TexasWaterFrontRanches

Freestone Creek Ranch

This private 145 acre waterfront showplace is nestled in the Hill Country just outside of Dripping Springs.  It features a 7,287 SF luxury home built by Bill Dunn with high-end amenities throughout. The land includes both sides of clear, cool and dammed Freestone Creek which features some nice swimming holes. This showplace is game fenced on 3 sides and features a nice mixture of wooded habitat and grassy meadows to attract big turkey, deer and other native wildlife. A well-appointed guest home sits at the edge of a 1+ acre swimming/fishing pond – a perfect setting to enjoy cool evenings on the covered patio gazing at the views. This property also features a state of the art home gym including office and living quarters. The ranch is surrounded by large acreage ranches without a neighbor in site. From open, grassy meadows and spectacular creek frontage to the inviting luxurious home, this private showplace has it all!  Offered for $3,495,000.  Can be subdivided.  Find out more about this property.

Created in 1951 by the Max Starcke Dam, Lake Marble falls is the youngest and the smallest of the Highland Lakes. But it is not without its own share of charm. Beautiful views accompany boating and water recreation. The lake is stocked with native fish and a great spot for fishing, boasting some Texas state record catches.

Double Horn Ranch

Every year in August, for three days the 611 acre lake is home to Lakefest, a quarter mile liquid racetrack for drag boats. Fans enjoy the festivities on shore and the exciting show in the water.

The whole Marble Falls area has some of the most beautiful land and houses to call home, in all of Texas. The Double Horn Ranch is 305 acres of unparalleled waterfront land on the Double Horn Creek for an amazing price. One look at the pictures and you see why this area has its great reputation.

Highland Lakes Part Two: Lake Travis

Highland Lakes Part One: Lake Austin

The National Trust for Historic Preservation (www.preservationnation.org) has named the city of Bastrop, Texas one of its 2010 “Dozen Distinctive Destinations.”

For the past 10 years, the Trust has named these cities that “offer an authentic visitor experience by combining dynamic downtowns, cultural diversity, attractive architecture, cultural landscapes and a strong commitment to historic preservation, sustainability and revitalization.”

Bastrop, Texas was nominated for its thriving but charming downtown and main street, filled with homes and buildings from the 19th and early 20th centuries, one of a kind restaurants and shopping, and two state parks. Despite being just 30 miles from Austin, Bastrop has kept its charm and is considered one of the most historic towns in Texas.

The history of Bastrop dates back to 1804, when a fort was established at the Colorado River crossing. In 1823, the Dutch businessman Baron de Bastrop received permission from the Spanish government to develop a German colony at the site, which failed. In 1827, Stephen F. Austin located a small colony of 100 families to the site and named it after his longtime friend. The town was incorporated in 1837, with 1839 as the year the city of Austin was named capital of Texas.  

For the next century, Bastrop provided Austin with lumber and other industry, and was the site of Camp Swift during World War II. In 1947, Bastrop held a homecoming celebration and rodeo for WWII soldiers, a tradition they’ve continued every year. Starting in the 1980s, Bastrop saw a revival as Austin grew and land values soared.

Even now, Bastrop is a great place to live, close enough but still away from the Austin city life, with its own unique charm. This McDade horse ranch has a beautiful 6,800 sq ft custom home on 51 private acres and many equestrian amenities. It is 30 minutes from Austin, and minutes from Bastrop and Bastrop State Park. The ranch provides phenomenal views of the surrounding hill country with beautiful pastures and sandy loam soil.

Share

Dizzy Rooster Ranch

Dizzy Rooster Ranch

Acres: 56.7 Acres

Location: Lampasas County approximately 10 miles northwest of downtown Lampasas and 5 miles from downtown Lometa on paved CR 2080.

House

Description: The Dizzy Rooster Ranch is a one of a kind, must-see Equestrian and Hunting Ranch. Custom gated entrance with crushed granite road, mature oak and pecan trees, and hill country views. The 1500+ square foot, architecturally unique house comes fully furnished. All improvements were made in late 2008-2009.

There is a 60X50 all steel building/pole barn with 4 large horse stalls, a work shop, garage with concrete slab and 2500 gallon water storage, as well as a carport big enough for 3 trucks. The arena is 200X150 and has light poles as well as a 12X8 custom steel press box. There is also a round horse pen. The front 16 acres is fenced with lock tight wire as well as cross fenced near the house with steel pipe fencing.

Creek

Just below the house is the beautiful spring-fed Barkley Creek. The dam holds about 6 feet of water during normal rainfall years. There is also a 1+/- acre pond that is stocked with large mouth bass, hybrid perch, channel catfish and bluegill. At the pond there is a skeet range for practice shooting. The ranch has had extensive cedar clearing yet the owner has left many trees for wildlife cover. There are also 3 deer blinds and 3 deer feeders.

