Mention Texas and people visualize wide open spaces. No one first imagines the tall towers of Austin, its bustling downtown and rather cosmopolitan atmosphere.

As a residential property developer of several years, Isaac Toussie has often contemplated on the differences between urban and rural markets. In this article, we are going to use Isaac Toussie’s first-hand professional experiences to consider the matter. But you should know right at the outset that what follows is merely being presented for human interest purposes only and not meant to serve as any kind of professional advice. All readers are urged, strongly, to talk to licensed professionals when making business decisions of any consequence.

Longer lifespans have led to more and more people retiring to the good life in much more rural areas. Such long-time city-dwellers can really make their retirement dollars stretch in these inexpensive locales. Many of the houses are much larger than what could be had for the same price in the city, and they are often built from scratch to specification!

But before you take the plunge, consider that big rewards come from big risks – and big risks mean a high probability of failure. Losing money is never fun, but losing money you have is better than losing that which puts you into debt! So always double check that you could afford, literally, a worst-case scenario before getting involved in high-risk gambles.

For instance, rural areas lack many of the simple everyday conveniences most people take for granted. The store may be several tens of miles away instead of a simple five-minute drive. This is why it’s typically harder to sell a rural home as opposed to an urban one. Which in turn is why you’ll probably need to depend much more heavily on advertising to sell your property, as less people will be driving by and see your for-sale sign. By the same token, it’s also harder to find good investment opportunities, even though they are not uncommon.

Another intriguing and potentially problematic issue unique to rural realty is the fact that because homes are much larger and often built along one-of-a-kind designs, they are more difficult to appraise. Unlike mass-produced housing, typical rural properties like farms, ranches, mountain homes, lake homes, and so forth can often be quite different from one another in their features and characteristics. It will also be much more difficult to find qualified and reliable contractors and laborers in the countryside. Specialized workers will almost certainly come at a much higher price in rural areas simply because there are less experienced craftspersons available to go around.

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