I have been a lurker on all of texags for many many years but have only posted a handful of times - so forgive me - but I was looking for advice - I am not a real estate expert by any means

currently live in cypress - Harris county - and without getting too political - i want to move my family out of here by the time my kids start school (they are 2 and 3 years old right now)

Obviously interest rates are really high right now and we are not wanting to buy a new home right now - but we found an acreage community we like in the Willis / New Waverly area. Nice lot - on the high side of the road - no easements to mess with - underground electrical, water, and fiber internet - low tax rate 1.8%,
NOT HARRIS COUNTY!! actually it is Walker county.

1 acre lot for about $90k.
we would put about $40-$50k down (bonus i got from work) and finance the rest.

My question is - they say land prices dont typically drop down - do you all agree? I would hate to buy high and the value of the land drops. Just wanting to know what you guys think. $90k is a ton of money for 1 acre I Feel like, but utilities are all there and it is a nice deed restricted community - 2,000sq ft home minimum, etc.

Sewer in place or do you have to do septic?

You do have to do septic system . And no gas lines out that way - if you want gas, have to do a buried propane tank.

I should add, my wife and I are very lucky in that we have no debt right now besides our current home. Goal would be to pay this land off asap and then hopefully build when interest rates are lower, whenever that may be.

I guess my main concern is, even if the economy goes further down the crapper, is it a safe investment. I would like to think so but wanted the opinion of some good ags who are smarter than me on this topic

We lived on 5 acres between New Waverly and Coldspring on 2693. It's beautiful out there. We loved it.

May double check on home building requirements and timeline that you would have to start after purchase. A lot of those communities stipulate that you have to start building within X amount of days and have to be complete within another X amount of days.

I did double check that. No time limit to build. So that's good. My thought process is, as long as land values don't go down, I am hoping it is a good place to put money, pay it off in a couple of years and then if we want to build there great, if not then sell it

Should be fine. Ain't making more land. And if it's where you want to be and have peace about it, that's a big plus. What has been the absorption rate on the available lots - as in how many lots does their first phase have in and how many are "sold?"

Sometimes with these communities, you can be competing against the developer for years to come (if multiple phases or really larger communities) if it ever comes time to sell your lot for whatever reason/extenuating circumstance.

So understanding their phasing, total lots for the whole development, etc. is worthwhile info to go into your decision making.

I never would have thought of this, as this is our first time purchasing land. Definitely going to double check that. Thank you for the suggestion!!

Sounds like Texas Grand Ranch. A ton of lots for sale up there. Pretty country as we gave it a look. Do think about where you'll be working or might be working in the future, schools and district growth plans, and availability of kid activities nearby (soccer leagues, swim team, dance, football, etc).

I probably wouldn't buy the lot now though if that's truly where you want to be as no real reason to based on quick scan of HAR. See probably 100 lots for sale, and the few I clicked on have been sitting for almost a year.

Since you're not in a hurry to move/build, take the time to drive through all of these acreage communities (something to do when your kids are tired and sleeping in the car!). We went through damn near every one north of Houston 2-3 times up all the way to College Station. When driving through, we'd talk with folks out in their yards, etc. to get insight on the community and surrounding ones, their builder, etc. Met a lot of super nice people that gave great info.

Good luck!

PS: Start reading all of the custom build threads if you haven't yet. They were super helpful to us before we started building.

I've been randomly talking to neighbors in several areas lately as we are preparing to move as well and people are surprisingly forthcoming about anything and everything. It is a very nice surprise.

Looking for acreage north of houston as well, any you really liked or any you'd steer clear of?
We'd have to have one that allows horses and be able to get to Tomball relatively quickly.

Seaspeed: Definitely surprised as well and restored a bit of faith in humanity!

Aggwife: None had any hidden things that would make them a hard pass i.e. not built on a Superfund site, graveyard, etc. Mainly just found one that fit our criteria the best, but visiting the communities definitely swayed our opinions.

Great info. Thank you !

I'd stay away from any community that would take you near 1488 on a regular basis. It's a **** show with the rapid development and lack of infrastructure planning.

Good to know.
I'm just not sure what the future holds for the other side of magnolia, but I guess that's a chance you have to take.

Thanks. Did you use an agent to find the neighborhoods or just zillow/har type searches? I feel like there's always a new one popping up that I wasn't aware of.

No agent involved. Used a combination of internet searches, Google maps, and driving around to sort through communities. I also checked Har listings as well g