With the husband creeping closer to retirement age, we've decided it's probably time to flee the big city and head for the hills to establish our nest for retirement. Texas hill country, that is. Swimmin' holes and feral hogs.
I grew up in a tiny little town in southeast Texas, so I'll have no problem leaving behind the 2.5M folks in the greater metropolitan area where we currently live. Our goal is to become ranchette owners. Unlike a ranch that requires a lot of work, these smaller versions are typically located within driving distance of a major metropolitan area on approximately 40+ acres with a house and some sort of outbuildings. Maybe run a small goatherd or a few cows on the property for an ag exemption. These set-ups are very popular in this part of Texas.
We spent most of yesterday touring raw land. I've been praying for the Lord to lead us to where we're supposed to be, that I would leave the timing of our move in His hands. Trying to stay in His will. Not get anxious about it all as properties are often scooped up as quickly as they hit the market. Thanks to the pandemic and low interest rates, the housing market continues to be white hot. Of the six properties we told the realtor we wanted to see on Wednesday, three of them were already under contract by Friday when we were confirming our meeting the next day.
Our realtor Kelly is a real sweetheart and we soon connected with our faith. When she called a listing agent to inquire about one of the plots of land we wanted to see, she was told it's already under contract. So when she asked him if he was aware of any other land coming to the market soon, he shared with her about a big ranch recently purchased that he and his partner (from the southeast Texas town of Buna) are developing. It hasn't received final approval from the county and been platted yet, but they had cedar cleared from most of the 500 acres and lots had already been marked.
Yesterday afternoon we hopped into the developer's mule, seen above for those of you who aren't familiar with this ranch necessity, so he could take us to tour several of the plots with the best views. The first one was great and I was impressed because it had a mix of city lights and rolling hills. But it was mostly west facing and I'm a sunrise girl. So he drove us over to another section. It was more southwest oriented for the views, but it was all rolling hills. I've gotta admit - there's something about city lights blinking on in the distance as night falls that I find picturesque. That's what led us to the third plot that faces mostly south and a bit east. At 1900 ft elevation, the views were almost 360° so that I could see both city lights twinkling in the distance plus miles and miles of hills. The husband and I were sold, and thrilled that we are the first folks to secure 50 acres within this development of ranchettes.
Because the weather was so overcast and icky, I didn't get to snap any decent pics of the views. Therefore, I pulled several off the interwebs from this area that resemble our property. We're at least 2+ years away from finishing a home to move in and enjoy these views, but I'm excited to start the process of building our retirement home in the hills.
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