Pond Boss Forums INTRO New Forum Member Introduction New member - appraiser learning about ponds

Hello, PB Forums
I'm a new member trying to learn about ponds for my real estate appraisal practice. I'll be posting questions as I go along. I've been browsing here for a few weeks - thank you all for your insights and great info so far.

Nancy Summers
p.s., I am not in private practice - I work on staff at San Bernardino County, where we have lots of ponds and lakes in the middle of the desert.

Here is some older talk on the subject.

http://forums.pondboss.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=60950

I hear that pond appraising can be pretty difficult as there are so many variables. I know with smaller garden ponds, they detract from the value as most people look at them as a money sink, safety issue, and time effort. It takes very specific clientele to understand the value of having a pond on the property.

I would be interested to hear a summary of what you are finding on larger ponds as it can influence decisions and can give us leverage when we try if ever to sell our properties.

Like trying to sell a house with a swimming pool. It may detract from value and desirability to certain purchasers.

DD your right for sure! Very hard to put a price on the pond. The land yes, but you could have two 20 acre plots one with a pond and one without and they could be different prices every time you sell them depending on the person and what they want.

Unlike land itself you can't put a price per acre of pond per say. As Mr. Cody would say "it all depends" on the buyer....

RC

Ponds IMO almost fall under that collectable type item. What you paid for it and thought it was worth may NOT be what the next guy is gonna give you for it because in his eyes it's not that great of a collectable.

Or you might find a person that LOVES it and gives you even more than what you paid for it.... You just never know..

RC

Thanks, for the comments. Yes, I will certainly share what I have been learning from this forum and others about pond value.
Nancy

Nancy, I'll see if I can get one of our members "Catmandoo" to respond here. IIRC he had a property that had at least one pond on it, and the power company wanted to do the eminent domain thing on that part of the property. Hopefully it doesn't bring up too many bad memories for him. It is their retirement property, and he and his wife poured their heart and soul into it. Luckily for him, the eminent domain issue was dropped.

We just in. I'm going to be out in the morning and early afternoon, but will post about our experiences sometime tomorrow (Friday).

Ken