South Side neighborhood 78214 input please!! (Alamo, Converse: real estate, rent, mortgages)

[fierce_flawless]

What do y'all think of the area on the South side.... I'm going to try and describe this best as I can. The streets are Hawthorne, Teresa, Bastrop, Gladstone. Pleasanton road is to the West, 35 to the East, Division is to the South. The high school is Burbank, elementary is Hillcrest, and middle is Harris. Zip is 78214. For subdivision the real eastate sites are calling it Harlandale. Tejeda park is a few blocks south. What would you call this? "Near" south? South central?

I have almost zero knowledge of this part of town. I did have a friend who lived kinda near there and I don't remember it being scary or anything but that was ages ago too.

I have found a house over there that I'm very interested in, price is right, size is right, looks well cared for.

Right now the 2 top contenders are this or one in Prospect hill on Monterey on the near west side. I have to figure out where to put my white-girl self and our ethnically mixed family in this town in a place we can afford (which isn't much) and the challenge is wearing me thin.

Also, and while I'm looking for a home as a home and not so much thinking of it as an "investment"... will this area of town in any way be positively affected by Toyota or is it too far to have an impact?


ETA: My kids will not go to school in the district so that is not a concern. General safety, ability to walk around, walk the dog, walk to the corner store, ride bikes, that's the concern.


Thoughts, input, please?

[sapphire]

You're asking a bunch of Stone-Oakers about the southside?

This is what they are thinking----

I think you are going to have to stake it out and just get a feel for it yourself. As someone mentioned in another thread, there are some little pockets throughout town that are a pleasant surprise, so maybe you've found one! I would definitely not be in a rush to buy it, though, till you're fairly confident that you and your family can be happy there. It may be hard to get rid of it later if it turns out for the worst.

Good luck, and I hope you find something suitable!

[fierce_flawless]

Originally Posted by sapphire

You're asking a bunch of Stone-Oakers about the southside?

This is what they are thinking----

I think you are going to have to stake it out and just get a feel for it yourself. As someone mentioned in another thread, there are some little pockets throughout town that are a pleasant surprise, so maybe you've found one! I would definitely not be in a rush to buy it, though, till you're fairly confident that you and your family can be happy there. It may be hard to get rid of it later if it turns out for the worst.

Good luck, and I hope you find something suitable!

LOL well, I was hoping there were non Stone-Oaker lurkers about!

Thanks. I have been investigating and driving but I wish I could just rent the place I like over there for a while first... nothing tells you the real deal like living in an area for a few months. Oh well.

[Steel Man]

Originally Posted by sapphire

You're asking a bunch of Stone-Oakers about the southside? ...

How about the Alamo-Ranchers, Westcreekers, Iron-Mountaineers, and Alamo-Heighters, to name a few?

[MichelleSG]

Fierce I know that Converse is not one of the areas you are looking into but I was in a meeting with their EDC director and one of the things he mentioned that there are a lot of kickbacks that the city is giving out to people moving in. Something like $10,000 to buy a house if you are in the right economic bracket and the like. There are also grants you can get for a buying homes in up and coming neighborhoods downtown. Maybe that can help you get closer to what you are looking for.

[fierce_flawless]

Originally Posted by MichelleSG

Fierce I know that Converse is not one of the areas you are looking into but I was in a meeting with their EDC director and one of the things he mentioned that there are a lot of kickbacks that the city is giving out to people moving in. Something like $10,000 to buy a house if you are in the right economic bracket and the like. There are also grants you can get for a buying homes in up and coming neighborhoods downtown. Maybe that can help you get closer to what you are looking for.

Downtown SA? I wonder if neighborhoods near there would work out for me? Any thoughts on how to check this out?

THanks for the info!

[MichelleSG]

Well their website sucks but that's to be expeted. If you are able to it might behove you to go down to the city offices downtown and ask around. Not everyone knows about the programs, real estate agents that do a lot of business in these neighborhoods should be up to date on the programs but not always. I would go to the homebuyer's classes they have there, the istructors there usually know about the various programs and have a wealth of info, some times even insider info that you wouldn't normally know about. It's strange, cities come up with these elaborate grant programs and then they get lost in the craks so no one cashes in on them.
http://www.sanantonio.gov/nad/LendDi...t/homeclub.asp

[fierce_flawless]

Originally Posted by MichelleSG

Well their website sucks but that's to be expeted. If you are able to it might behove you to go down to the city offices downtown and ask around. Not everyone knows about the programs, real estate agents that do a lot of business in these neighborhoods should be up to date on the programs but not always. I would go to the homebuyer's classes they have there, the istructors there usually know about the various programs and have a wealth of info, some times even insider info that you wouldn't normally know about. It's strange, cities come up with these elaborate grant programs and then they get lost in the craks so no one cashes in on them.
http://www.sanantonio.gov/nad/LendDi...t/homeclub.asp

Well I googled general terms and found out about an interesting program for "target areas", and it looks like everywhere I'm trying to buy is a "target area"!

http://www.co.bexar.tx.us/community/BCHFC/bchfc.htm

They offer 5.99% fixed 30 year mortgages and 6% down payment/closing cost assistance grants. They have a list of participating lenders on the site.

I am going to check it out tomorrow. We arepre-approved right now with a loan that is sub-prime due to credit but we have a good deal to put down, so maybe they'd overlook the credit if we were to try one of these programs and were willing to buy in the 'target area'. Can't hurt to ask, that's for sure, and the lower interest rate would allow me to buy more. There's also some options for renovation loans rolled in and in that case I could possibly buy and finance an add-on if I found the perfect home but it was too small or something (which I think I've just done).


thanks again!

[MichelleSG]

See, where there's a will there's a way. Plus there's all of us here who have this knowledge that we're sure someone can benefit from!

[mariposa78214]

Hello!

I just learned about this website, and so I registered today. I live in that very same area you are inquiring about. My husband and I bought our first house about 2.5 years ago, and we love it! It is a quite area, and you have everything nearby!

Let me know if you would need more details I can provide.

Hope this helps!

-Mariposa78214