Lake front property in CA, AZ or NV is hard to come by. There are not a lot of lakes in this area and the lakes we do have a usually reservoirs (that are owned by the city, county or state). If not a reservoir, then a river and I don't think you want water-front property on a river.
How about looking the other direction, like the mid-west? My uncle use to own a house on Lake of the Ozarks in Missouri. I don't know what it's like today, but back then it was a pretty sweet place. The lake was surround by homes.
~J.