Steve Elder
'Steve Elder' is just about all you need to know about real estate in Waller County, Texas. Elder sold the company he founded in 1981, Now he mostly sells and buys land. He sells land dirt cheap and lets others make the big profits.

Like the legendary trainer who buys horses from the knacker and turns them into Derby winners, Elder cures land title defects, turning unmarketable land into beautiful homesites.

Other Stuff
Elder also tinkers. He drives a 50-year-old tractor and takes credit for others' computer innovation. One of his claimed accomplishments is a computerized real estate CountyResearch.com database that has been described as the most powerful on the market. The database is used for title research and to find out things like who built houses for under a certain price in the last two years.

The database is a "lite" version of the very powerful search engine. We have only two non-interactive search criteria available but this has proven accessible and popular. CountyResearch.com. Over 1,000 people have signed up to view records. A couple of hundred use it regularly.

Where to Find Me
I come in very rarely to the historic Rock Building at the intersection of All The Important Streets in Hempstead. Mostly I am in Portland, Oregon. My phone is 713-824-5351.

The County Economy
Waller County shares a county line with three of the fastest growing counties in the country: Harris, Montgomery and Fort Bend. Across the Brazos River on the west are Austin and Washington Counties. All five counties have lower taxes and good schools. Four have their own hospital, paved airport and are generally more prosperous. It seems the powers that be are a little like Gollom and don't want people to touch my precious.