Relocating to Bastrop - Maybe (Austin, Hutto: 2011, how much, home)

[aaauger]

We've lived in Austin for years and, while we enjoy alot about it, would like a little more space. We like the Bastrop area and are thinking we'd like to buy a few acres there but have some questions, ex.:

- Is it possible to buy ~20 acres of land (with pecan trees)? Or have the developers taken over?
- Where in Bastrop should we look for this kind of acreage / terrain?
- What's the best way of looking? Realtors? Newspaper? Craigslist?
- How much does an acre cost on average in Bastrop county?
- How is the public school system?

Any and all feedback is appreciated. If we find our piece of paradise, it will put a home in the popular Travis Country subdivision on the market.

[Plazamazda]

Bastrop is growing at a fast rate, but there is still plenty of country out here. You might look off of Texas 304, FM 20, FM 969 ect. Bastrop ISD while isn't the best, is better than most Austin ISD schools, and with the growing is improving immensly. Several of the Elementary schools have been rated recognized within recent years. Bastrop High School is very overcrowded, but a bond passed several months back to build a new football stadium, and a Cedar Creek High School, which is expected to open for the 2010-2011 school year. As being a student at Bastrop high, i think its just like any other high school where you just dont hang out with the wrong people. Thats my 2 cents.

[love roses]

You can definitely get acreage in Bastrop. From an article in the Statesman from Sunday is where I'm getting this info.
"The top end of Bastrop's housing market is far from peaking. Coast Range Investments, a developer based in San Francisco, has bought 10,000 acres a few miles west of town from the Steiner Ranch family. John Landwehr, who heads the company's Austin office, says that the lots will be marketed to the 55 and over crowd who can afford a second home. Many of the lots will be 10-20 acres, with some as large as 50 acres."

So I'm guessing that if there is that much land available for one development, there is more out there for someone who that development isn't aimed for. Lots of pine trees and rolling hills.

[aaauger]

Great info - and encouraging. Fortunately we have time to look. But it helps to know that we're not going down a dead end road. Thanks!

Also, if anyone knows where the pecan trees tend to be in Bastrop County, please let me know. My grandparents had pecan trees in Mississippi and I have nostalgia.

[love roses]

I'm in Hutto, which isn't too far from Bastrop. We have pecan trees all over, and I'm guessing they would have them too, somewhere