For Buyers

Buying Property in Wimberley, Texas

Wimberley was designated one of
"America's Ten Best Small Towns" by Travel Holiday Magazine.

If you have any interest at all in nature, the Wimberley area is sure to arouse your curiosity. The unique combination of geology, climate, and continental location have provided enough diversity and surprises to make anyone who takes a close look at the area appreciate the difference.

This region of Central Texas can boast over 100 unique species. That fact, combined with its location at a biological crossroads makes the Hill Country very important in man's attempt to maintain biological diversity and insuring a healthy planet.

Eastern plant species such as Virginia live oak, bald cypress, dwarf palmetto, and yaupon grow in conjunction with western species like the Ash juniper, cedar elm, Mexican buckeye, and persimmon.

Mesquite and acacia invade from the south while many of our native grasses and flowers are representatives of the Great Plans. Silk tassel, mock orange, bracted twist flowers, and Texas wild rice are just a few of the plants that have evolved here and nowhere else.

The forces of nature have been working here to produce an ecosystem unlike any other on earth. The Texas Hill Country is so unique that it is included in the Nature Conservancy's "Last Great Places" program. Through this program, land is acquired for preservation of ecosystems that have something to offer the rest of the world but are in danger of disappearing. The population of this region has tripled in twenty years while Wimberley has grown ten fold. Urban and suburban land use are claiming the Texas Hill Country at an alarming rate.

The eroded limestone topography of the region has provided a whole subterranean ecosystem that is unseen by most of us but important all the same.

Aquifers that supply our springs and caves lie beneath the surface here, supplying life to many cave creatures. The bat population of the Hill Country is significant because of its caves.

For the rock hound, the limestone topography yields an endless amount of Cretaceous fossils, evidence of the millions of years this area was covered by a shallow

We know Hill Country ranches. . .

The demand for Hill Country ranch and recreational property ownership is rapidly growing! With two major Texas cities creating the boundaries, Hill Country ranch properties offer the best of both worlds along with the enticement to live in part of Texas' most vivid landscapes.

CENTURY 21 Hill Country Properties, combined with our national CENTURY 21® network, can easily accommodate you with the purchase or sell of large acreage properties. Whether you are seeking to buy or sell large acreage with or without a home, to run livestock/agricultural operations, or for game hunting/recreational use, we have the expertise and professional means to handle your needs.

We'll cut to the chase. . .
with precise knowledge of Hill Country Ranch properties.

Our agents live in the hill country, and understand the special considerations of the area that can make all the difference in a successful transfer of property. With agents living and experiencing the Hill Country daily, we can recommend the best local contacts for you while keeping you up-to-date on current data and local real estate developments.

Buying Land in the Hill Country

The hill country is full of exciting, eccentric, relaxing, and historic property. You may be interested in purchacing a area of land and building your own house. We can help you with this. Our REALTORS® are very knowledgable about the hill country area and the best lots available to meet your needs.

BUYING LAND SITES...
Getting Raw Land, Not A Raw Deal - Dan Auito
Land Use Planning
Some Considerations When Buying Agricultural Land - Horse Previews Magazine
Tips for Finding the Right Land

How to Buy Residential Lots and Land by Janet Wickell, About.com
Guide to Home Buying and Selling

Tips to help you find and buy the perfect residential lot or land. Use these land buying tips to find a great location for your new home.

Here's How:

Before you buy, find out if city or community water and sewer connections are available on the lot or land.
If sewer hookups are not available, make your offer to buy land contingent on the ability to install a septic system rated for the number of bedrooms you require.
Find out if other contingencies are advisable for land purchases. For instance, in some areas water rights do not convey with land--and that means you could not dig a well.
Make sure electricity and phone service are available at the property. Check cable service if that is a priority.
If the land you wish to buy is not accessible by a public road, verify that a road maintenance agreement is in place. This document states that everyone on the road agrees to help with its upkeep.
There should be a deeded right-of-way in place for land not accessible by a public road. The deed should give you and future owners the legal right to access the land.
Check the property's deed restrictions to make sure the type of residence you plan to build is allowed. For instance, some areas do not allow manufactured housing.
If the lot is in a development, ask for a copy of the restrictive covenants. That's where you'll find restrictions for minimum house size, whether other structures are allowed, and other limitations.
Ask the city or county if zoning changes are anticipated for the area, or if there's a plan to build new roads or widen existing roads.
If there are environmental hazards on the land, such as old buried oil or gas tanks, decide if you are willing to remove them, or if you will ask the seller to take care of removal and cleanup.
Decide if you want a new boundary survey. Surveys are standard in some areas, but rarely required in others. They're nearly always a good idea.
If you plan to build a home soon talk to lenders about construction loans.

Tips:

Don't be turned off by the terms 'development,' and 'subdivision.' If you're from a city, you might associate both words with small lots and side-by-side homes. In rural areas, a subdivision lot might be 10+ acres in size.
Restrictive covenants help protect home values by requiring structures to conform to specific standards. Read them carefully so you know exactly what is and is not allowed.
Study the deed to discover if other persons or tracts of land have been granted easements to use your land in any way.

(c) 2003 by Janet Wickell (My Bio page), licensed to About.com, Inc.
Used by About.com, Inc. which can be found on the web at http://www.about.com .
All rights reserved.

Purchase of a vacation or second home

The following excerpt was written by Liz Pulliam Weston for MSN Money Online.

Her research shows that the Hill Country meets each of the factors below and is a great place to purchase a vacation or second home.

Popularity is a mixed bag when you’re looking for vacation property. A hot destination means more crowds, more traffic, longer lines. But if you’re keeping an eye on investment potential -- and more than one out of three second-home buyers say they are -- then you want to buy where others want to be. What you really want, though, is to buy today in an area that's going to be hot tomorrow, so what are the ingredients that will turn a sleepy village into the next Aspen or Hilton Head?

A beautiful setting is a must, but here are some other important factors:

Proximity to growing urban centers.
Vacation towns typically need to be within a two- to three-hour drive of a major city, or at least reasonably close to a
big airport.

Plenty of recreational opportunities.
There has to be lots of stuff to do beyond shopping, which is why most thriving resort towns are near ski lifts, beaches or mountains. Some cultural cachet -- a theater or film festival, galleries or museums -- is also nice.

Decent weather.
You have to be able to get outside to enjoy all that recreation.

Significant commercial investment.
The old-timers may grouse about the new hotels or malls, but these are good indicators that others think the community is on the way up.

The "it" factor.
The community gets “discovered” by movers, shakers and celebrities -- or at least enough other folks like you -- for prices to get bid up.

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