Plan · The journey map

The Roadmap — start to finish

The whole build-out as one ordered path: the six steps below, then the gated checkpoint chain that backs them. Full source in docs/06-execution-plan.md.

Steps The journey, in order

Start at the top and work down — each step has its own page. The checkpoint chain further down is the same path expressed as gated triggers.

  1. Get Ready — budget, financing pre-approval, your team (before you look).
  2. Find Land — search, vet, make an offer, close.
  3. Bid & Hire — line up & bid the contractors/subs.
  4. Build the House — design → permits → slab → shell → finish → CO.
  5. Build the Farm — water, orchard, garden, then animals.
  6. Move In & Run — the day / week / season rhythm.

Money rails run alongside the whole journey: Finance (how it's paid for + resilience), Cost (the budget), and Income (the optional revenue niche).

01 How the chain works

Hitting a checkpoint's ✅ DONE is what triggers the next one. Land and house are joined at the money — a single-close construction-to-perm loan can roll the land buy and the build into one note, so finance reaches back into finding the land. Once animals are on the ground, you switch from building the farm to running it.

Key coupling: don't fully commit to a land offer until you know your loan path — it changes how much cash you need at the table.

02 The checkpoint chain

Month 1–4

CP0 · Find the Land

Entry: none — the start of everything.

What to look for

  • Shape: ~10 ac, close to a square (660×660) for the three-band layout; gentle slope with a low NE corner for the pond.
  • South road frontage with deeded access (entrance, parking, farm stand are road-side).
  • Water: drillable Trinity-aquifer well (check TWDB well logs); clay subsoil holds a pond.
  • Soil: USDA Web Soil Survey — pasture, septic perc, pond clay; avoid caliche/rock.
  • Mineral rights (North TX critical) — who owns them? A lease can put a pad on your surface.
  • No HOA/deed restrictions on livestock/poultry/stand; can get 1-d-1 ag valuation.
  • Not in the FEMA 100-yr floodplain (house pad); electric/internet/processor access.
  • Price target $115–150k — the #1 budget lever.

Tasks

  • Define the search box (outer counties: Parker, Wise, Hood, Erath, Hill, Fannin…).
  • Financing pre-qual (Capital Farm Credit) — construction-to-perm vs. land + later build loan.
  • Agent + per-candidate due diligence; offer with a feasibility contingency; close.

⚠ Gotchas

  • Severed minerals — the biggest North-TX trap (see section 03 below).
  • "Frontage" that's a shared easement, not deeded access; landlocked back acreage.
  • Ag-valuation rollback — changing use can claw back up to 5 yrs of taxes + interest.
  • No perc = no build — never waive the perc-test contingency.
  • Electric line-extension can be five figures — get it in writing.
  • Drainage lies in summer — walk it after heavy rain; fences ≠ boundaries.
  • Rural deed restrictions / pipeline easements / wetlands can kill the stand, animals, or pond.
✅ DONE = deed in hand → triggers CP1 (Finance) and CP1p (Survey).
↓
Overlaps CP0

CP1 · Finance & Permits

Entry: parcel under contract / deed in hand.

Needed

  • Loan path locked (construction-to-perm vs. split); cash-to-close + draw schedule.
  • Builder decision (GC / shell / owner-build — lender must approve owner-builder).
  • Permits: building, septic (OSSF), driveway/culvert; electric service request (long lead).

⚠ Gotchas

  • Owner-builder loans are hard to get + bigger down; sweat equity may not count.
  • Rural appraisal gap — as-built can appraise below cost (cash to cover).
  • You front cash, get reimbursed on draws; budget an interest reserve + carry two costs.
  • Septic permit needs the perc test first; builder's-risk insurance before draw #1.
✅ DONE = loan closed + permits in hand → releases CP2 + CP3.
Right after close

CP1p · Survey & Site Design

Entry: deed in hand.

Needed

  • Boundary + topo survey; stake corners.
  • Perc test + well-site selection.
  • Stamped site plan: north set-back house, drive, well, septic, NE pond, paddock grid, swales above orchard.

⚠ Gotchas

  • The "flat" land isn't — topo often forces the pond/house to move; design after the survey.
  • Well-to-septic setbacks (~50–100 ft) + septic reserve area can collide on a tight north core.
  • Swales need the contour; don't skip staking or trenches/fences land wrong.
✅ DONE = stamped + staked site plan → feeds CP2.
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Year 0–1 · the "Bones" · ~$60k

CP2 · Site Work & Utilities

Entry: stamped site plan + permits + loan.

Needed, in dependency order

  • Driveway + culvert + building pads (you run the machine).
  • Well + pump + pressure tank — the occupancy gate.
  • Septic (aerobic) installed + inspected.
  • Electric service + buried trench (you dig).
  • Perimeter fence (cattle-rated, ~2,640 ft); rain tanks + gutters; solar conduit; rough swales.

⚠ Gotchas

  • The well is a gamble — can be low-yield, dry, or need treatment (sulfur/iron/hardness). Check neighbor logs.
  • Caliche/rock blows up trenching + septic; expansive clay needs an engineered slab or the house cracks.
  • Aerobic septic needs power + a maintenance contract; electric extension has a months-long lead.
  • DIY dirt work = rain delays + a learning curve; budget extra calendar time.
✅ DONE = well producing + power on + septic approved → occupancy gates for CP3/CP4.
↓
Year 0–1 · overlaps CP2 · ~$200k

CP3 · House Build

Entry: pad ready + permits; finishes need CP2 utilities.

Tasks

  • Simple 4/2 square ~2,000 sf (cost discipline); rain-tank tie-in; solar-ready conduit.
  • Slab → frame → dry-in → rough MEP → drywall → finish → final inspections → CO.

