Texas Drought; Lake Travis Vacation Rental; GTB Management; Johnna Bohannon; VRBO 80495; lake-travis-vacation-rental.com Texas drought conditions impacts Lake Travis vacation rentals Lago Vista, Texas

For those of you contemplating a Lake Travis vacation rental this summer, buyer beware, lake levels are low again (see 2009 drought).

Its been almost two seasons now and several rentals later and I am still beating the drum a bit.  So far this year (Lake Level 655) is strikingly similar to the 2009 drought and has awakened my angst yet again; Im not bitter or anything!

Note: LCRA tracks the level of water in the Highland Lakes by their physical elevation, not by actual depth.

My Story: We picked a rental property for its boat dock and access; the dwelling is secondary for us as we are boaters.  The pics looked good and the price wasnt too bad either.  We were lured in; the bait was we had rented this property prior, but with a new upgraded dock and improved access, which sucked the prior year, we were hooked.  And now the rest of the story

Time line:  I asked about the lake water levels my first email response to their rental invitation, not to worry we were told the property is on a deep water cove and the local ramp is open (Lake level 652); turns out that ramp was already closed when lake level 660 had been reached.

I received no less then 5 emails up to the point where we booked in good faith and paid 1/2 down (Lake level 650), then nothing, no calls, no email follow-ups to my questions, nothing.  They took the second payment 25 days later, one month in advance of rental (lake level 645), still no communication.  I finally received my first email update, 1 DAY PRIOR to rental date (Lake level 638), only then did I get the first response to my original questions, telling me I should check the next closest boat ramp before heading to the ramp at the dam; turns out this ramp had also been closed for over a month as it is upstream from the local ramp first discussed.

We packed up and made the five-hour drive, only to arrive to a depleted shell of a lake.  We tried each ramp in succession; the only ramp open was at the dam, which is the deepest part of the lake.  The minimum safe lake level at the ramp is 640, it was already lower than that.  Folks were putting in small fishing boats at an extreme angle and rocking them off their trailers, we got ours in 1/3 of the way in before we ran out of ramp.

We then went to the property; the new dock wasnt safely accessible due to a severe drop to the bedrock.  Their own words, a bit treacherous, was an understatement, my dog wouldnt even navigate the path and I am going to drag coolers and my young children down there, yea right!  They had a dock builder barge and work boat tied up to the dock, when asked about prior rental tenants, the dock builder informed us that they had been there for the better part of a month; had I been able to get my boat in the water I would have had no place to dock it!  This was my lease, they contracted work on the property during my lease, and the leases of prior renters, they obviously didnt expect anybody to get their boat to the dock.

They approached us, they made misrepresentations and omissions from the get go and they ultimately did not deliver that which they never indented upon delivering.  They had our money and they did not care!

Dont let this be your story, skip this property/agent and any other owner/agent that is vague regarding the lake level and its impact to their property.

Lake Travis vacationers do not be deterred, there are good Lessors out there that will explain EXACTLY what the current lake conditions are and how that impacts their rental, dont be a victim, research, research, research!  For those of you I have already spoken with, good for you for doing your homework, you are far better off with the alternate recommendations offered!

I am a champion for this lake, we love it and we continue to frequent it, we just dont believe that some folks lucky enough to own property there, deserve it!