There are few people who enjoy living in the downtown area of any major city today, and San Antonio is no exception. The tourist trade keeps that area busy, noisy for a great part of each twenty-four hour cycle, at the end of the day the luxury living in Alamo Heights is going to be a much wiser choice for most professionals, and executives that work in town Monday through Friday. Just south of the San Antonio Airport sits this small municipality, that has a perfect mix of high-end custom homes, and great retro single-family homes from the thirties and forties. This bedroom community is considered one of the safest areas in the suburbs of the city, and has its own fire, and police departments to keep homes safe, quiet, and generally free of crime.

Sure you can buy a two million dollar condo in a high rise near the River Walk, but that kind of money will buy a homeowner so much more in Alamo Heights, and will offer that qualify of lifestyle that so many strive for when house hunting. There is an eclectic mix of home designs to chose from, and also a large selection of contemporary living quarters that have been built in recent years to appeal to the younger crowd that appreciates the atmosphere that has been created in this city that is small in size, but huge character.

Whether your budget is a little over one hundred thousand, or you want to blow your recently acquired inheritance on a six thousand square foot custom home complete with cabana style outdoor living in the backyard, and dining pavilion with kitchen. People today have a much larger list of features, options, and amenities in their home shopping lists, on their property and in the subdivisions they reside. Alamo heights seems to fill these needs for most residents just fine, and it just a short commute into the city come Monday morning.

If you are a person that likes to renovate homes then the Spanish style villas that were built during prohibition era will be a great place to start looking. They do not come with deep discounts, but these homes were built with solid base materials that are still in quality condition today, and putting a new face or restoring them to their original charm will pay off big when it comes time to sell.

There is plenty of shopping in the city limits, but just hop on the freeway, and you are minutes from any shopping venue in and around the San Antonio Metroplex

The Alamo city does have a few high rise options dotting the skyline, but this is one place that is more into rentals due to the tourist trade than selling. There are however some developers who have create four very upscale high-rise condominiums for those who enjoy a more Metropolitan lifestyle. People usually get their first taste of what high rise living is like on television, and the movies. Places like Manhattan, New York, and Chicago Illinois have been setting the standard for this opulent lifestyle, but they are available in every major city in the United States.

Usually people want to enjoy a taste of resort living, with that five star hotel ambiance throw in for good measure will be the perfect buyer of these steel, and glass-encased homes. Even though a condo on the twentieth floor will not offer the standard fare a single family home will, the costs are much higher, due to the upkeep, and of course downtown real estate is always at a premium in most large cities.

The prestige of having a twenty-four hour doorman, concierge service, and complete business center, plus around the clock fitness spa are just a few of the amenities that high rise dwellers look for when shopping for a new condo. There are basically four major San Antonio high rise options

• Vidorra Condos

• Alteza Condos

• La Cascada

• The Broadway

They all offer a unique decor, and themes, but the one common thread is a luxurious lifestyle that only the few can afford, while the many dream of when driving by the buildings themselves. It gives some homeowners the satisfaction of feeling they have finally made it to the big leagues, and their home is an iconic display of accomplishment.

There is of course a slight dip in every real estate market currently, but with the lack of competition in this exacting niche of home purchasing do not expect a huge break in pricing. High-rise living is not for everyone, and a testing period should be considered before signing on a new mortgage for such an extravagant purchase. Leasing a condo for six months in the preferred building you are looking make your purchase should give a sense of if this is the best fit for you and your family.

When planning your future housing budget for a purchase of this magnitude, be sure and speak with management about all the monthly and annual fees that might not be mentioned up front, as they can range in the several hundred dollars per month.

The armed forces are constantly moving their personnel all over the globe, and that means uprooting their immediate family and moving them as well. Fortunately, over the years Realtors in each community has hosts a military post have become familiar with how the Army, Navy, Marine, and Air Force handle the housing needs of their single and married service members. All family’s have ample time to prepare for their next move, but many are not aware of the real estate professionals that can help smooth out the entire process, and help them find a rental home, or apartment that fits their current B.A.H. (basic allowance for housing rates).

Many service members do not realize their entire benefit package while serving their country, never even know that they can actually own a home in their posted city or town, instead of just giving all their money to a landlord. He or she can actually be approved for a VA loan. Usually a non-commissioned officer of E5 or higher will have an allowance that will more than cover a single family home mortgage with a little to spare. If both spouses are currently in active duty status their housing allowance almost doubles, and will help take of other monthly expenses, like utilities, landscaping, and other incidentals that comes with being a homeowner.

