I just got finished introducing myself as an about-to-be pond owner a few days ago, and now the deal has gone "tango uniform" as the saying goes.

It was the dam that did it. Pre-purchase inspection today revealed erosion and possible seepage around the overflow outlet. Then there were the trees. I was armed with knowledge from here and elsewhere on the 'net about the danger of allowing trees and other woody plants on earthen dams, and this one had plenty of everything, long past the "scrape it off and put new sod on" stage. There were pine trees more than a foot in diameter all over the back side, plus a few more on the front side by the water.

This afternoon I told the realtor I am withdrawing my offer. * sigh * I thought my years-long search for the pond of my dreams was over. Nope: it goes on.

Just a thought, if you really love the property there might still be options, especially if the property has been on the market for a while and the sellers are anxious to sell.

Can you either reduce your offer by the amount it will take to restore the dam, or keep the offer the same with a contingency that the dam be restored to you satisfaction?

So sorry to hear that, Dan. If you really like the property, you might consider taking Bill's advice. After all, you already know that it holds water even with a substandard dam, so you can be pretty sure the soil is okay and there are no really bad leaks.

Several times I felt like giving up the search due to setbacks such as you had. A couple of murders in the neighborhood; a dishonest realtor who jacked the price up 30 percent at the last moment; noise from the interstate (we missed this on our first visit due to wind, second visit was on a calm day); fracking (awesome spot but working rig right next to where the dam would be, substantial danger of pollution); etc, etc.

I guess I'm saying that the right situation is hard to come by. If this place is right except for the dam, you might want to see if you can make a deal that satisfies your concerns. Just my two cents after six years of searching!

No place is perfect, And the option to repair the existing dam is sure worth thinking about,

Thanks for the replies. I'm waiting to see if the the seller comes back with some kind of counter.

How much of a discount would y'all want to have for a comfortable amount of money to fix this dam? It's about 330' wide, maybe 25' (?) high on the backside at the outlet point. It's 100' from the county road to the north end of the dam; access looks fairly easy for equipment.

Having never built or refurbished a dam, I would explain the situation to a reputable contractor, that I would probably want to have do the work, and ask him to give me give a quote.