Buying Texas Hill Country acreage is a different kind of due diligence than buying a city lot: water, wastewater, access, recorded easements, and whether the land qualifies for agricultural special appraisal all affect both use and cost. In Kendall County, TX and the counties around it, those questions belong in the first conversations, not as surprises after an option period starts.
Updated November 2026
Devan Bonahoom works with buyers and sellers of Hill Country properties and luxury homes across Kendall County, TX, Boerne, Fair Oaks Ranch, and Greater San Antonio, and she is careful about the details that change an acreage deal.
Many acreage properties in this part of the Hill Country rely on a private well rather than a municipal water line. In much of Kendall County, TX, well drilling and production are overseen by the Cow Creek Groundwater Conservation District, and new wells generally need to be registered or permitted with the district before they are drilled. Ask for well reports, depth and production history, water-quality tests, and any district permits, and do not assume a neighbor's well predicts the one on the tract you are buying. Rules and fees change; confirm current requirements with the district and with a licensed professional.
If the property is not on a sewer line, it will need an on-site sewage facility. Kendall County's Onsite Sewage page (accessed November 9, 2026) states that the county is the permitting authority, that it approves or denies an application within 30 days of receiving it, and that every aerobic septic system requires an Affidavit to the Public recorded in the Kendall County Clerk's office plus a maintenance contract signed by the property owner. Request the permit history, the system design, and the maintenance contract, and budget for inspection by a licensed professional. County rules in Bexar or Comal will differ if the land sits across a county line.
In everyday conversation people say “ag exemption.” In Texas property tax law, it is a special appraisal based on the land's capacity to produce agricultural products, not a blanket exemption from tax. The Texas Comptroller explains that land must be currently devoted principally to agricultural use to the degree of intensity generally accepted in the area, and that it must have been devoted to agricultural or timber production for at least five of the past seven years, with extra tests if the land is inside a city. Wildlife management can qualify if the land was previously qualified open-space or timberland and is used in at least three of seven specified ways. If the use changes, a rollback tax can be due for each of the previous three years, equal to the difference between taxes paid on the agricultural value and taxes that would have been paid on market value. Applications are filed with the appraisal district (in Kendall County, TX, that is the Kendall Appraisal District). Eligibility is fact-specific; this page does not promise that a given tract will qualify.
Title work and a current survey are how you find easements, rights-of-way, and access problems: shared drives, utility lines, pipeline or electric corridors, and recorded restrictions that limit where you can build. Read the survey, the title commitment, and the deed restrictions with your agent and, when needed, an attorney. TREC also publishes a Notice Concerning Easements and Rights-of-Way among its consumer forms. Do not rely on a listing description alone for legal access to a public road.
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Many tracts outside city service areas do. Wells in much of the area are subject to Cow Creek Groundwater Conservation District rules, and Kendall County permits on-site sewage facilities, with extra recording and maintenance requirements for aerobic systems. Confirm service, permits, and system condition for the specific property.
It is a special agricultural appraisal, described by the Texas Comptroller, that values qualifying land on productivity rather than market value if use and history tests are met. If the use later changes, a rollback tax may be due for the previous three years, so qualifications should be verified with the appraisal district before you rely on them in an offer.
Yes. Devan Bonahoom works with buyers and sellers of Texas Hill Country acreage and ranch homes in Kendall County, TX and nearby areas, and she pays close attention to water, septic, access, and tax questions alongside the purchase itself.
