San Antonio Real Estate
 

We're visiting San Antonio at the end of Feb., early March, and considering buying a house or condo in the area as a home away from home to spend the winters when we retire. San Antonio seems to offer what we're looking for, lots of golf, moderate winter temps., an easy 3-day drive from where we live in Canada. If there are any San Antonians here, I've read that Alamo Heights is a desirable area. Where else might we look?

SA does attract its share of snowbirds, for the reasons you mention along with resonable cost of living (and good mexican food!)
Alamo Heights is probably the most desirable close in area. It is an incorporated city entirely surrounded by San Antonio. The ZIP code is 78209; school taxes are high but the schools are good. Homes in AH command a premium by local standards but are still far below say, California levels.

Another option that may appeal is downtown, where there are several loft buildings being developed. Prices can be steep, though.

Most new development is in the north and west parts of town. The godawful cookie cutter "gated community" fad has infected, with the result that overpriced houses are crammed together and traffic gets horrible along 281 (major north-south highway) especially where it intersects Loop 1604 (previously considered boonieville, now deemed yuppie junction.)
Check out the Home Search section of www.sabor.com - the realtor.com local link should help you get a sense of the market here. Be warned, though, that proprty value appreciation is very slow in SA, so you should not expect to be able to sell your home for any sort of profit for many years. Don't let that stop you, though!

In addition to Alamo Heights and downtown--both great areas--you might consider a golf community. There are several that I know of on the north side of town--Sonterra, Dominion, Fair Oaks Ranch. We live on the north side of town because of my husbands job, otherwise, I would consider Alamo Heights or Monte Vista which are closer to the things I like to do on a regular basis--museums, theatre, etc. Either way, you won't be far from a golf course! Happy hunting :-)

Seamus, thanks for the great information. It's exactly what I need. I have looked on realtor.com, but sabor.com is much more helpful.

A property's appreciation in value wouldn't concern us as much as its initial affordability, with our low Canadian dollar. Generally, we are used to paying anywhere from 35 - 50 cents in exchange rate on the dollar in the U.S., so you can imagine how that boosts prices for us poor Canadians.

dcespedes, I looked up the zip codes for the communities you mentioned and found some listings on realtor.com. Some very, very nice listings available. Thanks.