Why West Texas land is so cheap?

Question

I was fooling around in eBay, so I went to the real state category and I was amazed of how cheap they were selling land in West Texas, so I figured it must be a scam or something, but the sellers had 100% positive feedback and were listed since 1999 or 2000, anyone knows why?

Answer 1

Little water, hardly anything grows there, mineral rights are all sewed up. Basically just miles and miles of sand, scrub brush, mesquite, scorpions and rattlers.

Answer 2

Cheap Land In Texas

Answer 3

West Texas Land For Sale

Answer 4

This Site Might Help You.

RE:
Why West Texas land is so cheap?
I was fooling around in eBay, so I went to the real state category and I was amazed of how cheap they were selling land in West Texas, so I figured it must be a scam or something, but the sellers had 100% positive feedback and were listed since 1999 or 2000, anyone knows why?

Answer 5

The part of West Texas with very low prices is usually inaccessible for electric power and without a city, there is no access to municipal water.
Depending on the lot, water well drilling could make this land quite expensive or the bargain of a lifetime.
So, how do we live on this type of land out here? Solar and wind power are popular and we tow-in water by the trailer load.
You learn to do without showers at home (in-town gyms sometimes have more crowded showers than weight stacks!).
I live in ODDLAND (ODessa-miDLAND) and am waiting for my lawyer to OK my deed. Most of the mineral rights are not sold with the land in Texas, so any disputes over them do not really matter. That and there are no known minerals under most of it to worry about, anyway.
The main draw for this area is the stark beauty of the desert landscape. Some of the land is right between Big Bend State and National Parks, other land is north of that area near the Texas-New Mexico border, South of the Carlsbad Caverns.

Do not buy anything out here without seeing it with your own eyes. But be careful, you could fall in love with place!

Answer 6

The obvious conclusion seems to be central Texas, but north of the Hill Country, where land is ungodly expensive. Try to stay more than an hour away from major metro areas, anything closer is too easy a commute, thereby making the land more expensive. Draw a circle from San Angelo to Abilene to Waco to Killeen and back to Abilene, and check in that area. Good luck.

Answer 7

OK Life is Good, if your question was a serious one, I'll try and answer it. I work and live in West Texas so I know - and no "smart-aleck" answers from me.

If you look at a map there is a lot of land distance between towns out here. I live roughly 70 miles away from any town of 75,000 people or more. There are four such towns about equal distance away. (My town is around 3,000 in population.) We are surrounded by lots of ranch land and on those ranches are oil rigs everywhere. We are "physically" isolated by distance. There are other small towns within short distance but of course we all have to drive an hour to get some of the basics. We enjoy our trips to the "city" :-) since we tend to get "cabin fever" if we never leave home. We all usually have some reason like dentists, veterinarians for the doggies, clothes shopping or such just to make the drive.

Because there's oil here, there's also money for the school districts... It is a much slower life than some are accustomed to. We educate our children in the school system where every kid can "be some-body" and any kid can participate in "any" activity.

There is lots of land and it is mostly used for cattle or sheep ranching. Hunting is also a main activity out here. Deer hunting especially. Most of those ranches are large, and have been owned by the family for so many generations that they will not sell except for certain peices of land.

Any more questions, how about checking this website at www.biglaketx.com.

An answer to the person about "no jobs"... that is dead wrong. We have the lowest unemployment rate in the nation - right here in my town. We hold the single title distinction at 1.9% currently and if there were more people, the rate would be lower. There is no one to hire.... there are jobs to be filled but no one to fill them. They are mostly oil-related jobs but starting pay can be as much as 75,000 with no experience. And by the way, many times that salary will also bring a 15,000 bonus as well.

Land is abundant, but land for sale is not. It's what you can or can't do with it that makes it cheap. If you own land and will allow hunting, the leases make big money. Upwards of $500 per gun on a weekend. It's more if you want to bunk and eat in a cabin... I could go on and a on but maybe you get the picture now. West Texas is a nice place to call home, and those who own a peice of it are a little on the "stingy" side and picky about selling it. Not meaning to be ugly, just truthful.

Answer 8

Have you ever been to West Texas? Thousands of square miles of nothing but scrub land and mesquite trees. Between Abilene and El Paso there are only 2 cities of any size at all -- Midland & Odessa -- and those aren't exactly heaven with all of the oil refineries and stench from them. Other than that, it's 500 miles of nothing.

Answer 9

Real Estate prizes are determent by demand.
Demand for a property depends on its location to what people desire - like jobs, schools, waterfront, crime rate, economy, infrastructure and health care.
The same 3 bedroom house 2 hours from Chicago in Indiana for $89,000, would cost you north of the golden mile in the center of Chicago $890,000 and bordering West Central Park in Manhattan $8,900,000.
In West Texas it would be worth the same, like the rest of Bush's term, not a thing.

Answer 10

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