The key is to start contacting military relocation experts as soon as the orders come down for the next deployment or transfer. The rental market is not quite a buyer’s market as people seeking to actually purchase their own home, and it is imperative to give your agent as much time as possible to find the home or apartment that is a good fit for you and your whole family. They will scan the local MLS listings for your living requirements, as well as their own in house inventory of properties available to choose from that their agents have posted.

The can send you new listings as they become available, and if possible you and your spouse can plan one or more day or weekend trips to the new area to tour the properties that have been suggested by your real estate firm representing you.

This of course is all contingent of having a good credit score, and history, plus an impeccable rental history. Recently One of the three major credit report bureaus has started including consumer rental history as a part of creating more value for the reports that they sell. Be open and completely honest with an agent before trying to engage their services. This will prevent wasting the time of everyone concerned.

Not everyone has the financial resources to park their family in Beverly Hills California, but here in Texas they can have a taste of upper-crust living that seems like one may be living in a twenty to one hundred million-dollar estate. The Dominion custom luxury homes are priced much more reasonably, and a private villa set next to a PGA golf course can be purchased in the very low single digit millions. Living in The Dominion custom luxury homes is one of those gated communities that once you enter, except for maybe the sweltering August heat, you would not imagine yourself in Southwest Texas.

The planning, and pre-designed aesthetic appeal that went into The Dominion’s overall crafting shows that every little detail was planned out prior to breaking ground, and even down to the type of homes placed in certain areas, and sequence where premeditated in every way. Most luxury-planned communities follow a loose plan today, and the outcome is not this precise. This development however had a detailed game plan, and the developers adhered to the smallest touches, and brought the final blueprints of the grounds to life.

Whether you have a three quarters of a million or seven million dollars to spend on your next bachelor pad, or single family custom home you would be wise to check out the offerings of The Dominion prior to putting a deposit down on another home in the suburbs of San Antonio. Sure a five or six million dollar estate can be had just about any where, but the overall “user experience”, and opulent atmosphere of this gated community cannot be mimicked in most anyway one could imagine. Except for school, shopping, and possibly having to leave for work, everything is at the homeowner’s fingertips.

The country club, and PGA designed golf course is on the annual circuit of senior golfers, but that is about the only congestion that the residents will see year round.

Family activities at the club are offered for all ages, and gender, especially in the many scheduled day camps to keep your children fit, and busy during the summer vacation months. Plus the gala events for charity, and community that are held in the grand ballroom for residents year round are second to none.

Dining for family, or romantic dinners for two are also available at the club’s restaurant, and if your son or daughter is getting married soon, be sure and get your name on the wedding list, as people from all over the state are in line for having their wedding and reception at one of the countries most luxurious country clubs.

Living the inner city life is often times equated to young professionals doing well with their new careers, and wanting to be a part of the sprawling nightlife, including live entertainment, and plenty of places to just relax with coworkers, and friends. People also who are “Green Conscience” love living in converted loft apartments, and high rise condos that afford them the luxury of not owning a personal vehicle, and either walk to work or take public transportation for a short distance. The downtown San Antonio real estate options, although luxurious in appointment, and priced for only persons that can afford a lifestyle that is slightly above the fold, are actually few and far between.

In areas like Houston, Austin, and Dallas the high rise living quarters are overly abundant, and have many options as far as floor plans, sizes, and appointments to choose from, as opposed to the Alamo City only having a dozen to two dozen listings at anyone time. The one reason there are so few is probably that San Antonio is unique in the fact that most of their downtown area is part of the River-walk tourism trade. Hotels, and high-rise condos are used for vacationers, and the weekend getaway crowds more so than permanent housing for the local citizenry.

By no means are the available downtown single-family homes, and apartments for sale cheap by any stretch of the imagination. You will find pricing to be in the three hundred to eight hundred thousand ranges for what little is available. Since the inventory is always seemingly low, this one area is not a buyers market, as you will find in the adjacent suburbs of San Antonio.

Having a real estate agent when trying to acquire a home in downtown is paramount to your success, as they will be the first to know when new properties are about to be put on the market, and agents will also apprised of what are called pocket sales. A pocket sale is when a broker or property owner wants to put the word out that they have an offering, but forgoes the standard MLS listing, and open house circuit.

People who want to buy real estate that is part of the downtown area should be ready to act quickly when a listing comes up, as either they will be sold in a weeks time or quicker. The units or homes that stay on the market tend to be over priced, and will sit for several months before a price change is demanded by the agent or broker who has the listing.

