My husband and I are thinking of moving to Hill Country from Cearwater, Fl. and are taking a 5 night trip in April. We are looking for a %26#39;small%26#39; town , but within 30-40 miles from major city to have access to good health facilities. Would like a place where we can get a house with view of hills and maybe even a river. Prefer a deed restricted community houses $280,000 or under. Don%26#39;t know if it%26#39;s possible.
Are sinkholes a problem for houses there? What about water availability?
We still will have to work at least part time for a few more years, so need to have some kind of employment available.
Have air booked round trip San Antonio - any ideas on a good route to visit the area in such a short time? Is it realistic to start in SA go to Kerrville - Fredericksburg- up to Llano - Georgetown-and back thro New Brunfels?
We are tired of 50 minute drive to go 15 miles to work thro killer traffic -have had homeowners ins. raise over 100% this year also. Loved Fl. for the 15 years we have been here, but area is soooo crowded now and want to try the West (from Wisconsin originally). Like the idea of no state taxes for Tx.
Texas Hill Country retirement exploration trip
Have you been to this area before topcat? My husband and I were transferred here (rather he was transferred and I followed) from Tampa. I knew I would miss the water, but didn%26#39;t know how much I would miss it. Our boat is still in Gulfport, but we can only get back about once a year. If we weren%26#39;t sailing weekends, we were walking some beach--Clearwater, Caladesi, Fort Desoto, Anna Maria, Boca Grande, Naples...so many cool places so close! We can%26#39;t find a replacement for the things we really loved doing there. Water is a part of every day there, even if it%26#39;s just driving over the bridges, the views off the Courtney Campbell or Howard Frankland, make you smile--and it%26#39;s hard to be without it.
That said, like FL, no state income tax here, and auto insurance for us is lower as well. House prices are significantly better here than there, and of course homeowners ins. Winters are far colder and uncomfortably so for us last year after 8 years in Tampa and 4 prior to that in Savannah. Last summer here was nicer than what we experienced in Tampa heat wise, but this summer we both felt was the hottest we%26#39;ve felt anywhere we%26#39;ve lived.
I do love the Hill Country despite missing the water so. We will probably stay when he retires, (3 years) although we%26#39;ve toyed with the idea of returning to FL. However, one of our kids lives in Dallas, so that%26#39;s a huge factor in our staying put.. Do you have family here or are they in FL? Are you looking to live in a smaller town, and if so, do you have the type of employment skills that would make finding a job in those areas relatively easy?
The loop you describe is a pleasant one...obviously not a one day drive though if you want to see anything, or get a feel for it. You COULD drive it in a day, but you couldn%26#39;t tell much about the area. I%26#39;d add Boerne to your list was well...small town but close enough to San Antonio to make it a doable commute should you be employed in town. Georgetown--you%26#39;d be getting traffic worse than US 19 at rush hour. My husband works downtown SA, but we bought in Garden Ridge, on I-35 between Austin and SA. It takes my husband 30 minutes to get into work in the morning. We have hills, acre lots, and deer running through our property--yet we can get into town easily.
I don%26#39;t mean to be negative, but I know what you are coming from and there is so much to the Tampa Bay area that you (any resident) take for granted and need to think about--lots of really great restaurants, excellent performing arts both Tampa and Clearwater, excellent museums and some of the prettiest beaches in the US. Also ungodly traffic, especially in season and a lot of congestion. Perhaps you aren%26#39;t as tied to the water as we were/are and it would be an easier transition for you, but please give it all lots of thought.
As I said, we probably will stay...our son, a beautiful house that%26#39;d be waaaay out of our budget there, very pretty area and the greatest people of any place we%26#39;ve lived. We just need to find a hobby to replace what we loved so much about living in Tampa Bay.
