Land Due Diligence in the Texas Hill Country

Confirm legal, recorded access to a public road — not just a gate and a ranch road that has always been used. Shared driveways, utility easements, and pipeline easements all shape where you can build and how the tract can be divided later.

Well depth and yield vary sharply across the region, sometimes between neighboring tracts. Ask for well logs, recent yield tests, and the groundwater conservation district that governs the area. Where a public water line is available, confirm capacity and the cost to extend service.

A 20-acre tract with steep slope, rock, and creek floodplain may offer only a small usable building envelope. Overlay the FEMA floodplain map, review topography, and identify where a home, drive, and septic field can realistically go before you set a value on the land.

Many tracts carry an agricultural valuation. Understand what activity maintains it, whether the exemption transfers, and what rollback taxes could apply if you change the use. This single item can shift the annual carrying cost of a property dramatically.

Deed restrictions, subdivision covenants, and county plat rules determine what can be built and how a tract can be split. Reading them early tells you whether your plan is feasible — and whether the asking price reflects what the land can actually do.