Moving to San Antonio (Spring, Alamo: real estate, home builders, new construction)

[Catgirl]

Hi everyone,

We're currently in the Middle East where my husband is on a contract job experiencing the 130 degree heat and 90% humidity
My husband is from NJ and I've lived in London for 12 years prior to coming here. We have two daughters aged 12 and 8 who have only visited the States but never lived there. My husband was all about moving to Colorado Springs which we visited last summer but coming from London I found the place to be too cold and quiet for me so I set myself into finding the perfect city. San Antonio fits the bill perfectly;Beautiful houses, culture, great city, good schools.....so we've all agreed that SA will be our home. We're planning to visit around Christmas time and get an idea of where we'd like to live. Ideally we'd like to be around 15-20 mins away from the city. Which communities do you recommend? How hard is it to make new friends, especially for the kids? Where are the best schools?
This would be our third move in the last couple of years so I'm worried about the kids settling in and making new friends.
Any info will be greatly appreciated.

[210]

San Antonio has one of the best freeway systems in north america with a slogan of "Get Anywhere in 20 Minutes."

Commutes from any part of the city won't be a problem.

If money is no problem, I'd reccomend the Alamo Heights or Olmos Park.

[Catgirl]

Thanks 210.
We have a budget of around 250 000.Will that get us a decent 3 bedroom house in the areas you mentioned?

[mystree]

Originally Posted by 210

San Antonio has one of the best freeway systems in north america with a slogan of "Get Anywhere in 20 Minutes."

Commutes from any part of the city won't be a problem.

That is awesome,I noticed looking at the web cams there wasn't any real congestion,which is amazing considering the size of the city. I'm in a much smaller city outside of Columbia SC and traffic can get miserable especially during the lunch hour and evening commutes.

[Spookmeister]

If you've dealt with the heat and humidity of the Emirates, you'll have no trouble with SA. I drive down there often for work and through to Corpus for the beach and I'd recommend staying outside the inside loop (410) and inside the outside loop (1604). Confusing I know, but think of 410 and 1604 as two concentric circles. You want to stay between them. Like someone said, traffic and congestion aren't much of a factor in SA. I've been able to get through to the Corpus Highway, I-37, on the South side of town in under 30 minutes, from the North side, which is incredible. During morning rush hour no less. Best areas in my opinion are Hill Country Village and Shavano Park in the Northwest section. Close to the two major North-South and East-West highways, Every amenity and convenience you could possibly want, from grocery stores to schools and hospitals. Even the University Of Texas @ SA is located close by.

[210]

Originally Posted by Catgirl

Thanks 210.
We have a budget of around 250 000.Will that get us a decent 3 bedroom house in the areas you mentioned?

In Alamo Heights, yes. However, it won't be the biggest or best looking home.

Alamo Heights is a really prestigage town. Most of the homes cost between $1 million and $2 million.

It's like Little California in terms of real estate. Alamo Heights is quite different from the rest of the city. Even Terrell Hills is crazy like that.

Also, lots of celebrities live there, etc.

It's a great place to live.
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[Catgirl]

Thank you all for the replies. 210- I was just about to show my husband the pictures of the houses you had posted but noticed that they were gone At the moment we're looking at the [link removed], what are the zip codes we should be looking for in terms of good schools? What about the new build homes and various communities, anyone living in any of them, any comments?
Thanks again.

[210]

Originally Posted by Catgirl

Thank you all for the replies. 210- I was just about to show my husband the pictures of the houses you had posted but noticed that they were gone At the moment we're looking at the Realtor.com, what are the zip codes we should be looking for in terms of good schools? What about the new build homes and various communities, anyone living in any of them, any comments?
Thanks again.

78258

You'll find the perfect home there.

[RIVERRAT]

heres a list of some new home builders around town, im in the plumbing business for new construction so i know whos building aorund here,

ryland home, pulte homes, kb homes,centex,wilshire home, and there are many custom builders around town also. 250k buys a whole lot in San Antonio. good luck,



try to stay on the north side,north west, north east sides of town

[Catgirl]

Thank you guys, you're really helpfull. Can't wait for our visit to SA.