⚠ Gotchas

  • Cost overruns + allowance creep; owner-build runs long = more carrying cost.
  • Rural builders scarce/booked; material lead times slip the schedule.
  • Clay foundation — pay for the engineering up front; don't book movers until the CO is in hand.
✅ DONE = Certificate of Occupancy → triggers CP4.
↓
End of Year 1

CP4 · Move In

Entry: CO issued + utilities live.

Tasks

  • Connect utilities, internet, chest freezer; confirm rainwater capture works; move in.

⚠ Gotchas

  • Internet — Starlink wait/obstruction or fixed-wireless line-of-sight; test before relying on it for work income.
  • Propane vs. electric (rural is often propane); get the 911 address + confirm mail/parcel delivery.
  • Order the chest freezer/appliances early — rural delivery is slow.
✅ DONE = living on-site → daily presence unlocks the farm. Releases CP5 + CP6.
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Year 1–2 · ~$25–30k

CP5 · Water, Pond & Habitat

Entry: living on-site; pond shape from CP1p.

Needed

  • Pond excavated (0.5 ac, keyed dam, NE low) — big DIY dirt-work saving.
  • Buried water main + ~10 frost-free hydrants (paddocks, garden, orchard, pond).
  • Windbreak native double row (N/E/W); finalize swales.

⚠ Gotchas

  • Pond may not hold — sandy soil leaks; may need clay core/bentonite/liner. Soil-check the site first.
  • Permits — damming a watercourse can need a TCEQ water-right; big dams trigger dam-safety rules.
  • Spillway must be sized right; hydrants must drain + main below frost line or they freeze.
✅ DONE = hydrants live + pond holding → enables CP6 irrigation + CP7 stock water.
Year 1–2 · winter planting · ~$25–35k

CP6 · Orchard · Garden · Berries

Entry: irrigation available (CP5).

Needed

  • Orchard 51 low-chill trees (4–5 rows) + 30 silvopasture trees — every tree caged.
  • Garden beds, compost, wash station, greenhouse 16×40.
  • Berry rows + pollinator strips; pasture seeding.

⚠ Gotchas

  • Feral hogs (+ deer/rabbits) will wreck a garden/orchard — fence + cage everything.
  • Wrong chill hours = no fruit; alkaline clay → iron chlorosis (citrus/blueberry struggle).
  • Late frosts kill early bloom; irrigation must be in before the trees; plant in the window.
✅ DONE = trees in, garden feeding, pasture established → triggers CP7.
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Year 2–3 · ~$24–30k

CP7 · Animals

Entry: established pasture (CP6) + stock-water hydrants (CP5).

Sequence the livestock

  • Interior fixed cross-fences (5–6 paddocks) + polywire; cattle water stations.
  • Mobile coop + tractor + brooder; chest freezer; line up a fall butcher.
  • Hens first (eggs in weeks) → first meat-bird batch → milk cow + calf (share-milk) → hives; stock the pond.

⚠ Gotchas

  • Book the processor first — Texas lockers/mobile slaughter are booked months out.
  • Predators hit poultry (lock the coop nightly); handling safety — even one cow needs a chute/headgate.
  • AI timing is hard on a single cow; watch spring bloat, parasites, fly burden, and winter/summer water.
  • Biosecurity — buy healthy, tested stock; one sick animal can infect the herd/flock.
✅ DONE = livestock on the ground → switch to running the farm. Annual loop begins.
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Year 3–5 · beyond the 3-year window

CP8 · Maturity

Entry: farm running and stable.

Needed

  • 20×40 shop; herd growth into the expansion paddock + handling chute.
  • Silvopasture canopy closes; 8–12 kW solar.

⚠ Gotchas

  • Solar interconnection — the co-op's net-metering/buy-back terms vary; confirm before sizing.
  • Shop slab = same clay-foundation rules; herd creep quietly overgrazes — let the pasture set headcount.
✅ DONE = full build-out (~$500–615k all-in) — costs flat and low; output rises to the full plate by year 7.
← Overview Next: 1 · Get Ready →

03 Mineral rights — check before you offer

The single most important due-diligence item in North Texas, and the reason it gets its own section. Texas law makes the mineral estate dominant over the surface — whoever owns the minerals can make reasonable use of your surface to reach them.

Why it matters here: across North Texas (Barnett Shale country — Wise, Parker, Hood, Cooke, Denton) minerals were often severed decades ago, so you can own the land and not own what's underneath it. On a precise 660×660 layout that lives on a well and a pond, a surprise well pad, access road, or pipeline could land on your pond, paddocks, or orchard rows — and threaten the well you depend on.

The risks to this farm

  • A well pad / caliche road / pipeline sited where your infrastructure goes.
  • Water — you're 100% well + pond; nearby drilling is the classic well-owner worry.
  • Disruption — truck traffic through the private core, soil compaction, grazing interruption.

Checklist (option/feasibility period)

  • Ask in writing: "Do the minerals convey?" Many listings are surface-only.
  • Mineral/title search — who owns them; any active lease or producing well? Lease held-by-production or expired?
  • Prefer parcels where minerals convey, or negotiate them in.
  • If you can't get them: favor depleted areas / non-operator owners; negotiate a surface-use / no-surface-occupancy clause; price the risk in.
  • Walk the land for old well heads, pad sites, pipeline markers.

You don't necessarily need 100% of the minerals — many great Texas homesteads sit on severed minerals with zero activity. But you must know the mineral status and surface-use risk before closing. Treat it as a hard contingency, next to the perc test and survey.