General Landing Page - Living On Lake Lanier

About Living On Lake Lanier

We Sell Lifestyles—Not Just Homes

20+

Years of Experience

$350M +

Sold

1,100

Families’ Lives Changed

200+

5-Star Reviews

FINDING THE PERFECT LIFESTYLE AND HOME

Why Us

With over $300 Million dollars in total sales, the Living on Lake Lanier team has been changing lives on the lake for almost two decades. Our motto is ‘We Sell Lifestyles ~ Not Just Homes’ and value relationships over transactions. Our team has a gift for matching remarkable homes with remarkable people and are committed to meeting each client’s needs. You may have seen us working our Living on Lake Lanier magic on HGTV’s Lakefront Bargain Hunt! Let us put our expertise to work for you and your real estate goals.

Fun fact! While we consider Lake Lanier and the surrounding cities (Cumming, Dawsonville, Gainesville, Oakwood, Flowery Branch and Buford) our “niche,” we also service the following cities: Milton, Alpharetta, Roswell, Canton, Johns Creek, Sugar Hill, Suwanee and Braselton. Don’t see your city? Reach out and we’d love to connect you with a trusted agent in the area you’re interested in buying or selling!

Meet the Living On Lake Lanier Team

Teresa Smith

770.654.4173 | [email protected]

Get to Know Teresa

Teresa has been a resident of Lake Lanier since 2004. She started her business in real estate on Lake Lanier when her family moved to Flowery Branch in 2000. Her cousins had rental cabins on Lake Lanier and together they started a boat rental business. She fell in love with Lake Lanier and decided that selling property and changing people’s lives on the lake was her true passion. Throughout the years, Teresa and her team have changed countless family’s lives on the lake. Her team has a great working relationship with the Army Corp of Engineers who control dock permits and the entire shoreline around the 692 miles of the lake. She considers herself very blessed to live on the lake and has always said that living on Lake Lanier is like being on vacation every day. Teresa grew up in Dallas, TX, and attended the University of Arkansas where she graduated with a degree in Marketing and Fashion Merchandising. In addition to her family and career, she enjoys boating, cooking, traveling, and volunteering with the Lake Lanier Association.

Michele Kaplan

678.677.5653 | [email protected]

Get to Know Michele

Michele is originally from Central Ohio. Her early 14-year career was with a national labor and employment law firm working in administration and as a Human Resources Manager in Atlanta, Georgia and Dallas, Texas. In 2004, she relocated to the Lake Lanier area and eventually decided to pursue her long-time passion of helping others by changing their lives through real estate focusing on Lake Lanier properties and the surrounding areas. Michele understands the process of buying and selling a home can be very stressful, and she works diligently to make the process as seamless as possible, keeping in constant contact with her clients every step of the way. Her clients will tell you she is the ideal agent because of her incredible determination and work ethic, strong attention to detail and vast market knowledge. Michele has two wonderful teenagers and they love living near the lake, boating, visiting Lake Lanier Islands and exploring the North Georgia Mountains.

Mackenzie Scott

678.925.2652 | [email protected]

Get to Know Mackenzie

Mackenzie is an Alpharetta, Georgia native who considers Lake Lanier her second home. She grew up swimming, boating, skiing and tubing on the lake while spending time at her family’s lake house. She earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in Communications from Lee University and enjoys applying it along with her marketing expertise to the world of real estate. Mackenzie is the social media guru of the team and makes sure your home gets in front of the right audience at the right time to obtain maximum exposure. She is a licensed agent as of August 2019 and provides exceptional service and market knowledge with an energy that will make you smile! In her spare time, you can find her boating on the lake with her husband, learning a new skill or DIY project, cheering on the Georgia Bulldogs or enjoying the beautiful North Georgia Mountains. Mackenzie, along with the Living on Lake Lanier team, would appreciate the opportunity to assist you with all of your real estate needs.

Lisa Mitchell

513.383.8926 | [email protected]

Get to Know Lisa

Lisa moved to North Georgia in 2007 and has lived near Lake Lanier ever since. Lisa and her husband love spending time boating with friends and family enjoying all the lake has to offer. Her real estate career began with rental and personal investment properties where she gained tons of knowledge and fell in love with the industry. Lisa is a licensed agent and is known for her keen eye for detail and organizational skills. She ensures your home buying or selling process from contract to close goes as smoothly and stress free as possible!

Get Started Today

Testimonials

"Working with Teresa Smith and Mackenzie Scott to sell our lake home was a most pleasurable experience! Their experience and expertise, coupled with their positivity, turned a potentially stressful experience into one that kept everyone moving forward comfortably. The end result was a sale with both the buyer and us thrilled. Teresa and Mackenzie have earned our highest recommendation!"

