gingerandrews.com
Whether you've constantly wished to live by the water or you're expanding your property portfolio, these are the leading locations to buy a lake home.

-. -. -

Lydia Mansel is an author with more than eight years of experience editing and writing for both brand names and online publications-with a particular focus on travel, fashion, and lifestyle. She's likewise the founder of the travel website justpacked.com.

For numerous, lake homes are synonymous with summer nostalgia. Barbeques, refreshing dips in the cold water, beautiful sunsets, boat trips, and fireflies: If you've spent any time by a lake in the warmer months, you're most likely well-acquainted with this particular brand name of getaway magic. You may even be wanting to recreate it for yourself by purchasing your own lake house. If that holds true, however you're not precisely sure which lake you want to call your home (or your 2nd home) just yet, we can help.

There are quite actually thousands of lakes with genuine estate opportunities in the U.S., so we spoke with a couple of professionals to narrow down the selection. Below, they're sharing their picks for the finest places to buy a lake home this year.

Lake of the Ozarks, Missouri

Eifel Kreutz/Adobe Stock

" Lake of the Ozarks is a terrific place to buy a lakefront residential or commercial property today due to the fact that, together with providing dozens of year-round activities, the residential or commercial property is still inexpensive," states Elena Novak, lead property researcher at PropertyChecker.com. Missouri-based Matt Smith Real Estate Group reports that, in February of this year, the typical list price of homes in this part of the state was $448,585, while Zillow estimates the typical home value in the city of Lake Ozark is simply above $340,000. "With property costs rising, these homes may become out of reach within the next five years," Novak warns-so if you're interested in a quiet lakefront home that's simply a number of hours from centers like Kansas City or St. Louis, now's the time to buy.

Southwest Lake Erie Region, Michigan and Ohio

Skylight Pictures/Getty Images

When identifying the finest locations to buy a lake home, Julie Brinkman, the CEO at Beyond, a revenue management system for vacation leasings, was focused on destinations that make the most financial sense for those looking for out residential or commercial properties to contribute to their rental portfolio. "The southwest Lake Erie region, surrounding both Michigan and Ohio, has an average annual income per listing of $34,000 and a typical yearly tenancy rate of 40 percent," she states. As of May 2025, Zillow has a handful of homes in the area-in Luna Pier, Michigan