When the Sellers Didn't Move Out: How Brie Stephens Saved a Closing From the Pews of a Funeral

Buying a lakefront property on Lake Winnipesaukee is one of the most exciting decisions a person can make. The views, the dock, the water access, the whole picture is deeply appealing. But Brie Stephens, Broker and Owner of Lake Life Realty at Compass, will be the first to tell you that a truly great lakefront agent does more than show you the good stuff. They walk you through the realities of what lake ownership actually looks like across all four seasons, including winter."

There are things people don't realize once they buy on Lake Winnipesaukee, if they're not educated by their agent," Brie says. And those things can come with a real cost if you're caught off guard.

One of the most overlooked responsibilities of owning a permanent dock on Lake Winnipesaukee is the need for a bubbler system, sometimes called an aquifer circulator. This device keeps water moving around the dock on a timer, which prevents ice from forming directly against the dock structure and causing damage over the course of a long New Hampshire winter.

It sounds like a minor detail. But Brie Stephens leads Lake Life Realty at Compass, the top-performing lakefront real estate team in New Hampshire's Lakes Region, and she has seen what happens when buyers are not prepared for this reality.

And the bubbler conversation does not stop at your own dock.

Here is where things get genuinely surprising for buyers who have their heart set on certain winter activities. If snowmobiling onto the lake is a priority, or ice skating, or cross-country skiing from your back yard out onto the ice, you need to know what kind of dock setup your neighbors have before you buy.

A neighbor's bubbler system keeps water circulating, and that circulation prevents ice from forming not just around their dock but potentially in front of your property as well. Depending on placement and water flow, a neighboring bubbler could mean the ice in front of your home never forms thickly enough to be safe for winter recreation.

"If that's a huge sticking point for you," Brie explains, "your agent should know that and understand it when you're looking for properties."

This is exactly the kind of hyper-local, lake-specific knowledge that separates a transactional agent from a true lakefront specialist. Lake Life Realty specializes in luxury waterfront properties on Lake Winnipesaukee and throughout the NH Lakes Region, and that specialization means understanding how one property's infrastructure can affect another's usability in ways that no disclosure form is going to spell out for you.

Beyond the bubbler question, Brie walks buyers through a broader set of seasonal responsibilities. If the property has an irrigation system, those lines need to be blown out before the ground freezes or the pipes will crack. It is a straightforward task, but buyers unfamiliar with cold-weather property ownership often do not know to ask about it.

Seasonal docks present their own set of requirements. If the dock is not a permanent structure, it needs to come out of the water before winter. That might mean disassembling it in sections and stacking it on shore, or it might mean using a crank system to lift it above the waterline. Either way, it is a task that needs to happen on a schedule, and it is the kind of thing buyers should understand before they close.

Brie Stephens was named to NAR's 30 Under 30 and has closed over $128 million in lakefront property sales, and that volume reflects something real: buyers trust her because she tells them the full story, not just the parts that are easy to hear.