What $400K Buys You in Texas Hill Country
Five Towns, Five Different Answers
The same budget produces five different lives depending on whether you shop Boerne, New Braunfels, Canyon Lake, Wimberley, or Seguin. Here is what you get in each — and what you give up.
“A budget is not a plan. Four hundred thousand dollars in Seguin and four hundred thousand dollars in Wimberley are not the same purchase, and pretending otherwise is how people end up in the wrong town.”
If you are trying to work out what $400K buys you in Texas Hill Country, the useful answer is not a square-foot number. It is a tradeoff map. Buyers who lead with a price and then pick a town almost always end up disappointed by one of the two. Buyers who understand what each town charges a premium for — and what it discounts — end up somewhere that actually fits.
This is a comparison of five towns that relocating buyers routinely shortlist together: , , , , and . They sit across four counties, which matters more than most buyers expect once tax rates and insurance enter the picture.
Explore the Five Towns
Why the Town Matters More Than the Number
Four hundred thousand dollars is a genuinely useful benchmark for Central Texas right now. It is high enough to open doors in all five of these towns, and low enough that every one of them still makes you choose something. That is what makes the question of what $400K buys you in Texas Hill Country worth answering town by town rather than as a single number.
The counties are the part buyers underestimate. Boerne sits in Kendall County. New Braunfels and Canyon Lake are in Comal. Wimberley is in Hays. Seguin is in Guadalupe. Different appraisal districts, different rates, different school districts, different insurance pictures. Two homes with identical list prices in two of these towns do not cost the same to own. The Texas Comptroller maintains worth reading before you commit to a county, and the is the cleanest place to compare the towns themselves without wading through aggregator estimates.
Boerne — You Are Buying Scarcity, Not a Premium
Boerne has a reputation for being the expensive one, and at this price point that reputation is wrong. A $400,000 budget in Boerne buys a home broadly comparable to what the same money buys in New Braunfels — similar size, similar lot, similar price per square foot. The dollar stretches about as far here as it does on the corridor.
What you actually give up in Boerne is choice. There are far fewer homes in this range than in the corridor towns, and the housing stock skews older — you are more likely to be looking at an established resale than at something built in the last three years. The premium, such as it is, shows up as thin inventory rather than as a higher price.
The other thing Boerne does is move. Homes here go under contract faster than anywhere else in this comparison, which tells you demand is real and steady even though the price per foot is not remarkable. Boerne buyers do not get to think about it over the weekend.
New Braunfels — You Are Buying Options
New Braunfels carries more homes in this price range than any other town in this comparison, and it is not close. That depth is the actual product. A buyer here is choosing among neighborhoods, ages, layouts, and school-district assignments rather than taking whatever happens to be listed.
The house itself is unremarkable in the best sense — comparable in size and price per foot to what Boerne offers, newer on average, on a similar lot. You are not maximizing square footage and you are not finding a bargain. You are finding a market deep enough that something in it will actually fit.
For relocating buyers who have not already fallen for a specific town, that matters more than any single feature. Optionality is what lets you make a decision instead of a compromise, and New Braunfels has more of it than anywhere else on this list.
Canyon Lake — You Are Buying Land, and Time
Canyon Lake is the only town in this comparison where $400,000 buys meaningfully more land, and the gap is not marginal. Lots here run substantially larger than anything on the corridor. If space, elevation, tree cover, and distance from the neighbors are what you came to the Hill Country for, this is the town that actually delivers them.
You pay for it in interior square footage. Canyon Lake buys the smallest house of the five at the highest price per square foot — you are buying acreage and terrain, and the structure is what is left over. The housing stock is also the oldest here, and it varies enormously in age, layout, and how usable the land actually is.
The compensation is time. Inventory in Canyon Lake sits noticeably longer than in any other town in this comparison, which means buyers here have something buyers in Boerne do not: room to think, room to inspect properly, and real room to negotiate. That is a genuine advantage and most buyers do not know it going in. Canyon Lake is the clearest illustration of how what $400K buys you in Texas Hill Country changes completely from one town to the next.
Wimberley — You Are Probably Buying Woodcreek
Here is the thing almost no buyer knows before they start looking. defines “Wimberley” as the Wimberley Valley — which includes the separately incorporated City of Woodcreek, two miles north. Both share ZIP 78676 and a Wimberley mailing address, so every listing reads Wimberley regardless of which city it actually sits in.
At this price point, most of what is available sits in Woodcreek: a master-planned residential community built around an 18-hole golf course, developed beginning in the 1970s, incorporated in 1984, and skewing heavily toward retirees. It has a property owners association with architectural review. It is served by Wimberley ISD. It is a genuinely pleasant place to live. It is also not the cypress-lined Blanco River acreage or the walk-to-the-Square cottage most people picture when they hear the name.
Inventory in this range is thin, and the homes are the smallest of the five towns. That is the honest tradeoff: you are buying a Wimberley Valley address and a mature, quiet, established setting, and you are buying less house than the corridor towns would give you.
Seguin — You Are Buying House
If the goal is maximum square footage per dollar, Seguin wins this group and it is not particularly close. Buyers here get the largest homes and the newest construction of the five towns, at the lowest price per square foot. A budget that feels constrained in Boerne feels comfortable in Seguin, and you will see that difference on the very first tour.
