Rancho Viejo developer Ted Trap originally owned River Bend in order to link Rancho to a raw water source from the Rio Grande River. River Bend development started in 1983 by Lou Falley, George Ketzenberg, and John Berryman. Originally established as a 9 hole course River Bend was expanded to a 18 hole Championship course in 1985. They can accommodate your overnight RV rental as well as provide a place for your permanent residence. The name is derived from the huge bend in the Rio Grande River that borders the resort and provides the property with a lush tropical setting.
In 2015 the Barnard Family purchased River Bend. The Barnard family has been a part of the Rio Grande Valley for many years as the owners of Coastal Realty. Coastal Realty is the largest volume, full service commercial real estate firm serving Cameron County.
There is a 2 street cul-de-sac where all of the RVers park. The site we are in looks out on the driving range for the golf course. You can also see hole #3 in the distance from where we are.
 |
| The driving range |
This community is made up of "sticks and bricks" homes, garden homes, park model homes, and RV lots. You purchase any of the above and it becomes your residence here. There are quite a few lots/park models that the owners rent out. You can rent an RV pad from the owner but most of them will only rent it monthly. I've heard from several people here that pretty much all the rentals are rented this year and those places that are for sale are selling this year. There is an HOA and you pay the normal stuff that you pay when you own property in Texas. But, Cameron county/Brownsville is the poorest county in the state and the taxes are cheap compared to most other places in Texas. A man in the pool yesterday that owns a home here told a group that I was in something that I had never heard of before. He said that in the state of Texas, if you homestead your home and you pay really low school taxes, when you sell your home and if you buy another home in another county that has higher school taxes, you can go to the county courthouse to file a homestead on your new home and take a copy of the school taxes you paid at the old home and a copy of your homestead on the old home and you can never be charged the higher rate of school taxes from county to county. I hope I explained that where it makes sense.
Here's his example:
He bought a house here in Cameron county. He filed a homestead on this house and is paying around $1,100 a year in school taxes. He sold his house and bought another one in Katy, TX and it is in Harris county. He went to the courthouse to file a homestead on this home. He took a copy of the homestead and a copy of the school taxes he paid in Cameron county and that is the amount he now pays in Katy. The normal rate of school taxes on the value of his property in Katy would normally have him paying $4,000 a year in school taxes.
Have any of you heard this? I need to look this up. I'm not sure if this applies to everyone, only those over 65, if it is indeed school taxes or all property taxes total, etc. Texas does not have a state income tax and we don't charge very much to license your vehicles. But, Texas gets you in property taxes. I'm sure no one at the court house is going to voluntarily tell you about this law if it does exist. So, I really do need to look into this. I'll let you know what I find out.
Back to River Bend. You can stay here by the night and it is $28 per night. It is $175 for the week and $700 for the month. You can also get packages that include limitless golf with your stay. That little extra will cost you $45 per night if staying nightly and $950 for the month if you are staying for a month. I forgot what it is by the week. We are staying here on our Coast to Coast membership and it is costing us $10 per night. Mr. W played golf one day and booked it on line during twilight rates (after 2:00) and I think with cart and everything, paid around $30. He also bought some range balls one day and took to the driving range before his game of golf. We asked if I could ride in the cart while he played since he was playing by himself. If we wanted to pay $10 extra, I could have ridden in the cart. I enjoyed my day of solitude.
The weather has been awesome. Yesterday, it was 85 degrees here and we went to the pool. It was crowded but felt good to be in the sun and in the water. There is a pool, a Jacuzzi, tennis courts, and a club house (not the golf club house). But, after reading their newsletter, there is very little organized happenings in this place. I finally met a couple of people at the pool and from our conversation, the residents here get together with each other and do things. They don't really participate in anything organized.
Mr. W was and I guess still is pretty sold on this place. It is not somewhere that I would want to buy. However, after meeting a few of the people yesterday, I might could entertain thoughts of maybe one day being here or at least visiting here again next year.
There is a large high school right across the highway from here. I'm guessing it is the golf teams that come over here every afternoon and practice on the driving range. It is kind of neat to see these young people out practicing and doing something they enjoy with dreams of what their future might be. I always look at them wondering who the next golf superstar will be. Why couldn't it be one of them?
We bought some wild caught shrimp today at the Brownsville coastal area. They are big and headless already. I can't wait to taste them. I'm just having trouble deciding how I want to cook them. I got the urge to buy shrimp and cook it after we ate lunch at the original Oyster Bar in downtown Brownsville today. The lady who owns it came to our table and told us a little bit about their history. Her grandfather opened the restaurant in that location in 1965. Their claim to fame is the shrimp and oysters. Their shrimp is wild and caught in the gulf. It was excellent. They actually now have 2 restaurants in Brownsville, 1 in Weslaco, 1 in Harlingen, and one getting ready to open on South Padre Island. Well worth the visit if you are in the area.
We are heading back to Harlingen tomorrow and will be staying at Tropic Winds again. I will be glad to get back and get back to the hustle and bustle.
 |
| Cul-de-sac where RVs stay |
 |
| This is a park model home that was right behind our RV |
 |
| Cart path and the Rio Grand river |
 |
| This is the tee box for what I think is hole #3. You can see the RVs in the distance. |
 |
| One of the streets through the park. You can see how there are a lot of park models on this street. |
 |
| The club house. There is a pool, laundry, a big common area, a small library of used books, and I'm not sure what else. |
 |
| Looking at the Rio Grande from the swimming pool. The Mexicans here all call it the Rio Bravo because that was what it was called when Mexico owned this land. That little fact and practice has irritated Mr. W quite a bit. :) |
 |
| The pool area |
No comments:
Post a Comment