looking for a community on north/northwest side (San Antonio, Boerne: rental, custom home)

[cheermom14]

I am looking for some communities that have the following ammenities in the price range below; Any advise is much appreciated!

Area- I enjoy the La Canterra area, and have heard to look up towards Boerne or Helotes, so that is my primary focus. Some coworkers live in Stone Oak, but I hear the traffic is horrible (and I HATE the TX traffic already)

Price point- homes in the 350k and up price range. I would like to purchase close to 400k for a 3-4 bedroom with arounf 3,000 sq ft, but would perfer to be in a neighborhood with more expensive homes than mine for value purposes.

Running trails
community center (perferable with kids activities classes scheudled)
Fitness Center
Pool (s)
very well maintained common areas
excellent schools (elementary and high school) that are close by (perferably walking distance)

Overall I am looking for a strong sense of community in an upper middleclass neighborhood that is asthetically pleasing and caters to my families love for the outdoors. We are moving from Arizona and currently live in a similar community and love our lifestyle, so replicating it as much as possible will help the kids with the transition.

Thank you for the tips!

[ashbeeigh]

I would look into Crownridge to start out with and go from there in the surrounding areas. I believe those neighborhoods are like Sonoma Ranch, but I could be wrong. I am unsure about specific community ammeneties or classes/pools (and I'm like 100% sure that many neighborhoods in the SA lack a community gym...but at Crownridge you are very close to Lifetime fitness) but Crownridge is within that budget and a beautiful area, very close to La Cantera and very close to Leon Creek Greenway. Good luck!

[BoerneMan]

If you want to look in Boerne proper, try looking in the highest end section of Herff Ranch. While there won't be more expensive houses than yours (the highest range in this neighborhood is $350-$400k or so), you will get everything else you seek. The house will likely be 3,200 to 3,700 square feet, so the cost per foot is excellent for Boerne. Most of the new non-custom home communities in Boerne will have price points from the 400's to 600's but most of those are under construction right now with houses not being built quite yet.

The Cibolo Nature Center is essentially connected to the neighborhood for hiking/biking/etc. It then connects to the Boerne City Park (sports fields, trnnis courts, pool, etc) and then into all the walking trails through Boerne and the entire way to Main Street with its local shops, restaurants and galleries.

Cibolo Creek Elementary and Champion High School (two of the best schools in the entire San Antonio area) are in the neighborhood (walking distance).

The neighborhood includes a pool and basketball court and a large playground. There are a ton of families here and kids play in the street and ride bikes everywhere.

Like many people in Boerne, I lived here in a rental house while I built a custom home not too far from here, and we loved the community. It just didn't have the lot size and privacy we wanted.

There are other options are Boerne too, but your price range is tough for what you want. Your range probably would have more options around Stone Oak and even Helotes, but Boerne is simply the highest quality suburban community (it's a historic town, not a new development area) in the area. As such, it costs more. Boerne housing has long been centered around custom home communities on acreage with houses from the $600's to a few million, but it is changing dramatically right now as production builders are taking down large land positions and beginning to develop. There are over 6,000 lots being planned or developed around Boerne right now and that doesn't include several large new developments closer in to San Antonio along I-10.

Depending on where you are commuting to and at what time, I-10 traffic is quickly growing and might be more Stone Oak like within a few years, but hopefully not. I can't stand Loop 1604 and Hwy 281 traffic. Stay away from there if you can. Still, you can get to the Shops at La Cantera and Rim shopping areas in 15-20 minutes at most times.

Good luck in your search!