Chris, I have both of those links saved in my bookmarks. I love Google Maps and Google Earth. I am pretty confident that the area I am looking at will not have much issues in holding water. There are MANY ponds from 1/3 to 5 acres plus in the general area.
Brettski, I just checked that thread out. You had an excellent post on it! I have a Realtor who is sending me updates each time a property within my estimated price range and requirements comes up or changes in price. Right now there are about 30 properties for sale. They seem to just continue to go down in price and some have been sitting on the market for close to a year... I am hoping to buy the land at the lower real estate prices of today then hold onto it and build on it in a few years when hopefully the real estate market recovers so I can sell my current home without a complete loss! The only issue I have found it finding a real estate agent who understands why I am buying the property and the value of certain attributes over others. Fortunately, I have a good bit of knowledge on timber value so I know what value trees will or won't add to a property and right now timber values are WAY down as compared to a few years ago...
The other option I have looked at is building a "learning pond" on our hunting property in PA. My father already owns the land so I wouldn't be needing to purchase land, just build the pond... I could use the process of building a smaller pond there as a learning process for the future plans of building a larger pond here in VA where I live and work.
