Buying a mökki

[MagicJ]

Juva has been mentioned, so east of road 5 somewhere in the diamond between Juva, Rantasalmi, Savonlinna and Sulkava is a better area to start looking price-wise than the original 'zone' around Haukivuori?

[Upphew]

that driving distance puts you just in mikkeli, still on the short side if you are looking for a good buy.

if you can stretch it to 3-4 hours drive, i'd suggest looking in the sulkava/rantasalmi area.

I wouldn't get cottage from too far. And definitely not too far at route 4-5-15 direction. That road with Juhannus can easily double the travel time.
2 hours and you have some time and energy to do something when you get there. 4 and I would seriously think before leaving for just weekend trip.

Ha. I was just gathering ideas for myself and assumed being close to my better half's family was the plan. Nope. She doesn't care about that so we're free to look anywhere, so a 2-2.5hr drive from stadi is preferable, ideas, suggestions and further advice gratefully received.

Lappeenranta has about right distance, but here the Russians have inflated the prices.

[kharnynb]

he's going to have to go about an hour north of mikkeli for anything more than a shack on a small lake if he wants something affordable.

Haukivuori is about similar in time traveled than juva. near 3 hours in normal winter weather.

The big difference is, around haukivuori you will get something decent for the same price as near juva, but it will be on a worse location/lake.

Further east than that will be hard, since that is either savonlinna(very expensive) or too near the russian border crossings.

Basically you are looking in the strip between päjiänne(very very expensive) and saimaa(expensive in certain areas).

[Upphew]

Basically you are looking in the strip between päjiänne(very very expensive) and saimaa(expensive in certain areas).

That is why I would look at smaller lakes. And see the lake during summer that it isn't growing too much stuff.

[foca]

Remember one thing - building is always cheaper than buying a preowned property ( we are talking of comparable properties , of course). so if you have time - consider building a cottage, you may safe up to 20 percent. we bought a small cottage in Mikkeli then we added some land to the original land plot and built another house connecting it with the initial. there maybe some shortcomings with local building crews , but they are mostly quite trustworthy. of course while buying a land plot make sure that you understand everything about construction permits , electricity access and local regulation concerning sewage systems (for example in our case we had to construct a "two way system" , so drains leafing from toilet and showers/kitchen are separated and treated differently).
Usually it is not very hard to build - just get in touch with local Kontio, Honka eptc. rep and talk it over with him. of course in these areas you may have a language problem.....

[kharnynb]

Hmm, usually i've seen that building new is much more expensive than buying older properties.

Of course, you do get a new place, without much of the trouble that an older place can have.

New build do have a bad tendency to get more expensive than you thought, unless you are very handy yourself.

[Bavarian]

Mr. MagicJ Builds His Dream Mökki

[Karhunkoski]

Hmm, usually i've seen that building new is much more expensive than buying older properties.

Me too. Depends if MagicJ does the hard graft himself, in which case it can be cheaper.

I would second the suggestion of not building 4 hours drive away. It makes it less attractive to travel on a Friday evening, especially early/late season, when you'll arrive when it's getting dark. Also if there's a problem, maybe a storm, it's nice to be able to drop by to check everything is ok.

Agree you get less for your money in the south, but that's part of the sacrifice of living there. Better a shed that you can be bothered to visit, than a palace 4 hours drive away.......

[tuulen]

Better a shed that you can be bothered to visit, than a palace 4 hours drive away.......

A 4 hour drive? Ha! First I fly from USA to Helsinki by Finnair, then I get train to Rovaniemi, then I get train to Kemijärvi and then I go farther north. And I do all of that to have access to some of the finest fishing on all of planet Earth!

1) catch fish, 2) make campfire, and 3) eat cooked fish ... And as landowner I have legal right to make campfire.

So, MagicJ, what do you REALLY want to do?

[tuulen]

… (Oops, I clicked on the wrong button!)

[MagicJ]

Well i'd love to just splash the cash and buy a 'ready to go' mökki like i posted, but i'm more likely to want something a little closer to H'ki than 3-4hr driving. So think a more basic offering which is closer to home that we can add to and develop over the coming years (decking, boat hut, outhouses etc etc.) seems more sensible. Of course it depends on the market and what becomes available but the essentials are:

Mökki (big enough for a family)
Lakeside sauna + own beach (natch)
Electricity (just to save the expense of hooking up)
2-3hrs from town

[simon]

Heinola ?

The inlaws are there and it takes about 1.3 hours door to door.

[tuulen]

Mökki (big enough for a family)

That all depends on what you consider to be "big enough" for a family. In survival mode, for instance, a 20 m^2 mökki with an upper floor sleeping loft (parvi) and with a ground floor kitchen could do, and that would be very economical.

Lakeside sauna + own beach (natch)

Years ago a sauna could be built right on the side of a lake, but the laws have more recently changed. Today a sauna could be required to be set back from the water by something like 20 or 30 meters.

Electricity (just to save the expense of hooking up)

From any existing power line, extending electrical service costs about 10.000 euro per kilometer of extension.

[Karhunkoski]

Mökki (big enough for a family)

That all depends on what you consider to be "big enough" for a family. In survival mode, for instance, a 20 m^2 mökki with an upper floor sleeping loft (parvi) and with a ground floor kitchen could do, and that would be very economical.

Jesus, in "survival mode" a 5m2 hut would be considered a luxury. My guess is that MagicJ is not interested in just "survival mode". This is a recreational purchase for a "family", generally taken to be "2+2 or 3", plus space for occasional guests on the floor.

Lakeside sauna + own beach (natch)

Years ago a sauna could be built right on the side of a lake, but the laws have more recently changed. Today a sauna could be required to be set back from the water by something like 20 or 30 meters.

Of course you've read what MagicJ wrote earlier?

We just want our own lake front with a sauna (old rules re close to lake)

[tuulen]

My guess is that MagicJ is not interested in just "survival mode".

That is your guess. But a 20 m^2 mökki could support several people, not big but big enough. MagicJ did mention that cost is a consideration, and that his mökki could be a recreational home and not a primary home.

Besides, survival mode is what I do. I use a tent with plenty of mosquito netting, and Finland lets me stay as a tourist.

Of course you've read what MagicJ wrote earlier?

We just want our own lake front with a sauna (old rules re close to lake)

The question is if an old sauna becomes rotted out and needs to be rebuilt then can it be rebuilt at the same lakeside location, or could such a total rebuild be subject to the new laws, meaning that a new sauna could need to be placed back further from the water? For instance, I own land in Kemijärvi municipality and in Savukoski municipality, and, of the two of them, the land use laws are not the same. Each municipality tells its own laws.