck finding dockable lakefront.

Lake Limestone if you are willing to drive 2 hours. Great Lake for general water fun and fishing.

I like athens more than cedar creek.

Bob Sandlin

Rent!

Speeder Creek has some nice areas, but a lot of it is like Twok.

murphyag said:

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Do you have kids that will be enrolled in a nearby school if you make the lakehouse your primary residence? Do you work from home or will you be commuting to work in Dallas area? Is this a home you plan to live in after retirement? If so, find a lake that has a decent sized hospital nearby. That starts to be important the older you get. Texoma has 2 decent hospitals close by in Denison and Sherman, but you will have a really hard time finding dockable lakefront there. I'm also hunting for a lake house and dockable lakefront is one of my top requirements. I've been hunting a little father east than you- Lake Palestine, Lake Cypress Springs, Lake Bob Sandlin, Lake Cherokee. Looked at Texoma, but had no luck finding dockable lakefront.

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Good questions.

No kids. I work from home, but I may go into the office once in a while. Don't know about that since COVID. Also, I have family in the D/FW area that will visit and I will visit them. This includes elder folks, that's why I'm preferring to stay kind of close. Don't want to get a call that someone is having issues and trying to drive in from Caddo or Toledo Bend for example. Yes, I'll probably retire to this place. Hospitals are on my mind. I might be willing to go further east so I would be closer to Tyler or something.

After speaking with you personally on this I think you should take a very hard look at Fork.

Removed for OP

The Striper fishing on Texoma is world class. It's kinda desolate in places but it's hammer city for stripers.

Limestone is out there too. The real estate, lake home situation is good but the fishing can be tough.

The real estate around Fork is nice and the countryside is pretty. Obviously the bass and crappie fishing are world class but the lake is Grand Central Station. It's like Six Flags for fishing.

If you have kids, the school systems are limited and it's a drive to get to a commercial airport.

But if you live on fork you can fish off days. Not just weekends

Richland Chambers

Judging by everything you've mentioned I would say Palestine.

Cypress Springs
Easy access via I-30. 1:45 to downtown Dallas.
Deep water near most lake lots east of the bridge.
Great recreation lake. Fishing is not great for bass, but excellent for crappie and catfish.
My family has had a lake house there since the lake was built in 74, and have watched it mature over the years.

ElephantRider said:

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Judging by everything you've mentioned I would say Palestine.

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Interesting. My cousin has a cabin out there. I'll call her up and find out more.

Also, Limestone is intriguing. I've never been on it, but it seems nice. Also, it's a bit closer to Aggieland.

Lake Palestine - I have a house there.
Lake Cypress Springs - BIL has one there

Cedar Creek is closer to Dallas, but it is crazy expensive and I don't really care for the lake.

Limestone has intrigued me due to the distance from CS.

There are a slew of smaller, private lakes in east Texas.

I've often wondered what Lake Mexia is like.

I would be surprised if you found lakefront for 400K in any of those lakes.

I'm a realtor and builder that specializes in Lake Cherokee which is two hours from DFW outside of Longview. Private Lake 12 miles long with 1,500 permanent residents, lots of fishing areas, duck hunting, open water, and a party island. 400 - 500 is doable for a permanent residence in certain areas. Shareholder fees are reasonable for what you get and the property taxes are low. You can build permanent boat houses unlike corp lakes. Let me know if you're interested and I can send you some listings.

BCStalk said:

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Lake Limestone if you are willing to drive 2 hours. Great Lake for general water fun and fishing.

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Terrible lake. People should just forget it exists.

You should check out Callender Lake near Murchison, TX. It's about 1 hour and 15 minutes from Dallas. It's an 80 acre private lake with some of the best crappie fishing I've seen. We had a small lot there when I was a young boy. It's been years since I've seen it, though.

As I recall, lakefront homes were reasonable.

Palestine. Easy access from DFW and numerous hospitals close by.
That budget is plenty for a nice place.

We have a family house on Lake Tyler East and we love it.

It gets "busy" for holidays but even that is like a slow Monday for a busy lake...where as the few days after Independence Day this week I counted single digit boats.

Sims said:

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BCStalk said:

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Lake Limestone if you are willing to drive 2 hours. Great Lake for general water fun and fishing.

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Terrible lake. People should just forget it exists.

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Limestone is actually a pretty small lake. Just under 14K acres. It's gotten pretty crowded the last 10 years.

JayHowdy! said:

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Cypress Springs
Easy access via I-30. 1:45 to downtown Dallas.
Deep water near most lake lots east of the bridge.
Great recreation lake. Fishing is not great for bass, but excellent for crappie and catfish.
My family has had a lake house there since the lake was built in 74, and have watched it mature over the years.

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We have a place near Walleye that our family too, built when the lake was getting going. Great lake

Sister has lakehouse on Richland Chambers at Sunset Point. Never any crowds. Lots for sale near hers. Just got back from there. I jetski on the lake all weekend. We paddleboard there. Very quiet. Highly recommend. Corsicana has HEB . She lives in Lewisville.

FriscoAggieFan said:

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Palestine. Easy access from DFW and numerous hospitals close by.
That budget is plenty for a nice place.

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My cousin has a cabin out there. Gonna ask her about it. I'm looking for something more than a cabin, but no huge mansion either.

Found a place I kind of like, but it's not on a lake. It's on a river. Thoughts on having riverfront property? I'm more concerned with flooding.

How is Richland Chambers? Limestone?

I've spent a lot of time on Tawakoni, Ray Hubbard, Lavon. Have a good feel for them.

The way things are shaking out, I might see about my first true love: Caddo. Or even Toledo Bend, but I prefer to get closer to Aggieland.

Fishing on Richland Chambers is top notch. Striper is almost as good as Texoma, and catfish are excellent too. Sand bass spawn is as good as anywhere in Texas. I hear the largemouth is fair, but I've never caught one there.