Close your eyes and picture it: you’ve woken up to the smell of fresh-brewed coffee poured in your favorite mug ready to sip on your back porch. You gaze out at the lake, which is still and glassy before it comes to life with boaters, anglers, and playful kids sliding off the back of a pontoon. Before long, you’ll fire up the grill for burgers and hot dogs and gather around a campfire for toasted marshmallows, the smell of sunscreen and bug spray still lingering in the air.
This is what vacation dreams are made of. But when you open your eyes, what if you realize it isn’t vacation at all? It’s home.
Smith Lake is a beautiful north Alabama destination located only two hours from Franklin. It’s become a hotspot for day trippers and weekend warriors alike, making the market for both home ownership and short-term rentals a booming one.
“Smith Lake is a great destination for day trips, weekend homes, or full-time residents for people looking to come and retire to the lake,” shares Joseph Carter, founder of Joseph Carter Realty. “It’s very pretty, with 22,000 acres and about 500 miles of shoreline. It’s very deep, it’s very clean, and it’s a very good recreational lake.”
Joseph started his real estate career in 2009, then opened his own company focused on the Smith Lake destination in 2016. Now the team is the largest in the area, with nearly 70 agents from Smith Lake all the way to the coast.
“I was raised around Jasper, and through my life going back and forth to the lake and the coast, I prefer to focus on waterfront property because that’s what I enjoy,” Joseph adds.
While Joseph spends his days helping people find their perfect lakefront home, he doesn’t do it alone. He has a specialized team and a very important employee in tow, a four-legged agent he affectionately calls “the closer.” Gatlin is part Goldendoodle, part real estate aficionado, and, as Joseph describes, possibly part fish.
“If there is water, he is in it,” Joseph laughs. “If you’re on the boat, he is keeping an eye on the motors and he chomps at the water.”
Gatlin’s adoption was somewhat of an accident. While vacationing with a fellow agent’s family in Gatlinburg (hence the name), they nudged him toward adopting a dog. Joseph remembered our very own Franklin Lifestyle magazine publisher, Athena West, mentioning a doodle breeder in the area, and they set out on an all-night mission to bring Gatlin home to the lake.
Gatlin often accompanies Joseph to showings as opposed to staying put in the office, which often involves boat rides across the lake. Joseph recalls a time when a family was on the fence about a lake house and had their eye on two. With Gatlin in tow, he decided to conduct showings via boat instead of driving from place to place. Once the family got a feel for the beauty of the lake, they were sold.
“I got them on the boat, and when we were on the way back, the husband said, ‘I was almost talked out of buying a lake house, and then you put me on a boat and cost me half a million dollars,’” Joseph laughs. The lake life is what you’re buying, after all, and it’s a no-brainer once you experience it.
While permanent residences are aplenty on the lake, many opt to use their lake house as an investment property, a process which Joseph’s team can also support. For both investment properties and permanent homes, Williamson County remains the team’s biggest market.
If you’re interested in exploring lakefront properties on Smith Lake, the Joseph Carter Realty team is ready to help…even though some agents may require payment in the form of treats and belly rubs. JosephCarterRealty.com