There are two major styles of septic systems, aerobic and conventional. If the home is located in a rocky area with little topsoil, an aerobic system is required. Areas with more topsoil and/or clay can typically have a conventional septic. As a property owner, it is important you know the type of septic, when it was last pumped, and how to maintain it. Conventional septic can cost $10,000-$15,000 for most homes, while aerobic septic range from $15,000-$20,000. To pump a septic tank, you can expect to pay between $300-500, depending on the amount of sewage pumped. Aerobic septic require yearly maintenance agreements with the county with reports provided four times a year to ensure the septic pump, drain lines, and sprinkler heads are in good working order, costing $200-$250 a year for a maintenance contract.

The more rural you go, the less likely you’ll have a water system or water company serving your property. So...how do you get water to your home? Is the land you are thinking of buying located over an Aquifer? this might be something to consider if you want remote land, this will aid you if you are considering water by drilling a water well or adding a rainwater collection system. Costs for water wells can vary depending on the depth of the water table and terrain, the production of the well. A low production well may need a storage tank and almost all wells need a filtration system. If you choose to go with rainwater collection, it is important to identify the number of gallons needed and whether or not this should be used in conjunction with a well.

Many people move to the country to have chickens, goats, horses, cows, or other livestock. However, just because you’re in the country does not mean your property will allow the animals you want or the fencing required to keep them in. Many acreage lots still have impervious coverage restrictions that can prevent you from adding your guest house, pool, or sport court. It is important to have an agent that not only knows how to pull restrictions, but also knows how to interpret them to ensure you reach your property goals.

Did you know that in some counties, you can have wildlife exemption status on 6 or more acres if you maintain a beehive? Most agents don’t. It’s also possible to have a wildlife exemption by maintaining a 10+ acre property for migratory birds, or an agricultural exemption by running cattle, goats, cutting hay or other livestock. Check with the county you want to move to to get the current qualifying Ag exceptions. If you’re anticipating tax exemptions for your land because of how you plan to use it, it’s important to know that those exemptions are not guaranteed. Agricultural and homestead exemptions may be available. We recommend you contact the county appraisal district to determine what exemptions are in place prior to purchase. It can take as long as five years to re-establish an agricultural exemption.  

Texas law states you have to have 10+ acres to hunt, which means if you have a homestead, you really need 11+ acres. Different restrictions ban hunting, allow bow hunting, or allow hunting with a rifle if you own enough acreage.

Let's talk fencing, it is the animal owners that is responsible for keeping your critters/livestock out of your neighbors property. Sometime the property owners will split the cost of fencing if there is livestock on both properties. Estimated cost of fencing this can change based on the area you are fencing and terrain. 5 Strand Barbed Wire Fencing can cost $4.00-$6.00 per ft (cattle) 5 Strand Smooth Wire Fencing $3.50-$4.50 per ft (Horses),Pipe Fencing cost $18.00-$35.00 per ft. varies based on pipe and cross pipe, style and diameter.

Who is Responsible for Building the Road. Even if the land is accessible from a county road, accessibility on the land itself is up to the property owner. You can hire bulldozers to clear the path and gravelers to cover it and protect it from erosion. 

A property survey shows the boundaries of the property indicating the acreage amount, and includes a written description of the property. It also should show any structures that would transfer with it. The lender or Title Company may deem an existing survey adequate for review if nothing has changed and it not over a few years old. However, purchasing a new survey is usually recommended. Survey Cost vary based on size and topography on the land. Consult your Land Agent for and idea on cost of a survey or call a local surveyor in the ares for more information. In our Current Market the demand for survey are high, so this process can take 2 to 6 weeks based on work load and size of job. 

A lien is an interest in land held by a person other than the owner as security for a sum of money owed to that person (such as a loan or a judgment). When a property that is subject to a lien is sold, the lien must be discharged (by payment of the money owed, for example). Otherwise, if the lien is not discharged, the lien will stay attached to the property, even after the sale, and can be foreclosed to enforce the obligation(s) it secures. To find out if there are any liens against the property that need to be paid before the title is conveyed to you, check the title commitment.

