Pond Boss Forums POND CONSTRUCTION Selecting a site 12 acre lake 1 1/2 NE of Dallas for sale $110k

I came across this site about six months ago, and the posts have been very helpful to me in my search for some waterfront land in E Texas. I came across a property for sale this weekend, and while it isn't quite right for me thought it might be perfect for someone out there.

44 acres with 12 acre lake (lake is supposedly 34 years old), asking $110K, located in Honey Grove, Tx which is about 1 1/2 hour northeast of Dallas. Property was very pretty - wooded in the front, opens up around the lake, and the lake looked reasonably deep based upon the limited growth around the edge. Some standing timber in the shallow end. All in all a pretty good find. I don't know anything about the depth of the lake, what it is stocked with (if anything) - the location didn't quite work for me so I didn't explore those questions further - but it's pretty hard to find an existing lake that big at that price.

If anyone is interested you can visit realtor.com and type in MLS 10299618. No pictures but I'd be happy to email some that I took with my digital camera. Also there's another adjoining property for sale with 17 acres that does have photos (not of the lake of course, but gives you an idea of the countryside) - MLS 10291016.

Hope that helps someone out. I've got a lot of info on it (probably more than the realtor) so feel free to ask. Again, I'm not a realtor and have nothing to gain from this - just trying to share some info.

Jason

This is always the biggest issue. The lake is shared with an adjoining land owner. Also I find that when some one says a lake is 10 or 12 acres or what ever size. You find the lake is usually about half that size....

If this were 12 acre lake on the WHOLE 44 acres and not shared. It would be a GOLD mine!!
I have been looking around the state of GA for YEARS!!! Almost 7 years to be exact and have NEVER! found a large lake on a small piece of property for sale..at least in the state of GA...It does not exsist!!!!

That's a good question, and I should have addressed it. Yes, the lake is WHOLLY located on the property. At one point it comes very close to the adjoining property, but it does not cross over. As for it being 12 acres....without measuring it who knows - I personally thought it looked more like 9-10 acres, but it's not any smaller than that. Still much bigger than the 1-3 acre 'ponds' I generally come across.

I thought it was a great deal, but I've found another property that's closer to my family that I'm placing an offer on today. Again, if anyone wants terra server coordinates, aerial photos, photos of the lake etc just let me know.

That is one HECK of a deal!!!! I wish I could find something like that around GA. Land goes up almost 30% a year!!
You will never find a deal like that here in Georgia!!! NEVER!!!!!!!
Some of you guys in Texas needs to jump on this!!!!!

I would love to look at it but I have more land than $. And then there would be the cost of the divorce lawyer. I'm thinking about it.

Aerial photo link -

http://www.terraserver.microsoft.com/ima...y+grove%7ctx%7c

Heck, it'd almost cost that to have a lake that big built, much less the additional acres to own. If that were located near me I'd have to take some serious considerations. This seller must not understand how much value a lake like that adds to property. Maybe land is cheaper in Texas, but 44 acres around here would could "almost" cost that much without the lake.

If that place was an hour and a half from my house, I would have already seen it by now after having read Dallas Jason's original post earlier today around lunch. I would have called off work for the rest of the afternoon.

I would have probably put down an option agreement on it to give me some time to investigate it.

Sometimes, when you see something like that, you have to lock it up so you have time to check it out.

This is hard for me to accept, but a person just told me last night that ponds are "a wash" from an appraisal standpoint. Generally speaking, they don't add or subtract from the value of the land. Speaking as someone who just built a nice one, plans to build more, and has noticed that a lot of people tend to build around them; I question that a bit. But I do realize that a lot of people aren't as fascinated with "mosquito magnets" and "dangerous areas for kids" as I am and most members of this forum probably are.

Ranger,

I've had a couple real estate agents and 2 appraisers tell me the same thing about both ponds and swimming pools. A lot of people just don't care for water and consider it a nusance.

As an example the guy I bought my place from lived here for 4 years and had been back to "see" the pond twice during that time. He had no idea if there were any fish in it or how deep it was.
He said the neighbor could answer any questions about the pond.

I guess some people need to get out of the city more.......... On second thought, things are fine just the way they are, don't need any more people out in the country.

Dan

You also have to consider the seller's mindset.

If they are not into ponds/water, they will not see an existing pond/water as any reason to charge more for the given piece of land.

Not speaking for everyone here, but if any of us were trying to sell our land w/ pond, we would be factoring in the "value" of our pond in the sale price, and more importantly, be looking for a buyer with similar interests.

I talked to a guy who has some experience with land in that area. He said $1,000 acre land isn't hard to find and everyone has ponds.

Agreed (as I used to live in Oklahoma), in a simplified way. And Oklahoma still has homesteads, free land, yeah free until you add the costs up. But this could be seriously overpriced.

I do believe Dallas Jason to be sincere but deciding to buy a piece of land by an advertisment is foolhardy.

Well, I think the truth lies in between the various posts above....I looked at approximately 100 properties before buying one, and they ranged from $3K to $6K an acre in this particular part of Texas, for a lot 20-100 acres big (smaller lots are more per acre, larger ones less...). This property struck me as a good deal - not an unbelievable deal necessarily - but the reason I left the post was the difficulty in finding this much water wholly located on a piece of property. I'm like you guys - I place a premium on that kind of lake - and I just didn't find many in my search.

In any case, the post is now academic - I'm told that the property is since off the market.

According to LandOwner newsletter, land values have been increasing dramatically over the U.S. I've seen that in my area too. I bid up to $1,740 per acre on some nearby land (sold for $1,750) that was appraised two weeks before for around $1,100 and could probably sell now (three or four years later?) for around $3,000 per acre.

It is just a few page newsletter that focuses on property values, but you can get more information about the newsletter at the following link.

http://www.agweb.com/profarmer.asp?sigcat=profarmer

I'm quite familar with the Honey Grove area
since I have property about 15 miles from there.
I don't know of any $1000 per acre property with
a sizable pond in the area. Two current listings
in a local paper has a 37 acre tract of open
pasture at $95,000 and a 65 acre tract with
some improvements listed at $250,000. Four years
ago, some properties were selling below $1000
per acre, but of cource, land values have been
increasing.