Lease back?

We're thinking about selling our houses and land and buying a waterfront house on a lake somewhere. What exactly is the "lease back" I keep seeing on real estate listings? When you buy a waterfront property do you not own the land all the way to the water? If any of you guys live on a lake I would sure appreciate any information you could share. Thanks in advance.

'Lease back' is fairly common for waterfront properties in Tx, no you don't own the land a certain distance from the average water line.

You lease this part of the property from a controlling authority, usually it is inexpensive & long term, depending on controlling authority usually there are restrictions on what you can & can't do on the lease back areas.

Should be easy to find out which controlling authority and what their restrictions are.

SRA - Lake Fork
TRA - Cedar Creek
UNRMWA - Palestine

I suspected it was something like that. Thank you, sir.

Leaseback on Lake Fork is typically very inexpensive. I've seen lease back fees that were lower than what the property tax on that part would be if you owned it. One waterfront home I showed last year was on a point with Leaseback on three sides. I think the Leaseback part was about as much acreage as was deeded.

Does the lease back give you property rights to keep people from hanging out/camping on the land when the water is low? What rights does it convey?

That's a good question. I'm trying to research that along with what the cost would be. No luck yet.

I'd think any Realestate office would know the particulars on any property they represent.
They should know the costs, restrictions and which controlling authority.

An acquaintance pays $245 per year for 10 acres of leaseback on Tawakoni.
When my inlaws lived on cedar creek they paid around $45 per year for leaseback on 4 lots.
I've never heard of an expensive lease back.

It's like any other land lease, what you pay for is your exclusive use most if not all have restrictions.
Dry lake bed isn't covered only the specified area contained in lease.

I don't know of any public lake or reservoir in the state where a certain amount / stated feet from normal water line of all waterfront property isn't leaseback.

Thanks Rustler. That's good info and I appreciate it.

I own 3 waterfront lots on Cedar Creek and have no clue what you are talking about.

Lake Houston doesn't have this either.
Only known use of that term, for me, is when a seller does a lease back from a buyer to stay at a property for a pre-determined time after closing.
I'm pretty sure only Corps lakes require tenants to lease the land around their lakes. Never heard it called a lease back though.

I could be totally wrong - but lease back applies from the full pool height (shoreline) up to usually max capacity (x amount of feet above full pool height) - you can do as you please on the leaseback and it is yours with exceptions (probably couldn't build a home or put in a septic system etc). Once someone is in the actual lake bed (below full pool height) - I doubt there is much you could do as that land belongs completely to the controlling authority.

On Lake Palestine , you own the property to the 355 ft elevation line, The River Authority owns every thing less than 355. We pay $102.00 per
year for a " permit to use" the land and waterfront adjacent to our lot, We are allowed to pump from the lake up to a 1 1/2 hp pump.
Larger pumps are more $$.

Your house must be built above the 355 line.


MO

I don't know of any public lake or reservoir in the state where a certain amount / stated feet from normal water line of all waterfront property isn't leaseback.
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I'm pretty sure LCRA lakes (Travis, Buchanan, Marble Falls, LBJ) don't deal in leasebacks. Submerged land is mostly privately owned. Owners should know the typical, historic and current pool elevations and identify any owners beyond their property boundary. This could impact lake access due to low water levels. This can also impact boat dock anchoring.

Some house on Palestine own to the water line. I've got a few friends that own out there, couple of them have no lease back. The couple that don't, the houses are 40+ years old, maybe a grandfathered thing.

You just need to contact the authority of the particular lake your interested in. I bought and sold a lot for investment on Lake Fork, but have since lost the lease back rules. There was one rule regarding RV's. You cannot have an RV on the leaseback either overnight, or.....forgot time limit. They have rules regarding cutting of trees. If you want to cut down a tree over "X" inches in diameter you need permission. I've heard that rule is not actually enforced. But at the same time I know a dirt contractor that wouldn't touch a tree on a leaseback for anything, period. Apparently he got his hand slapped.

I think you need their approval on docks and boat houses. I figure that is for keeping some kind of consistency and not having anything too unsightly. You can pump water for irrigation. But seems like I remember something about approval on that too.

I haven't needed to contact the Sabine River Authority down there in a few years. But my experience with them was very positive.