John Coley's (lakemartinvoice) Blog

Why do some real estate agents insist on holding their sellers to the last day of a listing contract?  I don't know if my market on Lake Martin is different, but I don't see the point in guilt tripping a seller into staying with me if they are unhappy or decide not to sell.Obviously, I am in the ...

Spring rains have filled Lake Martin faster than almost anyone expected In the first 3 months of 2008 we went from bone dry to runnething over.  Will the waterfront real estate market bounce back in three months, too?Maybe, maybe not.  There is still a lot of inventory to sell which I think will ...

This is not a news flash: Lake Martin's water level is back!It's hard to believe, but in the 5 short weeks since I wrote this post  about the water hitting 480, Lake Martin stands inches away from its highest possible mark of 490.  All of the nay sayers have been proved wrong.  Many (myself inclu...

The "4th Annual State of Our Watershed Conference - The Tallapoosa River Basin", coordinated from the Alabama Water Watch office in the AU Department of Fisheries, is for all who are interested in learning more about the health of streams, lakes and rivers of the Tallapoosa River Basin, the devel...

If you have a Lake Martin house in the Little Kowaliga area, you are well aware that Little Steel Bridge Road aka Elmore County Road 55 is closed.  If you are heading to the Real Island or Parker Creek areas of Lake Martin, and are coming from the south, be aware that you must detour.  Keep going...

For anyone that likes old maps of Alabama - or if you would like to see what your Lake Martin property looked like before the lake was built - I have a great site for you.  The University of Alabama is a great site resource for these old maps.  Some of them date back to the early 1800s.   Here ar...

Right now there is no one set of zoning rules that covers the entire Lake Martin area.  Why?  For starters, it stretches over three different counties, and most of the shoreline is not inside any cities' limits.  It's an old lake, developed in a rural area.  But, as things change, prices rise, an...

Lake Martin waterfront property owners are in one of three counties - Tallapoosa County, Elmore County, or Coosa County.  If you're considering buying on Lake Martin, and are curious about property taxes, you would need to research all three counties to cover  of your bases.There are some similar...

Lake Martin's water level has finally risen above the rule curve established by Alabama Power and the Corps of Engineers.Today's read of 481.83 is above the rule curve of 481.7.  What does this mean in English? Lake Martin's water level is ahead of the pace it needs to get to full pool of 490.  T...

When it comes to architecture, I don't know rococo from romanesque. The Lake Martin Voice welcomes guest writer Amy Stoyles to help us all learn about the finer points of home design.  Thanks Amy!!! Does Your Lake Martin Home Need Botox?Okay, so since the holidays we've all been working on those ...