West coast to outskirts of Austin? (Killeen, Temple: apartment, leasing, how much)

[kellykrishcko]

My husband and I are on the lookout for somewhere to move. Where we can settle and set roots. We currently reside in south Washington state, ten minutes north of Portland, Oregon. I am originally from Southern California and my husband is from where we're currently living-WA state.

Our future goal is to one day own a couple acres. Some property to where my husband can do woodworking and to have little livestock and crops. I've been looking at states where we could settle with warmer weather and decent land prices, maybe even a small fixer. We're not big fans of the rain here in WA so we want nice warmer and sunshine weather. My Husband works in construction and I currently work as a caregiver. To me community is very important. I would like our kids (future kids) to have a good surrounding community to grow up in. We also love the outdoors. We like to camp and be outside, something not doable in WA. We won't move back to CA due to how crazy expensive it is. We would forever live paycheck to paycheck in an apartment in CA. We want quality of life over material possessions.

What kind of jobs are out in cities outside Austin? How is the construction industry/employment? Our priority in our decision is to go where construction is strong. Is it too much city to own land? What's weather like all year long? Is it too much drought? How's the humidity/rain? How is the community? Is there stuff to do? Things to do when/if humidity is high? Is camping and outdoor activities or hiking doable out there? What kind of age groups are out? Also, if not Austin area where else is more suitable in Texas?

Any input would be awesome!

[leorah]

There are many welcoming communities in the Austin area and job prospects in the construction field are pretty good. However, housing and acreage are expensive, and property taxes are high in cities and towns near Austin.

Texas has wonderful state parks and recreational opportunities abound but we have 6 months of heat, and we often have several consecutive days over 100 degrees. The humidity is relative; some think it’s high while others disagree.

What kind of budget do you have?

[abelinkkin]

If outdoor activities are very important to you then the hill country around Austin is really your only option. The state parks around Austin are amazing. Texas has very limited public land for hiking and camping. ATVs/dirtbikes/offroad vehicles are banned on pretty much all public land also.

As already mentioned, houses in Austin are very expensive at the moment. To get something with acreage you will most likely need to look close to an hour outside the city and a budget of $400,000+.

The Temple/Killeen area seem to be growing with lots of construction. You might look there. It will be vastly more affordable while still close to state parks.

[Trainwreck20]

If you don't mind a bit rural, look outside of Fredericksburg or down in Kerrville. Both are expensive in the town proper, but you can get reasonable prices a little out of town. Better suited for ranching than farming, but you can get an ag exemption for slightly larger plots - 10 acres relatively easy, maybe 5, but acre or so that the house is on does not get exempted. Also takes 5 years to 'trigger' the exemption, generally speaking, unless it is already in place when you buy it.

Not sure what kind of caregiving you do, but both are 'retirement' type areas, as well, with decent medical infrastructure considering the population. Also construction opportunities, either new or renovations, and handy-man jobs are always in need. Speaking Spanish would be a plus for some work.

[TexasHorseLady]

How small of a community do you feel comfortable with? How much acreage? You might do better, as said, to get a slightly larger piece (even around the Austin area) with an ag valuation because it will impact your taxes significantly. Some communities (Georgetown comes to mind) have a significant older population that would be a market for your caregiver talents, and housing is going up constantly. You might need to live out a bit, depending on your budget. What kind of crops? What kind of livestock? That might point you in a particular direction based on soil types on either side of I35 and up and down it. What's your budget?

[turf3]

If you have normal middle class income and assets (since you mentioned that CA is "crazy expensive") and you want acreage, it's not going to be the "outskirts" of Austin; it's going to be an uncommutable distance from Austin. It was twenty-thirty years ago that all the close-in "outskirts" land was bought up either by people wanting what you want, or investors waiting to chop it up into subdivisions.

As far as outdoor activities, there is something important you need to know that is specific to Texas. It may or may not affect your particular outdoor activities.

The vast majority of land in Texas is privately owned, and there is no right of free access to privately owned land in Texas (not to speak of, with of course certain exceptions like access to one's own land over an unimproved road, but that's not about recreational activity). Unlike some other states, you cannot assume that you can go onto open land and ride ATVs, hunt, etc. If you do so you will probably be on someone's privately owned land and doing so is an excellent way to find yourself looking down a rifle barrel.