San Antonio Board of REALTORS® reports median single-family home price up 0.2% in Oct-10 over Sep-10, sales fall to 1,054.

Oct-10 San Antonio Board of REALTORS® Regional Sales and Price Activity

Single Family = Single Family Detached, Manufactured, Garden/Patio Detached, Modular, Townhome, Other
Condo = Low-Rise (1-3 Stories), Townhome Style, High-Rise (8+ Stories), Mid-Rise (4-7 Stories), Other
Reports generated from Clarus MarketMetrics®

Despite the fact that the Bexar County real estate marketplace has statistically shown a somewhat higher exposure to subprime loans than average, and rising prime loan foreclosures have increased, the rising increase is still below average in comparison to nation-wide figures. In fact, as of this writing the overall foreclosure rate for the San Antonio area in particular, is down 0.8% from February.

Overall, most major cities in Texas remain the fastest growing in the United States, and due to a diversified economy, Texas is likely to be the most prominent Sun Belt survivor of the nation’s economic chaos.

Most of the population of Bexar County is located within San Antonio proper, the seventh most populated city in the U.S. An economy anchored by tourism, some of the finest health care facilities in the nation, defense and financial services, continue to attract new companies and a growing work force, making Bexar County one of the most well positioned places in the country to experience continued growth and opportunity.

Government sponsored financial incentives for new and upgrade home buyer’s promises to spur the Bexar County real estate sector into new growth and a more positive outlook for the Bexar County real estate industry as a whole within the not-to-distant future.

Bexar County commercial property foreclosures are of increasing interest to investors who see an unprecedented opportunity to invest in properties that can bring immediate income through short-term rental, and eventual sale of the property for big profits when a strong market upswing finally takes off.

Despite a continued foreclosure problem, the overall housing market picture in Bexar County, and San Antonio in particular, is showing tangible signs of improvement, with housing prices for resales likely to gain by four to four-and-a-half percent over the next twelve months.

As the unemployment rate subsides, qualified buyers will assuredly be attracted to the new “affordability” of San Antonio home values. Affordability, of course, is the crucial factor in determining the attraction to buyers. And, make no mistake, buyers are being attracted. A 2.4% vacancy rate, one of the lowest in the state is proof of the attraction San Antonio property holds for newcomers.

Currently –and always subject to variation – there are approximately more than 12,000 homes on the market in San Antonio at a median price of $149,950, up 0.3% from last month, (February.)

Texas mortgage rates as of this writing, and continuously fluctuating are:

• 15 year fixed 4.525% – up 0.006% from the previous week at 4.518%

• 30 year fixed 5.070% – down 0.043% from the previous week at 5.113%

• 1 year ARM 3.280% – up 0.062% from the previous week at 3.218%

• 3/1 year ARM 3.415% – up 0.049% from the previous week at 3.266%

• 5/1 year ARM 3.451% – up 0.020% from the previous week at 3.431%

San Antonio home values continue to appreciate due to the fact that so many buyers are purchasing a primary residence, not strictly investment property

San Antonio’s high-rise condos are an attractive home choice for buyers who can appreciate the many amenities and conveniences condos have to offer, such as; convenient location – nearby to work, shopping, entertainment, etc., – security, state-of-the-art workout rooms, swimming pools, concierge services, maintenance crews and more. Many condos additionally offer on property dining facilities, salon services, card rooms and libraries.

As with any property purchase, the newer and more upscale condos in the choicest neighborhoods, featuring the best views, oversized balconies, granite countertops, top-of-the line appliances, etc., can demand the highest prices, ranging from the $400,000s to even a million $ and up.

However, many older more modestly priced San Antonio hi-rise condos can be found in the $100,000 and even less price range.

Purchasing a San Antonio High-Rise Condo

With such a wide choice in pricing, location and availability, purchasing or leasing a San Antonio High-Rise condo can be a daunting and confusing undertaking without the aid of an experienced real estate agent with expertise in this unique housing market.

A competent Realtor who understands your lifestyle and budgetary requirements has the resources to efficiently identify the available properties that would most fit your needs.

It is a certainty that as the economy slowly improves, San Antonio will continue to be one of the fastest growing cities in the U.S. and the need for housing will increase. As a result, purchasing a San Antonio High-Rise condo as a rental property or primary residence might be a pretty good idea at this time while purchase prices are still quite competitive and the available inventory is high.