"We can not say enough good things about Teresa Smith and her team. Having lived in our home over 30yrs, she went above and beyond to help us prepare our home to look its best. She worked with us extensively using her many resources and contacts to make this happen. She made us feel like we were her only client and always just a phone call away any time we needed her. She is so easy to work with, always listening and accommodating to our needs. We owe her a lot for helping us keep our sanity through what was a very stressful time for us. We highly, highly recommend her!!"

"We worked with Mackenzie and Teresa to find our new lake home on Lanier. Mackenzie was our main point of contact and she is a true gem. She goes above and beyond, and is always on top of things. She is persistent, responsive, and really advocated for us to get our home amid other competing offers. We couldn’t have found our new home without her. Teresa and the whole Living on Lake Lanier team was behind us too. They know the lake, and have long standing connections that give them an edge. Highly recommended!!!"

"Michele was absolutely fantastic in helping us find our weekend getaway lakehouse. We toured multiple properties and she was very helpful in leading us down the right track when we weren’t even sure what we really wanted. She is crazy knowledgeable and made the buying process as smooth as can be. She has lots of contacts and helped lineup multiple inspections to ensure that what we were buying was of good quality and value. She truly had our best interest in mind throughout the entire process. There were some difficult decisions to be made and she helped us through all of them. I would definitely recommend Michele to anyone that’s looking to purchase a home on Lake Lanier."

"Michele is a rockstar. She helped us look for our dream house for nearly two years. We looked at roughly 15 different houses throughout the entire process and she was there every time. Once the house we dreamed about was finally available Michele was there negotiating with the sellers every step of the way. Not only was Michele a 5-star agent but she became a family friend. Michele knew my parents and sister by their first name, that is how personable she was with us. If you are looking for your dream home I highly recommend you use Michele to help you with the process. If anybody I know is looking for a lake house I can guarantee they will be using Michele."

"Mackenzie was amazing, she was patient with me through the process and she worked diligently on my behalf. She is so personable, helpful and delightful to work with. I cannot recommend her enough!! Not all realtors are created equal and I'm so grateful to have found her, and the team she works with... I won't do real estate without her in the future! Honestly the best!"

"When it came time to find our forever home on Lake Lanier, we gave Teresa Smith our 'must have' checklist. Through her extensive knowledge of the lake, she found us The One. It’s been a delightful experience working with her from beginning to end. And the best part is, any time we need any work done, she “knows a guy” and is happy to share contact info. Teresa is the BEST!"

Living On Lake Lanier Real Estate

5.0

Based on 62 reviews

review us on

Mia Van Wagenen

15:42 20 Nov 24

I love the high quality of service and knowledge Teresa and her team provided. She understood exactly what we needed when looking for a lake home and showed us the right homes in the right price range.

Davis Adams

15:46 13 Nov 24

Teresa, Mackenzie and team are THE experts on Lake Lanier real estate. We've now purchased 2 homes, sold 1, and referred several friends to them--the attention to detail, local knowledge and deep understanding of lake real estate (which go far beyond just the house) is just fantastic. 10/10, would recommend--you're going to miss something if you buy a house without them.

Dennis Greenwood

20:12 21 Aug 24

Teresa sold our house for more than we thought we would get. She did this not only with her top notch professional social media resources but with fantastic negotiating skills. She has a calmness demeanor with true expertise on lake Lanier. We interviewed several realtors and cannot be more satisfied with choosing Teresa Smith!

Parker Sykes

20:48 30 Jul 24

Teresa Smith accepted my listing on a lake property that really wasn’t in marketable condition. I was selling the property as part of an estate and I live in a different state. Teresa was extremely patient and helpful in lining up contractors as required over several months to improve the property and present it in the best possible light possible.I can’t imagine anyone more professional, patient, courteous, and professional than Teresa. When we were able to get an acceptable offer she served as my power of attorney at closing gratis so I wouldn’t have to travel to Gainesville.From start to finish over a number of months Teresa persisted and assisted. I can’t recommend her and her team more highly.

Sherry F

19:39 26 Jul 24

We can not say enough good things about Teresa Smith and her team. Having lived in our home over 30yrs, she went above and beyond to help us prepare our home look it’s best. She worked with us extensively using her many resources and contacts to make this happen. She made us feel like we were her only client always just a phone call away any time we needed her. She is so easy to work with always listening and accommodating to our needs. We owe her a lot for helping us keep our sanity through what was a very stressful time for us. We highly, highly recommend her!!

Sally Alterman

22:26 22 Jul 24

Working with Teresa Smith and Mackenzie Scott to sell our lake home was a most pleasurable experience! Their experience and expertise, coupled with their positivity, turned a potentially stressful experience into one that kept everyone moving forward comfortably. The end result was a sale with both the buyer and us thrilled. Teresa and Mackenzie have earned our highest recommendation!

Stephanie Davis

01:17 12 Jun 24

Mackenzie and Teresa were a joy to work with! They were able to sell our home within just 5 days of it hitting the market and at full asking price! They’ve got a great team as well who really knows how to professionally photograph and market the home. Would definitely recommend them for anyone looking for an agent to help buy/sell a home!

