What would you do if you had a choice??

Get land and build a pond or Live on the lake with your own dock????

I would get land and build a pond. It may end up being smaller in size than the lake, but the accomplishment will feel huge.

BE a big fish in a small pond; GROW big fish in a small pond.

Polish lake frontage. You can't beat the price and you own every inch of it.

I went through the same thing when I decided to move here. I never had the option where I'm from, so the idea of living on a lake in a nice house and my own dock had allot of appeal to me. I looked at quite a few homes and never found the one that I wanted to buy. I also love to hunt and enjoy the outdoors. Owning land was another desire of mine that I never thought was possible where I'm from. California was just too expensive for me, and where I could afford to buy, it was too far from my job, or a place where I could get a job to afford to pay for the land. In the end, I bought as much land as I could afford, built a small home on it and two ponds. When I was looking, my goal was to just find a place to live that I would be happy coming home to at the end of a days work. As the process went forward, that changed and I got the idea that I could develop the land into a business, which is my long term goal. Until then, I work the land , fish and swim in my ponds, hike my trails and hunt in my woods. It's all here and there's no need to go anywhere else. Living on a lake still has some appeal to me, but in reality, I couldn't afford enough land on a big lake to really feel comfortable. I hate loud noise and get annoyed at those who have loud boats. Especially when they feel the need to show off at all hours. My water skiing days are behind me and I enjoy seeing others fish more then actually fishing myself. On Sunday, my Father In Law brought out the new Youth Paster and his wife to my place to go fishing. She had never been fishing before, so when she caught her very first fish, that was a thrill for her and also for the rest of us. She caught 13 fish, all bluegills, and had a great time. Her husband, the Youth Pastor didn't catch a single fish, but ended up swimming in my big pond with his Lab and my Brother in Law. One of the Youth came along and also caught quite a few bluegill and one 4 pound channel cat. It was the biggest fish he'd ever caught and a new pond record. To me, this is what it's all about and I don't think would be possible if I lived on one of our local lakes for the simple reason that the day before, they went out on my Father in Laws pontoon boat to fish Lake Palestine. A 26,000 acre lake that he's fished his whole life. He knows the lake pretty good, but couldn't catch a fish to save his life that day. They had a nice day, but it wasn't anything compared to the day they had out here.

With your own land, you can make it any way that you want. There are more options, but also more work. It's a full time job just keeping the place looking like I want it, plus doing all the things to it that I still want to do. If you want to relax and spend your time fishing, then living on the lake would be better. If you like to do things to the land, make changes, build stuff and stay active, then owning the land is the way to go.

Good luck,
Eddie

There is something really special in having someone catch their first fish in your pond, isn't there?

Build my on pond..........in the process now...

I have done both. I personally would prefer land (at least 15 acres) and a good sized pond (5 or more acres). It's largely a matter of control and privacy for me.

HOWEVER, if you don't plan to keep your property for a very long time, it probably makes more sense to go with the lake lot. Typically, it's a much better investment in the shorter term.

I purchased a lake lot about 3 years ago. It was on a popular lake about an hour north of our home in Kansas City. My parents live on the lake, and we used to spend just about every weekend at their place during the summer. It's a great community, and a great place to relax and enjoy a few beers. One day the guy who owned the lot next to my parents asked if we'd be interested in buying it. Absolutely! It just seemed like the perfect situation. I planned to build a cabin on it and use it as a weekender. We decided to wait a couple of years to build though, as my business I co-own was really just starting to get off the ground. Glad we waited... because after the excitement of the purchase wore off a little, my wife and I started talking about what we REALLY wanted in a vacation property. I really wanted to have a full-time HOME on a pond or lake, but it needed to be closer to work than the current lake lot. My wife wanted space for some farm animals, orchard, garden and so forth... But didn't want to have to travel to it every day to take care of all the animals and the garden (I wanted all that stuff too, but FISHING was far more important... hehe). In other words, we didn't want a vacation property at all. We wanted a home in the country, without the country commute... and it had to have a fishing hole or the topography to build one. So, I posted my lake lot for sale by owner and started looking for a new piece of property; one not easily found in this area mind you. I lucked out after about a year and a half of searching. I found a neat piece of property (50 or so acres) with a big pond (about 12 acres) already on it that was only about 25 minutes from my work. Just about the same time, I sold the lake lot (for a very nice profit). Now, I plan to begin building a full-time "dream" home at the new place this summer... as soon as I can sell my house in the 'burbs that is.

I have to vote for getting your own pond.

Stocking and managment costs money, and while we're all generous people here on the forum, I wouldn't want to have to go to committee to decide what everyone wants or what everyone can spend.

I vote for your own pond as well. With all the inconsiderate people that are on the public lakes around here, having a pond in the backyard is really nice.

But, if I wanted to ski a lot, then I'd lean towards a lake lot.

I would own the land with a pond. Privacy is priceless as far as I am concerned.

It would largely depend on the lake the land was on as compared to the size of the pond(s) and the number of acres the pond(s) were on. But there are few lakes out there I would pick over having my own pond of a good size(5+ acres) on a decent sized property (25+ acres).

I would have the private lake.

It all depends on you and how you are wired. If you are a do it yourself type of person and value privacy, opt for the private water hole.

If you're a low maintenance person, let someone else manage it and go for the lake lot.

There's nothing wrong with owning your own place and keeping a boat handy for going to the lakes.

Hard to beat planting those tiny little fish and hand feeding them and watching them grow. Seeing the nature that moves in as the pond develops, plants, animals and bugs. The violation you feel when a fish is poached, the rewards of catching the pond best.

I have done both and each has its place, as Dave says depends on how you are wired.

The hot ticket is having the option in the first place.