I prefer a private swimming pool and home gym, even if it's small. Not into sharing sweat and body fluids these days.

if you can do private pool and home gym, ideal. We live in Indiana and built a pool. I would think it would be more useful in TX. Best of luck.

I’m also in Texas and in a planned community development with an HOA fee that seems absolutely absurd ($1,100). There is a neighborhood pool, but I’ve never used it - don’t even have the card to get inside. I’d be fine not having a pool and gym, but I’d expect the HOA fee to be significantly less.

I always advise avoiding the public bath/urinal. Depending upon the home's size, your can get a good size pool on an 8500 sq ft lot and avoid sharing a tub with your neighbors.

Timing is everything, as they say. I don't have a crystal ball, but industry experts expect nationwide housing demand to exceed supply for a year or more. That said, you need to look at your local market with respect to demand. Increasing demand plus regular construction cost inflation could make building a home more expensive in a year than it is now.

Thanks everyone for all the valuable comments.

My BIL and SIL live in one of those planned community and it sucks. You have to drive everywhere. Not safe for bicyclists because everyone’s driving. They have a nice community pool uphill from them, but it’s just a bit too far to walk in the heat carrying your gear (towels, ice chest with drinks, sunscreen, etc) and there are only two or three parking spots. So they built their own pool and spa for the winter.

And they drive to a local gym, but they have plenty of space to create a home gym if they wanted to.

I would never be one of the first owners in a newly planned community. In today's current climate, I'd much prefer to have my own home gym and pool. Are there any homes in an older, more established neighborhood that could suit your needs?