San Antonio, Texas Real Estate Blog & Market News - Richard Soto's Blog | Page #4

Say it ain’t so ‒‒ the beautiful River City? Cradle of Texas freedom? Bogged down by traffic congestion to make grown men weep into their steering wheels?


Alas, ‘tis true. San Antonio has a traffic problem, and not just San Antonians know it. According to TRIP, a D.C.-based transportation research group, San Antonio has five of the top 50 most “pressing transportation challenges” in Texas. So try not to be surprised that some areas of the city are graveyards for forward momentum in the car

1. I-410 between San Antonio International Airport at (US-281) and I-35

Probably the most famous highway in San Antonio, the 410 is not always famous in a good way. And this seven-mile stretch is probably the worst piece of it. Lots of cars driving rather fast…

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It’s hard to not think positive thoughts when it comes to the Spurs. The only Texas major sports team going into this coming season as a champion and (many consider) dynasty team is a tough one to find fault with. Almost as tough as finding fault with the city real estate market, which, like the Spurs, just seems to be getting better and better with time.

 

So let’s not find fault. Let’s go out on a pretty strong limb here ‒‒ yes, the Spurs are and will be as hot as the city’s real estate market. Both the housing market and the team have been basking in the glow of positive coverage and good vibes for a few years now, and there’s no sign of either loosening its grip on the public’s heart.

Even with the new pieces of the Spurs puzzle, 2014-15…

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Whether your kids are looking forward to going back to school or not, there’s no reason for them to look out of style. If you want them to look their best for a brand new year, you can’t go wrong with these San Antonio malls.

1.North Star Mall

Considered the best mall in San Antonio by TripAdvisor, North Star is almost an old friend to the city. This uptown mall features 200-plus specialty stores and major anchors, including Dillard's, J.C. Penney, Macy's, Saks Fifth Avenue, and Forever 21, so if you can’t find it here for back-to-school, it probably doesn’t exist. By the way, this is the mall with the famous cowboy boots sculpture by Texas artist Bob "Daddy-O" Wade.

2. South Park Mall

On the south side of Alamo City is South Park Mall. This mall…

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The San Antonio area has some of the finest master-planned communities in Texas, if not the whole country, and its easy to see why. With enviable amenities and sweeping views of nature, from the river to the Hill Country, the Alamo City is just too beautiful to pass up. But you don’t have to live downtown with the family. Consider these top communities:

Anaqua Estates

Just minutes from downtown sits Anaqua Springs Ranch, an environmentally-preserved community in the Hill Country with rising limestone bluffs, lush wooded valleys, and the waterfalls of Leon Creek. This 920-acre master-planned community features a gated entry with a 24-hour security guard on duty and breathtaking unobstructed views of Bexar County’s natural splendor. The community lies…

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Choosing the right school district is a big factor in your decision to move. But if private school is in the cards, the San Antonio area offers some of the finest private schools in the state. Before you move specifically for a school district, consider these elite private academies of learning.

Antonian College Prep

Routinely  included in the Action Institute's Catholic High School Honor Roll as a top-50 Catholic high school in America, Antonian is also one of the Lone Star State’s top-5 athletic parochial schools. According to San Antonio Magazine, 80 percent of Antonian students play on one of its 30 athletic teams, and the school ranks among the top five private schools in Texas for the most wins and championships. Academically, the school’s…

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Unless you’re a skilled tradesperson or home repair expert, there are things you likely can’t (or probably shouldn’t) do yourself around the house. Often enough, your attempts to save some money by tackling a project yourself will just take longer and cost more when you have to hire a contractor to fix what you did wrong anyway. The safest rule of thumb is, when in doubt about your own abilities, call a professional.

Projects You Can Do

There are lots of projects you can do on your own that will save money and not (usually) cause any major issues if something goes wrong. Painting is one, particularly interior walls and ceilings. A few buckets of paint, some brushes and drop cloths, and a little elbow grease can save you hundreds of dollars and,…

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Even in this age of savvy homeowners, summer vacation remains a time when burglars do their best business. Fortunately, a few prevention tips can help keep you from becoming a target for crooks.

Keep Your Plans Off Facebook

Social media is as great for finding out you won’t be home for a week as it is for catching up with old friends. Even if your privacy settings are top-notch, a wily crook can gain access to your feed and see that you won’t be anywhere near home. Worse, he knows exactly when you’ll be gone and exactly when you’re coming back, so he can take his sweet time checking out your home.

Forget the Hidden Keys

The word is out about stashing spare house keys under door mats or in fake rocks. Burglars are at least smart enough to know…

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San Antonio and its surroundings offer some of the best golf courses in the Southwest. Many of the public and private golf courses, after all, are huddled in the shadow of sweeping Hill Country views, near the Guadalupe River, or near the vibrant, growing downtown. But if you’re looking for access to some of the best golf you don’t have to drive for, you’re in luck. Some of the best links in San Antonio are located in some of the area’s finest upscale communities.

The Dominion

The Dominion Country Club, located in the Dominion gated community, is one of the prettiest golf courses in Texas. The world-class course ‒‒ which hosted a Senior PGA tour for 17 years, making it the longest consecutive host of a senior tour event in history ‒‒ has…

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Do you need to be smart to live in San Antonio? Well, no, but if you are, you’ll be in great company. It seems Alamo City has tied with New Orleans as the U.S. metro area with the biggest “brain gain,” according to a new study by Forbes magazine. Forbes studied metro areas with fast college graduation rates and found that San Antonio, with New Orleans, is gaining in the number of college students who graduate quickly and is collecting college educated people from elsewhere. San Antonio, had a net brain gain of  203 percent  ‒‒ that’s 76,000 college-educated people who’ve moved to town since 2007, or 20.3 percent

What makes this so important for San Antonio? Basically, the fact that brainpower gain is recognized as an indicator of economic momentum for…

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Let’s face it. The only reason people don’t think of the River Walk first when they think of San Antonio is because of the Alamo. Which, for the record, is right across the street.

But the River Walk is by far the downtown’s largest attraction, bringing millions of visitors to stroll, shop, and take in the miles of gorgeous southwestern-style tile mosaics. On any given day, all year long, you will find tourists and visitors grabbing lunch, shopping, taking pictures, or hopping onto one of the walk’s fabled riverboat tours.

Being on the River Walk may make a person want to live there. And you can do it, if you want to live in an apartment. Most places where you could sleep and shower are hotels, but apartments do exist, some for students of the city’s…

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