Where to buy a starter home for a family friendly area (Schertz: short sales, apartments)

[Jrg16]

We're looking to buy our first starter home (3b2b ~$120k or less). It doesn't need to be new or fancy, just not in a run down area. Also schools are important. I've found quite a few choices in the Judson school district (closet to work), but I'm hesitant about the Judson school district, if that makes sense. It seems like everything between bulverde and 35 is sketchy (I could be wrong). So if anyone can help me narrow down an area that'd be great! We've rented for awhile off Thousand Oaks and up 281N, but most houses around there are pricey.

[Bo]

I'm hesitant about the Judson school district, if that makes sense.

Definitely. It's strong on football, but weak on academics.

Home prices here are very much tied to the quality of the public schools' attendance areas. So you're looking for something that will be a real challenge to find.

[L210]

Everything between Bulverde and IH-35 is not sketchy. The only real sketchy area is near Perrin Beitel and 410. I'm not too familiar with Madison High School, but I often shop in that area. There are some decent houses in that area along with rundown KB-types. I live near MacArthur High School. In that area, you have MacArthur Terrace, Regency Place, and Oak Grove. I'm not too familiar with the home prices around here. The houses just north of 410 were well above your budget the last time I looked. These are older, but solidly built homes. They aren't your cookie-cutter, KB-type homes that will look rundown in 10-20 years. MacArthur is an okay school. Madison seems to be an okay school. Both of them are in the middle of the pack among NEISD schools; Roosevelt and Lee are toward the bottom. Oak Grove, Northwood, and Regency Elementary are great schools. I would just stay away from Serna. Gardner MS was a decent school when I went there; I don't know how it is now.

[Cuero]

https://maps.google.com/maps/ms?msid...a=0&dg=feature

North East Independent School District


Try looking for something within the boundaries for Churchill or MacArthur. Your price range is going to limit you to older homes needing some work, but it's about priorities. Otherwise Cibolo/Schertz (and the Judson ISD) is probably the best option for you. Avoid the Roosevelt HS area.

[ashbeeigh]

There are some homes in the area right near Fort Sam that might work. A co-worker sold their home for $114k and it was about 1500 sq. ft. within NEISD right on the border of Alamo Heights. That is zip code 78218, but that zip goes up to the Perrin Beitel area that was already mentioned as a bit unsavory (which I agree).

[Hedgehog_Mom]

The houses in my neighborhood are around that price range. I'm on the far west side near 90 and 1604, but still within the boundaries for NISD.

We always lived in apartments in the north central area, but found that the houses in that area were not in our price range. We looked in Converse because there were a lot of affordable houses there, but somehow all of the ones we looked at either had foundation repairs or needed foundation repairs (ironic because we ended up in a new house that had to have a foundation repair), or were short sales (which can take forever and we were on a deadline to move). We looked near Judson and 1604, which is not a bad area, but the houses we saw there within our budget were old rental homes covered in a million layers of paint and with air conditioners that looked like they would need to be replaced soon.

There are some townhomes near Jones Maltsburger and the Wurzbach parkway that might be within your budget. We thought about those but we were so sick of having neighbors on the other side of the wall that we didn't want to buy a townhome.