Margali's Griffin Wood Ranch

[Mini Horses]

Congrats on new job. I'll assume you're both "happy" as a move is stressful! But it's probably a long term position, which would be worth it all long term. DH being able to transfer, not job hunt is certainly a plus.....the 6 months interim is gonna be tough.

 

[Baymule]

My favorite is the one on county road 181

 

[Mini Horses]

Couple of those houses are "need a maid" size

Any house that has a comma in the monthly payment is frightening! I could not buy my farm on today's market! How scary. Salaries are way different than when I was in the normal job market years ago.

 

[farmerjan]

God Bless you and your family. Having an apartment there for the 6 months will really confirm that the job is a good fit for you, and give you a feeling for the area....
I am with @Mini Horses .... I could not imagine a mortgage payment with a comma in the amount... HOLY COW.... I am too old and too set back in the "dark ages" to have a payment like that facing me... OKAY, granted we make the farm payment once a year and it is the equivalent to a little less than 12 months of payments... but we have a cattle check to help pay for the 100 + acres...barns and all... there is no house...but the cattle make the payment....

Still, I cannot imagine a house on 6 acres m/l could cost so much. That's about double what the average one costs around here... of course you get into the fancier ones like the 4 br/ 4 bath one in the picture...the ones like that are expensive here too.

I like the first one, with the pond and all... looks "homey"... the other one is HUGE.... but you do have a growing family........price sure goes along with the size....
Nice thing is they all have barns already there... but then that would be a requirement for you to keep the animals...
At least this gives you guys time to settle into the job, and look around... and get your other place ready to sell like you said...
I'm happy that there are possibilities for you guys...

 

[SageHill]

I like the second and third one. The second one though is easily a California price. The third one looks nice and the pool is sweet - can't see what's in the barn though -- and the land needs some help but that price is sweet.

 

[murphysranch]

I like the second and third. Why are there no interior pics of the third home? Why are the taxes 18K a year?

 

[Mini Horses]

TX real estate taxes are wowsers! But, no state taxes, right? Your sales taxes are about same as VA 6+....more on restaurants, cigs, liquor. We just last yr had food sales tx lowered to 1.5%.

But our state inc taxes are there. We get a big "elders" deduction of $8k added to our standard deduction for filing. And my county gives an elder reduction on RE tx...mine is $2k a year, plus basic rates are good, so that's a plus.

While I dislike a sales tax, I also like that it requires many to help pay for state expenses who would otherwise pay zero....renters, non-reported income, etc. It's sharing the cost of benefits they too enjoy.

 

[Margali]

@Mini Horses @farmerjan You don't want to see Houston rental prices then! A small rental that allows cats is $1,000+.

@murphysranch Property taxes are high but after 3years, I will be able to get ag valuation on the pasture which will reduce it immensely.

 

[Mini Horses]

Our rentals are high here. The houses are too, actually. I just built mine yrs ago. But couldn't buy it today . 3 on my street for sale now, $575k, $659 & $799k. I have triple the land, barns, fenced & divisible, with a house & a trailer -- so second home site -- with land between. High values right now.

The $799 one is really nice, he'll get the $$. Barns, fence, etc. 5.5 AC. Others will sell, it's a mad house economy. I could sell, move, buy cash, retire -- but not wanting to move.

 

[fuzzi]

@Mini Horses @farmerjan You don't want to see Houston rental prices then! A small rental that allows cats is $1,000+.

@murphysranch Property taxes are high but after 3years, I will be able to get ag valuation on the pasture which will reduce it immensely.

I like the first daydream house.

Gotta clean, heat/AC, and maintain those extra square feet!