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!