Dreaming of living in the hill country (San Antonio, Kerrville: travel, income)

[TexasNick]

Thanks John,
Do you have a particular area that you are interested in? I know you mentioned that you are looking for a place closer to Austin/San ANtonio, but have you checked out the Mills county area? Near San Saba...where Tommy Lee Jones has his spread. Cheap prices, decent scenery, not too far from where you are in FW.

Of course, if you are looking for early retirement, then you can go whereever. I like the remote stuff With today's technology (satellite tv, cell phones, satellite modems, solar power, etc) and the rate of development, I don't think there's a reason to be so close to a big city. But hey, i don't have any experience with this. Maybe I should be getting some pointers from you since you have a ranch.

[KewGee]

Originally Posted by TexasNick

I have never been to Leakey..isn't that like near Dallas or Round Rock?

Okay I drove to Harper today--took me 1 hour and 5minutes from my house in San Antonio. It was a bit shorter than I thought, but it's still far and I guess you could call it the boondocks Just the way I like it...now I just need to convince a girl that there are no more Indians out there. I passed a sign that said something about an Indian Massacre that happened there in the 1800s. I believe a baby was kidnapped and taken into the tribe. Anyways, the land that I was looking at was just north of that. I took some photos, i'll post it on the blog tomorrow morning. The cheapest I saw was 10 acres for about 60,000. However, you should not have a problem finding something for the 30k range if you keep the acres around 1-3. It's beautiful out there! Oh, but there's a nice BBQ place near by...there, i'm set

When you get the chance, pick up a book titled COUNTRY PROPERTY, DIRT CHEAP. Don't be thrown off by the "cheap" title. It's actually a great little book written by a guy who could not afford land out in the country. Basically, what it came down to, he figured out that there are lots of "old" people failing health and who have lived on the land for many years. Many don't have a heir or family member to pass the land down to (I've always wondered why families that own lots of land, say, 300+ acres, have a son or daughter that does not want anything to do with it--they want to go to college in NYC and live the high life. It's always when they are approaching their 50s that they decide they want it back--oops, too late. Land sold).

Most importantly, according to the book, all you have to do is just post a small ad in a small town newspaper saying something like this: "Wanted to Buy: 3 to 5 acres within 25 miles of Springfield for $10,000". You know that every farmer that is worth his salt will be reading a paper with coffee on his front porch that morning. He'll see that ad, and if he wants to sell it the easy way, he'll contact you. Not everyone is interested in going through the hassle of a real estate agent, etc. A friend of mine did this in the Montana area and he was flooded with calls. He got to pick and choose.

Just an idea. More later.

Shucks! I didn't get to seethe blog before the link was removed. If you would be so kind, please pm the information to me.

Ahhh, the boondocks, a wonderful sound as is the sound of silence. I've seen photos some place on the web before of the crabapple community.

Thanks so much for posting information about the book as it is a great idea. It sounds like one I'll definitely need to save money.

Leakey is about 50 miles from Harper and 90 miles from San Antonio. It's in the western portion of the Hill Country in Real County. Real County borders Kerr and Bandera Counties to the east and Edwards County to the west and Uvalde County to the south. If you ever get a chance, check it out. It's pretty nice.

From Medina to Vanderpool to Leakey, FM 337 spans some of the Hill Country's most spectacular scenery-wooded steeps and tiny secluded valleys. From Vanderpool, go north on FM 187 which leads to beautiful Lost Maples Natural Area, a state park Garner State Park is near Leakey, another really nice area.

[TexasNick]

Thanks, I well be sure to check it out soon

[BoulderJD]

Hey, check out TexasNick profile...you can find the link to his blog there. It's a nice article.

[BoulderJD]

Originally Posted by TexasNick

Thanks John,
Do you have a particular area that you are interested in? I know you mentioned that you are looking for a place closer to Austin/San ANtonio, but have you checked out the Mills county area? Near San Saba...where Tommy Lee Jones has his spread. Cheap prices, decent scenery, not too far from where you are in FW.

Of course, if you are looking for early retirement, then you can go whereever. I like the remote stuff With today's technology (satellite tv, cell phones, satellite modems, solar power, etc) and the rate of development, I don't think there's a reason to be so close to a big city. But hey, i don't have any experience with this. Maybe I should be getting some pointers from you since you have a ranch.

Actually the ranch is in Mills County, halfway between Brownwood and San Saba. It's 126 acres surrounded by 2 mega-ranches (1500 acres plus each). Talk about remote. It's probably 8 miles off pavement on a gravel road. There's nothing out there but coyotes, deer, turkey, wild pigs and at least two mountain lions (which just wiped out our herd of goats!). We had thought of retiring there, but after spending weekends we decided we wanted to be a bit closer to civilization.

Where are you headed today? Have a safe trip! John

[KewGee]

Originally Posted by BoulderJD

Hey, check out TexasNick profile...you can find the link to his blog there. It's a nice article.

TexasNick pm'd the link to me. I forgot that one could find the information under the profiles. Thanks for reminding me.

I really enjoyed the beginning of his blog and like you, I can't wait to "travel" with him by reading his posts and viewing the photos. Maybe one day, we'll all be neighbors some place in the Hill Country. I can dream!!

I'll be interested in following your posts as well and see what you find in the HC. I like the sound of the ranch you have now except for the mountain lions. I would love some goats. I'm not looking for much acreage as I can't afford much, but two to five would be great and way off any road.

Take care.

[TexasNick]

BoulderJD,
I liked Mills County, but only been there once. You are right, it is remote.

KewGee,
I'm going to post a little story about looking for small acres. Watch the blog

[KewGee]

Originally Posted by TexasNick

BoulderJD,
I liked Mills County, but only been there once. You are right, it is remote.

KewGee,
I'm going to post a little story about looking for small acres. Watch the blog

I just read it and of course, it makes a lot of sense, all aspects of it. I'll "stay tuned" for the rest of the story.

I went by my public library today and although they don't have the book, they are going to borrow it from a libary that does so hopefully, I'll be able to read it soon.

Thanks again.

[Yetti0]

These are excellent counties at the right price and near I 10 and 90 A and accessible to 56 soon to be I 69...

[KewGee]

Originally Posted by Yetti0

These are excellent counties at the right price and near I 10 and 90 A and accessible to 56 soon to be I 69...

But they're not in the Hill Country.