Tell me about Lake Hartwell area...

Getting at the age where retirement is looming and I would like to live on a lake. Thinking of lake Hartwell.

Georgia or South Carolina side or no difference?
Property taxes better in one county vs another?
North part (above 85 bridge) or south part of the lake?
Fishing appears to be rather good as I keep up with the Fishing section here in Woody's.
Any reason I should NOT consider Hartwell?

Appreciate all feedback.

I recently bought 2 acres in Hart County on the lake. We plan on building a home to retire there. We looked on the S.C. side and unless you are going close to Clemson, most of the lots left don't have a good view of the main lake. They are in the back of a cove or creek. The prime main channel lots are bringing a premium! We also looked above the I-85 bridge and could not find what we wanted. Taxes are higher there than here on Oconee. Let me know if I can help more or put you in touch with my realtor lady.

I own a home on Lake Sinclair. I would never want a lot on the main lake. Storms and wind are bad here and the main lake takes the most of the wind. Plus there is constant boat traffic on the main lake. I have a home in a quiet cove, the fishing in the cove is great and if I want to get to the main lake its just a minute away.

The Corp of Engineer lakes seem to drop drastically in summer. Even in years without severe drought. I have seen folks with docks several hundred feet from the water during these times.

The Ga Power lakes Oconee and Sinclair don't go down nearly as much.

Buford_Dawg said:

Getting at the age where retirement is looming and I would like to live on a lake. Thinking of lake Hartwell.

Georgia or South Carolina side or no difference?
Property taxes better in one county vs another?
North part (above 85 bridge) or south part of the lake?
Fishing appears to be rather good as I keep up with the Fishing section here in Woody's.
Any reason I should NOT consider Hartwell?

Appreciate all feedback.

Click to expand...

You came to the RIGHT PLACE with this question.
2005 I bought a 2nd home in SC, Lake Hartwell, exit ONE, four miles from interstate. Oconee County. LOVE IT.....if you are retired. Work would be far, grocery stores/lowes/depot/etc 20-25 mins. Slow pace of life.

ABSOLUTELY AWESOME.....but I couldn't live there with a kid in school and commute to a job.

Oconee County SC property taxes are about 1% of value. Example: $300,000 property is $3000 year. I suspect MUCH LESS if you are over a certain age...but not 100% certain.

Lake Hartwell is NOT even like Lanier. Lanier is crowded, dirty, and crazy. The part of Lake Hartwell my place is at --- very relaxed. Fishing seems to be much better, though I haven't done a tremendous amount of fishing in that lake.

Back to the top...

Appreciate all feedback so far. Welcome any additional comments.

From what I hear, location is everything. A good friend bought a place there and a year after he bought it his dock was out of the water. And stayed out of the water for THREE years.

I looked at buying something on Hartwell a couple of years ago. I found some monthly historical information on the lake levels and discovered that Hartwell has rarely been at full pool over the last 20 years. There is a reason why most of the docks have wheels on the ramps.

Choose a lot carefully.

look during the drought time (now) if there is water on it, buy it...The northern part of the lake is great for fishing, hunting and recreation, but make sure you buy on the river to be assured deep water. Even then, when the water recedes the river isn't wide so you may be left with a dock on land.

I saw this thread when it was first posted and then a couple of days ago a Hartwell property showed up on FB marketplace. Via the satellite pics you could see that there was only a few inches of water in the creek and the dock was a long way even from this. Some of the other docks in the pics were a LONG way from any water. There was brush growing so you know the water had been down for years. So be sure to buy a place with deep water. Just go ahead and pay the money.