Looking to eventually relocate: input on SATX & Hill Country locations

Minnesota boy here, born, raised and lived all my soon to be 59 years.
It's a beautiful state and I've enjoyed my life here, but it's not where I want to stay for my retirement years.

The two main things that are driving me elsewhere are:
1) The weather. I'm done with winters. Summer humidity; give me dry heat any day. And mosquitoes.
2) Taxes and politics. Both should be self explanatory but I'll say this: Not only is MN the Land of 10,000 lakes, it is also the Land of 10,000 taxes. Hopefully, no explanation necessary on the other one as any discussions surrounding the "P" word typically end poorly here for those involved.

My wife and I have visited and / or vacationed in Texas 5 times and enjoyed every second other than time spent driving in cities. (Y'all have some crazy drivers!)
The people are "truly" nice versus MN nice, which can sometimes come across as phony.
In our defense, we're primarily a bunch of reserved Scandihoovians and Germans that don't know how to properly show emotion. Enough background.

REALLY like San Antonio and surrounding area. That's where and what I'd like input on.
Draw a 90 mile/90 minute radius circle around SA and we'll go from there.
Don't want to be IN the city or in a development.
The dream would be a couple acres we could live on in a travel trailer while we build a permanent home base place. Sound realistic?
Any super bright spots? Specific places, towns, areas to stay away from?
Let's hear it all, good and bad.

 

Go to the West side and start looking there. To much going on the East side although there is still some country living between Houston and San Antonio the West side seem more quiet. Property still can be had if one searches and stays vigilant, a lot is overpriced but there are still fair trades to be had. All the best and an early Welcome to Texas!!!

Stay away from the Austin area they have some issues but hopefully it will get worked out and it will be saved before things get to embedded!!

 

Yeah, Austin seems to have many of the same "leanings" as the Twin Cities metro area of MN.
Thanks for the early welcome! I hope we can make it happen.

 

^^^^^^ I am hopeful it will get turned around???????,,, if not we can put up a big wall around the county and make it a designated smoking area!! HA!!

 

We have lived North of Austin in Williamson County. The west side of I-35 is definitely more attractive, however, that comes with higher prices. Definitely look at property taxes in the locations where you are looking. Property taxes can be very high in Texas when you are closer to the city. (They have to make up for the lack of income taxes some how.) $10k-$15k annual property taxes on a 5-acre homestead in Williamson county is not unusual, while more rural counties may be only $1k-$2k per year.

 

Thanks all so far for the good info. Keep it coming.

 

you should do the math based on your own personal income, but owning a home in texas will come with it's fair share of property taxes as @3rdTundra said, and for a LARGE majority of residents it's actually worse for them in the end with fewer programs to make up for that burden.



https://itep.org/whopays-7th-edition/


that being said, the west side of SA is growing at an exponential rate, but with that comes a ton of traffic.

i really dislike having to go far west SA and recommend trying to stay on the 281 corridor. You'll have quicker access into the heart of downtown SA and can skirt up into the hill country much easier.

if you want some acreage and want to stay unincorporated to reduce your tax burden look for areas outside of Johnson City or Blanco. You can also check out Fredericksburg but it gets pricier the closer you get.

 

Great info @taxz, thanks!!

 

Lots of good info here, but you aren't going to get dry heat in those areas. The humidity is probably just as high as where you're from and the skeeters are bigger. Just sayin'.

 

Double check the water supplies - I thought water was a pretty big issue for Blanco earlier this year. I kinda like the Gonzales, Flatonia, Schulenburg, and Shiner areas. The town I'm in is East of Austin, in the Lost Pines area. It's like a series of bowls out this way so we have hills. We are 45 minutes from Austin (about 30 from the airport), 1.5 hours to San Antonio, two hours from Houston, and about 3.5 to Dallas/Fort Worth.

 

As far as humidity, I have to ask if you've lived in MN to compare.
I've been to Houston, now there's humidity.
SA by comparison is desert dry by my reckoning.

I know you grow everything bigger in TX, but the mosquito is our unofficial state bird. So if they're comparable, I guess I'll be used to them.

 

No, I just looked at the monthly average, and did live in the DFW area for 10 yrs. You're not wrong about Houston. I was half-joking about the mosquitos, though. All of Texas is too high in humidity for me. I live in Arizona.

The members posting in the areas you're considering are giving you solid info. Best of luck!

 

Humidity only really lowers as you get further away from the coast and increase elevation. It also entirely depends on the current weather conditions preceding, during and following atmospheric pressure changes which slowly evolve over the week. Houston is the second most humid large city right behind Miami. Mosquitos just need water to reproduce in mass, no matter where you are. If there is water, there is mosquitos, even in Alaska. All the areas your describing are great places. San Antonio, Borne, Fredericksburg, New Braunsfels, Bandera etc are all great spots. Each has it's own charms and oddities. Some are just more developed now days. I always judge areas by how many and the diversity of the grocery stores available and are reasonably accessible by driving.

 

Okay ..... I live about 90 miles NNW of SA. I don't live in town, but on acreage west of Fredericksburg (Fritztown coloquially), a German town, but one that is fast losing its charm. Big money buying up houses, turning them into short-term rentals. Waldorf-Astoria is even building a resort on west edge of the town. Town caters wholly to the big city weekenders. The town council, chamber or commerce, etc. have that grow-or-die mentality, unfortunately, so to hell with the locals. 23 west of F'burg is an unincorporated settlement known as Harper. 3 gas stations, a post office, a new Family Dollar store, a couple restaurants, 20-30 houses, 4-5 churches, and a K-12 school. Caters mostly to the ranchers and farmers in the area (and the seasonal hunters). But there's an outfit getting ready to build one of those lithium battery electrical storage complexes there (like the one that's been burning forever in CA). People are fighting it, but it's most likely a futile effort.

All that said, you best look at Kerrville, or anywhere WEST of Fritztown (east is stupid expensive, lots of development going on and choked with weekend and summer vacationers going to town from the big cities east of here). The city of Boerne, (German again, pronounced Bernie) is now a bedroom community of San Antonio. Lots of commuters, high priced real estate. Kerrville is better. If you like some acreage and solitude, then look to the Harper area. The area west of Fritztown is mostly around 2000' elev, with lots of oak chaparral, with considerablle influence from the Chihuahuan Desert. So it's pretty dry and not often subject to the more violent weather east of the Hill Country. Not much of a mosquito haven at all. Up until we got into a three year drought, average annual rainfall was 25-30".

Now to wrap it up...... land is expensive, wherever you go. Example. 20 acres fenced, far from town, a modest 2500sqft wood framed house, 1200sqft metal outbuilding/garage. dirt road. Not one single realtor has any idea on the amenities, or the extras, yet it would list and likely sell for $1.5M. Taxes would run $9000+/yr minus whatever exemptions you could claim.