Mods, if this is not allowed, please delete. I just thought folks here might be interested, and maybe even know someone who'd like a turnkey pond place.

https://hrcranch.com/property/hillt...uid=03d17804-a2fb-4ff4-b5fb-cc07aac01d7e

Great job, anthropic!

Pics look great.

The opening shot from the drone is just stunning. I also like the grandson LMB pics too! Are those some of your Florida-strain bass?

Good luck on the sale! (Hopefully, my wife will win the lottery this week and we can retire and buy it. She would love the view from your deck.)

Thanks, Rod. If you do win the lottery, you'll get a special deal on the place! One consideration for me is that the new owner be someone who will take care of the property & treat the neighbors well. Not keen on developers or entitled snobs. As I learned as an investment advisor, money, like fire, is a good servant but a bad master.

My one regret is that none of the pics were taken in spring when the azaleas were in bloom. My wife sent the realtor our own pics, but they may not get listed.

PS I think one LMB is northern strain, the other has some Florida genes. Put in 30 or 40 northern strain for catch-ability and to balance out the growing Florida dominance.

Wow! that is an extremely impressive, beautiful place, love the layout and the lake shape is awesome, lots of shoreline, beautiful lake! something half that nice is what I aspire to retire at someday.
I am in the Hallsville school district as well, Hallsville MO.

As others have said. Wow! What a beautiful place.

Wow! Sorry you have to give it up! Whoever buys it will be lucky indeed!!!!

Beautiful place Frank. Its good to hear your recovery is going well. Just great to have you back and posting.

Many thanks, guys! I know it's a modest place, but the view from the porch is nice, especially at sunset. Right now I'm fishing for a different kind of bite, hoping that it is just right for a particular buyer

I think you are using the right bait.

Good luck!

Gorgeous pictures.

Thanks, Theo. I wish they got some pics of the bald eagles! Well, as I know all too well, nothing is perfect.

anthropic.....it's easy to see the absolute love you put into your beautiful place. As Bob says, we are mere stewards of our land and ponds, and hopefully we leave them in a better place than when we found them. I know it must have been a difficult decision for you, but the time will come for all of us, when we have to hand the baton of stewardship to someone else. Job well done my friend.

Mike Otto once wrote an article on multiple generations of one pond's (lands) building, management and enjoyment. It really brought home the idea that we are only managers for a short time. It also focused on how we should think long term about early decisions. Those are multi-generational choices. That is a big part of how all of us at Pond Boss help others in making wise choices with our experience and knowledge - provide different insights and options.

Anthropic I can proudly and honestly say - well done sir, well done indeed !!! This is the highest of PB compliments.

Zep, Ewest, that means a lot to me. Thanks so much. Even when (or maybe if) I sell the place, I hope to continue learning from folks here on the Forum. Really enjoyed the conversations, definitely helped me along the way!

Are you regretting building the place up in the first place? Sometimes I regret developing my ponds, and my remote place too. As I age, they are getting to be more of a hassle than a pleasure. My heirs have zero interest in maintaining the places.

As far me, no way I have regrets. I see it as basically many years of enjoyment and buildiing a nice nest-egg at the same time. Like you, sometimes it does become a hassle. And I can see selling in like 4-5 years, but it's been a labor of love, filled with great memories, and a "window in time" that I wouldn't trade for anything.

I have zero regrets. Bought it dirt cheap, spent years doing stuff there, but now I have to admit that, at 81 yoa, I have to depend on others to get stuff done. I hate that. Hello arthritis.

I am doing a lot of procrastinating on it though. My 2.5 to 3 acre pond is now less than an acre due to drought. Need that to look a lot better. Need to re carpet mobile home to sell. Miscellaneous other stuff also.

Land prices have gone totally nuts. Especially close to Dallas/Fort Worth.

No regrets. Pond building & fishery management were great fun, as I had to learn so much. Costs were higher than anticipated, of course, but my terrific non-fishing wife supported me all the way. Wish my kids & grandkids were more interested in keeping it up, as I could pass it on to them. The potential money from the sale is nice, but we would be fine without it. Oh well.

I think a Dentist or Oral Surgeon should buy your property because the Pond has the shape of a molar tooth. If that happens, I wonder if they will call it their "Tooth Acres".

With regards to the azalea bloom, would be great to see the pics if you can post them. I for one would like to see the eye candy.

+1 to what Zep and Eric said.

Tooth acres is pretty good! For sure selling will leave a cavity in my heart. Guess we'll cross that bridge when we come to it.

Well, that was fast. Already some folks are interested enough to be given a tour. That's a far cry from purchasing, but at least it's encouraging.

So why does the prospect of cashing out taste bittersweet? Sigh.

Home

In todays day and age, with everybody able to work remotely, rural land is selling at a premium, people are fleeing the big cities, where their kids are just a number in the vast failing school system, and criminals have more rights then law abiding citizens do. I know of plenty trying to get their kids into smaller, more hands on school districts.
I'd say your land will sell way quicker then you are ready for it to. with a little luck they will let you have fishing rights for several yrs, you might offer to manage it for them for a fee.
I just finished up a few creek crossings for an oral surgeon here locally that bought 140 or 160 acres with a 25 acre lake on it and a couple smaller ponds. lives in town, just takes the kids out there for recreation. the 80 that I have is half of a 160 that a dr here in town bought the other half and just takes his kids out there for weekend recreation time, get them out of the house and involved in the outdoors.

Good insights, gehajake. I'd love to see if I could get rights to a week or two in April and late September for fishing with my best friend. Don't know if that will be doable, of course. Depends on the personality of the new owner and how much of a break I'd give them on the price, I think.

Maybe offer the new owner free management advice (the value of which should be obvious) in exchange for some limited fishing privileges. You can discuss the "needs" of the pond after you and your buddy have performed your sampling!

If the buyer is interested in the pond, your historical knowledge of it has value.

What a beautiful place! Very tempting - my problem is that we are 4 hours away!

Thanks, Tim. Wish you lived closer, I'd love to see a Pond Boss guy or gal buy the place. They'd manage it well & treat the neighbors nicely.

First serious offer on the table! Seem like nice folks, I particularly like the fact that they have kids who could have a blast fishing & chasing frogs. Heck, we even have child size bunk beds they could use.

We'll see what happens.

Good luck on the sale!

Thanks, John. Apparently the bidder is a pond novice, so I've offered to help with some of the concepts I've learned at Pond Boss. Yes, even to the point of buying him a subscription!

Fingers crossed

An answer to prayer -- we hope for both buyer & us -- as we reach agreement in principle (maybe in this case, principal). Much, much faster than we thought possible. We had to be flexible, and so did they.

Nothing is final yet, but looks promising. They are the type of family we sought, with kids who can really enjoy the place. If they want our advice & help, we will be happy to do so.

Tell him/her to come see us.

Oh, and don’t be a stranger

anthropic...How exciting.....if this deal goes through....do you plan to stay in East Texas?

It's exciting, but also sad. I love ponds and this one has given us great pleasure. Watching the water boil when the feeders go off is my particular joy. Fish are so interesting, and not just for their flesh or even the battle.

I'm thinking about ways I can benefit the new owners such that they might allow me to fish sometimes. Haven't met them directly yet, so don't know if this is doable. Requires trust that has to be established. We'll see.

I'll vouch for you as a trustworthy guy! (Of course, I personally look a little bit sketchy.)

Congratulations on clearing the first hurdle. Hope you are able to forge a friendship that will allow continued enjoyment from time of time of this great property.