Wildlife: White Tail Deer, Turkey, Hogs, Fox, Quail, Dove, Coyotes, Beaver, Hawks and some free roaming Exotics. Fish in creek and pond.

Ranch Living

Water: One well with a 2500 gallon storage tank, filter and water softener. Barkley Creek and Pond.

Improvements: House, Barn, Arena, Press Box, Pond, Pipe Fencing, Perimeter and Cross Fencing, Custom Entrance with Electric Gate, Crushed Granite Road, Deer Blinds, Feeders.

Minerals: Exact mineral conveyance to be determined at time of new title commitment.

See the Listing or Virtual Tour for more!

Share

Original homestead on 26 acres in quiet area of San Marcos, with modern upgrades. Beautiful cleared land under big skies and minutes to town.

• 26 Acres in quiet area of San Marcos
• 2,468 SF two story home with 3 bed, 2.5 bath
• Remodel includes many energy efficient upgrades
• Country kitchen with Corian type counters, dishwasher, free standing range, refrigerator and breakfast area
• Formal dining room
• Foyer at entry
  

  Water Tower

• Family room at front of original home
• 3rd living in addition includes closet for media storage
• 4th living/game area
• New master suite with sitting area, walk-in closet
• New garden tub and separate shower
• Two separate bedrooms share full bath
• Utility room with washer/dryer
• Two car garage
• Big insulated barn with bay doors for equipment, cars
• Pole barn with storage area for livestock
• Second covered barn for hay storage
• Livestock and electric fencing keeps livestock in separate pastures
• Panoramic Views
• Central Air/Heat
• Original well and water tower make this a picturesque Texas homestead
• Minutes to I-35, downtown San Marcos.

See the listing or virtual tour for more on this great homestead.

Lake Travis

The next westernmost lake from Lake Austin is Lake Travis. Created when the Mansfield Dam was finished in 1941, Lake Travis has the most notoriety in the greater Austin area as a recreational destination spot. Lake Travis is a spot for beautiful restaurants and campsites, popular for marinas and watercraft, and waterfront homes are consistently in demand.

Lake Travis is fed by both the Colorado River (as with all the highland lakes) and the Pedernales River, which flows into the southwestern portion of the lake. It is known as one of the clearest lakes in Texas, with its beautiful aquamarine tint to the water. Lake Travis serves as not only the primary flood control reservoir of the chain, but also a major source of drinking water for Austinites.

View from Rancho Estacia

The bluffs of Lake Travis provide unparallelled views, and often privacy, in any Hill Country properties. Rivercliff and Rancho Estacia are both stunning waterfront estates on the Pedernales arm, each offering opportunities to own horses and land on this beautiful lake. Another property we just recently profiled, The Falls, is 315 stunning acres on a private cove of Lake Travis.

Part One: Lake Austin

Miller Creek

Just listed: beautiful 4,950 Sq. Ft. custom home on 68 acres in Texas Hill Country. Sits on 800 ft on both sides of Miller Creek.

Home Features:

• Stone entry with custom wrought iron door & wood beam ceiling
• Full Commercial Thermador kitchen – 6 burner oven with griddle, 3 ovens, built-in microwave, ice maker, dishwasher, trash compactor, built-in refrigerator and freezer – All appliances have wood fronts to match cabinets. Kitchen also features Custom Beveled granite countertops, extra large island with breakfast bar, attached breakfast room, large walk-in pantry.
• Breakfast Room with buffet, shelves, built in TV, wall of mirrors and large stone fireplace. Formal Dining Room with Wall of windows overlooking creek, Solid wood beam and stained wood ceiling, Stone walls with arched passages. Wet Bar with Stainless steel sink, Wine fridge, built in cabinets and stone walls.
• Great Room with Huge masonry fireplace, Large stained wooden trusses with custom ironwork – 100% wood ceiling, Full glass wall overlooking pool and creek
• Master Bedroom with stone fireplace, wall of windows overlooking pool & creek, Built-in computer desk, bookcases, TV, His and Hers entrance into Bath/Dressing areas. Master bath with his & hers walk-in closets, Walk-in natural stone shower, rock walls with arches, Large Jacuzzi tub, Stone entrance to Exercise area, Vaulted ceiling with wood beams, Separate water closet.
• Exercise Room with Large windows overlooking creek, Wood wainscot, Mirrored wall, Music/TV. Utility Room with Sink, Built-in cabinets, Freezer area. Game/Media Room with 100% stain wood stairway, Wrought iron handrails, Walk-in closet, Built-in Desks, Built-in Entertainment Center, View of creek.
• Detached 4 Car Garage with Attached Breezeway to House

