Padre Island vs. the rest of Corpus Christi (Portland, Port Aransas: for sale, renting)

[basketbiznis]

We're military, moving from Hawaii in 4 months and are pretty sure we want to buy a house in the Flour Bluff school district. We're going house hunting at the end of April and I was wondering about how expensive it is to buy on Padre Island. I've been looking online through the MLS, so I know the what the house prices are, but how high is flood insurance? Do you need to get wind insurance too? Is there a lot of traffic on and off the island during rush hour? What about the summer tourist season, does it cause heavy traffic on the island? The reason we're thinking about Padre Island, is that there doesn't seem to be very many houses for sale in the Flour Bluff school district that aren't on the island. We have requirements that we are not willing to compromise much on, e.g. we want 4 bdr/3baths, pool, a living room and family room. When we search for that in our price range (150,000 to 300,000) only a few non island houses come up. We thought about renting instead, but seem to be having the same difficulty finding what we want. We decided on Flour Bluff after looking at test scores etc, from all the school districts, plus, my daughter is very much involved in NJROTC here in Hawaii, and Flour Bluff is the best. Any other info or advice would be much appreciated.

[awecelot]

Windstorm insurance is exceptionally important for anyone living on one of Texas' barrier islands, and the bad thing is that the cost of a windstorm policy has been skyrocketing over the past few years. The Texas Legislature is currently trying to reform the board that controls that industry.

Windstorm reform is hot topic : Corpus Christi Local | Caller-Times |

It is usually a good idea to get windstorm insurance if you live anywhere within 30-40 miles of the coast, but EXCEPTIONALLY important on the barrier islands.

As far as flood insurance, when I lived in CC I lived in an area that was 45 feet above sea level, so I had no need for flood insurance. Can't help you on those rates.

If it weren't for your interest in NJROTC, I would suggest looking into the Calallen and Gregory-Portland ISDs. They also have high test scores, but your drive to the base would be longer. However, I do not believe either school has a NJROTC program.

[Kibby]

Check out Port Aransas also. There are some nice subdivisions along the road to Port A with homes about the size you are looking for. I think their school district is well rated but you can check through Great Schools.