The First-Time Buyer's Guide to Rural Homes
What to check before you buy your first rural home or land.
Who this guide is for
This first-time buyer's guide to rural homes is for someone buying out in the country for the first time. Maybe you've owned a house in town and never owned land. Maybe this is your first purchase of anything. Either way, you've got questions nobody warned you about: Can I build on it? Is there water? What am I not thinking about?
We're Barbara Peterson and James Peterson ALC, brokers and owners of the United Country Real Estate franchise in Floresville, working as Texas Ranch & Home. Barbara leads buyers of rural homes, including VA and Texas Veterans Land Board buyers. James leads buyers of land, farms, ranches and acreage. We work five South Texas counties: Wilson, Atascosa, Gonzales, Guadalupe and Karnes.
Work through this guide before you tour. Nobody expects a first-time buyer to know how rural property works. The goal is to know what to ask.
Tell us what you plan to do there
Step 1: write down what you plan to do there
Intended use comes before price, before location and before photos. Every other decision in a rural purchase depends on it. Take ten minutes and write out answers to these:
- Will you live there now, later, or never? A weekend place and a full-time home need different things.
- Are you buying a house that's already there, or building one?
- Do you want animals? Which ones, and how many? Horses and cattle need fencing, water and pasture a dog does not.
- Will you hunt or cut hay? Will you run a small business from it?
- How far are you willing to drive each day for work and errands?
- Would you ever want to divide the land, or add a second home for a relative?
- What's the one thing you can't live without? What would you trade away for it?
Bring the list to the first conversation with us. It tells us what to check on every property, and it keeps you from falling for one that doesn't fit your plans. How that first conversation fits into the whole purchase is laid out in how we help you buy, step by step.
Step 2: line up the money before the property
Call a lender before you start touring. Rural purchases are where first-time buyers get surprised on financing, because not every loan fits every property.
Questions to ask your lender
- Do you finance rural homes on acreage? Do you finance land with no house?
- Does the amount of land, or the kind of house, change what you can lend?
- What will you need to see about the well, the septic and the survey?
- If I'm a veteran, do you work with VA loans on rural property? Barbara is a U.S. Army veteran who knows VA loans and the Texas Veterans Land Board program from working them, and our guide for VA and Land Board buyers covers that path.
- Is the area I'm looking at eligible for a USDA loan? Many areas around Floresville are, but it depends on the exact property.
Cash to have ready at the start
Besides your down payment and closing costs, two payments come early. On our buyers' contracts, the option fee is typically about $10 a day for an option period of typically about 10 days. Earnest money is typically about 1% of the price. Both are negotiated in every contract, so yours may differ.
Step 3: what to look at on a showing that photos can't show
Listing photos are taken from the best angle on the best day. A showing is your chance to see everything else. Take this list with you and write notes on each property.
- The road in. Is it paved, gravel or dirt? Does the county maintain it? How does it look after a rain?
- The entrance. Is the gate on a public road, or do you cross someone else's land to reach it?
- The fences. What shape are they in? Would they hold the animals you plan to keep?
- Low ground. Look for places that hold water, and ask what happens in a heavy rain.
- The well. Find the wellhead and the pressure tank. Ask how old the pump is.
- The septic. Find where the system is. If you see spray heads in the yard, it's probably an aerobic system, which needs a maintenance contract.
- Markers and lines. Pipeline markers, power lines and utility poles often mean easements that someone else can use.
- The outbuildings. Look at the barn, the shop and any pens. Check the condition, and check for power and water.
After the showing, compare your notes against your Step 1 list. A property that misses on a must-have isn't a bargain at any price.
Step 4: the six checks to finish before your option period ends
A general home inspection is the start, not the finish, on a rural property. These six checks go beyond it, and on a typical contract you'll have about 10 days to get them done. Line up the people before you make the offer.
- The well. A standard home inspection may only glance at the wellhead. Ask a licensed water well driller or pump contractor for a yield test, which measures how much water the well produces. Add a water quality test.
- The septic. A licensed on-site sewage facility inspector can pump the tank and check the drain field. For an aerobic system, ask for the maintenance contract and service history. Check that the system matches its permit.
