Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations Need yalls help on something....

I sort of have a dilema with my land and my two lakes. I have recently run accross another lake for sale that I like alot. This tract of land has a 15.5 acre lake on it. But It is two and a half hours drive away. Now Mind you we are in a SEVER drought and it is still full pool running over in the stand pipe. Now on the tract I have now I have one pond that is full pool but it is only 2 acres, the other is roughly 8 acres now but will be 9 acres when it is full. it is taking a beating do to the drought. How ever it is only an hour away.

Tell me, would it be worth it to sale what I have now, and have an extra $100,000.00 to $150,0000 pocketed away, after I bought this new tract of land, and drive an extra 90 minutes away to get to a Bigger lake that stays full? Or just keep what I have?? which would you choose?

Always a tough call..

Leaving out all the other details, that 90 minutes doubled for every trip to you pond (to/from) would get to be too brutal for me.

It would rule out going to the pond on the spur of a moment whims, at least for me anyway.

For the most part, you do not loose that extra $100-150K if you keep your place; it's just tied up in the land.

Many years ago,when looking for property to build my pond on, I found a site 90 minutes away,that fit my needs. My stepmother was a realtor and cautioned me about traveling that distance all the time.She said that as I got older,the drive would become more of a burden. I never bought that land due to her and the local NRCS agent's advice. I found my place only 25 minutes away and have never been sorry. Only you can decide,but think it through carefully.

its funny for me to listen to you guys back east.......and no disrespect intended.....but a 90 minute drive in CA is a normal one-way commute to work, or a weekend trip to just about any place other than the local grocery store (exxagerating a little bit). doubling the mileage to making a 2.5 hr drive is not much of a stretch for many kahli-for-nians.

really only because my little 1 acre pond threatens to dry up every summer, if i had a chance to have an affordable 15 acre lake that stays full all year and ONLY a couple-few hours away, i'd be there in a heartbeat.

I ask these questions: How far are you away from retirement, and would you want to move to the new place when you do so?

I guess that puts you and me at opposite ends of the spectrum. My pond is 10 minutes away, but that's still 10 minutes too far for me. We're selling our house and building on the pond so we won't have to drive back and forth, sometimes 3 trips a day. I guess the difference lies in our outlook on driving. I generally see it as dead time,,, and a wasteful, costly, boring, and dangerous chore. Maybe a nicer vehicle than my old beater truck would change my outlook a little.

In any event, the older I get, the less I care for driving.

My pond is 120' feet away from the side door. I'm going with Theo's 'retirement' question. Drive to my pond? Not unless it's in my wheel chair when I'm 105 yrs old.

An answer to Theo's question about retirement is critical.

Good one, Theocity.

Right now in my life I'd never want my pond further away than it already is. I'm busy and if I had to drive that far I'd spend a lot less time at the pond. Look at it this way...

200 hours of free time available each year.

120 hours of chores to do at pond each year.

80 hours of playtime.


200 hours of free time available each year.

120 hours of chores to do at pond each year.

80 extra hours of drive time.

ZERO hours left to play

big pond how much extra watershed and land do you have at your current location? You could ,assuming enough watershed , enlarge one or both of the ponds in time. Driving is brutal and getting worse and cars and gas are not cheap. Further as Bruce notes , time can never be replaced. In addition in your current weather state ,an always full pond means it must have a lot of flow through during normal rain conditions. That can be a problem as it makes it hard to lime and or keep fertile. You need to check into that new place a lot before you move.

the retirement question would play a critical role for me too.

in my area, ponds are very RARE, and most have fatal problems every summer. JHAP's is really special cause its spring fed, and i'm VERY fortunate to have a year round puddle at the property i live on. i'd rather not spend all that time driving as well, but in my line of work you have to. its not unusual for me to be out the door at 4:30am and on a jobsite 150 miles away by 0730am, put in a full day, and get home by 7 or 8 at night. you get used to it. rural properties close to urban centers dont exist anymore because of the sprawl. if you choose to live in a rural area, but have to work in the city, you have also chosen to spend alot of time driving.

if you like CA (and there is actually alot to like about it), want a rural property, want a pond, it easily becomes one of those "you cant always get what you want" situations.....finding an affordable rural property is a whole nother story. finding an affordable property w/ a pond that stays full all year is next to impossible. just providing a left coast perspective.

every time i travel back east i marvel at how much water there is, how often it rains in the summer, how affordable properties are (relative to CA)...you guys are really blessed that way...

great question that touched some nerves in me big_pond.......good luck, let us know what you decide.