Knowing whether or not the property you want to purchase lies within a flood zone will impact lending as well as insurance. If you’re working with a lender to finance property that includes existing or proposed improvements, your lender may order a flood zone determination from a third party specializing in flood determinations. Flood insurance rate maps (FIRM) will help identify if your property is located in any special flood hazard areas. Maps are also provided online by FEMA atmsc.fema.gov/ portal.

As you consider buying rural land, keep in mind that utility services may or may not be available in that particular location yet. Just because you see a water line or a well on the property doesn’t mean there is water running. It’s best to contact the local utility providers (for water, electricity, internet, etc.) to verify which services are available and which are running to that particular section of land. If the piece of land you want to buy needs utility service, it’s possible to include the cost of securing those services in a land loan. Find out from the local service provider what the cost will be. 

Deed restrictions, zoning, and flood plains can restrict your use of the property so it’s important to be aware of their existence. The specifications should be included in the title commitment or referenced in the survey. For instance, there could be access issues, or restrictions on subdividing the land. Things like permits and zoning vary from county to county. Check before purchasing the property to confirm that you will be able to dig a well or put in a septic system, or build your Shop and have horses or chickens…

Geology.com explains mineral rights in this way: They “entitle a person or organization to explore and produce the rocks, minerals, oil and gas found at or below the surface of a tract of land.” In other words, the minerals from a piece of land you own belong to you… except when they don’t. Minerals can be a lot of things although commonly considered to refer to oil and gas. The lesson here is to ask about the mineral estate of the land you wish to purchase and to know the rights and risks associated with that area. You might want to ask neighboring property owners about any drilling they’ve seen or trucks they’ve observed in the area. Land ownership in the state of Texas is divided into two separate estates–mineral estates and surface estates. 

Understanding who owns the mineral rights is significant in that Texas law holds the mineral estate in a superior position. This means the owner of the mineral estate has the right to explore and develop the production of oil and gas without obtaining permission from the surface owner, unless the mineral estate owner has waived the right to use the surface estate to access the minerals. Typically, such a waiver is in writing, recorded in the real property records of the county in which the land is located. Simply speaking, that means that you could buy a plot of land without owning the mineral rights to that land. As a result, the person or organization who owns the mineral rights could potentially use the surface area of your land to access their minerals. 

Originally, all mineral and surface rights would have been owned by the same person but over time as owners sold property they reserved the minerals in areas where oil and gas production were occurring. While a title company can conduct a title search that should show what mineral reservations and mineral deeds have been filed of record, in order to determine the current ownership of a mineral estate that has been severed from the surface estate, you may need to obtain a title opinion or abstract from an attorney. If no prior mineral reservations or conveyances exist, and the seller isn’t reserving any minerals themselves, then the mineral ownership should transfer with the sale.

The best way to find out if there are existing mineral on a property is to hire an Land Man / Oil and Gas Attorney who specializes in Mineral. The cost for investigation the mineral search varied on the time and how far back the mineral were severed form the property. This is typically a price per hour charge. The the farther they go back the more hours and the higher the price.  

What are rollback taxes?

 If an owner changes the use of property and loses eligibility for a special appraisal method(AG EXEMPTION), rollback taxes may be incurred. For a special appraisal based on agricultural use, a change in use or the sale of the property may trigger rollback taxes covering the previous three years.

Secondly, when can rollback taxes be assessed? The building of a new home, the moving in of a new mobile home, or the subdividing of an agricultural tract of land for residential purposes could cause these taxes to be assessed. How are rollback taxes calculated? Rollback taxes go back a maximum of 5 years from the year a change in property use has occurred. This is very important when you buy or sell a property to check the current use and exemption. Do your homework, and make sure you complete the applications to keep the property in the same or similar use to continue the exemption in the county's time frame this is crucial to keeping the current exemption in place, if you don’t you could fall in to rollback taxes. 

Ag exemption requirements vary by county, but generally speaking, you need at least 10 acres of qualified agricultural land to be eligible for the special valuation.

Only land that is primarily being used – and has been used for at least five of the past seven years – for agricultural purposes may qualify for an Ag exemption in Texas. Agricultural purposes include crop production, livestock, beekeeping, and similar activities. Many Counties have minimum acreage requirements, and some also consider the agricultural degree of intensity.

How much money a Texas landowner could save with an Ag exemption depends on many factors, including the specific type of Ag valuation and the market value of the property. Eligibility requirements and tax rates differ by county, so there is no one-size-fits-all calculation, but in most cases, the savings are well worth the effort required to meet those requirements.

