My Hometown

San Antonio, Texas is the seventh most populous city in the United States and the second most populous city in the state of Texas, with a population of 1,359,758. The racial composition of the city based on the 2010 U.S. Census Bureau is as follows:
72.6% White (Non-Hispanic Whites: 26.6%)
63.2% Hispanic or Latino (of any race)
6.9% Black
0.9% Native American
2.4% Asian
0.1% Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander
3.4% Two or more races
13.7% Other races


Payaya Indians originally lived near the San Antonio River Valley. In 1691, a group of Spanish explorers and missionaries came upon the river and Native American settlement on June 13, the feast day of St. Anthony of Padua, and named the place and river "San Antonio" in his honor. Early Spanish settlement of San Antonio began with the establishment of the the Alamo in 1718 as a means to reassert Spanish dominance over Texas from the nearby French in Louisiana. The continued to build four other Catholic missions, San jose (1720), San Juan (1731), Concepcion (1731), and Espada (1731). After Texas entered the Union, growth became rapid, as the city became a servicing and distribution center for the western movement of the United States, and continued to grow as railroads were introduced. These missions are now in the downtown area of san antonio and the city has grown outwards from them.

Along with the five missions that are famous tourist spots, san antonio is also famous for the River Walk, the Tower of the Americas, the Alamo Bowl, and host to SeaWorld and Six Flags Fiesta Texas theme parks, all of which account for approximately 26 million tourists per year. 

My favorite part of San Antonio is that we are home to four-time NBA champion San Antonio Spurs,

 the annual San Antonio Stock Show & Rodeo, 

and amazing Tex-Mex food.

Guest lecture

The other day in class we had two guest speakers, Dr. Samuel Harris and his attorney Mike Gentry, talk to us about their journey trying to develop a piece of real estate that Harris owns. The land in located in Bryan and has been in Harris' family since his great-grandfather won it in a poker match. They are currently in the process of building a hotel on this land, but have run into many problems. The biggest challenge was moving a oil pipeline underneath the ground where some of the oil spilled out. The ended up having to spend a big chunk of money for the soil replacement, but was able to resolve the issue. They also plan to build a gas station and a retirement community on this land. 

The topic of rollback struck my interest during this lecture. Dr. Harris' land was taxed as agricultural land, which meant the land was idle, making the tax very cheap each year, but once Harris sold that land the rollback was applied, causing him to pay taxes for the previous five years based on the market value of the land. In addition, 7-percent interest is charged for each year from the date that the taxes would have been due. 

There are so many rules along with problems that come with developing real estate, making each developing process unique. I have been thinking about attending law school and this lecture has sparked my curiosity in real estate law.

Private & Public Restrictions on Real Estate

Private restrictions are enacted by a private individual or business that put limitations on the owner’s rights. The most common forms of private restrictions are easements, adverse possession, encroachments, and liens. In public restrictions there are four basic powers of government over real property, taxation, escheat, eminent domain, and police power.


Easements are rights to use the property of another for particular purposes. There are two main types of easements: easement in appurtenant, and easement in gross. An easement in appurtenant is when two properties are in a dispute or agreement. One of the properties ”gives up” a right, and the other property benefits from the agreement. Easements in gross are when there is only one property or estate, the other party often being a utility or electric company. 

Power of eminent domain is the right of the government to take private property for public use upon the payment of just compensation. The two requirements are it must be for a valid public use and property owner must be compensated fairly.

One recent article describes the mounting legal battles in Texas, Nebraska, and Oklahoma, from the “Keystone Pipeline”. The issue, as the article describes, is that to construct the massive cross-country pipeline, Keystone will pass-through over 2,150 pieces of private land. Each of which requires a custom agreement allowing special land-rights to TransCanada, the company building Keystone. The company met with each property owner, offering a cash bid for the right to build their pipeline. This method has been a great success, leaving Transcanada “all but 19 of the 1,200 easements it sought in Oklahoma and Texas.” The company is trying to seize the rest of the easements by using eminent domain laws. This article tells the story of the people who are refusing to grant the easements.

http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2012-03-08/ranchers-tell-keystone-not-under-my-backyard