Pros and Cons of different types of lots

[KayT15]

Originally Posted by WileyCoyote

Are these real ponds, or are they man made storm drainage retention ponds?

Mine is a man-made retention pond. The wildlife doesn't discriminate, though.

[Shannon4426]

Originally Posted by KayT15

Mine is a man-made retention pond. The wildlife doesn't discriminate, though.

Same with mine, it's just as pretty as a natural pond.

I don't want to knock anyone who has a wooded view, it's just personal preference for me. I have a totally irrational fear of ticks and Lyme disease, so I'd rather not have a forest in my back yard. Our neighborhood has tall attractive brick walls, and I would take that over a wooded view, personally. Then you can landscape however you want, and I don't think anyone would know the difference. That feels more private to me, too.

[jbean1234]

I agree with Shannon that preserve v. pond lot comes down to personal preference. Aside from the safety issue with young children that someone pointed out the only issue of concern that my neighbors on the pond have ever mentioned is the occasional water moccasin that comes out to pay a visit. Apparently they can be pretty aggressive. Thankfully that hasn't happened more than once or twice to them in the past 3 years.

[JMMH]

Last year rented a house backing into a pond and this year built a house backing into a preserve, so we have done both. The lot in the rented house had a smaller back yard and agree with the sharper slope comment into the pond. The view of the pond was great and we enjoyed the ducks, birds, and deer running by.

In our new house we have a larger lot, so although it's a preserve there's plenty of yard separating the woods from the house. We also put a perimeter fence around the backyard and have a screened in lanai + pool. We decided the preserve was better for us for privacy in the backyard and that was more important than the great view of a pond but with neighbors visible across from it.

[JagFan27]

Behind my house is man-made wetlands. It wasn't that when I first moved in, but it is now. Now, I have all sorts of wild-life that come into my yard. (I have a privacy fence around the entire back yard. I have found water moccasins in my yard, I found a rattle snake right behind my fence (when I went back there to clear out brush behind my fence). I have rats and mice in my yard (which is probably why the snakes are there) and lots of frogs. After a rain, the frogs make a lot of noise at night out in the wetlands. I don't mind the noise, but I can tell there a many frogs out there.
I do not like the snakes or rodents, but I really enjoy the privacy of not having any people behind me.

[Robyn55]

Originally Posted by wisescorpiogirl

When you build a new house you get to choose the type of lot you want to live on.
I'm looking for your feedback on different types of lots.

If you have a lot facing a pond, what kind of issues are experiencing?
If you have a home backing into the woods, what problems did you run into?
I think lots facing the neighbors are self explanatory

I am looking for feedback for lots which are in community and are pretty close to each other. We'd also like to get a screened area with the pool behind the house, so which type of lot would make most sense?
I'm concerned that with the water close by there'd be more snakes, more mosquitos, etc
While backing into the wooded area may present it's own issues, such as trees falling onto your screened patio.

Looking forward to your input

Unlike other people - I think it's more than a matter of personal preference - and that there are downsides to each (apart from the obvious). With man-made retention ponds - well they're designed to hold excess rain water. They're subject to drying up in droughts (those in our community were almost totally dry in 1998-99) and overflowing during periods of heavy rain (that last happened during one of the big wet tropical tropical storms in the mid-2000's IIRC). Droughts aren't aesthetic - but high water/flooding can cause issues in terms of undermining house/pool foundations (and result in some pretty high repair costs if/when things start to crack).

In terms of woods - the issue is the nature of the "woods". Are you talking about real "upland woods"? Or "wetland tidal woods" that are subject to the same kinds of water issues you'll find with a retention pond?

In any case - you don't want to build too close to anywhere where there are fluctuating water levels - or places where there are lots of tall trees (they're lightning and wind hazards). Robyn

[KayT15]

In 11 years, our retention pond has never dried up. Gotten somewhat low, yes, but never even close to drying up. And it's gotten high but never even close to overflowing, even during the tropical storms referred to.

However, ours is not just a hole in the ground filled with water. It's part of a larger system. The water flows, which adds to the beauty.

[mbpiedra]

We are on a preserve lot. We have a pool with an enclosure and still have enough room behind it to throw a ball around, set up a volleyball net, etc.. No issues with wildlife. The lots with retention ponds tend to have less room for yards.

In fact there are two lots next to me that are still for sale. Hopefully you are buying one of them.