12893 E State Highway 97, Waelder, TX 78959

Your Own +/-84.5-Acre Texas Ranch Retreat Awaits! Perfectly positioned between Austin & San Antonio and just over an hour from Houston, this ag-exempt ranch offers the ideal combination of privacy, functionality, and recreation—whether you’re looking for a weekend escape, investment, or working ranch. The landscape features a beautiful mix of wooded areas for privacy & wildlife, along with wide-open pastures ideal for grazing, horseback riding, or outdoor activities. The property is well-equipped with corrals, a gated entrance, and a barn, making it ready for ranching or relaxation. The newly built 3-bed, 2-bath home has been updated and includes a spacious backyard plus a custom patio with an outdoor grilling area and fireplace—perfect for entertaining or enjoying peaceful Texas sunsets. With four tanks providing abundant water access, this ranch is set up for livestock, fishing, & endless outdoor enjoyment. A rare chance to own a versatile, high-value ranch in a prime Texas location.

The defining advantage here is scale: 84.5 acres in Gonzales County with the flexibility that comes from a Farm - Ranch property at 12893 E State Highway 97. At $1.22 million, this offering stands out for buyers who value usable land, privacy, and multiple paths to ownership value rather than a house-driven purchase. It also sits within Waelder ISD, with Waelder schools serving the property, an important point for buyers who need a clear district assignment in a rural setting.

The land is the real asset. According to the property information provided, the ranch carries an ag exemption and combines wooded sections with open pasture. That mix matters. Wooded cover supports privacy and wildlife habitat, while open ground is what gives a ranch operational range for grazing, riding, and general agricultural use. The existing gated entrance, corrals, and barn indicate that this is not raw acreage waiting for its first round of improvement. It already has core ranch infrastructure in place, which changes the ownership equation immediately for a buyer evaluating function, setup costs, and time to use.

Water is another meaningful part of the profile. Four tanks on a property of this size create practical value for livestock and recreational use and add resilience to the overall land utility. On rural Texas holdings, water features are not cosmetic. They influence how the acreage works day to day and how buyers assess long-term usefulness. That is especially relevant here given the stated mix of ranching, fishing, and outdoor recreation.

The remarks also point to a recently built home with three bedrooms and two baths, plus a backyard and custom patio with an outdoor grilling area and fireplace. Even without published square footage, that matters because it positions the ranch as more than a pure land acquisition. It can function as a weekend base, a working ranch, or a longer-hold investment with immediate residential utility already on site.

Days on market at 343 will draw attention, but for serious land buyers that number often creates room for a more disciplined analysis of fit, improvements, and use case. The better lens is scarcity. Large-acreage ranch properties with existing infrastructure, water features, and an ag-exempt profile do not compete in the same category as standard residential listings. For a buyer focused on control of land, operational flexibility, and long-term optionality in the Waelder market, this is the kind of tract that can serve personal use now while preserving strategic value over time.