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Old 05-25-2010, 09:52 AM
 
191 posts, read 454,302 times
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We're a Navy family and we're moving from California to San Antonio next month. My husband will start out working at Wilford Hall, but in 2011 (or thereabouts) his unit will be moved to Brook. He will also be doing time at some other civilian hospitals. He wants a commute no more than 30 minutes, less if possible, to both military bases.

We have 3 kids who are or will be school aged. The only thing we care about with the schools is that they are a safe environment. We might homeschool, but I haven't decided yet. I have heard that San Antonio has a vibrant homeschool community. But in case we decide to do public (my husband will not do private, as his mother is a public school teacher, and he's got a thing about it), I want a school that will be safe and fun for the kids.

We want a safe environment for our family, as my husband works long hours and frequently works nights. We do not care for newer neighborhoods with HOA's and all that. We prefer a quiet, older home, with a large lot, and near parks and bike trails. We're a pretty active outdoorsy family.

We don't want to spend more than 300,000 or 350,000 (purchase price) for a home as we already own a home in California. We're renting it because we can't sell it, but in case our renters flip out, I want to make sure we can easily carry both mortgages.

What is the real estate climate in San Antonio? Here in CA it's been pretty tough, and houses are usually selling for about 15-20% less than asking price. If we sold our home now, we would lose over 100k on it. Is it similar in San Antonio? According to Zillow (I have no idea how accurate it is) about 100 homes have sold in the city in the last 36 months, and there are 17k for sale right now. I have seen a lot that have been listed for nearly a year. So, if we want to spend no more than 300-350k, I'm wondering what asking price range we should look at.

So far neighborhoods that we have considered are Olmos Park, Alamo Heights, Terrel Hills, Monte Vista, Alta Vista, Castle Hills, Helotes, St Hedwig. I have absolutely no idea where to look. I love historic homes, but safety is tantamount given my husband's work schedule and the fact that I have 3 kids 7 and under. Plus my husband is being a major stickler about the commute. He wants 20 minutes or less, but he is not willing to go over 30. And we want a large lot, and hopefully a pool. I know, we're not asking much!

Thanks for your help!
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Old 05-25-2010, 10:16 AM
 
Location: Austin, TX via San Antonio, TX
9,851 posts, read 13,696,195 times
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Alta Vista, Monte Vista (and maybe even Olmos Park for that matter..they all run together), Castle Hills may be a tad bit too far west to get you the 30 minute commute time. Heletos, although probably the best area for schools, is defintely out for commute time. However, if at somepoint your husband will be working in the Medical Center area moving it down towards 1604/10 may be an option....

St. Hedwig is probably the best commute time, biut I'm not sure about the atmosphere or the homes in that area.

I'm not sure about the HOA situation in the 281/Thousand Oaks area (and the homes are defintely not historic) but you might be able to find a larger lot in the area. The schools are good and the commute will be so-so being able to jump on 281 and is a straight shot to 37 and Brooks.

Alamo Heights, to get what you want, may be out of your price range.
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Old 05-25-2010, 11:07 AM
 
Location: San Antonio. Tx 78209
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I would dump Castle Hills and Helotes, too far away for a comfortable commute. For the price range you are looking for Olmos Park, Terrell Hills and Alamo Heights would be stretching it. Monte Vista and Alta Vista are SAISD so you would probably homeschool your children.

I would probably look at Northwood, and Windcrest though. Northwood has large lots and most homes have swimming pools. It also has great schools, it will either feed into Alamo Heights ISD or Northeast ISD, both are good districts. Northwood has great access to BAMC (brooke) and loop 410.

Windcrest is it's own city, but it's also in NEISD. Most homes have large lots, but some are garden. Windcrest has it's own golf course, tennis and pool facilities. Windcrest is convenient to Brooke, and IH 35 which gives under 30 minute commute to Wilford Hall. Windcrest is also a very good value.
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Old 05-25-2010, 11:41 AM
 
Location: San Antonio, Tx
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Windcrest to Wilford Hall in 30 minutes is a stretch IMO.
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Old 05-25-2010, 02:26 PM
 
Location: San Antonio-Westover Hills
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Alamo Heights or Terrell Hills. AHISD is excellent. There are *some* homes in the 350K range, but you might be doing a lot of updates...but for that area, you really can't go wrong.
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Old 05-25-2010, 02:41 PM
 
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Would you consider a small town (about 3,000)? Castroville is 25-30 minutes due west of downtown San Antonio, very close to Wilford Hall (13 minutes).....not certain on the commute to Brook though.

Very safe town with a lot of small town historic charm...lots of homes on larger lots. Just a consideration!
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Old 05-25-2010, 03:09 PM
 
Location: San Antonio, TX
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Will your husband be moving to Brooks AFB or Brooke Army Medical Center?
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Old 05-25-2010, 03:21 PM
 
Location: San Antonio, TX, USA
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Quote:
Originally Posted by elmariachi View Post
Will your husband be moving to Brooks AFB or Brooke Army Medical Center?
I'm not the OP but she said he will be at Wilford Hall first, then in the future (2011 tentatively) it will be Brooks.
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Old 05-25-2010, 03:22 PM
 
Location: San Antonio, TX, USA
5,142 posts, read 13,121,123 times
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Charlie_page: How about rent near Wilford Hall for now, then when you know for sure the moving date for Brooks, you can start looking for houses convenient for Brooks?
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Old 05-25-2010, 04:17 PM
 
191 posts, read 454,302 times
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It will be Brooke medical center. I guess I butchered the spelling. He's been in the Navy for 14 years, so I'm not up on all of this Army and Air Force stuff. They are moving the NICU from Wilford Hall to Brooke in Sept 2011. From what I know of the military, that probably means it will happen in October of 2015, but we have to prepare for it. My husband will also be doing research at the Medical Center area (just a guess, but it will most likely be a civilian hosp) and he will have to do rotations for ECMO. I'm not sure what hosp in the area does ECMO there.

He's a doctor, and we are going to be there for 3 year orders while he does a fellowship. There will be no chance to renew because we are in the Navy. We plan on buying a place with a 15 year mortgage, and keeping it as an investment property. With 3 kids and a German Shepherd, renting is a nightmare. We are very hard on a house, so we will definitely buy.

According to Zillow there are currently 29 properties in Alamo Heights that are under 350,000. Quite a few of them would be fine for us. I don't care about updating - we'll just hire it out. The house is really a moot point, it will only be for 3 years, and if we can live in a DC ghetto for 5 years, we can live anywhere! OK, to be fair, it was a moderate ghetto by DC standards, as in there were only about 6 murders, 4 rapes, and 3 gang fights on our street, and our car was only stolen twice. But who's quibbling?

To be more serious, though, our experience in DC had led us to be very wary of unsafe neighborhoods and long commutes. The traffic there is unbelievable, worse than LA, San Diego or San Francisco in my experience. I have no idea what San Antonio traffic is like, so it is hard to know how far from the base (in miles) we can look.

Google maps states that Castle Hills to Lackland is 20 minutes. Is that incorrect? What is the commute time? I really liked the look of the area. The lots are large, many have pools, and I like that 50's to 70's look. Carpet and paint are easy to have changed, and not too expensive.

I guess we're pretty flexible. I just do not want an Alamo Ranch type of area. We're living in something like that now, and we loathe it.

Thanks for all of the info! We're heading out in about 2.5 weeks. Yipes!!
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