Retiring to San Antonio (Austin, New Braunfels: for sale, real estate, rentals)

[altru]

Hi everyone,

My parents are considering retiring to San Antonio next year from the Washington, DC area and they've asked me to do a bit of research for them. They have been once or twice, enjoyed their time there, and like the fact that the winters aren't too bad down there compared to DC.

I'd appreciate any advice in terms of areas they can look at that have the following characteristics:

1) reasonable house prices. somewhere $200K or below would be great since they would be retiring on a budget. Ideally areas with lower property tax rates too, although I understand these tend to be higher in TX in general.
2) safe neighborhood. Somewhere they can feel safe walking through the neighborhood including at nighttime
3) near usual amenities (grocery, libraries, restaurants, etc.) but doesn't necessarily have to be in central San Antonio or in city limits, as long as it is accessible to downtown if necessary.

They are relatively young (late 50s) so they are not looking for a retirement community or anything of that sort yet, unless those are much cheaper (if so, please include any thoughts on those!).

Thanks in advance for your help!

[austindoxie1972]

Hi there! There are a couple very recent "retiring to SA" posts on this forum. You may want to look through those. I posted some property tax info in one of them. I live in McLean, but grew up in SA and still have a house there. I may retire to SA, based mostly on having family in the area. I prefer the DC area because I LOVE having four seasons and an economically diverse economy where I can ALWAYS find a job/consulting gig.

Have they considered renting first? SA is a huge city, with many different pockets. I love the Terrell Heights/Alamo Heights area (78209) but taxes are fairly high. The Pearl Brewery development on Broadway (78215) is also up and coming, but I'm not too sure about housing options. Lots of rentals; just not sure about purchasing. Maybe look into the Olmos Park area (78212) or Castle Hills (78213) areas. To learn more about property taxes, you can search an address in BCAD.org.

[austindoxie1972]

Oops...just read $200K or below. Rules out most areas I mentioned. Maybe the Northwood area in 78209, which is close to Alamo Heights but does not have the taxes of AHSD. Under $200K might be hard in the nicer areas. If I were moving back and purchasing now, my budget would be $250K + for a 2 bedroom smallish house in a nicer area, maybe Terrell Heights or Northwood.

[smuboy86]

Seconded for Northwood, but stretch to 250k. Also look in the city of Windcrest should be quite a bit available around your budget.

[austindoxie1972]

Windcrest might work. For some reason, I've never liked that area. Can't put my finger on it. To the OP, Windcrest reminds me of Sterling, VA or Oxon Hill, MD.

Some retirees also look into surrounding smaller towns, like New Braunfels, Helotes, Kerrville. Just a thought. Good luck!!

[Chimuelojones]

There are some fanstastic online resources to give you an idea of the types of homes for sale in your price range. You can see the homes and use the site features like satellite or street views to get an idea of the surrounding areas.

San Antonio TX Homes For Sale & San Antonio Real Estate - Zillow

[TexasRedneck]

IMHO, Zillow is clunky and doesn't really allow you to "drill down" past the junk you really don't want. Might also try:

San Antonio, Texas, and Hill Country Property Search | San Antonio Real Estate-SABOR-San Antonio Board Of Realtors®

[LexCi]

SATx is a retirement Heaven for the Military and a few other and even some of the outlying areas, Bandera, Boerne, Kerrville, Marble falls, there are many places along the IH=35 N, from SATx, corridor and IH-10 W along with the U.S. Hywy 281 N from here as well.

Most of the NW and N areas are more scenic than the E, S and W sides of town. Most of the roads in Tx are in great shape and diving is not an issue, lest you try to drive during the morning and late afternoon RUSH (misnomer) 3-5 hours time periods then you may have some delays(?).

Good Luck and TIA, CU L8R,
LexCi

[Penquin927]

There are some communities on Canyon Golf Road (far north San Antonio) that are below $200. The zip code is 78260. This is Bexar County (not city - so no city taxes). The school is Comal County which I beleive is a little cheaper that NEISD. The area is in the Stone Oak area which has tons of grocery stores, shopping and restaurants. They wouldn't have to travel far outside the area for anything. I run in the neighborhood all the time and find it to be safe. I am in Canyon Springs which is also on Canyon Golf Road.

[altru]

Thanks, everyone! Any more comments in terms of specific neighborhoods are still welcome newer neighborhoods (90s-present) in particular would be nice so they don't have to worry too much about home repairs, etc. but perhaps that is asking too much?

Austindoxie - they've considered renting but given that interest rates are so low, they don't want to miss out! and thanks for the comparison with the cities in the DC area - I don't like Sterling or Oxon Hill at all either, so that helps.

Penquin927 - thanks for your suggestion as well. the neighborhoods off Canyon Golf look quite nice! I will do a more thorough search in that ZIP.