Yet another... (Austin, Spring, Schertz: transplants, apartments, to rent)

[jerryg]

relocation thread .

This is my first post, so please be kind.

I'll be relocating to SA in a little more than a month (give or take - last week of Oct/first week of Nov time frame) from Baltimore. Talk about differences, in many, many ways. I'll be working for a rather well-known technology company that's moving into a mall in the near future .

Anyway, while I know it's generally better to rent after such a long-distance move, I'm actually looking at trying to buy right away. This means I'm going to -likely- end up with a spec home or something that's 'move-in ready'. After the experience I've had with my current place, though, I'm trying to avoid -anything- of any significant age at the moment.

Since Rackspace (yeah, fine, I'll name my new employer) is moving to the north-east side of town, that's really where I've been primarily concentrating my search, and more specifically, out in the Schertz/Chibolo area up 35. The main reason I have for buying, btw, is that I will be coming out with my children, one of whom is in 3rd grade, and I really don't want to be doing 6-12 months in an apartment and then moving again. It's going to suck enough doing this move during the school year, it'll suck more having to do another one again later and dealing with ANOTHER likely change in schools.

I've read through the threads on KB homes with much interest, and I'd be interested to find out what some of the local opinions are on the new developments up 35 a bit are (I'm thinking along the lines of Centex's Kensington Ranch, and Retama Springs properties and KB's The Links property - I THINK got enough info on Spring Tree from another thread to pretty much put it out of consideration, but...). I'm also planning a trip out in October to take a look at specific properties and developments and hopefully make a decision then so I can get things knocked out so I can just move into a new home rather than dealing with temp-housing for a month or two. I'm trying to spend under 200k, and get into a decent school district (which seem to be pretty much every northern school district, too...)

While the property taxes are significantly higher, I'm far more willing to pay those, where I know the money's basically being used locally, to paying a state-wide income tax in addition to the property taxes. My overall state/local tax burden is going to be quite a bit lower with this move, to be totally honest.

So after all of this exposition, this post boils down to - "Hi! I'm moving to SA, have any north-east side recommendations that will allow for a reasonable commute to the current Rackspace HQ location as well as a short-ish commute to the new one at Windsor Park Mall =and= near good schools?"

Thanks

-
Jerry

[firstclassflyer]

And yet another Yankee!!!!

[smuboy86]

Why not actually look in Windcrest? If you want a new house then I would check out the Windbrook estates. Much better builder than KB, and much closer to WPM/rackspace.

[oldmanshirt]

The Schertz/Cibolo area is one of the fastest-growing areas of SA. Schertz has tripled its population since 1990, and Cibolo (which really wasn't even on the map in the 90s), is set to pass 20,000 around the end of the decade. As you already know, the northside school districts have good reputations, and the Schertz-Cibolo-Universal City ISD is no exception. There are also alot more amenities out on that area than there used to be, including the Forum shopping center and several nice restaurants (though nothing too expensive). A new Lowe's is also under construction, along with another mixed-use retail development across I-35 from the Forum.

All-in-all, it's a booming area (SA and Austin are really becoming kind of like a mini-DC/Baltimore with the area between them filling in), and I know Kensington Ranch is in a good location, adjacent to I-35 and hwy 78/FM 1976 (both of which intersect with Walzem Rd.) Springtree will probably be a bit longer drive, and I'm not sure about the other two you mentioned. It sounds like you've done your research though, so I guess I'm just seconding your choice

Welcome to Texas!

[jerryg]

fcf: hey now! I was born in Clovis, NM, does that take away from my 'Yankeeness'? At least I'm not a NY Yankees fan...

smu: I have a brother that lives in the area and his opinion of the Windcrest area is decidedly negative. I also recall reading a thread about it here that was, at best, neutral. If anyone has more insight on Windcrest for me, that would be appreciated. I'd actually love to be biking/walking distance from the mall campus, but I'm not a big fan of even -perceived- higher crime areas (I'm moving -from- one, for crying out loud - had a murder occur quite literally in my front yard 2 years ago, and I'd REALLY rather not have a repeat performance, thanks). Still, I'll check out that new development and see what it's offering.

