Hood County holds three quite different residential markets: Lake Granbury waterfront, gated communities like Pecan Plantation with their own utilities and covenants, and working rural acreage. Each needs a different set of questions.
Granbury is the county seat, built around a courthouse square that is listed as a National Register historic district, with genuine late nineteenth and early twentieth century housing nearby. Lake Granbury impounds the Brazos River, and the shoreline is long, irregular and heavily subdivided, which is why waterfront submarkets here vary so much within short distances.
Outside Granbury the county includes Tolar, Lipan, part of Cresson, the town of DeCordova, and a set of older lake-oriented subdivisions such as Oak Trail Shores, Indian Harbor and Canyon Creek that were platted on small lots and hold a mix of modest site-built houses and manufactured homes. Those subdivisions do not analyze against Pecan Plantation or against open waterfront acreage, and treating them as a single Granbury market produces bad results.
The rest is rural: acreage tracts, working land, farmsteads and increasingly barndominium-style construction, on private wells and on-site sewage facilities.
Waterfront value on Lake Granbury is not a single premium. Open water frontage, cove frontage, canal frontage, water view without frontage, and deeded water access through a common area are five distinct positions and they sell differently. Water depth at the dock, shoreline orientation and the amount of usable flat area between the house and the water all matter as well.
The Brazos River Authority administers structures on and along the reservoir. Docks and similar facilities over the reservoir bed require an On-Water Facility Permit. Shoreline work, including constructing a retaining wall, dredging the lake bottom under a dock, removing stumps and maintaining a private boat ramp, requires an Improvement Permit. Drawing water for residential use through a pump and pipeline requires its own permit. Construction cannot begin before the permit is approved and returned.
For an appraisal this means the dock and shoreline structures are not simply improvements to be measured. Whether they are permitted, and whether the permits are current and transferable, is part of what a buyer is acquiring. I verify permit status rather than assuming a structure that exists is a structure that is authorized.
Pecan Plantation is roughly a 2,200 acre development in southeastern Hood County, about twelve miles southeast of Granbury on De Cordova Bend on the west side of the Brazos, downstream of Lake Granbury. A small portion extends east into Johnson County. It grew up around a two-runway cropdusting airstrip, and the runways were preserved, which is why the community includes airpark lots with taxiway access.
Airpark property is a genuine specialty. A house with hangar space and taxiway access to a preserved private runway does not compare to an equivalent house without it, and the buyer pool is different. Hangar construction, door dimensions, taxiway easement rights and the covenants governing aircraft operation all belong in the report. Where I use an airpark comparable I use one with equivalent access, and where I have to reach outside the county for that I say so.
Beyond the airpark, the community includes golf frontage, river frontage and interior lots, plus its own amenities and utilities and a property owners association with substantive covenants. Because a small part of the development sits in Johnson County, the appraisal district and the taxing units are not identical for every property in it, and I confirm which apply at the parcel level.
Agricultural valuation is common on Hood County land, and it works the way it does elsewhere in Texas: a productivity-based tax valuation rather than a market value statement, with rollback exposure recapturing the difference when land converts to a non-agricultural use. When a homesite is being split from a larger ag tract, that exposure belongs in the analysis.
Water wells in Hood County fall under the Upper Trinity Groundwater Conservation District, which covers Hood, Montague, Parker counties and administers registration and permitting. Whether a property has a producing well, a shared well, membership in a rural water supply corporation, or municipal service is a marketability question, not a detail.
On-site sewage facilities are permitted under Texas Commission on Environmental Quality rules. Conventional or aerobic, system age, and whether the permit record matches what is in the ground all affect cost and financeability. On lakefront lots, system siting relative to the water is worth attention.
Hood County Appraisal District, on West Pearl Street in Granbury, appraises property throughout the county. The general Texas protest deadline applies: May 15, or 30 days after the notice of appraised value is delivered, whichever is later. Owners may request an informal meeting before the formal Appraisal Review Board hearing, and the ARB must give written notice of the hearing at least 15 days in advance.
Comparable search here is often wide by necessity. On rural acreage and on unusual waterfront I may search across the whole county and into Somervell, Erath, Parker, Johnson or Palo Pinto, and I state and justify each extension. On a lake property the right comparable may be twelve miles away on similar water rather than half a mile away on a different shoreline configuration.
Floodplain along the Brazos and the smaller drainages varies substantially, and mapped hazard on a large tract may cover land without touching improvements. I check the current effective FEMA mapping for the specific parcel.
I appraise one-to-four unit residential property and residential land only: single-family houses including lake and airpark homes, houses on acreage, manufactured homes that are real property, and residential and rural residential lots and tracts. I do not appraise commercial property, apartment properties of five units or more, or subdivision development feasibility.
Typical assignments include purchase and refinance lending, pre-listing and pre-purchase valuation, estate and date-of-death appraisals, trust and gifting work, divorce and property settlement, and appraisal district protest support.
My fee is quoted before the assignment begins and does not depend on the value I report or on any outcome. Waterfront, airpark and acreage assignments take longer and cost more than a standard subdivision house, and I tell you that when I quote. Terrence Bilodeau, Texas Certified Residential Appraiser #1360232, (817) 903-4509. Fees start at $500 for a standard single-family home, and turnaround is generally 5 to 7 business days from inspection.
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It is analyzed, and part of that analysis is whether it is permitted. The Brazos River Authority requires an On-Water Facility Permit for structures over the reservoir bed and an Improvement Permit for shoreline work such as retaining walls and dredging. I verify status rather than assuming an existing structure is an authorized one.
With comparable sales of properties that have equivalent taxiway access and hangar facilities, which sometimes means reaching outside Hood County. Hangar construction and dimensions, taxiway easement rights and the covenants governing aircraft operation all go in the report. A comparable without runway access is not a comparable for an airpark home.
Waterfront is not one thing. Open water, cove, canal, water view without frontage and deeded common-area access are distinct positions with distinct markets, and depth, orientation and usable yard all matter. I match on the specific configuration rather than applying a general waterfront adjustment.
Converting land to a non-agricultural use triggers rollback taxes recapturing the difference for the preceding years. That exposure is part of what a buyer takes on, and I address it in the analysis. Qualification questions go to Hood County Appraisal District.
Throughout Hood County, including Granbury, Tolar, Lipan, DeCordova and Pecan Plantation. Assignment fees and turnaround reflect distance and property complexity, quoted before I begin. I quote every assignment individually and the quote reflects the drive.
Written fee quote, typically within one business hour. Send the address and the reason you need the value — estate, divorce, tax protest, pre-listing — and I will confirm the fee and a delivery date before any work starts.
Would rather not type it out? Call or text (817) 903-4509.