Hopefully moving to San Antonio (Houston, New Braunfels: real estate, houses, neighborhoods)

[openroadie]

My husband is a retired disabled Veteran, and we're wanting to move closer to our children. (Three of the four are in Texas.) We've heard that San Antonio is very Vet friendly and hopefully we could make friends and be around people with our same interests. We're just starting to look around to see what's available, so if anyone would chime in on aspects of living here, that would be awesome and so very helpful. We'll be looking for a house since we have small dogs and need a yard, so thoughts on areas or neighborhoods would be a plus. Or areas to avoid! Any tidbits from a local would be awesome! Thanks in advance, and I look forward to hearing from you soon.

[Bitey]

Well, Madison is about 750 miles from Texas so you might not find much useful information in this forum...

[openroadie]

My husband is a retired disabled Veteran, and we're wanting to move closer to our children (Three of the four are in Texas.) Also, when at all possible depending on the COVID situation, we'd like to have more of a social life. We've heard that San Antonio is very Vet friendly and hopefully we could make friends and be around people with our same interests. My husband has need of an anticoagulation clinic on a regular basis, so input there would be invaluable to us, maybe from someone who has the same needs and can send us in the right direction? We're just starting to look around to see what's available, so if anyone would chime in on aspects of living here, that would be awesome and so very helpful. We'll be looking for a house since we have small dogs and need a yard, so thoughts on areas or neighborhoods would be a plus. Or areas to avoid. Any tidbits and advice from a local would be awesome, and so very welcome. it's not easy to pull up stakes and start over again at this age, but we're hoping it's going to feel like an adventure.

[supfromthesite]

Downtown, including southtown, north central, and the northwest are generally considered the best areas.

[supfromthesite]

Look outside of loop 410, this is where most of the houses with bigger yards are.

The northside is generally considered to be the best area. Between I-10 and 281 and north of 410 is a large and great area and most of the houses have pretty nice yards.

[Azure110]

Check out "Oak Hills", zip code 78229. Very close to the hospitals, large yard, lots of trees.

Plenty of houses inside 410 as well with nice yards too, just cost more.

[TXStrat]

San Antonio is a good location for your list of requirements. San Antonio Military Medical Center (SAMMC) has the medical needs covered. As far as where to live in the area, there are loads of variables. Real estate prices vary widely around the city. The more expensive areas are some of the enclaves, communities surrounded by San Antonio, but still separate entities, like Alamo Heights. The north central area, commonly referred to as Stone Oak outside (north) of 1604, and straddling 281. NW San Antonio inclusive of neighborhoods like Hollywood Park, Shavano Park, Shavano Woods, The Dominion, etc. The higher cost NW area is roughly bounded by 281 to the east, I-10 to the west, and follows I-10 outside of 1604.

A popular choice for many military retirees is to buy in areas outside of 1604. This is feasible since there isn't a need to commute to the bases every day for work, but they're still within reach for shopping, medical, etc. Many retirees live in areas like Cibolo/Shertz/New Braunfels to the NE, Bulverde/Spring Branch to the north, Leon Springs/Boerne to the NW, and Helotes/Alamo Ranch to the west.

There are three primary military bases encompassed under the banner of Joint Base San Antonio. Lackland AFB is on the west side of the city. Randolph AFB is on the NE side, and Fort Sam Houston is located just NE of downtown. All are accessible via the local interstate highways. SAMMC is located on Fort Sam, and is right off of I-35. Will caution you that traffic can be pretty bad at times, but you can mitigate by scheduling appointments away from peak traffic hours, after 9am, and before 4pm. There is also a smaller training base located north of the city, outside 1604, and between I-10 and 281 called Camp Bullis. Very small, but they have RV storage facilities, a medical clinic, and decent shoppette for things like adult beverages without having to drive to one of the big three facilities.

[Arkay66]

You might also look at Universal City, just outside Randolph AFB. It's still in Bexar County, but outside of San Antonio's hellacious property tax rates. The older neighborhoods have large yards, real friendly neighbors who maintain their homes, and many are retired military; you'll have a lot in common. Universal City and Selma bump up against each other, so it's hard to tell which is which at times, but both are very nice areas, with easy access to SAMMC.

[ged_782]

Originally Posted by Arkay66

You might also look at Universal City, just outside Randolph AFB. It's still in Bexar County, but outside of San Antonio's hellacious property tax rates.

That's actually not correct.

According to BCAD, Universal City's 2019 tax rate is 0.601444, San Antonio's is 0.558270. If you are in the Schertz-Cibolo school district, Their tax rate is also higher than either NEISD or NISD.

It's often not the case that taxes are lower in the smaller cities than the larger ones, although that's often not the assumption. Property values could be generally lower in those small communities, though. That would result in a lower tax bill, even though tax rate may be higher.

[Arkay66]

Well, ged_782, my sister moved from Helotes and the SAISD to UC. Her property taxes plummeted. Bigger house, nicer neighborhood, nicer neighbors, and less tax. Works for her.