Driftwood/Dripping Springs highend neighborhood (Houston, Austin: custom home, neighborhoods, wedding)

[Kelb0812]

Hi all! We currently live in Houston (the Heights) and are wanting to move to the drift/drip area for our kids to go to school. We would love 3-5 acres without homes on top of each other and set back off the street some. We have looked at The Polo Club, Howard Ranch, Vineyard Estates etc and none seem to be a good fit. We have toyed with the idea of buying unrestricted acerage and building but the fear is that a wedding venue/horse farm/trailer park could be build next to us so a neighborhood would eliminate that fear.

We are wanting to build a custom home, 5,000sqft or so on 3-5 acres on the 1.8-2M range. Would love thoughts on small neighborhoods that fit the bill or other ideas! Just wanted to be zoned to DSISD for sure!

[ashbeeigh]

Whats your budget?

[Kelb0812]

$1.8-2m

[Kelb0812]

Looked at Medlin Creek Ranch also but wondering if that’s too far from grocery stores etc?

[ashbeeigh]

Originally Posted by Kelb0812

$1.8-2m

Oh man. I didn't see that. I don't have any insight. That's well above my budget and area of expertise. Someone else may be able to provide some feedback.

[blakely]

Originally Posted by Kelb0812

Hi all! We currently live in Houston (the Heights) and are wanting to move to the drift/drip area for our kids to go to school. We would love 3-5 acres without homes on top of each other and set back off the street some. We have looked at The Polo Club, Howard Ranch, Vineyard Estates etc and none seem to be a good fit. We have toyed with the idea of buying unrestricted acerage and building but the fear is that a wedding venue/horse farm/trailer park could be build next to us so a neighborhood would eliminate that fear.

We are wanting to build a custom home, 5,000sqft or so on 3-5 acres on the 1.8-2M range. Would love thoughts on small neighborhoods that fit the bill or other ideas! Just wanted to be zoned to DSISD for sure!

I was going to suggest buying on unrestricted acreage (or "mildly restricted"), but you're wise to be on the lookout for commercial venues nearby. One thing you can do is look at adjoining properties on the Hays CAD website maps and see what sort of zoning restrictions are in place for the neighboring parcels, as a sort of protection. (Of course, people could always file to change zoning, but that's not easy to do and you'd have some level of comfort if you can confirm the surrounding properties are zoned residential.) There are so many beautiful parcels out that way. One problem I see is that a lot of your budget could be eaten up by building a new 5,000 sf house, which would narrow the parcels of land you could buy of that size, unless you bought far out of town or a property that has some less desirable features. Have you thought about renovating an existing home on acreage or building a slightly smaller home?

I just saw a beautiful property, over 3 acres, between Austin and Driftwood listed for $650K....it had greenbelt behind it that was protected from any future building. The house needed a lot of work, and some buyers might consider it a teardown. Typical of the current market, it went under contract immediately. But there ARE properties that I think could fit your needs if you pay attention daily to the listings and are fortunate enough to put in a winning bid (not easy in this market).

Can you explain what you didn't like about the Polo Club, Howard Ranch and Vineyard Estates so we can get a better sense of what works/doesn't work for you? And are you ok with well water being your primary water source?

[IC_deLight]

Originally Posted by blakely

I was going to suggest buying on unrestricted acreage (or "mildly restricted"), but you're wise to be on the lookout for commercial venues nearby. One thing you can do is look at adjoining properties on the Hays CAD website maps and see what sort of zoning restrictions are in place for the neighboring parcels, as a sort of protection. (Of course, people could always file to change zoning, but that's not easy to do and you'd have some level of comfort if you can confirm the surrounding properties are zoned residential.) There are so many beautiful parcels out that way. One problem I see is that a lot of your budget could be eaten up by building a new 5,000 sf house, which would narrow the parcels of land you could buy of that size, unless you bought far out of town or a property that has some less desirable features. Have you thought about renovating an existing home on acreage or building a slightly smaller home?

I just saw a beautiful property, over 3 acres, between Austin and Driftwood listed for $650K....it had greenbelt behind it that was protected from any future building. The house needed a lot of work, and some buyers might consider it a teardown. Typical of the current market, it went under contract immediately. But there ARE properties that I think could fit your needs if you pay attention daily to the listings and are fortunate enough to put in a winning bid (not easy in this market).

Can you explain what you didn't like about the Polo Club, Howard Ranch and Vineyard Estates so we can get a better sense of what works/doesn't work for you? And are you ok with well water being your primary water source?

Counties do not have zoning authority - for good reasons!

There might be some limited city requirements/restrictions in the city's extra-territorial portions of the unincorporated areas. However, if you are talking about Dripping Springs Independent School District then the only city in that area is Dripping Springs. Dripping Springs has very little control or restriction in the ETJ and none in the unincorporated areas that are not in the ETJ.

One thing the OP will need to be wary of is water availability or source of water. If the property is within the CCN of a water utility, hopefully the utility is DSWSC and not an investor-owned-utility. If they are not within the CCN of a water utility then they will likely need their own well. If the property has a well they will need to check it out. If the property does not have a well they will need to be aware the folks currently running the groundwater district will try to discourage them from having a well. Ignore them. Drill the well. OP also needs to be aware the groundwater district is trying to get legislation that would allow them to make it financially impossible for folks to drill wells. So if they are going to need to drill a well they should consider doing so promptly.

[blakely]

I wasn’t suggesting that counties have zoning authority, only that a little research can answer questions about restrictions and classifications on nearby lots. It’s wise to check if there are concerns about commercial businesses or wedding venues nearby, since the OP identified that as a potential issue. The county property tax website is a helpful starting point IMHO, but only one of several resources I use when researching properties.

[Austin97]

there is a 1.2M home on 25 acres in dripping springs. You could move in to the existing home and then build your own home.

[die Eichkatze]

Driftwood Vineyard Estates off RR12/Elder Hill south of DS might work. 2-4 acres with houses ranging from 3-5k square feet.