Moving to SA...not happy with what I've seen on realtor.com (San Antonio: homes, neighborhoods)

[deek102]

Originally Posted by kevcrawford

Septics are actually GREAT systems a lot of the time. Most of the homes that I sell in the million dollar + range are on septic.

HP has a guy in there that services most of them for the neighborhood and you rarely hear of any problems.

I really like the HP area too!

Oh yeah? Is that b/c those houses are mostly outside the city limits?

I'm sure the septics of today are a heck of a lot better than they were when I was growing up! The only thing I know about septic is our friends had to rent "porta potties" when they had large parties @ their house in HP. It's kind of a bummer to have to ask your guests to potty outside, even if they did rent the super nice potties

[kevcrawford]

Originally Posted by deek102

Kev, you should push for a website like Houston has! www.har.com is awesome. Everybody in the Houston area lists on there. It's a one-stop shop for everything Real Estate in the Houston area.

Actually something similar has been in the works for a long time. It's got big pluses and minuses, but something is definitely going to happen. The bigger producers in town don't really like it, but it's got benefits to consumers.

[kevcrawford]

Originally Posted by deek102

Oh yeah? Is that b/c those houses are mostly outside the city limits?

I'm sure the septics of today are a heck of a lot better than they were when I was growing up! The only thing I know about septic is our friends had to rent "porta potties" when they had large parties @ their house in HP. It's kind of a bummer to have to ask your guests to potty outside, even if they did rent the super nice potties

That, and some of them are on 2-10 acre lots, so it's not economically viable to run sewer for those types of communities.

I've got clients that haven't had theirs pumped in 10 years because the systems are so efficient.

Truth be told, the gray water the aerobic systems pump out is actually drinkable. Now I'd never do it, just because I know it was sewage at one point, but it is.

[rgb123]

not sure what you mean by "north" but I would look at New Braunfels, Shertz, Cibilo...

[TXRose]

Try Hollywood Park and Shavano Park.

[lemonfresh]

For big lots like that, Shavano Park, Hollywood Park, Timberwood Park and Fair Oaks Ranch are all good choices.

[deek102]

haha, the OP is probably back to square one... I think we've thrown every possible area at'em

[ashbeeigh]

My family is in about the same boat as you are, LCCF3. We've lived in SA for over 20 years and have pretty much narrowed down our search to one area between New Braunfels and the Schertz area that will keep us within our budget of 220k (which is lower then yours). The drive would be farther then thirty minutes in to downtown though, from that area (I timed it on Friday during the afternoon when we went to look at a house off of FM 482 in New Braunfels)

To get that rustic out in the open feel in that price range without having a heck of a commute I would really consider looking south of SA in the Floresville, Potett (that doesn't look right..someone correct me please), Atascosa area. Whenever I find something within our budget it happens to be in that area and I just about cry because it's so perfect but in the opposite direction for us. I'm really not sure about the schools in the area, but that's nothing a quick search on greatschools.com cannot fix.

The Helotes area is not bad (and I have not looked there in God..years). The schools are amazing, but it's starting to get kind of congested out that way and before you know it that area could be like 281/1604. Anything out by Spring Branch/Bulverde will give you a horrible commute so I would stay away from there. Anything with a decent size lot in the Shavano Park area is going to be out of your price range (but I wish it wasn't, I would recommend that area in a heart beat). And to get anything that isn't a foreclosure or a complete redo in Hollywood Park would just be a miracle.

So, I'd start looking south of town if the 1/2 acre and 30ish minutes drive is what you want.

Of course, that's just my two cents worth.

[LCCF3]

Thank you SO MUCH for all the wonderful feedback. It's very reassuring for me to know that there are properties out there that will have what I want. It's scary enough moving so far away from family without having to stress about making the right choice. I really think that SA is going to be a wonderful place for us to raise our kids.

[SA Duckhunter]

I'm from Maryland as well (Elkton) and have lived here for many years. I live on 2 acres on the far west side of SA where it used to be "out in the boonies". A neighbor has recently (yesterday) been re-assigned to North Texas (he's military) and their 2 story house is vacant. The house sits on a hill overlooking a neighboring multi-acre ranch. If your interested, drop me a line so we can talk about it.