Bye bye big city!

Texas82GP

Just-a-worm
Apr 3, 2015
7,981
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Spring, Texas
This is becoming real enough that I thought I'd start a thread to document our move. As many know, I live with my brother, sister-in-law and their two kids. I have for the past thirteen years. We currently live in Spring, Texas, largely because my Dad re-settled there with my brother in 1983 after he and my mom divorced. Spring was truly a suburb back then and was a nice place to live. Dad moved out there to put my brother in the Klien Independent School District, which was one of the best school districts in the Houston area back then.

A lot has changed in 37 years. I moved out to Spring in the summer of 2001 when my mom and step-dad moved to Louisiana. Spring wasn't nearly the same as it had been in 1983 but a lot has changed in the past 19 years. The building boom started about the time I moved out here. A lot of single-family residential construction took place between 2001-2010, particularly during the middle of the decade. This brought a large influx of people. In the last decade there was a boom of apartment construction in the area. Another big influx of people. Late in the decade, the Grand Parkway (the third highway ring around the metropolitan area) went in, crossing the north freeway two exits north of us. Exxon built their new global headquarters at the highway intersection. More and more people. More and more traffic. More and more crime.

It's gotten to the point that Spring doesn't resemble what it was in 1983. Back then, it was mostly forest with minor suburban development. Now, the woods are gone and there is little to no distinction between where we live and areas inside the Houston City Limits. It's come to the point that none of us (my brother, my sister-in-law, myself) want to live here anymore.

My brother and sister-in-law have been working remotely since March. I worked from home the months of April and May. We had already been looking and talking about relocating for at least a year, but the realization that we could work remotely intensified the search. In late September, we found our new home.

We have a 1.5 acre lot under contract in an estate lot subdivision (1.5 acre is the minimum lot size) about 40 miles north of Spring. The entire development (maybe 5,000 acres) is forested. The developer builds the roads, installs the utilities (electric, water, roadside drainage) and lays out the lots. The lots are left completely natural.

Our plan is to build a house and a 40'x40' metal shop building simultaneously. It looks like we are going to close on the land in December or January. The closing has been delayed by the permitting of a bridge into our section of the development. The developer proposed a small suspension bridge over the creek to enter the section. The City Engineer in the nearby town, that is responsible for for approving the plans wasn't comfortable with reviewing them (small town). They brought in the Texas Department of Transportation to do the review and that's been a slow process. No worries. We aren't in a hurry. We are saving our money, doing our homework and making our plans.

Yesterday, we went out to look at the land for the second time and I took some pictures.

This is looking west down our future street towards the creek. Our lot is across the roadway to the right....

20201115_122415_copy_2016x1134.jpg


Yep, it's ours....

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Looking at the street frontage or south side of our lot....

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That's my nephew in the picture. There is some Kudzu vine near our southwest corner.....

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Once we officially close on the lot we plan to have it underbrushed. We'll get rid of the Kudzu then. The tall pine tree in the right in the picture above is closer to our southeast corner. In this next pic, you can see the stake with flagging near our southeast corner and the trunk of that same large pine...

20201115_122303_copy_2016x1134.jpg


I guess that's it for now friends. We're all excited so I wanted to start this thread. Hopefully some of you will enjoy the ride with us.
 
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Streetbu

Know it all, that doesn't
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May 22, 2011
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Thats awesome, Congrats!
 
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Supercharged111

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Oct 25, 2019
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How much clearing will be necessary to put up the house and shop? Looks like it's mostly trees. This is what I want to do when I figure out exactly where the forever home will be. Not many people have 2500 sq/ft homes with 40x40 or bigger shops on some acreage for sale used. If I were you I'd have somewhat of a snaked driveway to make it difficult to see in from the road. Will that be a 45/55mph+ road when finished? Looks good and wide.
 
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Texas82GP

Just-a-worm
Apr 3, 2015
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Spring, Texas
Thats awesome, Congrats!
Thanks! My brother and I have wanted a shop for a long time. My sister-in-law has wanted to buy some land and move someplace more rural for longer. This place is sort of City-Country. It isn't far from Huntsville, which isn't really big but has shopping, restaurants, etc. It's a college town. We are just outside the city limits.

We'll have city water and AT&T fiber. It's within reasonable driving distance from work (40 miles for them, 60 for me), for when we must go in to the office. It's not terribly far from Dad either but he's motivated to make a similar move. It's a reasonable distance from very good healthcare in the Woodlands, which is just north of Spring. It's a good compromise. We all intend it to be the forever house.
 
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Texas82GP

Just-a-worm
Apr 3, 2015
7,981
18,676
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Spring, Texas
How much clearing will be necessary to put up the house and shop? Looks like it's mostly trees. This is what I want to do when I figure out exactly where the forever home will be. Not many people have 2500 sq/ft homes with 40x40 or bigger shops on some acreage for sale used. If I were you I'd have somewhat of a snaked driveway to make it difficult to see in from the road. Will that be a 45/55mph+ road when finished? Looks good and wide.
The road right-of-way is 60' wide. The paving section will be 30' wide centered within it. There is a 20' wide utility easement on each side of the right-of-way which has also been cleared so it's 100 feet from treeline to treeline. Can you tell I'm a Surveyor?

The speed limit will be 30 mph. The bridge over the creek will be the only way in and out of our section.

We plan to only clear enough substantial trees to make room for the house, the shop, the driveway and a backyard living area. My sister-in-law wants a pool. A winding driveway and lots of screening foliage for privacy is in the plan. The small trees, probably smaller than 4" will probably be removed in the underbrushing operation. Right now it's fully wooded and pretty thick in there.
 
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Texas82GP

Just-a-worm
Apr 3, 2015
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Spring, Texas
Get everything done before the HOA starts.
The Property Owners Association is already in place and there are certain restrictions, all of which I've already reviewed. They are geared towards keeping the subdivision classy. All are acceptable to us. The POA dues aren't bad. We currently live in Harris County which has some of the highest taxes in the state (insurance costs too). It's going to cost less to live out there.
 
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Texas82GP

Just-a-worm
Apr 3, 2015
7,981
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113
Spring, Texas
Getting out of the city is a common priority!

Looks like a beautiful spot! Exciting!!!

Congratulations. Best of luck
Thanks friends. Just going out there makes me feel better. This will likely take a few years but I'm so glad we are on the journey. I'm looking forward to a much calmer, quieter lifestyle. And have a shop with lift(s)!!!!!!!!
 
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