Cattle, sheep, goats, and bees typically qualify for Special Ag Valuation; however, every county in Texas has unique rules and requirements. The best way to understand your specific opportunities is to contact the appraisal district in which your property is located. 

The number of cattle or other livestock needed to qualify for a Special Ag Valuation is based on the intensity standards for each individual appraisal district. The intensity standards for an appraisal district are typically defined as the number of acres of land needed to sustain a grazing animal unit. (One cow is considered an animal unit, as are 5 sheep or goats in most cases.) The amount of acreage deemed adequate for an animal unit varies drastically by geographic location in Texas due to average rainfall amount, among other factors. Contact your local appraisal district to learn more and submit an application for Agricultural Appraisal.

Traditionally appraisal districts will allow poultry to qualify a property for Special Ag Valuation, but many qualifications must be met and those qualifications vary depending on the county and are subject to changes due to weather patterns. To locate the agricultural appraisal guidelines regarding chickens in your county, begin by visiting the Texas comptroller's website.

According to the State Comptroller’s Office “The aim is for landowners to realize property tax savings to encourage them to continue to produce vital agricultural products, such as livestock, cotton, timber, milk, and corn.” Pollination is vital to agriculture, and bees are managed pollinators… the only economically viable managed pollinators. It is claimed that three out of five bites of food we take are dependent on pollinators. Our grocery stores' produce aisle would look very different without the fruits and vegetables beekeeping makes possible for us.

Texas law restricts the property covered by this valuation to between 5 and 20 acres, so you must have at least 5 acres to qualify. Many counties remove an acre for buildings or a homestead. In that case, you would need 6 acres to qualify.

The law covering agricultural use related to beekeeping is Texas Tax Code under Chapter 23, Subchapter D, Section 23.52  (1) and (2). The change from 2012 allowing beekeeping is in the last sentence of paragraph (2).

“(1) “Qualified open-space land” means land that is currently devoted principally to agricultural use to the degree of intensity generally accepted in the area and that has been devoted principally to agricultural use or to the production of timber or forest products for five of the preceding seven years or land that is used principally as an ecological laboratory by a public or private college or university. Qualified open-space land includes all appurtenances to the land. For the purposes of this subdivision, appurtenances to the land means private roads, dams, reservoirs, water wells, canals, ditches, terraces, and other reshapings of the soil, fences, and riparian water rights. Notwithstanding the other provisions of this subdivision, land that is currently devoted principally to wildlife management as defined by Subdivision (7)(B) or (C) to the degree of intensity generally accepted in the area qualifies for appraisal as qualified open-space land under this subchapter regardless of the manner in which the land was used in any preceding year.

(2) “Agricultural use” includes but is not limited to the following activities:  cultivating the soil, producing crops for human food, animal feed, or planting seed or for the production of fibers;  floriculture, viticulture, and horticulture;  raising or keeping livestock;  raising or keeping exotic animals for the production of human food or of fiber, leather, pelts, or other tangible products having a commercial value;  planting cover crops or leaving land idle for the purpose of participating in a governmental program, provided the land is not used for residential purposes or a purpose inconsistent with agricultural use;  and planting cover crops or leaving land idle in conjunction with normal crop or livestock rotation procedure. The term also includes the use of land to produce or harvest logs and posts for the use in constructing or repairing fences, pens, barns, or other agricultural improvements on adjacent qualified open-space land having the same owner and devoted to a different agricultural use. The term also includes the use of land for wildlife management. 

The term also includes the use of land to raise or keep bees for pollination or for the production of human food or other tangible products having a commercial value, provided that the land used is not less than 5 or more than 20 acres.” You don’t have to sell honey. (You do have to produce something of value)

Be aware that you don’t have to sell honey or hive products to qualify. You simply have to produce food or other tangible products having commercial value. The key word is “produce”.  You can consume it or gift it. There is a small technicality here…When you apply with the appraisal district you will be applying for a 1-D-1 valuation. There is an old 1-D valuation that requires profit. It does not apply to you.

So… How Many Hives Do You Need?

Although the rules vary from county to county, many counties require between 6 and 12 colonies of bees but some counties require less, so check with your appraisal district. How many colonies you need are called “intensity” by the appraisal district.

