FIRST THE GOOD: I live in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mtns in South Carolina. A few years ago I bought close to 30 acres that is located a 45 minute drive from our house. On this 30 acres is a 7 acre pond that is 100% mine. No part of the pond is on any other persons property. There is also a 700 square foot cabin on the property that we completely renovated 2 years ago. 2 bedrooms, full bathroom, big kitchen, den/fireplace room and a wraparound porch. A huge plus is that the pond use to be 18 acres, but the family who owned it 30 years ago lowered the water level by choice. I have the green light to raise the water level back up if I want. Only a couple of issues to deal with to start the process of turning it back into a 15 to 18 acre lake. When we found this property, I thought my dream had come true of owning my own private pond to manage all myself.
NOW THE BAD: The pond sits in a valley surrounded by mountains. The properties connected to ours is not just vacant land, so we have neighbors that live on smaller lots and further up into the hills. A % of the people are not good. They have long track records of arrest and dealing drugs/meth, theft, etc. We even had all the wiring stolen out of our cabin before we had the chance of putting a security system on it. Then the rest of the people seem to be nice law abiding citizens.
My big problem is that both the good and the not so good people all feel as if my pond is theirs and they can do whatever they want on my property. The person I bought it from had put up a barbed wire fence around the pond part of our property with multiple nice gates and a shelter for his horses. Within a year of us buying it, we now have multiple areas where the fence has been torn down, all the big metal gates have been stolen, one guy put a horse on our property, tons of signs of 4 wheelers tearing up our land around the pond, a shed behind the cabin was broken into and anything of use was stolen and more. Every time I put up No Trespassing signs, within a couple of weeks they've all been torn down. 4 times I've gone out there and had guys in jon boats fishing in my pond. I've looked at people nicely and said they can't fish in the pond anymore or trespass. They look at me and say "my family has been living around here for generations and we've always used this pond and you can't stop us!"
So I am at a loss. My dream has become a nightmare, from these people that don't abide by the law and tell you that to your face. We've had cops come out multiple times, when we've had the cabin and shed broken into, but they have no answer. They can't be my pond security guard. I am so close to being able to own a 15 to 18 acre lake that would be 100% mine, but these people have ruined it. I would love to hear any and all feedback you might can share as to what you might think I can do. Maybe share your own similar experiences and how you've handled it. Am I fighting a losing battle and just need to look for another pond to buy?
We have just been contacted by a real estate agent that has a person from New York that wants to buy a pond property here. I know this agent, so they asked if we might be interested in selling. The NY guy saw pics of our pond/cabin and loves what he sees. What to do, what to do!?! Sorry to get so long in this messages. Thanks for any feedback you can share.
Below are a few photos of the pond and a photo of the fishing cabin.
