Retirement in San Antonio (Houston, Corpus Christi: real estate market, assessor, house)

[Jon S]

Hello,
I am currently a navy LT on active duty. I am looking at purchasing property in or around San Antonio to build a retirement home in about 3-5 years. The only requirement is that I'd like to live 20-40 minutes away from a military base.
I would also like to find a good high school.
I have seen alot of ads for the Hill country in and around Bandera.
A realitor has sent me listings from comal county.
Can anyone comment on the good or bad about San Antonio.
I did live in Corpus Christi for three years, so I do understand about the bugs, fire ants and spiders.
Is their any reason not to live in San Antonio?
Thanks,
Jon

[BucFan]

Look into property taxes. That's the only thing keeping me from SA area at this time (likewise, military retiree soon).

[210]

Try the area between Boerne and Bulverde along the 46.

[IrishSA]

Well im out in the Helotes area and love it! Id look around out towards the Medina lake area. San Antonio is one of the better places to retire for military folk. I wont be here much longer. Looks like im going to Lajes Field "Azores" but San Antonio is a great town to retire in. As you know its a big military town.

[rd2007]

Plenty of benefits in SA for retired military. There's currently two military hospitals (soon possibly only one when WHMC becomes something smaller), quite a few clinics, BX's and PX's, a VA hospital and probably quite a few other things I'm forgetting. I retired from the Navy last year and I guess that technically makes me a retiree living in SA

[TexasNick]

The cheapest country land is south of SA..and I believe that may be closer to the military bases than living in the North region of SA (Helotes, etc).

Last time I looked, property taxes were only $50 a year out in the country down South.

[bowjak]

When was the "LAST TIME" you looked? 1940? Texas has some of the most infamously high property taxes in the nation. The ONLY possibility I can see of paying $50 a year in property taxes is if you had 5 acres of floodplain and it was coded as open space. Or maybe a trailer lot. But not a home. This year, the highest property tax rate in Bexar County is in the Northeast school district. Bexar county currently has the most aggressively liberal tax assessor in the state and the tax entities here just love him. Since property tax year 2005, when he got started, property tax valuations in Bexar County are up about 40% and they are going to keep climbing because of the assessor's unchecked authority. If you do move here, you do not want to be in the increasingly populated counties or the surrounding ones that are ENJOYING heavy development. The local governments are having too much fun raising taxes. Years ago, local Texans could hold this in check. But thanks to the latest influx of losers moving in by the droves from California, Florida, and Mexico, the total effect has been to dilute the voting strength of the locals who know better.

Look for a $200,000 home to have a property tax rate of about $4,500-$5,250 a year and watch it keep rising.

Here is a happy fun website to help you through the taxfest here: [url=http://san-antonio.housealmanac.com/url]


Forget due south of San Antonio. Forget the Northwest side, it's tanked with massive construction expansion and traffic chaos that will last for decades and will look like that farce called Stone Oak when they are through.

You want to look at Hondo, Devine, or even Castroville. Uvalde, even better, is a bit further out west of town. Hondo is well within your strike range and so is Devine. These are well outlying areas with good highways for easing in and out of town. Moreover, they are in the next county over and ARE NOT experiencing massive growth and development. Personally, I think Devine is the better choice since you can ease in and out of Lackland AFB using Interstate Highway 35. Unfortunately, with the NAFTA/CAFTA fest the state is planning, this highway may eventually be clogged with transport trucks from Mexico. Bandera, with the future traffic and preplanned congestion, will put you an easy hour or more from any military base. Hey, this is Texas. Not Norfolk or Imperial Beach. Nothing is close but it is getting crowded real fast. In fact, you may be too late. Hey, you could always buy a fixer upper near any base and they are all going to be under $100K.

Originally Posted by TexasNick

The cheapest country land is south of SA..and I believe that may be closer to the military bases than living in the North region of SA (Helotes, etc).

Last time I looked, property taxes were only $50 a year out in the country down South.

[wCat]

Hi Jon! wow....some passionate answers here!

I'm hearing your priorities be first, near military facilities and 2nd, near good high schools.

Your choices of military would be Randolph AFB, Fort Sam Houston and Lackland AFB. If you truly want to be within 20-40 minutes, then Bandera, Boerne and the "Hill Country" is going to be out of range. HWY 46 is definitely WAY OUT of that range (sorry 210! ).

You might want to locate those military installations on a map and draw about an 5-6 mile radius to see what areas fall in that zone.

If you know about what size house you need, then we might be able to help with areas and school districts. Price range varies quite a bit depending on the school district and condition of neighborhood. Also.....are you wanting new construction, or is an older and established neighborhood ok?

I have to agree that property taxes seem to be the biggest complaint from newcomers. One difference is that per square foot, you get a lot more house here than other areas like many areas in California. A 2200 sq ft house might cost $175K in San Antonio, and in some areas of Cali, it might cost $800K. It would be interesting to see the tax comparison from that pov. I realize not every other state is as overinflated in the real estate market as the West Coast, so that same comparison to other areas might show a different picture.

I do have to disagree with Bow.....that Bexar County Tax Appraisal Dist is practicing unchecked over taxation. The influx of new developers in Bexar county has put a HUGE burden on the population to provide more county roads, maintenance and improvements, and schools are having to pop up all over the place to accomodate the growing population. Funds have to come from somewhere! I don't like it either.....but everything else down here is apparently cheaper compared to even other large Texas cities.

But on the flip side (which you must already know), we don't have a state income tax which is definitely a plus!

Keep us posted and let us know if we can help with other info!

I edited radius to a smaller area to allow for traffic....20-40mins from military installation...about 5-6 mile radius depending on route to and from...

[Jon S]

wCat,
Thanks for the insight. Am I right in understanding that to be 20-40 minutes from a base a person must live with-in 5-6 radius?
As taxes go we here in Chesapeake Va pay 1.08 per 1000 value. A 2500 square foot home here will cost about 400K and your property taxes will be about 4500 a year.
I may have to rethink how far out I want to live from a base.
Thanks again.
Jon

[rd2007]

I think it all depends on the time of day you leave for work. I personally leave around 5:15 AM and can easily make it about 30 miles in 30 minutes (my vehicle seriously can't go 55.. plus most highways outside the urban areas are 65-70 MPH speed limits). If you try to make it into Ft. Sam or Lackland around 7:30-8:00, then yeah, the commute is going to be a crawl with most of the time spent waiting at the gates..