Open-space (1-d-1) agricultural appraisal is granted by the county appraisal district (CAD), not by the state, and it is tied to how the land is actually used. The land generally must have been devoted principally to an agricultural use, such as grazing, hay, orchards or beekeeping, to the degree of intensity typical for the area, for five of the preceding seven years. Each CAD publishes its own intensity standards, for example a minimum number of animal units per acre or a minimum acreage for beekeeping.

Wildlife management is a way to keep an existing 1-d-1 valuation without livestock. The land must already qualify under agricultural use, and the owner files a wildlife management plan with the CAD that commits to at least three of seven approved practices, such as habitat control, supplemental water, census counts or predator management, and then reports annually. Changing to a non-qualifying use triggers a rollback of the tax difference for the previous three years plus interest, so buyers should ask for the current application, the plan on file and the most recent CAD notices before closing.

Screening for our Austin leases follows the same written criteria for every applicant, in line with the Fair Housing Act and Texas Property Code requirements. Applicants complete an application, provide government identification and proof of income, and authorize a credit, rental-history and background check. Where income is variable, for example for self-employed applicants, we look at tax returns or bank statements rather than a single pay stub.

Owners set the income and credit thresholds for their property in advance, and those criteria are made available to applicants in writing before they apply, as Texas law requires. Decisions are based on the criteria, not on who the applicant is, and adverse decisions are communicated with the reason. Because architectural homes often include specialty finishes, leases may also include specific care provisions; we walk through those with applicants before signing.

Both zones are defined by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) over the Edwards Aquifer in parts of Hays, Travis, Williamson, Comal and Bexar counties. The Recharge Zone is where the fractured Edwards limestone is exposed at the surface and rainfall enters the aquifer directly. The Contributing Zone lies upstream, mostly on the Trinity formations, where runoff flows toward the Recharge Zone.

For a buyer, the practical difference is regulation. Development on the Recharge Zone requires a TCEQ-approved Water Pollution Abatement Plan for most projects and carries stricter limits on impervious cover, septic placement and stormwater treatment. Contributing Zone tracts are regulated too, but generally through a Contributing Zone Plan with fewer constraints. Wells, septic permits and build-out costs can all differ between the two, so we confirm the zone on the TCEQ map and with the county before a client makes an offer.

Compensation is agreed in writing before any work begins and is set out in the listing agreement, the buyer representation agreement or the property management agreement. Real estate commissions in Texas are not fixed by law or by any association and are negotiable between the client and the brokerage. Our fee depends on the type of property, the scope of marketing, whether the assignment includes land due diligence, and the length of the engagement.

For leases and property management, fees are typically structured as a leasing fee when a tenant is placed plus a monthly management fee, with owner-approved maintenance passed through at cost. There are no hidden charges: every fee is listed in the agreement, and we are happy to explain the structure before you decide. Call (512) 842-9300 or write to info@nestandacre.com for a proposal on a specific property.

Yes. Water is often the single most important question on a Hill Country tract, and we treat it as part of due diligence rather than an afterthought. During the option period we coordinate a licensed well contractor or pump installer to pull the well log, measure static and pumping water levels, and run a sustained yield test that reports gallons per minute over several hours rather than a short burst.

We also arrange laboratory testing of the water through an accredited lab for bacteria, nitrates, total dissolved solids and other parameters, and we check whether the well is registered with the local groundwater conservation district. Where a tract has no well, we help you understand typical drilling depths and costs in that area and what the district requires before you drill. The results become contingencies in the contract where appropriate.

Dripping Springs was the first community in Texas to be designated an International Dark Sky Community, and Wimberley Valley received the same designation later. Their city ordinances, together with the outdoor lighting rules Hays County applies in unincorporated areas, generally require exterior fixtures to be fully shielded, aimed downward, limited in brightness and in the warm end of the color spectrum, with some rules on when lighting must be turned off.

Blanco County has no county-wide ordinance of its own, but many subdivisions there adopt dark-sky lighting standards in their deed restrictions, and the county sits within the same regional night-sky reserve efforts. Before a purchase we confirm which rules apply to the tract, whether existing fixtures comply, and what a new build or renovation will need to include. Compliance is rarely expensive, but it is easier to plan for than to retrofit.

Owner financing means the seller acts as the lender: the buyer pays a down payment and then makes monthly payments to the seller under a promissory note secured by a deed of trust on the land. It is common on rural tracts because conventional lenders are often reluctant to finance raw land, and it lets a seller widen the pool of buyers or spread the tax on the gain over time.

Terms are negotiated case by case. In our experience down payments most often fall between 10 and 25 percent, interest rates run above conventional mortgage rates, and notes are written for five to twenty years, sometimes with a balloon payment. Texas law imposes disclosure and other requirements on some seller-financed sales, so the note, deed of trust and any balloon terms should be prepared by a Texas real estate attorney or title company. We help clients compare owner financing with land-bank and farm-credit lenders before choosing.

Our brokerage license is issued by the Texas Real Estate Commission, so our agents represent clients in Texas transactions. For land outside Texas we work through a referral network of licensed brokers in the state where the property is located. We help you define the search, review the parcel and its water, access and title questions with you, and stay involved as an advisor, while the local licensed broker handles the transaction under that state’s law.

This is how the parcels shown on our Land page in Colorado, Montana, Tennessee and other states are handled. Referral relationships are disclosed to you in writing, and any fee sharing between brokerages does not change what you pay. If you already have a broker in another state, we are glad to coordinate with them.

The Information About Brokerage Services notice, usually called IABS, is a form the Texas Real Estate Commission requires every license holder to give to prospective buyers, sellers, landlords and tenants at the first substantive contact about a specific property. It explains the types of representation available in Texas, the duties a broker owes a client, and the fact that the brokerage may represent both sides as an intermediary with written consent.

It is a disclosure, not a contract: signing it does not obligate you to work with us. TREC also requires the Consumer Protection Notice, which tells you how to file a complaint and about the Real Estate Recovery Trust Account. Both notices are linked in the footer of every page on this site and are provided again when you meet with an advisor.