Moving from San Diego to San Antonio (Alamo, Helotes: sales, HOA fees)

[faithsmama]

My husband and I are thinking about moving to San Antonio, and we have already visited the city and love it (we are returning next week to look at more homes), now we don't know where to buy. We are interested in the Alamo Ranch area, but are worried about the property taxes, the HOA fees, and when it will be annexed. Helotes is very nice as well, anyone recommend any new builders there? Any advice would be helpful, and I would love to here from former Cali residents to share their moving experience Thanks!

[Latinocowboy]

I'm relocating from NY. I have family in San Antonio and their advice to me was to check out Northwest. After a lot of research, planning, and preparation, we went with D.R. Horton as a builder (Alamo Ranch).

HOA in our community will be $220/year and taxes are roughly 2.46%. As far as annexation, it may be just around the corner or may take a few years, but no doubt, it's gonna happen. Our street signs are blue - from what I've heard, this can be a sign of future plans to annex the area.

Whatever you decide on, my advice would be for you to hire your own inspector DURING construction, if you go with a new home. This will lower your risks substantially, assuming you are willing to stay on top of your builder. To some extent, don't always equate higher price with quality.

Helotes is beautiful. We had a binder down on a home in Sonoma Ranch, but pulled out. Though I don't have an regrets about it, it is a lovely place to live. I will definitely consider Helotes as an option in a few years, when we're ready to sell.

I wish you the best!

[faithsmama]

Hi Latinocowboy, thank you for your response. We couldn't find DR horton on our last visit to alamo ranch, and we ended up at Pulte Homes, nice homes but wow their HOA is around 1000 a year! We will check out the DR horton homes next week. Where did you find your inspector, and how long did it take to build your home? We already have a realtor. Thanks again for your advice and good luck to you.

[Steel Man]

Hello Faithsmama,

You might try Red Bird Ranch (DR Horton) out west on Potranco. It is around 5 miles west of Loop 1604, so it will probably be some time before the city annexes it. BTW: Annexation is now a 3-year process.

Here is DR Horton's SA web site:

http://www.drhorton.com/corp/MapSearch.do?metroId=38

[Latinocowboy]

Originally Posted by faithsmama

Hi Latinocowboy, thank you for your response. We couldn't find DR horton on our last visit to alamo ranch, and we ended up at Pulte Homes, nice homes but wow their HOA is around 1000 a year! We will check out the DR horton homes next week. Where did you find your inspector, and how long did it take to build your home? We already have a realtor. Thanks again for your advice and good luck to you.

Construction takes roughly 4 months or so. It usually takes a 4-6 weeks for construction to begin while the engineer works on your plans. Add another 2-3 weeks and you're looking at roughly a 6-month process from signing the contract to closing, assuming supplies and resources are readily available. We've got another 8-10 weeks to go before closing.

To get to D.R. Horton you take Culebra, off of 1604 and make a left onto Alamo Ranch Pkwy. Make the first right into the "Riverstone at Alamo Ranch" community. Make a right at the first street you come across and you should see the sales offices there.

I will PM you about other details.

BTW, Medallion Homes is coming to Alamo Ranch 1/07. So add it to the list of builders there.

[Latinocowboy]

Originally Posted by Steel Man

Hello Faithsmama,

You might try Red Bird Ranch (DR Horton) out west on Potranco. It is around 5 miles west of Loop 1604, so it will probably be some time before the city annexes it. BTW: Annexation is now a 3-year process.

Here is DR Horton's SA web site:

http://www.drhorton.com/corp/MapSearch.do?metroId=38

How can you tell when the 3 year clock starts ticking? Is it at the point a new community opens?

[Steel Man]

Originally Posted by Latinocowboy

How can you tell when the 3 year clock starts ticking? Is it at the point a new community opens?

Texas passed a law (I believe last year) that lengthened the process of "involuntary" annexation of an unincorporated area by a city. I guess there were too many complaints about cities annexing land and could not provide adequate services (police/fire/ambulance). I do not know when the clock starts ticking, but my guess is when the city formally announces its intentions of annexing an area.

Now, voluntary annexation is a much faster process, but you don't see this very often. San Antonio authorities are firm believers in annexing to bring in more revenue as most people work in San Antonio and enjoy many of its benefits (electrical, water, hospitals, etc.).

My guess is that in the next 20 years all remaining unincorporated areas of Bexar County will be annexed.

Here is San Antonio's web site on annexation:

http://www.sanantonio.gov/planning/annexation_info.asp

[MichelleSG]

We moved from San Diego to San Antonio ten weeks ago and we just love it here. We bought a Medallion Home because we wanted to go with and energy star home builder. Our gas and electric bill is so much less than what it was in San Diego, we run our a/c 24/7 here and in San Diego we didn't even have a/c and couldn't afford to run the heater! We are in Helotes at the Sonoma Ranch subdivision, I think it was incorporated into Helotes earlier this year. Helotes has annexed 3 areas this year that I know of, 2 just recently. Fair warning though, I think Helotes taxes are worse than San Antonio's. Oh and I do recommend Medallion Homes as a builder but I hate their preferred lender (Wells Fargo). It's the 3 women that you 'have' to work with specifically. They are some of the dumbest people I've ever had to work with and they dropped the ball so many times that I cannot recommend Medallion Homes without mentioning this caveat. Medallion Homes itself is great, they gave me the cell phone number of the man in charge of building my home (I'm sure he has some title that I fail to remember) and he took care of my every neurosis like the sweetheart that his is. And I have a lot of neurosis...
~Michelle

[faithsmama]

Great info steel man, quick question when you get annexed do you get taxed on what your purchase price was or do they go off current value of home when you're annex?

[210]

Originally Posted by MichelleSG

we run our a/c 24/7 here

You're running it 24/7 now??? It's cold (well, Texas cold)!!