There are many large and high quality state parks in Texas, which offer a variety of outdoor activities, and I have enjoyed many of them. But just general "open land" is not open to you unless you clear it with the land owner before hand.

[Mark Senior]

Best more realistic of responses to this point. Honestly, lol Have your "bucks" in your pocket in this part of the state, you are among the "many" that have and are and will, be seeking the same. Be careful YOU understand abut the "agriculture discount," really reduced property value, there ARE several steps you most adhere to completely, good checking out your options, again, best to you.

[turf3]

Yes, I own three pieces of property that are covered by the Agriculture exemption in Texas. Here's the deal:


The land actually has to be used for agricultural purposes.


I think a lot of people have the idea that they can do a little dabbling in "country life" here and there on 2 acres and get a big chunk off their taxes. Sorry, folks, the appraisal districts and the assessor/collectors are way ahead of you. It's not particularly burdensome to keep the ag exemption if your land is in fact honestly being used for agriculture (as mine is), but good luck trying to bend the rules.


Don't forget that in most cases the appraisers and other employees of the tax offices all live in the area. In many cases they know the person who sold the land to you, who their family is, what they've been using the land for, who the person is that you claim is now using the land, what kind of business they engage in, whether they are actually leasing your land from you for agricultural purposes, what other land they have in the county, etc., etc., etc.

[TexasHorseLady]

Originally Posted by turf3

Yes, I own three pieces of property that are covered by the Agriculture exemption in Texas. Here's the deal:


The land actually has to be used for agricultural purposes.


I think a lot of people have the idea that they can do a little dabbling in "country life" here and there on 2 acres and get a big chunk off their taxes. Sorry, folks, the appraisal districts and the assessor/collectors are way ahead of you. It's not particularly burdensome to keep the ag exemption if your land is in fact honestly being used for agriculture (as mine is), but good luck trying to bend the rules.


Don't forget that in most cases the appraisers and other employees of the tax offices all live in the area. In many cases they know the person who sold the land to you, who their family is, what they've been using the land for, who the person is that you claim is now using the land, what kind of business they engage in, whether they are actually leasing your land from you for agricultural purposes, what other land they have in the county, etc., etc., etc.

We recently converted our regular 1.d.1 ag to wildlife ag after almost 20 years of ag production. What that involves is county-dependent - for example, in addition to cattle (and before we had cattle), we qualified because we had broodstock horses and had foals. If we had only had geldings, we would not have qualified - in Williamson County. In Burnet County, geldings qualify as they are considered ranch equipment. In any case, as we age (though we could have done it at any time since 1996, coincidentally the year we bought the ranch and the year that the Wildlife valuation became a part of the Texas Constitution), we decided that open space wildlife ag valuation would be more appropriate to us and to this piece of land with a water feature on a major migration route. We developed a plan, filed it with the county for approval, and it was approved. Now we maintain it annually, doing the things that will make it most accommodating to our "crop", songbirds (and the other wildlife that likes the same things).

We did have to defend our regular ag valuation one year because the guy who drove by and didn't see enough cattle to justify it and yanked it didn't realize that the cattle, not being dumb, were over the hill where the best grass was at that time of year, not visible from the house, never mind the road. A few photos and a prepared presentation and, most important, actually reading the statute (because they quoted it wrong and I'd freshened up on my reading of it the night before) took care of that.

The 2 acres thing is correct. Smaller parcels can get away with it but they need to be about 5-20 acres depending on county (the amendment to the Constitution was written to take into consideration that West Texas is not East Texas in how much "normal intensity" of livestock or drops is per acre, not by a long shot, so it gives a certain amount of power and leeway to the local county in making that determination).

And, yes, in many counties, those people likely will know all those things and will be a great resource (as will the rest of the locals who are farming/ranching the land and have been for generations) for those new to how to do it. Experience taught us they are vastly more useful than books for that kind of knowledge (though books have their place and many of those that tend the land have advanced degrees that are necessary to their line of work).

[Mark Senior]

So you need and lot patience and time, but to some it works well and it's worth the effort with procedures, rules regulations. OK, lol