Selling a House with a Koi Pond- Update

13 years ago

It was a bad idea. The pond was too big and nice for the neighborhood. I heard tons of feedback from potential buyers that they loved the house. The men loved the pond but the wives thought it would be too much work or their kids would drown in the pond. So it was a no go.

DD got in a bad car accident in December. We moved in with her to help. Left my house empty and no one to care for the pond. Finally - yesterday, I moved the Koi in to her 4 car garage. It is heated so that is good. Moving the Koi was very hard. I could not get any portable oxygen. I could get welding O2 but I could not get a regulator to go with it. When I asked for details to buy a regulator I was told "call you back". Never got any calls back.

Finally we moved them in tubs with battery operated areators to the 650 gallon kiddie pool in the garage. I am relying on water changes until I can get a decent filter set up.

Good news is I bought a new house 4 doors away from DD. It is a fixer upper on an acre. I hope to get a new, smaller pond in by fall. But really- I still have to fill in the old pond and sell my other house. So we will have to see how it goes.

All in all- I spent over 6K on the pond, plumbing, rocks and landscaping all DIY. To fill it all in just breaks my heart. Best advice is do not overbuild in a suburban neighborhood unless you are sure you are going to stay there forever.

My future plans are a to build a 2 thousand gallon pond as that is all I need for 3 Koi and 2 shubbies (that is if they all survive the garage pond). If they don't survive then I am done with ponding. Not that it isn't a great hobby. I absolutely loved it. But you can't just pack up your pond and go when life happens.

Hope everyone is having a great ponding season.

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Comments (7)

Holly_ON
13 years ago
Your post makes me very sad. I just had a really nice big pond put in on my very small lot. Maybe I should have done a kitchen reno instead for the same money! But I love my pond too even if it is being a little short sighted. Hope your fishies make it. Can you recycle any of your pond material? Hopefully the real estate market will improve and one potential buyer will fall in love with your pond. Your DD is lucky to have you.
waterbug_guy
13 years ago
I think each market is different. In a winter climate a pond and even a bog is a lot more work and you get less prime time in return.

I was expecting my ponds at my San Jose CA house to be a big problem for selling but was surprised they turned out to be an asset. For a few buyers the pond was the key feature.

A did tear down some of the ponds and filled in others with gravel converting them to bogs. It was easy to show buyers the lush plants in the bogs and that it required zero weeding and adding water once a month was all that was needed. They all seem to see the low maintenance feature of bogs. From there is was an easy sell to say if they didn't like the remaining ponds in the future they could also be filled in with pea gravel and converted into bogs. They liked having an option. A lot of people wonder what they would do with pond if they didn't like it and think it's a huge deal to remove.

Also I explained to families with small kids that the pond could be filled with gravel and then gravel removed as kids got older. Add to that a few "ponds are such great ways for kids to learn about nature" and they were sold. The house did end up selling to people with small kids and they wanted the ponds to stay. I had offered to convert all ponds to bogs to all buyers.

People love the lush look...
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But worry about maintenance. Once they see the gravel and the pots they seemed to understand it was low maintenance.
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I also think not having a bunch of complex looking filters helped. These ponds only had a skimmer and UV which was off and had been off for more than a year. I also had a vacuuming system which was easy for people to relate to, they understood vacuuming.
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goodkarma_
Original Author
13 years ago
I think the neighborhood you build your pond in as well as winter concerns are a big factor. Also the house. Since my house is two stories with bedrooms upstairs the house is more suited for young people with kids.I think if I lived in AZ or CA it would not be so much of an issue. BTW-Loved those pics Waterbug.

Holly I will recycle but some things I cannot. The bottom drain is set in concrete so it will stay. I loved the pond for years and years. I would do it over again in a heartbeat. The pond kept me sane when life happened. I feel so sad missing my toad friends, by nesting grackles. The pond breathed life for so many critters who have a hard time surviving suburbia. So don't ever feel bad about building a big pond on a small lot. Just be realistic if you ever plan to sell. I chose to believe I could sell the house with the pond and I really should not have even tried. My area is not big on ponding so I should have considered that. Enjoy your pond. I loved mine so much more then my kitchen. lol
diggery
13 years ago
No, no, no....NOT a bad idea at all, at all. Just ignorant and/or over-protective potential buyers. Silly folk. How many years of enjoyment has it gifted you with? It was ALL worth it...all your hard work, your loving care, your babies. PRICELESS.

Your pond is one of my all time faves here..absolutely lovely. Breaks my heart to think of you filling it in, can't imagine what you must be experiencing in this season... *sniff*

Congrats on your new home so near to dd. It's been a long journey for sure. Praying she is restored to health by now. Believing also your babies survive the move & enjoy their new home as well. I'd offer my labor (such as it is) to help you start again were it not for the miles between us..

You will never be done with ponding...it's in your blood;) Keep us posted on your progess.

blessings,
~digger
mckool
13 years ago
"Shalom"

McKool
duddlydoright
13 years ago
sorry to hear that goodkarma, good luck to you. Maybe a buyer will come along that is interested in keeping the pond.
Calamity_J
13 years ago
I hope a pond lover buys your place! I have been looking at realestate here(like to keep my finger on the pulse) and am concidering a move just so I have a flat yard...but prices are crazy and now that I have rebuilt my pond and it is so awesome...I may have to stay! I just saw an ad on a freebie website that someone in the area bought a place and is wanting someone to come get all the fish so they can fill in the two ponds!?!? So sad! Congrats on your new place!