Two tracts of the same size on the same county road can be worth very different amounts. The difference is rarely the dirt. It's what can be built there and how hard it is to get there. Before you make an offer on land around Taylor, Thorndale, Thrall, Granger, Coupland or Hutto, check these five things.
1. Water and sewer service
In Texas, the right to provide retail water or sewer service to an area is held under a Certificate of Convenience and Necessity (CCN). Find out which provider holds the CCN for the tract, how close its lines are, and whether it has capacity. If there's no service, you'll need a well and a septic system. Ask about well records and whether the soil and lot size support septic. The Public Utility Commission of Texas CCN maps are the place to start.
2. Floodplain
Creeks and draws run through a lot of land here. Look the tract up on the FEMA Flood Map Service Center to see how much of it sits in a mapped flood zone. That affects where you can build, what a lender will require and what flood insurance costs.
3. Access and frontage
Does the tract front a public road, and how much frontage does it have? If access depends on an easement across a neighbor, read the easement: its width, what it allows and whether it's recorded. Frontage on a paved road and room for a driveway permit can change a tract's value a great deal.
4. City limits and ETJ
Inside city limits, city zoning applies. In a city's extraterritorial jurisdiction (ETJ), the city's subdivision rules may apply. Out in the county, county rules apply. Since 2023, many landowners can petition to leave an ETJ. See how SB 2038 release petitions work.
5. Ag valuation and rollback taxes
If the tract is on agricultural valuation and you plan to change its use, a rollback tax may come due: the tax difference for the three years before the change plus 5 percent interest a year. Find out the number before you sign, and make sure the contract says who pays. See ag valuation in Williamson County.
Plus: survey, title and minerals
Get a current survey, read the title commitment for easements and restrictions, and ask whether any minerals have been reserved by a prior owner.
Browse current land for sale near Taylor, Williamson County farm and ranch and Milam County land, or call Brad at 512-269-5278 to walk a tract together.
This post is general information, not legal or tax advice. Sources, checked 7 October 2026: Public Utility Commission of Texas; FEMA Flood Map Service Center; HB 1743, 86th Texas Legislature. Photo: Thorndale silos by Billy Hathorn, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.