Top area for family? 500K+ Budget (San Antonio, Alamo: for sale, 2014, apartments)

[tr_resident]

Alamo Heights has good schools true. But so does the Northside Independent School District in the areas around and north of I-10/1604 to US281/1604.

And one minor correction - $500K will NOT get you into the Dominion. Their "cottages" start at just under 1 Mil. This is where the 12000+ square foot mansions are. Sports figures, Celebrities, CEOs live here.

If you are looking to build new, Alamo Heights is out unless you intend to tear down and rebuild. Alamo Heights = old money, older homes.

Lose exclusivity outside 1604? Not sure how you would define exclusivity but IMHO there are more options for that outside 1604. Money always heads for higher ground - around here thats the Hill Country, the beginnings of which start OUTSIDE 1604.

Traffic around the Stone Oak area is some of the worst in Bexar County - but nothing, and I mean NOTHING around here compares to LA or San Fran/San Jose areas.

One thing is for certain. Your dollar will go much much further here than it does in Southern Calif.

[SocalDad10]

Originally Posted by tr_resident

Alamo Heights has good schools true. But so does the Northside Independent School District in the areas around and north of I-10/1604 to US281/1604.

And one minor correction - $500K will NOT get you into the Dominion. Their "cottages" start at just under 1 Mil. This is where the 12000+ square foot mansions are. Sports figures, Celebrities, CEOs live here.

If you are looking to build new, Alamo Heights is out unless you intend to tear down and rebuild. Alamo Heights = old money, older homes.

Lose exclusivity outside 1604? Not sure how you would define exclusivity but IMHO there are more options for that outside 1604. Money always heads for higher ground - around here thats the Hill Country, the beginnings of which start OUTSIDE 1604.

Traffic around the Stone Oak area is some of the worst in Bexar County - but nothing, and I mean NOTHING around here compares to LA or San Fran/San Jose areas.

One thing is for certain. Your dollar will go much much further here than it does in Southern Calif.

Thanks for the clarity. Would all of these places be pointless to look at if I was working at Lackland? 500k here gets you a dump, unless you go east.

[SocalDad10]

Old homes are ok with updates inside. Just to clear things up.

[tr_resident]

Originally Posted by SocalDad10

Wow! Thank you so much for all the info. Waco was an option but San Antonio seems a bit more up to speed with what we're looking for. Most likely would be commuting to Lackland. Does that change anything?

Ok perhaps it does if traffic plays a part in any of this. But remember, I said traffic is nothing here compared to LA (or San Diego) or any metro area in California for that matter. I work for DoD myself and work near (but not on Lackland). I chose to live 3 miles from my workplace on the far west side because I really wanted to cut down my commute time. Most of my colleagues live OUTSIDE 1604 from Alamo Ranch in the west around to Stone Oak in the North. I even know someone who lives in Bulverde (which is even further north than Stone Oak) and has a 40 minute commute. But he gets in at 0530 which helps. But most who work on or near Lackland are living in Alamo Ranch - a copycat of Stone Oak but on the far west side of San Antonio. And for Lackland folks that are really wanting to get out of San Antonio proper are living in Castroville.

But one thing you have to understand - 500-700K is big money for a house here in San Antonio and you can get ALOT for that amount. But I know that amount ain't nothin in So Cal. If you are at all concerned about resale value make note of this:

1. Real Estate has been stable from year to year and grows a steady 2-3% per year. You will not find explosive growth here like in Calif. Likewise we were hardly affected by the real estate collapse that affected places with over inflated real estate evaluations.

2. When you start getting over about 350K here, your pool of buyers quickly dwindles. Be sure to check the average time on market stats in the area you are considering before you make the plunge.

[SocalDad10]

Thanks for the quick response! So being up North around Stone oak is only about 40 min. That's really good info! Anything south, west, or east of lackland worth looking into? Thanks 👍

[tr_resident]

Originally Posted by SocalDad10

Thanks for the clarity. Would all of these places be pointless to look at if I was working at Lackland? 500k here gets you a dump, unless you go east.

See my prev post.

500K here can get you a really nice 5700 sq ft single level on an acre in some places. But gonna be hard to sell because the pool of buyers will be smaller. It's definitely upper upper middle class here

[tr_resident]

Originally Posted by SocalDad10

...... Anything south, west, or east of lackland worth looking into? Thanks ��

Stay away from anything South or East or anything inside Loop 410 except for a few areas in and around Alamo Heights. Your safest bet is to stay outside 1604. Look at a map - Find Alamo Ranch (TX151/1604) and follow 1604 around to the North until you reach US281. My recommendation is to stay within those borders. You can go as far outside 1604 within those boundaries but don't come inside 1604.

[tr_resident]

Originally Posted by SocalDad10

Thanks for the quick response! So being up North around Stone oak is only about 40 min. That's really good info! ..... ��

Yes but as I said, my colleague gets in to work at 0530 which means he leaves his house prob around 0445 well before the rush hour. Also consider that Loop 1604 on the northside is a controlled access divided highway with 2 lanes in each direction. It has been that way for the almost 20 years I've been here and it still is the most congested highway perhaps second only to US 281 in Bexar county. US 281 has traffic lights. There is talk of turning US 281 into a toll road for the busiest sections. Stone Oak area is the most congested in the county. Not trying to dissuade you from there - just trying to describe it for you. Still not anything like LA. :-)

[tr_resident]

OK one more thing and then I'll stop. Property taxes. Anything inside 1604 all the way to downtown will incur some sort of city property tax because every plot of land is under the jurisdiction of San Antonio or one of the independent "towns" like Alamo Heights, Terrell Hills, Hill Country Village, etc. Properties in these locales also incur county property tax. If you want to avoid a property tax from a municipality you will want to live in the county. Where are those properties located? Outside 1604.

[Montirob]

Originally Posted by tr_resident

Stay away from anything South or East or anything inside Loop 410 except for a few areas in and around Alamo Heights. Your safest bet is to stay outside 1604. Look at a map - Find Alamo Ranch (TX151/1604) and follow 1604 around to the North until you reach US281. My recommendation is to stay with those borders. You can go as far outside 1604 within those boundaries but don't come inside 1604.

While there are MULTIPLE neighborhoods inside 410 that meet your price range, my suggestion is to just come back and look around, as city living is a different experience here. In my opinion, Alamo Heights is closer to a suburban lifestyle than urban so you might be pleasantly surprised... except that the $/sf cost is higher than anywhere else in San Antonio.

There are also plenty of great neighborhoods INSIDE 1604 as well - Inwood, Shavano Park (large, large lots but can get very pricey), Deerfield, etc.

Welcome back!