What Mistakes Do Buyers Make in Golf Communities?

Golf community homes get bought twice. Once with the heart, on a sunny visit when the fairways are green and the coffee is good. Once with the head, when the fee list, the build rules and the drive to the doctor become your life.

Buyers who skip the second purchase pay for it later.

Here are seven mistakes that show up again and again, with the question that prevents each one. Where Tennessee National has a clear answer, it is included. Tennessee National is a private, gated lake and golf community on Watts Bar Lake in Loudon, Tennessee.

Are you buying the house or the community?

Buy the community first. A common mistake is falling for a house in a place you have not judged.

A house can be changed. The community around it cannot. So ask what exists today, not what is on a plan. Ask what happens on a plain weekday, not only on a holiday weekend.

At Tennessee National the amenities are in place: the golf course, a full-service marina with 140+ boat slips, a clubhouse with Kendall's restaurant, a pool, a fitness center, pickleball, tennis and trails. There are 22 social clubs and 180+ events a year. The social life page shows the calendar.

Do you have every fee in writing?

If not, you do not know the cost yet. Golf communities charge in layers, and buyers who never map the layers get surprised in the first year.

Ask for a written list:

• HOA dues, and what they cover.
• Club or golf dues, if they are separate.
• Any joining fee.
• Cart fees, food minimums and marina fees, if there are any.
• Any special assessments in recent years.

For Tennessee National, pricing is in the info pack. Ask for anything that is not on it.

Does the home come with golf membership?

Do not assume it does. This one catches people off guard.

In some communities, owning a home and belonging to the golf club are two separate things with two separate costs. In others, membership is required. In others, it comes in levels.

Ask the club which it is, what each level costs and what it includes. At Tennessee National, golf membership questions go to the club. Get the answer from the club, in writing, before you make an offer.

What happens on the days you do not golf?

Something should. You will not golf every day, and someone in your house may not golf at all.

List what a rainy week or a non-golfing partner gets out of the place. If the list is short, keep looking.

At Tennessee National the list includes Watts Bar Lake, a TVA reservoir with more than 39,000 acres of water, plus the marina, pontoon cruises, kayaks, the courts, the pool and the clubs. It is also a golf cart community.

Have you read the build rules?

Read them before you buy, not after. Homesite buyers get caught by two opposite problems.

One is a deadline. Some communities require you to start building within a set time. Tennessee National does not. There is no deadline to build after you buy a homesite.

The other is assuming you can build anything. You cannot. Homes at Tennessee National are custom built and go through design review. That is true in most golf communities. Ask what the review covers before you buy the land, and before you pay an architect.

How far is everything, really?

Drive it yourself. A map flattens what a drive feels like.

Run three trips before you decide: to a hospital, to the airport and to everyday shopping.

How far Tennessee National is from Knoxville covers the routes.

Have you seen it more than once?

Go at least twice. One visit on a perfect Saturday shows you the best day of the year.

Photos flatten a place. So does a single hour. On a second visit:

• Ask to ride the streets by golf cart.
• Walk the marina.
• See the course from the tees you would play.
• Come in a different season. East Tennessee has four seasons and mild winters, and you should see more than one of them.

The seven mistakes at a glance

The honest part

The buyers who get this right are not smarter. They are systematic. They ask the same questions everywhere and write the answers down.

Do that at every community on your list, Tennessee National included. Some answers here are clear, such as no deadline to build. Some you will have to ask for, such as golf membership terms. A place that answers plainly is telling you something. So is one that will not.

For a question-by-question version, see the golf community scorecard. If the course matters most to you, use the guide to evaluating a golf course on a visit.

Facts about Tennessee National come from the community. Lake facts come from TVA. Rules, taxes, loans and insurance change, so confirm anything that affects a purchase with the right office or professional before you buy.