I’m David Knapp with Stillwaters Realty Group at Keller Williams Auburn-Opelika, and I get one question more than almost any other: “Oh — Stillwaters. So you sell on Lake Martin?”
The short answer is: yes, absolutely.
I recorded this one standing inside StillWaters, a gated community on Lake Martin in Dadeville, Alabama — a place I’ve done a lot of work in over the years. But the name on our sign didn’t come from the lake. It came from something a little quieter, and there’s a story worth telling. There’s also a real reason 2026 is a milestone year out here, and a couple of updates for anyone watching this market. Let me walk you through all of it.
Does Stillwaters Realty Group sell on Lake Martin?
Yes. Lake Martin sits inside the footprint we serve every week — Dadeville, Alexander City, and the surrounding Tallapoosa County shoreline are part of our market alongside Auburn, Opelika, and Phenix City. Lake homes are their own animal. Waterfront pricing doesn’t move like it does three miles inland; a view, a slope to the water, a pier, the depth off the dock, and the difference between “on the water” and “water access” all change the number in ways that trip up buyers and sellers who price off national headlines. If you’re buying or selling on Lake Martin, you want someone who works this water on purpose — not someone who dabbles in it twice a year.
Where did the name “Stillwaters” come from?
Here’s the part people don’t expect.
When I was praying about what to name the group and how to build our branding, I wasn’t at StillWaters at all. I was sitting by a creek on my own property, meditating on Psalm 23 — “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He leads me beside the still waters. He restores my soul.” That’s when the name came to me. Still waters.
That verse is the whole idea, and it’s how I want a transaction to feel from the client’s side of the table. Buying or selling a home is one of the most stressful things you’ll ever do — right up there with weddings and funerals. My job is to be the calm in it. To lead people beside still water instead of dropping them into the rapids. The name isn’t decoration. It’s the standard.
What is StillWaters, the community on Lake Martin?
StillWaters is a separate organization — a gated residential community on Lake Martin in Dadeville. Stillwaters Realty Group is not affiliated with it. The names come from two different places: theirs from the lake, ours from Psalm 23.
And because I care about doing things the right way, that overlap is exactly why I didn’t just start using the name. Before I locked in “Stillwaters Realty Group,” I did my homework. I researched teams, brokerages, and real estate names across Alabama and Georgia and didn’t find another one using it. Then I went a step further. I drove out to StillWaters and met with the director at the time, Kevin Eason, at his office right there in the neighborhood. I told him how I got into real estate and what the vision for the team was, and I asked him plainly whether our name would create any conflict of interest with the community.
He gave it his full blessing. He told me there are all kinds of ancillary businesses around the lake that carry the StillWaters name with no affiliation and no problem. Kevin has since retired, but I’ve never forgotten that conversation. That’s how the name became ours — earned, checked, and blessed, not just grabbed.
That attention to detail is the same reason I go over every one of our listings line by line. Wrong unit count, three-year-old photos on a property that’s changed, a description that’s cryptic or slightly off — I’ve seen all of it on other people’s listings, and I won’t put my name on it.
Where is Lake Martin and Dadeville, Alabama?
Lake Martin is a roughly 44,000-acre reservoir in east-central Alabama, anchored by Dadeville in Tallapoosa County and Alexander City nearby. It’s one of the largest man-made lakes in the state and a genuine destination — clear water, deep coves, and shoreline that ranges from full-time residences to weekend places to raw land waiting on the right buyer. For our market, it’s the waterfront lane that sits just north of the Auburn-Opelika core, and it draws a different buyer: second-home owners, retirees, investors, and families who want the lake to be the reason they come home.
What is an off-market (pocket) listing — and what’s available at StillWaters right now?
An off-market listing — sometimes called a pocket listing — is a property that’s for sale but not publicly listed on the MLS. You only find out about it through the agent who’s holding it. Buyers like off-market deals because there’s less competition; sellers sometimes prefer them for privacy or to test the market quietly.
Right now I’m holding off-market opportunities inside StillWaters. The one I’ll describe here is a fix-and-flip: off-water, on a little bit of land in a peaceful nook of the community. It needs a lot of work — I won’t pretend otherwise — but the entry point is very good, and there’s money to be made whether you’re looking at a fix-and-flip, a buy-and-hold for short- or long-term rental, or a primary residence you bring back to life. If that’s your kind of project, or you just want to know what else I’m sitting on off-market out here, the move is to message me directly. Off-market means exactly that — you have to ask.
Why does 2026 matter on Lake Martin?
Because two anniversaries land in the same year, and I don’t think that’s happened before.
2026 is the 250th anniversary of our nation — the whole country marking a quarter-millennium this July 4th. It’s also the 100th anniversary of Lake Martin. The lake turns 100 this year. A century of this water, this shoreline, these communities. For anybody who loves this place, that’s not a small thing — it’s the kind of milestone that makes a good year to plant a flag here, whether that’s a lake home you’ve been circling for a decade or an investment you’ve been waiting to time right.
How do I buy or sell a home on Lake Martin?
Start with someone who actually works this water. Ask what they know about waterfront pricing versus inland, how they’d market a lake property, and whether they’ve got the off-market channels that never hit the MLS. Then make sure you feel comfortable with them — because there are a lot of moving parts on a lake deal, and you want a calm hand on all of them.
If that’s the kind of help you’re after on Lake Martin, in Dadeville, or anywhere across the Auburn-Opelika area, I’d be glad to talk. Reach me, David Knapp, at Stillwaters Realty Group at Keller Williams Auburn-Opelika — 334-750-1700, davidknapp@kw.com, or stillwatersrealtygroup.com.
Have a blessed day.
Stillwaters Realty Group at Keller Williams Auburn-Opelika · 1747 Ogletree Rd Suite C, Auburn, AL 36830. Each KW brokerage is individually owned and operated.