[Novi_HouseHunting]

Hello all,

Me and my wife are looking for a house in Novi school district. We saw some houses those are very close to ponds. This particular one we saw was ~20 ft from pond.

What is your experience of staying in a house close to pond? Looking for some insights.

[DTWflyer]

The majority of the time, having a pond in the backyard can actually be desirable.

Pro:
- Water is nice to look at
- Better than being directly adjacent to the house behind
- If allowed by the HOA, can use a canoe/kayak, ice skate, maybe catch a small fish for fun

Con:
- May attract Canadian geese which are a nuisance more so for all the droppings they leave in yards
- Can attract a lot of mosquito and insects, particularly at certain times of the summer
- May not be the most suitable for small children; need to make sure they are supervised in the backyard until they are old enough to know to stay out or off the ice
- Check for any basement / foundation issues if pond is at a similar elevation, as this tends to indicate there is a high water table in the area.

[Novi_HouseHunting]

Thank you very much. If the property does not have access to the pond, is it even worth considering? We are in a situation where we very much like one house but are contemplating about being close to pond.

Anyone else have any input?

[dave w]

I don't like ponds because in the summer the water becomes stagnate and forms a floating stinky algea, mosquito breeding ground.

[snoopygirlmi]

That was my first thought - mosquitoes!

Also, sand cranes. Don't know if sand cranes make it out that far west into Novi, but here in Lyon Township they were frequent "guests" in my subdivision this year and they aren't as nice as the Canadian Geese.

The area behind our house is part wood/part wetland. We have to hire a sprayer every summer so we can go enjoy being outside and not have to worry about being bit all the time by mosquitoes. (We've had good experiences with Mosquito Joe's, if you want a recommendation). The mosquitoes are just unbearable if you don't spray.

My vote would be no. Ponds are pretty to look at, but it takes a lot more effort and money to enjoy being outside.

I don't care how nice the house is - just no.

[canudigit]

Would the pond belong to you or is it part of a neighborhood HOA? If it is a community pond and HOA fees pay for summer maintenance it is hard to tell right now if it is maintained properly in the summer or not because it's cold out and algae doesn't grow in the winter. If it is well maintained it will be pretty. If it isn't, it will have slime and algae and attract mosquitoes and muskrats and be kind of nasty. We have a community pond in our subdivision and before we got a new HOA that actually uses the dues to keep the pond nice it was an embarrassing, algae filled mess during a hot summer. You may want to ask some people who live nearby about this issue.

The main reason that we will never have a pond is safety. I grew up about 2 hours southwest of Detroit in Ohio and every other year or so it seemed there was a story in the news about some toddler drowning in a pond owned either by their immediate family or another family member. Most people are vigilant about watching small children around bodies of water but for a quick toddler it only takes a second, and you can't see them in pond water like you can a swimming pool (and enough of them still die in swimming pools anyway). I just don't feel that the risk is worth it. We live in an area with many natural lakes and of course, the Great Lakes, so it's easy to visit a pretty body of water and then go home and not have any of the hassles.

[Novi_HouseHunting]

Thanks for your response. We found out that the pond is actually a retention pond and is a natural preserve.. Any idea what does it mean?

We are leaning towards no at this point!!

[mgkeith]

Well, depending on the size (and depth) of it, it might dry up during the summer. We used to live near one; it wasn't a problem for us. We live in Farmington Hills. As was mentioned above, it may be a mosquito breeding place, but we didn't have problems with the one near us. There are a lot of retention ponds around here. If it worries you, don't buy the house.

[Coldjensens]

Growing up just outside of Novi limits, we had a pond in the front and back of our house and one across the street. We love(d) it.


Mosquitoes travel at least a mile for a meal, so unless you are miles from a watersource (or woods or tall grass/hay in a field), you will get lots of mosquitoes. They live just as happily in a damp forest or feild as a swamp or pond. You can also treat your pond for mosquitoes, but it will not make much difference, they will jsut come from a different pond.



Turtles and frogs (and crickets) make lots of noise at night. You get used to it and come to love it. When I moved away, I had trouble sleeping without it.



Yes kids can fall into a pond. I and my brothers and sister did, many of my kids did while visiting. It is not the end of the world, they get wet and need a shower (where they also get wet). You do need to watch your kids when they are very small. Of course if you are not going to watch your kids when they are very small, you probably should not have kids.



You might get more snakes. We had a lot of snakes around, but I am not sure that ha anything to do with the ponds. Our neighbors had lots of snakes around too.



Deer might come drink form the pond. They can be pests.



We did not get many geese or swans, just ducks. Ducks are fine. It is geese and swans that are a problem. We live on the Detroit River now and geese especially can be a problem. They are messy and mean. Swans are meaner, but they mostly stay in the water.



Ponds can also attract eagles, hawks, great blue herons, and other large birds looking for a meal. This scares some people.



Some ponds may attract muskrats, beaver, stoats, ermine. It is rare enough that you see them that you usually get excited. We had a muskrat get into our garage once. It was really scared. We tried to shoo it out with a broom. It bit the broom and we carried it back to the pond hanging by its teeth.

[Novi_HouseHunting]

Thanks you all for your inputs!!!