What Seguin does not buy is land. Lots here are comparable to what you get in Boerne or New Braunfels — this is subdivision product, not acreage. If you are picturing room for a workshop or a horse, that is a Canyon Lake conversation, not a Seguin one.
The real tradeoff is distance. Seguin sits farther from both the Austin and San Antonio job cores than the corridor towns, and it has a working manufacturing economy rather than a relocation-driven one. For remote workers, and for anyone whose commute runs toward San Antonio rather than Austin, that tradeoff is close to free.
The Tradeoff Table
| Town | County | What You Get | What You Give Up | Profile |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Boerne | Kendall | A comparable home to the corridor towns, with an established-town address | Choice — the thinnest inventory here, and the fastest-moving | Scarce & Fast |
| New Braunfels | Comal / Guadalupe | By far the deepest inventory — real choice across neighborhoods and ages | Any superlative; nothing here is the largest or the cheapest | Most Options |
| Canyon Lake | Comal | Substantially more land, plus time to inspect and room to negotiate | Interior square footage, at the highest price per foot in the group | Land & Leverage |
| Wimberley | Hays | A Wimberley Valley address in a mature, established setting | Square footage — and the downtown-Wimberley address you may be picturing | Valley Address |
| Seguin | Guadalupe | The most house and the newest construction for the budget | Proximity to the Austin and San Antonio job cores | Most House |
This table describes relative positioning among these five towns, not a listing snapshot. Individual properties vary widely by neighborhood, age, condition, lot, taxes, and HOA. Verify anything specific against current listings and the relevant county appraisal district.
How to Actually Use This
Start with the tradeoff you are least willing to make, not with the town you have heard the most about. If square footage is non-negotiable, Seguin is your first stop. If you want land and elevation, start at Canyon Lake — and know that you will have more time and more negotiating room there than anywhere else on this list. If you want the widest range of homes to choose from, New Braunfels has more of them than the other four combined. If Boerne is the goal, be ready to move fast. And if the Wimberley Valley appeals, go in knowing that most of what sells at this price sits in Woodcreek.
There is a pattern underneath all of this that is worth naming, and it reframes what $400K buys you in Texas Hill Country entirely. Three of these five towns are, at this price point, essentially new-construction markets — recently built homes on modest subdivision lots. The two that are not, Canyon Lake and the Wimberley Valley, are the two where buyers most expect to find Hill Country character. What they are actually finding is older housing stock on larger or more established lots, which is a different thing and, for the right buyer, a better one.
If you are still choosing between towns rather than choosing between houses, our guide to the covers the corridor from a different angle. And once you have a town, the local texture matters: our is a surprisingly good way to spend a Saturday getting a feel for a place before you commit to it.
Frequently Asked Questions
Where does $400,000 go the farthest among these five Hill Country towns?
Seguin. Among these five towns, a $400,000 budget buys the most house and the newest construction in Seguin. What it does not buy there is land, since Seguin lots at this price are comparable to those in Boerne and New Braunfels. The tradeoff for the extra square footage is distance from the Austin and San Antonio job cores.
Is $400,000 enough to buy a home in Boerne, Texas?
Yes, and more comfortably than Boerne's reputation suggests. At this price point Boerne delivers a home broadly comparable to what the same budget buys in New Braunfels, on a similar lot, at a similar price per square foot. What you give up in Boerne is choice: it carries far fewer homes in this range than the corridor towns, the housing stock skews older, and what does list tends to move quickly.
What should you expect at $400,000 in New Braunfels?
New Braunfels offers more inventory in this price range than any other town in this comparison, by a wide margin, and that depth is the product. Buyers get a genuine range of neighborhoods, ages, and layouts rather than a handful of options, and the house itself is broadly comparable to what Boerne delivers at the same price. Nothing here is the largest or the cheapest; it is simply the most choice.
Does Canyon Lake or Wimberley give you more land at this price point?
Canyon Lake, decisively. It is the only town in this comparison where a $400,000 budget buys meaningfully more land, and the difference is not subtle. Wimberley inventory at this price is concentrated in the Wimberley Valley's established subdivisions and leans smaller, so buyers seeking acreage, elevation, and distance from neighbors will find far more of it around Canyon Lake.
Why does the same budget produce such different results across these towns?
Because purchase price is only part of the cost. These five towns sit across four different counties, with different tax rates, different school districts, different insurance profiles, and different HOA structures. Two homes listed at the same price in different towns can carry meaningfully different monthly costs, which is why comparing towns before narrowing the search is more useful than comparing listings.
Which Hill Country town should you look at first?
Start with the tradeoff you are least willing to make. If square footage is non-negotiable, start with Seguin. If you want land and privacy, start with Canyon Lake, where you will also find more room to negotiate. If you want the widest range of homes to choose from, start with New Braunfels. If Boerne is the goal, be ready to act quickly, because inventory there is thin. And if the Wimberley Valley appeals, understand that most of what sells at this price sits in Woodcreek rather than downtown Wimberley.
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Working out what $400K buys you in Texas Hill Country starts with understanding what each town charges a premium for. Comparing Texas Hill Country towns before you narrow your search is the difference between a decision and a scroll. Full community guides, with neighborhoods, schools, and cost of living for each town in this comparison:
Boerne community guide · New Braunfels community guide · Canyon Lake community guide · Wimberley community guide · Seguin community guide
Also worth reading: Best places to live between Austin and San Antonio · Should I move to Seguin or New Braunfels? · Central Texas farmers markets · Central Texas Relocation Guide