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    only in texas

    This $4.85 million Hill Country ranch with its own lazy river is going wild on social media

    Amber Heckler
    Apr 18, 2024 | 10:30 am

    A sprawling 72-acre property for sale in Boerne has people going wild on social media, and it's not hard to see why: The Lazy River Ranch, located four hours west (about 240 miles) from Houston at 227 Seewald Rd., is a private paradise with a (relatively) modest price tag of $4.85 million.

    227 Seewald Road, Boerne, Lazy River Ranch

    Photo courtesy of Kuper Sotheby's

    The Lazy River Ranch is at 227 Seewald Rd., Boerne.

    The stunning property boasts extravagant amenities like a fully renovated 1,800-square-foot guest house with a two car garage, a driving range and multi-hole putting green, and an 18-acre fenced goat pasture. But the biggest highlight is (as the property's name implies) its own lazy river.

    The "river" was custom designed by San Antonio contractors Keith Zars Pools and includes features you'd only expect to find at a luxurious resort: It's temperature controlled and fully lit, so guests can enjoy floating or swimming at any time of day, all year-round. In the center of the lazy river, connected by a custom built bridge, is a green space with a sunken patio area, fire pit, and a swim-up bar. A beautiful waterfall across from the swim-up bar adds to the relaxed tranquility of the area.

    227 Seewald Road, Boerne, Lazy River RanchThe view from the lazy river is breathtaking in the evenings.Photo courtesy of Kuper Sotheby's

    The property first hit the market in July 2022 for $7.35 million, but that was before the ranch owners – who wish to remain private – split up the property into separate allotments of 27 and 72 acres, according to Kris Forks of Kuper Sotheby's International Realty, who has the listing. The acreage changes resulted in price reductions to its current $4.85 million price, as of April 3.

    An April 14 post on the Facebook page that features over-the-top homes, Zillow Gone Wild, made the Lazy River Ranch instantly social media-famous. As of publication time, more than 700 people had chimed in to comment.

    "If y'all peasants need me, I'll be in my lazy river in a rainbow swan floatie," one Facebook user wrote.

    Forks says he was delighted that his listing was featured. "That's always great to have that kind of exposure," Forks says.

    Other extravagant features that have people talking include:

    • A 5,000-square-foot renovated main house with Viking appliances
    • Custom glass sunroom with sliding accordion doors
    • Covered grilling gazebo area
    • Keith Zars Pools custom built Junior Olympic pool
    • A "rock beach" leading to the lazy river
    • 1,400-square-foot, one bedroom one bathroom pool house equipped with a full kitchen, laundry room, and custom cabinetry
    • Large garage building with extra storage rooms and a second story potential guest suite
    • 400-square-foot custom-built "game room"
    • A custom built shooting range with 30-, 50-, and 100-yard shooting decks
    • A barn with concrete floors for hosting ATVs, a Polaris Ranger, or other "toys"
    • A combination sport court
    • Additional 44-acre pasture for livestock with more barns and storage buildings
    Ostentatious property characteristics aside, there's one more thing that makes the Lazy River Ranch so valuable that people might not have noticed it based on the photos.
    "What I actually love about the property is it's seven miles from Main Street in Boerne," Forks says. "So it has [the] proximity to town, yet it's completely private."

    Of course, social media loves to throw some shade, too. Some commenters wondered about the high cost of maintaining the property, while others expressed sarcastic curiosity about other lavish features.

    "Everyone's talking about maintenance on the pool and lawn, and I'm wondering how they keep the windows on the sunroom clean," one X user replied under Zillow Gone Wild's tweet about the ranch.

    227 Seewald Road, Boerne, Lazy River RanchThe Windex budget for the sunroom must be substantial.Photo courtesy of Kuper Sotheby's

    Meanwhile, Texas social media users were quick to help out-of-towners with their pronunciation of the ranch's address.

    "Stopping in to inform that that town in pronounced 'bur-knee' because #texas in case anyone was wondering," wrote another Facebook user.

    More information about the property can be found on lazyriverranch.info.

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    red-hot housing

    Houston boasts No. 20 hottest real estate market among big U.S. cities

    Amber Heckler
    Aug 20, 2026 | 9:00 am
    Houston neighborhood with skyline
    Getty Images
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    It doesn't get much hotter than the Houston housing market. A new report has ranked H-Town as the 20th best real estate market among America's biggest cities right now.

    WalletHub's annual study, "Best Real Estate Markets (2026)," compares the real estate markets in 300 U.S. cities based on 17 relevant metrics, such as "housing market attractiveness," home value forecasts, housing affordability, population growth, and many others. Cities were also ranked by size: large cities with over 300,000 residents; midsize cities with 150,000-300,000 residents; and small cities with fewer than 150,000 residents.

    In the overall ranking of the best housing markets in America, regardless of city size, Houston ranks 90th out of all 300 cities.

    WalletHub ranks Houston's real estate market No. 102 nationally, and its "affordability and economic environment" ranks 111th overall.

    This is how WalletHub ranks the "health" of Houston's housing market (where No. 1 is the best and No. 150 is average):

    • No. 51 – Job Growth Rate
    • No. 96 – Home Price as a Percentage of Income
    • No. 99 – Median Home-Price Appreciation
    • No. 128 – Foreclosure Rate
    • No. 159 – Share of Seriously Underwater Mortgages
    • No. 172 – Percentage of Delinquent Mortgage Holders
    • No. 173 – Median Days on the Market
    • No. 192 – Maintenance Costs as a Percentage of Income
    Despite Houston's good standing among the biggest cities in America, a separate WalletHub report claims Houston is one of the worst cities for first-time homebuyers. Instead, Houstonians are turning to popular ZIP codes in suburbs like Cypress and Katy, which rank among the hottest places to move to in the U.S.

    Other high-performing housing markets in Texas
    Two popular North Texas suburbs — Frisco and McKinney — topped WalletHub's overall list of the best real estate markets in the U.S. for 2026 at Nos. 1 and 2, respectively, and they locked in the top two spots in the midsize city ranking, too.

    Frisco tops the nationwide "affordability and economic environment" category, and ranks No. 2 nationally for its real estate market.

    "When you look at home prices as a percentage of income, [Frisco] is the 95th-cheapest among the 300 cities in our study," the report said. "But it’s the 11th-cheapest city for phone service and the 11th-cheapest for maintenance and energy."

    Frisco boasts the highest share of houses that were built between 2010 and 2024, at nearly 47 percent, which WalletHub says is "good news for people who want all the benefits of a recently-constructed home," without having to "put in a lot of work" to renovate an older or run down home.

    "If you aim to make a profit in the long run with your housing purchase, you’ll need to look beyond tangible factors like square footage and style," the report's author wrote. "Those factors certainly drive up property values. From an investor’s standpoint, though, they hold less significance than historical market trends and the economic health of residents."

    Nearby Denton and Allen also made the overall top 10, respectively ranking as the 5th and 8th best real estate markets in the U.S. for 2026. Denton similarly ranked 5th in the midsize city rankings, and Allen topped the list of small cities.

    The top 10 best real estate markets in America for 2026 are:

    • No. 1 – Frisco, Texas
    • No. 2 – McKinney, Texas
    • No. 3 – Murfreesboro, Tennessee
    • No. 4 – Durham, North Carolina
    • No. 5 – Denton, Texas
    • No. 6 – Cary, North Carolina
    • No. 7 – Madison, Wisconsin
    • No. 8 – Allen, Texas
    • No. 9 – Charlotte, North Carolina
    • No. 10 – Irvine, California
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