Miller Creek

Exterior Features:

• Stone entry gate with communal gate operations, Intercom to house, 8 foot custom iron gates.
• Stone lined custom heated pool with pebble tech plaster, 6 person Hot Tub overlooking creek. Lighted stone walkway to creek. Flagstone deck around pool.
• Large flagstone terrace the entire length of house with Built-in TV and stainless steel gas BBQ Pit on terrace overlooking creek.
• Large (20 ft x 18 ft) BBQ Cabana with Full kitchen, TV & custom Commercial wood Burning BBQ pit
• Bath with outdoor shower, Large fire pit with built-in rock seats, Wrought iron fencing around fully landscaped yard.
• Approx. 3 acres of house, pasture is irrigated. Fenced horse pasture and antique windmill. 2×2, “no climb” fenced horse pasture. All fencing is new or excellent condition.
• 3 stall stable with 2nd floor office/gameroom. Tack and feed Barn, Hay barn, fenced paddock. Round pen/roping arena with square feed lot. Wood and storage shed.
• Well house with game cleaning area. 4 wells with 25 gal per minute capacity and rainwater collection system with 10000 gal collection tank.
• 3 RV hook-ups for guests
• 1 acre stock pond. Miller Creek is stocked with bass, catfish and perch. Other spring locations on property with the availability to add multiple other water features.
• Cedar has been cleared on all but 10 acres. Ag Exempt – cattle. Wildlife abounds: Whitetail deer, turkey, Axis, Seika.
• Fenced and gated garden with limestone planters

If you are interested in this property, or one similar, contact us today.

 Take a virtual tour:

The Fed reiterated last week that in March of 2010, they will be ending their Mortgage Security Buyback program, a big part of what has kept interest rates low throughout 2009. It won’t be a sudden drop-off, rather a slow decrease in these purchases until March, when there will be no more.

With the Fed no longer spending the tens of billions of dollars monthly on mortgage securities, we will only have the private sector to fill in the gap. When that happens, we can naturally expect mortgage rates to rise. “The difference in monthly mortgage payments of 5% or 6% can be measured in tens of thousands of dollars over the life of a loan,” one writer explains.

The Atlantic Monthly writes that the credit markets need securitization, and warns that it will only become more difficult to borrow money (and those loans will come at higher interest rates) as the Fed program ends. “If you think banks aren’t lending enough now, then you’d find a world with no securitization much worse. Yet, that might be what you get if the Fed ends its program.”

Why would the Fed remove such a successful program? The analogy of a bike with training wheels is often given – if you want an economy to strengthen, recover and stand on its own, at some point you need to take the wheels off. If the Fed keeps rates too low for too long, inflation will rise higher and you will expect to see rates rise anyway. Home loan rates will increase as demand is met, naturally, with or without the Fed.

We can expect the end of the first quarter of 2010 to be a telling time for the economy’s recovery, but the heavy favor of the buyer and borrower is going to change. These will be some of the last months we’ll see that are such great markets for buying a home or land. If you are considering buying, you should begin your search now.

Sandy Ranch

CNN Money’s article “What Housing Bust?” covers what areas of the nation have done well in the housing market, and why. According to writer Les Christie, areas with plenty of available developable land have smaller swings between home price highs and lows. This is because, when the demand for housing spikes, home builders are able to build more homes and keep the housing prices in check. Speed is also of the essence here, home builders need to be able to build quickly, thus, the need for available land.

“Elasticity of supply,” this is called, according to Mark Fleming, chief economist for First American CoreLogic. And Christie says, it is the definition of Texas real estate, and similar throughout all the metro areas.

“Texas is the poster child for these ‘steady Eddie’ states. House prices during the past three years rose in all 26 metro areas with gains ranging from 2.8% for Dallas, the second largest metro area, to 9.7% in Houston, the largest, to a whopping 32.5% in Odessa.”

This is part of what is causing the metro areas in Texas, including Austin, to grow so rapidly. Landowners in the Austin area should continue to see their investments in high demand for buyers and developers.

The results are in, and Texans have voted to pass all 11 proposed amendments to the state constitution, including those we’ve reported on, for appraisal reform.

Proposition 11, which limits the government’s power to eminent domain, was hugely popular and passed by an 80-20 margin. “The amendment bans governments in Texas from seizing private property and giving it to a private developer to boost the tax base,” reports KXAN News.

Over 43,500 residents voted in Travis County.

Share