- The survey. A licensed Texas land surveyor confirms the acreage, the corners and whether the fences sit on the lines. Our article on when you need a survey explains what drives the cost.
- Legal access. You need frontage on a public road or a recorded easement. "We've always used that road" is not legal access. The title commitment shows recorded easements.
- Restrictions. Deed restrictions can set the minimum house size, limit livestock or ban dividing the land. They show up in the title commitment and in county deed records.
- The ag valuation. Look up the appraisal district record. If the land carries agricultural valuation, find out what use qualifies it and whether you'll keep that use. Changing the use can trigger rollback taxes. In Wilson County, the application deadline is April 30 each year, as we explain in our article on the ag exemption deadline.
Our checklist of rural home inspection items goes deeper on who to hire for each one.
Step 5: the Texas paperwork, in the order you'll see it
Texas real estate has its own forms and its own rhythm. Here's the order first-time buyers meet them when they buy with us.
- Before the first showing: you'll receive the Information About Brokerage Services form and the Consumer Protection Notice. Both are standard Texas forms. You'll also sign a buyer representation agreement, which we require before we show property.
- The offer: we write it with you. You negotiate the price, the option period and the earnest money. The closing date and who pays for the survey are negotiated too.
- Right after acceptance: the option fee and the earnest money go to the title company, which holds both. You can send them in one check or one wire.
- During the option period: the inspections and checks from Step 4. If something turns up, you can negotiate a repair or a price change, or end the contract as the contract allows.
- Before closing: the title company issues a title commitment. Read it for easements, restrictions and mineral reservations, and ask us about anything you don't follow.
- Closing: it happens at a title company. The title company collects the funds and records the deed.
We walk through each of these with you on our page about contract to closing. This guide isn't legal, tax or lending advice. Your contract, lender and title company govern your purchase.
Mistakes first-time rural buyers make
None of these mean someone was careless. They happen because nobody mentions them until after closing.
- Treating the gate as proof of access. A gate someone has used for years isn't a recorded easement.
- Treating the fence as the property line. Old fences were often built close to the line, not on it.
- Skipping the well yield test. A well that fills a pressure tank today can struggle in a dry summer.
- Assuming the ag valuation carries over. It depends on a qualifying use, and that use becomes your job after you buy.
- Touring before talking to a lender. Falling for a property your loan can't cover is a hard way to learn the rules.
- Reading the restrictions after closing. Barns, livestock and a second home can all be limited in writing.
Edith Gomez bought 10 acres in Atascosa County with us in June 2024: "As first time land owners, we didn't know what we needed to watch out for (such as soil type, restrictions, etc.), so being able to ask him questions and getting his input was invaluable." If your first purchase is land without a house, see our page for first-time land buyers.
Your next step
Bring your Step 1 list and your lender's answers to a first conversation with us. Call Barbara Peterson at (210) 540-6487 about rural homes, or James Peterson ALC at (210) 740-1295 about land and acreage. Or tell us what you're looking for, and we'll start with what you plan to do there.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is a regular home inspection enough on a rural home?
Usually not by itself. A general home inspection covers the house, but it often doesn't test how much water the well produces or pump the septic tank. On a rural home, add a well yield and water quality test from a water well professional. Add a septic inspection from a licensed on-site sewage facility inspector, and a survey from a licensed land surveyor.
Will the ag valuation stay in place after I buy the land?
Only if the land keeps a qualifying agricultural or wildlife use, and keeping that use becomes your responsibility. If the use changes to something non-agricultural, rollback taxes can apply. Check the appraisal district record before your option period ends, ask what use qualifies it now, and decide whether you'll continue it. A tax professional can answer questions about your situation.
What happens if the survey shows the fence isn't on the property line?
You find out before closing, which is the point of getting the survey during the option period. Depending on the difference, you might ask the seller to address it or to adjust the price. You might also decide the property no longer fits. We go through the options with you. A title company or an attorney can advise on anything that affects title.
Can I use a VA loan to buy a rural home?
Many veterans do, but program requirements apply to both the buyer and the property, and rural purchases can raise extra questions. Talk to a lender who works VA loans on rural property before you tour. Barbara Peterson is a U.S. Army veteran and knows VA loans and the Texas Veterans Land Board program from working them.
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