Texas Hill Country retirement exploration trip
Houses with views are expensive out here. At least, from what I know of. Not sure of an exact route for you, you can probably find something online. I live in Austin but have been to Fredericksburg a few times, definittely check it out while you%26#39;re here, it%26#39;s a cute town and only about 1.5 hours from Austin (you can always go to Lake Travis or Lake Austin...there%26#39;s also Canyon Lake near San Antonio I think) If you are looking for places to stay overnight during your hill country trip, I highly recommend Rose Hill Bed %26amp; Breakfast (www.rose-hill.com). It%26#39;s in Stonewall, TX about 20 min. from Fredericksburg. Great food, views (if you stay in the sunrise or sunset room in the Main House- -book EARLY though)
Another nice retirement area, just west of Austin is Horseshoe Bay %26amp; Sunset Beach areas (near Lake LBJ). Not an expert on it, I just know it%26#39;s popular for retirees.
Hello,
I don%26#39;t know exactly what you are looking for, but I have a home in a subdivision just south of Camp Wood, Tx. The subdivision has a beautiful home owners park a block from the home on crystal clear Lake Nueces. While you can catch glimpses of the water from the driveway, it is not a good enough view to call ';water view';. This is just over an hour west of San Antonio, Tx. Or an hour south of Kerrville, Tx. For more information on this area or to view my home, just take the spaces out of the following sentence
www solid rock real estate net
If you enjoy the hill country and water, a home on Lake Nueces is about as affordable and private as you can expect
Good luck looking,
Currie
Thank you for your responses - I will look at those web sites. I meant that we would be taking the 5 nights to make that circle trip around the Hill Country area.. We mostly are hoping to see hills from the house -- getting tired of the flat land I guess. We aren%26#39;t really %26#39;beachy%26#39; people anyway, and the area we live in is actually north of Clearwater, and fairly woodsy.
Are sinkholes a problem in Texas? We had one under the first house we bought here, and hope to never experience going thro the repairs that go with that issue again.
no sinkholes around here (at least not in the Texas Hill Country) - our ground has about one foot of dirt (at the most)...then a solid layer of limestone rock. solid foundations are the norm around here.....check out kerrville. many affordable places and a great place to retire. i lived there for five years and loved it! i only moved to san antonio because i was tired of commuting to work.
Thanks! Sinkholes were something I have been really concerned with.
Kerrville is one of the places that sounded really good from what I have been reading on the web. Got a couple of books and a detailed map of the whole area from Amazon already. It is great to have personal feedback since everything always sounds fabulous in tourism info... We are pretty realistic about exploring things and not romanticizing what we expect.
I can%26#39;t imagine having a sinkhole open up near my house!! It%26#39;s not even an insured loss is it? I%26#39;d think it%26#39;d be excluded in the ';Movement of earth'; exclusion. As TXham said, no sinkholes. Thank heavens.
Lots of areas you have to be real careful to keep your foundation watered though, (LOL rarely a problem in FL) to keep the ground from pulling away and shifting under your foundation, cracking it. By pulling away I don%26#39;t mean sinkhole pulling away. The clay soil contracts and expands so you do have to take special pains, making sure your foundation is evenly watered in the SA area. I understand it%26#39;s not the same from a friend who moved to Fredericksburg and says she%26#39;s on sandy soil.
Hello
My wife and I are planning to move to the Texas Hill country in May. We like the Wimberly area, found twoo lots for $5,500.00 each and talked to United bilt Home to build our home. It will look like a 3 bedroom, 2 bath country cottage. We had a United bilt home before and we paid it off then had to move to South Texas with our jobs. Now retired and my Wife retires in May. United Bilt homes are now better than we first bought and tey were great then. Now they are 100% complete. Look around Wimberly, Lake Canyon and the small towns around there. You will be about 15 minutes from San Marcus, 20 minutes fron San Antonio and 30 minutes from Austin. But all the fun you can have in the rivers , lakes and streams plus there are some of the biggest trade days around there including Round Rock Trade Days that goes on for several miles. This is just a tought.
G. Walker
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