oldman: Thanks for the welcome I didn't realize that the Schertz/Cibolo area was growing -that- rapidly. One would think that would bode well for property values, if there wasn't still a crapload of land to buy and build on out there (which is something I'm quite seriously unaccustomed to seeing).
If SA/Austin are starting to be like the DC/Baltimore area, then it might make sense to buy some investment land in between... Hmmm

[LadyAlli]

I would definitely check out the Schertz/Cibolo area as opposed to the Windcrest area. Windcrest by itself is a beautiful area, but the area around it is not that great IMHO. I used to teach 3rd grade in the area very close to Windcrest and my students would tell me some very sad stories about their neighborhoods. I would also see police cars responding to calls in the neighborhood at 7:00 in the morning when I was driving to school. Schertz/Cibolo would be your best bet if one of your main concerns is a good school for your children. Good luck!

[Russ_Shawna]

Hiya JerryG

I too am moving from this side (VA, Hampton Roads) to the SA area and just spent a week there looking at homes (Sidebar - Rackspace and I have a nice partnership going funny enough. Good luck with them) and some of the homes were in both Schertz/Cibolo. Nice neighborhoods, nice neighbors from what I saw and reasonable prices. Close to some good shopping areas, schools, etc. The only thing I didn't like, at least on the ones we looked at, was the way most of the properties butted up against each other. 2 were backing up to a greenbelt/water runoff so that took care of that, but all the rest were with 2 or 3 yards right up on one another and only about 20-30 feet between houses and fences. That being said, still worth a look in my opinion. I would definitely have considered one place in Schertz in particular if it had had one more room...

Good luck in your hunt. I can feel your pain, since I have school age kids and one on the way, which is why I am also buying instead of renting 1st. I'll say this much (and not trying to get cheese points from the SAers), the majority of the folks I dealt with, the places I went and things I saw made me feel good about my decision to move to SA...

Russ

[adtobias]

that side of town is not the best. your best bet nw ncsidw of town

[jerryg]

Coming from the east coast, traffic and commute times are of -very- high concern to me. This is the land of a 20 mile commute being 45mins to an hour, so I am partial to being closer to work, especially the long-term location that Rackspace is moving to. So while NW side of town would be great for their current location near Methodist, it's not nearly as desirable for me as the NE side is, long-term. Pretty much the last thing I want to do is buy NW and then go from a 15 minute commute to a 45 minute one. I'd rather go the opposite direction, quite honestly, and do the longer commute initially, followed by the shorter one after the move to the mall.

I, and I'm sure others, would love to see more exposition on your statement adtobias. Being partial to a given side of any metro area is fine (heck, I'm partial to the West/Northwest side of Baltimore, despite being in the -extreme- minority where I'm at right now - and yes, I'm white), but I'm trying to make an informed decision, and would really prefer to have reasons given with an opinion rather than an unsubstantiated statement.

Russ - I'm totally with you on the general "feel" of things. Just from the couple days I spent down there with the interviews at Rackspace I got a decided feeling that things there are MUCH friendlier, less rude, and more laid back than out here in US Government-ville. I'm also not really surprised by your description of the neighborhoods - that's something that I've been noticing with pretty much everything being built out here. No greenspace, or limited, and you've got properties right on top of each other. Kinda sucks, but it's how we get single families in high density now, as opposed to everyone in apartments/condos.

Now, if only I can find an acre+ lot with a decent house on it in my price range... *heh*

[mamabecker]

I would recommend Windcrest if you are looking for a safe ammunity with 3 min. EMS responce and its own fire dept.(Cibolo and Schertz only have a volunteer fire dept.) Windcrest is a well maintained area and every neighbor looks out for each other. Windcrest has a code compliance department and has lots of social organizations. (Windcrest TX - Official Website) Windcrest maintains its own streets and has its own mayor. The homes are around 30 yrs. old and are custome built. Nice size lots compared to the new developements and offer many built ins and upgrades that you will not see in new homes. The neighborhood has been keep up nicely and in a new developement, after around 5 yrs., things start to fall apart and people tend to come and go faster. The schools in Cibolo are better now then Windcrest. Unless you have teenage children, Roosevelt High School does have a excellent! computer department that is award winning and hard to get into. Windcrest elementary is making a turn around I hear. The last 2 yrs. have been tough, do to the Kartina transplants. Now things are looking like they are straightening out. I have opt for school choice for my kids until I see a change. Good luck and welcome.