It's desert/west coast vibes for sure. 

The desolate coast, the mountains of San Pedro Martir, the whales of Scammons Lagoon (Oro de Liebre), the hot springs of Guadalupe canyon and Puertocitos, the party atmosphere of San Felipe, the remote desert terrain, the missions, and the fishing and diving.I do not like the extortion, RE financing, difficulty obtaining reliable RE team.

In the desert of Las Vegas with a pool our Bill is less than $35/mo. 

There is a grocery or two nearby (not a food desert).  

Texas is one of the few places that still builds starter homes, you can't even really find them here in CA, the cost to break ground is too prohibitively expensive.While SA corridor is no desert, it's certainly not constrained by space or forest or old service lines like a New England or urban CA city.Relative to many places, Texas has abundant cheap land, which is still desirable unlike abundant cheap land in Mississippi, for example.

The high desert might also be a good place to research. 

No idea what the gurus are selling, I prefer to teach conventionally without sizzle, just the steak, the meat, I'll leave desert for others.

To answer the question posed in your title, consider exactly the same house on exactly the same sized lot except that one lot with the house is in Malibu, CA and the other lot with the house is in the middle of the desert.

This area here is desert land and it seems that one season is more drastic every year (either ice, wind, or rain), but it's manageable when you're aware and proactive.I'll see you around and good luck with the weather.

Does it make sense to do a rock/desert scape.