Stone Oak or Alamo heights? (Shavano Park: home builder, established neighborhood, to buy)

[refresher123]

Hello,

I will be moving to SA on job and work place wold be in Stone Oak. Wondering which is the best place to settle down in terms of Schools & Homes. I can afford upto 450k - max 500k for a home and willing to buy one for investment (may not stick for more than 2 - 3 yrs in SA) as well as living. Looking for a place with potential Home price increase in the near future. Best Home builder around 78528 zip. Best Elementary schools? I was told Stone Oak and Almo Heights are good bets but which is the BEST???

Thanks

[needsomeinfo]

if you only plan on staying a few years, I think an alamo heights home would would be easier to sell later. there are fewer of them, esp. in the price range you mentioned. stone oak has many more homes/more competion for selling.

as to which one fits your needs better, you would need to make that decision yourself. the traffic in stone oak can be quite heavy, so you might want to live as close to his work as possible to save the commute time/headache.

[Drzy]

Those are VERY different neighborhoods. To grossly oversimplify each into one word, I'll go with Stone Oak = New, Alamo Heights = Charm.

Like needsomeinfo pointed out, which one is better really depends on what you're looking for. Unfortunately, the criteria you mentioned (best potential for short-term $$ appreciation and best elementary schools) are some of the few criteria where they're really pretty equal, so that won't help much with making the final cut. This choice will probably come down to what sort of neighborhoods you prefer to live in. New/clean/modern, or Old/charm/pretty.

Both neighborhoods are discussed with incredible frequency on this board, so search around. I would say that overall this forum has a bit of a pro-Alamo Heights slant, but you'll find plenty of correct opinions both ways.

[phamann]

Drzy is spot on with his comments. Stone Oak is getting ready to have a lot of road construction on 281(main artery) as well as the 281 and 1604 intersection. While I personally don't think traffic is that bad compared to other major cities that I have lived in, many will tell you traffic is terrible in the Stone Oak area. That is something I would personally recommend you drive for yourself. You can go here, [URL="http://www.stoneoakpropertyvalues.com"]www.stoneoakpropertyvalues.com[/URL], and get detailed information about both areas, not just housing, but schools, crime, demographics, proximity to municipalities, everyday necessities...all things that will factor into your final decision. Best of luck to you where ever you land.

[Buffyfan]

Alamo Heights more centrally located in the city. Easy access to all parts of the city as opposed to the crazy traffic in Stone Oak, which is still considered out of city limits. Alamo Heights also offers smaller, more established neighborhoods than the booming Stone Oak. AH also has fabulous schools, older yes, but widely respected.

[sakssa]

I live in Stone Oak and I want to leave. The traffic sucks!!! Alamo Heights would have been my first choice but it was out of my price range.

[RGJ]

The thing with Stone Oak is that unless you are in the morning/evening rush traffic, most everything is within a couple of miles.....

[WilGar]

Originally Posted by RGJ

The thing with Stone Oak is that unless you are in the morning/evening rush traffic, most everything is within a couple of miles.....

Stuck in traffic, does it matter if if is 2 or 20 miles away?

[Septgirl75]

Alamo Heights, contact me when it's time to sell. Maybe we can afford it then.

[MdTexas]

Everyone forgets to mention Shavano Park. I know your looking at AH or Stone Oak, but you might want to check out Shavano Park as well!