Moving to Del Rio, southern Texas (El Paso, Laughlin AFB: how much, houses, job transfer)

[annie77]

Hi, My husband and I an our 4 children have a possible job transfer to Del Rio, Texas. We were wondering specifics about energy bills in the summer, and how much a house really costs.

[achtungpv]

I do consulting at Laughlin AFB and go down there often. Housing prices are a lot higher than I would have thought...$200-275K for a 2200 sq ft new construction.

Dunno about electric bills. I will say that the air is very dry and 90-95 in the shade's actually really pleasant if you're used to humid 90+ weather so I would think you could get by with the AC set at a higher temp to save some money.

[Muhnay]

Del Rio is a hispanic town, with an Air Force Base. I have always thought it was the butt hole of the USA, and El Paso was the rim.. but the last time I drove though Del Rio, they have made vast improvments, and the city is starting to look like a city and not some border trash town.

[ChristieP]

My in-laws have lived in Del Rio since the 1960s, and DH and I go back for a visit at least once a year. You can get houses for better prices than achtung mentions if you buy an existing home. My in-laws live near the Plaza Del Sol mall on Fox Drive, and their neighborhood is nice. Another neighborhood to look in is the "Indian reservation" with all of the Indian-named streets. There's no need to got for the huge new construction ones on the edge of town! Speaking of, do not buy on the edge of town, especially the south and west sides, due to illegal immigration. The petty thefts and break-ins in these areas are a lot higher!

I wish I could help with energy costs, but I have no idea...

If you want to send your younger kids to private school, St. James is the BEST! MIL taught kindergarten there for 35 years! There's a scholaship in her name now. :-)

[annie77]

Thanks for the info everyone. We might be looking into private school, but we are going to try public first. My oldest will start kindergarten in the fall.

[fairygrrl]

I would suggest getting a home in the Buena Vista school district. The areas that ChristineP suggested are good areas. I personally stayed away from the reservation because the lots were a lot smaller than the older homes and you are going to pay more to live there. I would suggest around that area though.

[JeffWil]

Originally Posted by ChristieP

If you want to send your younger kids to private school, St. James is the BEST! MIL taught kindergarten there for 35 years! There's a scholaship in her name now. :-)

I could not agree more. Spent my elementary years at St. James. Your mil is a wonderful person, not sure which son you married but I attended with the younger one.

I myself am trying to transfer back to the area after many years and will start looking in the Buena Vista area as well. As far as border towns are concerned Del Rio is as good as it gets.

[ChristieP]

MIL is really cool, isn't she? :-) I married the older son almost 14 years ago!

[SRollins]

I live in Del Rio, we moved here a little more than a year ago. We are from Delaware, so the houses were cheaper to us, but more expensive than I expected, but we do live in LaCaleta which is by the lake. Our cooling expense was high, $600 in June of last year, so I kept the house at 75 and we went down to about $275. We turned AC off end of Oct but we still ran about $250, we NEVER turned on our heat this winter. Our house size is about 2100 sq ft. We came from a house about 3000, and our heating bills were around $500 our AC bills around $250 and I kept my AC down to 69 in Delaware. I am just amazed what a hairdresser down here cost, I paid about $115 in Del for cut and 2 colors, now I am paying $160 for cut and 2 colors and have not found a good one yet! We did have more insulation put in our attic to help with cooling cost. I think it helped.