What is a will-serve letter and why does it matter?

For water, start with New Braunfels Utilities (NBU) and Canyon Regional Water Authority — between them, they cover much of the county's served areas. The Texas Water Development Board's interactive maps can help identify which groundwater conservation district a parcel falls within for well-water planning. For electric, the Public Utility Commission of Texas maintains a service territory lookup tool at puc.texas.gov that identifies the certificated provider for any Texas address. For sewer, contact NBU or the relevant municipal utility district. Your buyer's agent and a local title company can also help identify the relevant utility contacts for a specific property.

Yes, and you should. If due diligence reveals that a parcel requires a $20,000 electric line extension and a $22,000 aerobic septic system that the seller's asking price did not anticipate, that information is legitimate grounds for renegotiating the purchase price or asking the seller to contribute to infrastructure costs as a condition of closing. Sellers who have not done their own utility due diligence may not realize the cost gap between their parcel and a served lot nearby. Coming to the renegotiation conversation with actual vendor quotes — not estimates — strengthens your position considerably.

It depends entirely on where the land is. Inside New Braunfels city limits, manufactured homes are generally not permitted in standard residential zones. In unincorporated Comal County, manufactured homes may be restricted by deed restrictions even where zoning allows them. Modular homes — built to the same IRC code as site-built homes — are more broadly accepted. Always verify both zoning and deed restrictions before assuming either type is allowed.

From land purchase to move-in, a typical custom home in Comal County takes 12 to 24 months when you factor in permitting, utility connections, site preparation, and construction. The timeline stretches when utility infrastructure requires extensions, when rock excavation is needed, or when permitting backlogs at the city or county level slow approvals. Buyers who are working against a deadline — a lease expiration, a school year start, a job relocation — should build significant schedule buffer into their land-to-home plan.