My wife and I plan on moving our family out of the Houston area to some land away from the city at least the hell out of Harris County.  It may take some time to make it happen.  In the mean time we are researching and trying to become educated buyers.  Talking to a few people who have done it they recommended looking into owner financed land and to stay off the websites if we dont want to get ripped off.

Ideally we would like to have a house and a large shop but to get out of Harris County we considered going larger on the metal building and building an apartment in the shop that we would live in while we saved up more for the house.  Maybe then I can give us a second legendary ICF build thread in team.

I am a decent farmer and would plan on having chickens and some livestock.  We dont plan on being farmers but decent soil would help with some of my self sufficiency objectives.  If I could swing a range on the land I'd be a happy man.  Right now we have to work online so our issue is going to be pulling it all off with a decent internet connection.  Utilities in general are on the checklist.

We are pretty open to where we go but central Texas to East Texas up to short of DFW seem like the search ring/triangle.

Based on the information above, any recommendations on where to look, how to look, what to look for, what not to do, lessons learned?

I don't really have any advice for you, but I absolutely can relate to your post.  I just wanted to say Kudos to you - I like your plan.  I grew up in a suburb of Houston (in Harris county) and moved with my wife to a suburb of Dallas (Dallas county) in early 2001.  One of my biggest regrets so far in life is not moving farther away from the city.  IMO, the benefits of living close to the city are just not worth it, especially now.  We have tried to move a couple of times but finances and other obligations got in the way.  One year became 5, and then 10 and now we've been in the same house for 20 years.  I would encourage you to push hard to make your plan a reality.  Whatever sacrifices you have to make now, do it.

 

East Texas has some pretty cheap land comparative to central Texas. However, on my search for land I noticed a lot of east Texas land is in some sort of flood zone.

I looked at central Texas as well. Found some land I was interested in near Lampasas. But now I’m settled on keeping my search to southwest Texas.  I’m hoping to find something anywhere down highway 83 between Junction and Uvalde.

We were in Montgomery County, so I understand the OP's motivation.  Hellish, overpopulated, humid, overtaxed, and the list goes on.

We wound up southwest of DFW and love it.  Especially the weather.  You can escape a lot of the humidity and soggy stuff by staying clear of East Texas.  We looked at that part of the State and thought that's where we would wind up.  Glad we went further west.

Watch those taxes as you go, OP.

Also, huge swathes of land in the search area are burdened with horrid, sticky, black clay gumbo soil.

I'm in the same boat as op however I'm looking at either Lubbock area or Wichita Falls. Can't wait to put Harris County in my rear view mirror.

When I was traveling the state selling books I always dreamed of living in San Angelo or maybe Granbury, last resort was being a guard in Big Spring at the FCI!.

But I got married and live in NW Harris Co.

We've got family in the Franklin/Madisonville area, and it, along with the Palestine/Grapeland/Tyler area really feel like good parts of East Texas to me.

Maybe search by county's 2020 voting results and stay towards the ones that voted around 70%+ Republican would be kinda a safe bet

Texas 2020 voting results

https://apps.texastribune.org/features/2020/general-election-results/

I have zero advice for you for about buying land or where to build.  I will say that the further north and central you go you will get into conservative strongholds.  So stay away from big cities, period.

I will say, however, that you are on the right path with the shop.  I have several friends who have built metal homes or have a huge shop that doubles as both.  

Looks wise and resell, you are going to loose.  

From a cost standpoint, it is a winner.  The biggest hangup is usually the wife who will want a traditional house.  

Pro tip- the guy who has the dual shop / house (looks like a huge shop) pays much lower property taxes because the county hasnt figured out its a house.

My brother did just this, but moved from McKinney, to Hamilton County.  He purchased 13 acres near Hico, TX, four or five years ago, began making weekend trips there to develop the land, with plans to move there after his youngest graduated HS.  

He quickly sold his McKinney home of 20 years in December 2020, moved everything to storage, and as of January 1, 2021, is living on his Hico property in an RV while building a barndominium.  He works from home as a systems engineer, so he does rely on the Internet.

I found this 10 acres there at a fair price:

Hico, TX 10 Acres $69,900

I had plans to buy at least 10 acres when I retired 11 years ago, but downsized to my current 1.5 acres and built our current home in 2013.

Hamilton Co is good country. I just bought property there last year and so far have enjoyed it. I plan to move out there once my kids graduate and and doing something similar to your brother. He and I are on opposite ends of the county.