Anne’s Outside

21:30 04 May 24

Teresa was absolutely phenomenal to partner in the process of selling our home in a lake community. She understood the market for lake homes and communities. Teresa spent time coaching us from staging to preparing our home to be on the market and it sold quickly due to her experience in home sales. She kept us informed on any showings communicating with us regularly. When we received multiple offers she was on top of all the negotiations for us. If you are looking for a realtor either to buy or sell a home, Teresa Smith is your go to realtor.

John Burrafato

16:44 06 Dec 21

I am a BIG Teresa Smith advocate and I highly recommend her as your Real Estate Agent if you are looking for a home on/near Lake Lanier. Not only is she intimately knowledgeable of the lake and neighborhoods, but she also has a reliable network of professionals to help make an informed decision (Contractors, Architects, Core Rangers, etc). Teresa helped us find our new home in Flowery Branch after an exhaustive search in a very difficult pandemic market. She then turn around and sold our existing home at our asking price before it was even listed. Always patient, no pressure, and extremely thorough and responsive.

Steven Walker

14:52 06 Dec 21

Teresa and her team were absolute professionals and absolutely "in our corner" as sellers. Teresa and her team were great about protecting our time and energy throughout the processes of selling our home - from scheduling the pictures, throughout the showings, and then when negotiating with the buyers. Even though I'm sure Teresa and her team had multiple clients while she worked with us, she made us feel as though we were her only concern - she was responsive to our calls, questions, and concerns - always providing timely and thoughtful responses. Truthfully, I'm glad she was on our "side" because she's a, tenacious, formidable agent that made us feel as though she would've gone into "battle" on our behalf. It's rare to experience this type of customer care any more these days...as such it was a please to work with Teresa and her team.

Tate Smith

19:50 07 Sep 21

My fiance and I were first time home buyers in the craziest market in history, and we couldn't have bought that first home without Mackenzie there to navigate us through the process. She was a joy to work with, as professional as they come, and one of the hardest working people we've ever met. We highly recommend working with Mackenzie if you are looking to buy or sell! You really will feel like a priority throughout the entire process. I am happy to say my fiance and I closed on a home in July, and we have Mackenzie and KW team to thank for that!

Catherine Cofer

23:06 06 Sep 21

Mackenzie was the absolute best - from initial conversations through to closing I could not have asked for a better realtor! She understood what I was looking for in my first home, sought options that matched my desires / needs, and was so flexible and encouraging throughout the whole process. She was professional and great at what she does - within a few weeks of us looking, she was able to find a home that fit all of my criteria, before it even went on the market!! I was able to put an offer in at listing price, with such a smooth due diligence / closing process. She was knowledge in negotiations, question and conversations throughout the buying / closing process. I would recommend Mackenzie to any and everyone - I am so grateful for her partnership and look forward to working with her again in the future!

Jacky Walker

17:34 04 Sep 21

My husband and I recently sold our home with Michele who did an absolutely amazing job! ALL the details she put into my listing were top notch, from the suggestions to get my home ready, to the pictures that were taken and even the personal attention she gave us. Anytime I needed ANYTHING she was there for my family. There’s no other realtor I will ever use. Michele is not only my realtor but will be a friend for life!

Zillow Reviews

  Teresa and her team are absolutely phenomenal and we've now purchased 2 homes, sold one, and referred several friends to these wonderful ladies. They are beyond knowledgeable about Lake Lanier... Read more

davismadams

  Michele was absolutely fantastic in helping us find our weekend getaway lakehouse. We toured multiple properties and she was very helpful in leading us down the right track when we... Read more

user91396248

  Teresa Smith and Mackenzie Scott are the consummate professional real estate agents. From our first conversation to the closing, these ladies were making certain that all the details were... Read more

sallyalterman

  Teresa and Mackenzie and the Living on Lake Lanier team were incredible to work with! They were all extremely professional and had wonderful communication throughout the entire process. I appreciated... Read more

steffip5

  Mackenzie was great to work with. I would recommend her to anyone and hope to work with her again the future. She was incredibly knowledgeable of the market, considerations of... Read more

user746290

  Mackenzie and Teresa are wonderful! They’re a great team to work. Mackenzie is light hearted and bubbly and Teresa is sweet and gets the job done. Teresa even... Read more

justinslgg3

  Buying our first home was such a breeze with the help of Mackenzie! She was always available to answer any questions we had along the process. She is very knowledgeable,... Read more

SaraiRicardo

  This was the second time purchasing a home with Michele at the helm. And I will recommend her to everyone for all the right reasons: 1: Her extensive knowledge... Read more

marzanneza

  We worked with Mackenzie and Theresa to find our new lake home on Lanier. Mackenzie was our main point of contact and she is a true gem. She goes above... Read more

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