I've been meaning to post this for a while now.

Going from my experience and after speaking to others who live here full time, except for the completely undrinkable, extremely hard, rusty water, that ruins any metal pipe or fixture if you don't have good multiple filters and a water softener, this is a great and affordable place to visit or live.

If you have a dog, make sure you pick up after it religiously. We had a situation where one dog, owned by a full timer, would poop in our area, unbeknownst to us, but we got blamed for not picking up our dog's poop. Also, make sure your dog is socialized and recalls extremely well if you have it off leash.

If the braying of donkeys bothers you, day or night, this might not be the place for you. There are longhorns and donkeys next door on one side, which are fun to watch, and they're relatively quiet, until they're not. Usually at night.

There are a couple really honest mobile RV repair guys who can usually come out within a week. If it's an emergency, they will try to fit you in sooner. TDRV (Dan) and ATX Mobile RV repair (Tom- weekends only usually).

The water is just plain awful. Though you can get around that with the precautions I will list below. I know most well water needs to be filtered, but the water here is on a whole other level of bad. After speaking with a couple of experts, I'm told that it could be remedied with more frequent shocks of bleach, and/or a filtration system at the well, putting on a better pressure regulator/pump, and replacing all rusty pipe and connectors with those that won't rust, but I guess it must be super expensive to do. Hopefully the owner will take one or more of the lesser expensive steps to improve their water.

Pros: close to Pace Bend Park, the river/lake and Briarcliff marina; quiet; peaceful; affordable; wonderful local restaurants; friendly people; donkey and longhorn neighbors; Sonny the owner is super nice; Spicewood Vet is nearby and has mobile service available (great vets!); not too far from grocery stores or more populated areas.

Cons: mainly the water, absolutely horrible water (Do NOT drink it without extremely good multiple filters and a water softener. Even then it's questionable); varying water pressure from ok to poor; no notice when work is being done on the well or when it will be back up and running (You might want to hook up a Y connector and always check it if you've been away for the day. Definitely flush your water through that before running inside water. A bunch of rust flushing through your pipes and into your tank after the well is fixed is not good); not very dog friendly even though they're allowed; limited 50 amp hook ups (most are 30); not a lot of shade in most spots (and carport like covers for RVs are not allowed for most lots, though I never figured out why some not others); ants and mice can be an issue (Ortho Home Defense for ants, block any openings underneath with steel wool and foam sealer or mesh wire for mice) especially after it rains.

Basically, nice affordable place to stay, short or long term, as long as you have good filtration and a softener for water, but drink and cook with only bottled water. Pets are allowed with a deposit, but dogs are viewed with suspicion.

The water situation, the dog attitude, and carport/cover question are the reason for the minus 2 stars.