Our friend, Dennis Herbert of Conservation 1, was instrumental in getting the beekeeping law passed in Texas. He has worked untold hours to compile a list of general “intensity” requirements for each county.

You Don’t Have to Become A Beekeeper (But you can if you want to)

You can buy and manage the bees yourself, or appraisal districts allow you to have someone else manage bees on your land. You may be able to find beekeepers in your part of the state to provide and work bees for you.  

The difference between an Ag exemption and a homestead exemption is an Ag exemption is not really an exemption, but instead is a special valuation. This means agricultural landowners will have their property taxes calculated based on productive agricultural values, as opposed to the market value of the land. Ag exemptions are only for land that is primarily being used for agricultural purposes. They are not easy to get and can be difficult to maintain.

Homestead exemptions in Texas on the other hand are easy to receive. They are a property tax break for homeowners living in their primary residence. Also different from Ag exemptions, homestead exemptions are easy to maintain because they do not need to be reapplied for once they are issued.

A wildlife exemption is an alternative type of agricultural exemption that lets you keep your property taxes low by performing activities aimed at helping native Texas wildlife rather than, or alongside, traditional agriculture uses. While traditional Texas “ag” and timber exemptions require the practices of farming, ranching or timber production, a state constitutional amendment (Proposition 11, 1995) allows Texas landowners to also qualify for an ag exemption through wildlife management practices – thus being able to maintain their lower property taxes without some of the costs and activities associated with traditional agriculture. While Ag and wildlife exemptions are not true “exemptions” from property taxes, qualifying landowners are able to maintain a much lower property valuation on their land vs its market value, saving considerable tax dollars for large parcel landowners or land in high value areas. These property tax savings are designed to protect open-space land and that is what makes maintaining Ag and Wildlife exemptions so beneficial across the state.

Open-space lands, including those under timber, Ag, and wildlife exemptions in Texas help provide clean water, clean air, food and fiber production, and beautiful Texas landscapes. The requirements of maintaining a wildlife exemption are designed to benefit native wildlife and their habitats on your land. Particularly in the western 2/3rds of the state, local grazing intensity requirements for an ag exemption are difficult to maintain on many properties.

A property that enjoys a wildlife exemption, regardless of size, is part of the six million acres in Texas currently being managed to preserve open spaces and lower property taxes – while increasing property aesthetics and property value.

While it’s true that landowners with a strong appreciation of wildlife and natural habitats find switching to a wildlife exemption an enjoyable transition, other types of landowners can benefit as well: Ranchers, farmers, and families who no longer want to continue ranching or farming but want to continue caring for their land and its wildlife. Ranchers who want more flexibility in their stocking rates or need longer rest and recovery periods for their land. New rural landowners who want to have their own place in the country without having to deal with livestock or farming. Landowners who are looking for a simpler way of life and more pleasure and enjoyment from owning and working the land.

Landowners who want to leave a legacy to future generations who may not want to be farmers or ranchers. Those looking for greater flexibility, more choices, and potential savings of time and money.

1) Your land must already be qualified for Agricultural use (1-D-1) in order for you to convert it to wildlife management use.

2) A wildlife management plan and application needs to be written and submitted to the County Appraisal District before May 1st.

No, there is no minimum acreage to qualify for a wildlife exemption unless your property acreage has decreased in size last January 1st. In that case, qualifications for a wildlife exemption can vary by where your property is located.

To maintain a wildlife tax exemption, landowners must conduct at least three of seven wildlife management practices each year. These include habitat control, erosion control, predator control, supplemental water, supplemental food, supplemental shelter, and census counts. To ensure state and local requirements are easily met, Plateau Land & Wildlife recommends conducting at least four practices each year. Some capital-intensive activities, such as erosion control and supplemental water, can count for up to ten years as long as annual maintenance is performed. Plateau works with each landowner to take full advantage of their natural habitat, to target or attract preferred species, and to elect activities that the landowner can maintain on their own or with assistance.

Yes, under proper conditions and with some forethought you can maintain a wildlife exemption while doing whatever you want to on your land – as long as managing for native Texas wildlife remains the primary use. Some traditional Ag activities, like periodic grazing, can even be part of a productive wildlife management program.