A similar kinda thread came up some time back where we discussed the pond package for retirement. We are developing our project, trying to keep as many options available as possible. The primary goal is to develop a great vacation home and weekend getaway, with the long range goal of retirement. Based on those goals, I went to my Dad when I started looking for property to ask his advice.
My folks were perennial for buying property, building a crib for their planned retirement, then selling it 5 years later. I think it was a combo of a new challenge and an offer they couldn't refuse. Whatever...they have experience. My Ma is building the latest crib in heaven; my Dad is stickin' around down here...maybe to help me. Anyway, he's got experience at this stuff.
So, when I ask him what to look for, he says that there is one very important feature that is often overlooked until it is too late. A good hospital. Huh? Yeah, a very good hospital that is reasonably close by. As I push 50'ish and I find myself forking out more co-pays than I ever dreamed might be required for Bski maintainence, I see the wisdom.
Oh yeah, that other thread...Meadowlark kicked in that for him he adds the conveniece of a major airport.
That's my 2 cents.

Brettski, ya hit the nail on the head. We are in our 50's, and even though we are in good health now, having good docs and medical facilities nearby weighs in big when we talk about a possible move to somewhere else in the future. You are blessed to have the years of wisdom with your Pop. Like my pastor says, "experience is the best teacher, only it doesn't have to be YOUR experience." Oh yeah, "and if ya gotta fall, fall forward."

I have gone through both sides, stay safe or go for the adventure. I initially played everything safely, steadily moved up as equity allowed, slowly inching towards the secure home in a desireable location, at 52 I was there, at 54 I retired, hospital 10 min away, air port 30 mins away. At 61 wife passed away, neither the hospital nor the airport were any help.
So now I gamble a little, I thought that the first course was set in stone, it wasn't and neither is the one I am following now. Brettski's parents had a great way to go about it, find build, move to the next challenge as circumstances allow. And as Brettski said keep as many options open as possible.

Mine is 70 miles away. In my pickup, that's $40 worth of $3 per gallon gas on each round trip. It adds up.

Zephyr Pondis a 3 and a half hour drive from Midland, Texas. Mom and go almost every weekend. I am retired and Mom will retire next year. We have bought another place close to Zephyr with a pond and a house where we will move. I found myself, a couple of years ago, making all my decisions based on getting old and sick and being close to doctors. I finally said the heck with it. I'm goin for it and wish I had done this stuff years ago. I'm taking Rad's approach to life. If you want the pond bad enough, sell the place you got and go and get it. Life if short and getting shorter.

BP,
Where are the two locations? I'd be looking at the potential value in 10-20 years. What counties?

Seems like a lot of stuff packed into that short post heybud.

Heybud,
If I recall, I lived in Lubbock some time back, a 3 1/2 hour West Texas drive was measured in six packs.
Now Jersey is looking at it from a whole different perspective, which must mean you need to go back to your Pond Boss roots and define your goals. What are your expectations? And from my perspective, if you only go around once in life, try to do as much of it as possible in a straight line.

Life is also precious. Hindsight and 20/20 might not retrieve a second chance when an ambulance has to travel 30 miles to lifesaving assistance instead of 10.
Please know that I'm not being a wiseguy; I care for all my PB pals. I'm pretty sure that this is the scenario my Pops warned of.

My philosophy is based on the fact that my Dad, having never been sick, fell over dead one day at 56, 5 minutes from medical care. He worked his butt off everyday of his life, expecting to have some fun down the road. Life is truly precious, go out there and get some of it.

I'm shooting for quality over quantity.

Often I miss the target completely.

Gather the facts , think about alternatives , be sure what you want and value , talk to others to get another perspective but in the end never be scared to live life to the fullest. The worst mistake a human can make is to waste his life through a stupid act or by being to scared to get off the porch. Carpe Diem !!

Carpe diem is a phrase from a Latin poem by Horace (Odes 1.11). It is popularly translated to "live for the day". The phrase is often extended to explicitly mention the possibility of imminent death, as in "Seize the day, for tomorrow you may die." with emphasis on making the most of current opportunities because life is short and time is fleeting.

Demostenes quickly discovered the wisdom in a warrior's desertion when he coined The man who runs away may fight again .
Well put, Eric...Carpe Diem! Indeed, this is the goal we all strive for in our own ways. Imminent death has been cheated many times by healthcare advances. I plan on using these resources, should they be available, so I can potentially have more than one shot at Carpe Diem.
...hand me the defib and dial 911. :p

B"ski not thinking about med services or failing to making use of them would qualify as "a stupid act" in my estimation.

No one could ever accuse you of not seizing the day. Maybe my approach would be better translated as " With thought, seize the day".