Safe Areas for Old Home Rehabs in San Antonio

New to Real Estate · San Antonio · Member since 2019 · 7 posts · 2 votes

Hi there! My husband and I were supposed to be moving to San Antonio next month with the Air Force but our orders got bumped with COVID19. So we are stuck in Italy for a bit but are really hoping to get a feel for San Antonio during this downtime. We really love old homes and would love to start our real estate journey with a rehab. Does anyone have any insight on areas that have charming homes that need a little love but aren't in risky areas? Any info would be wonderful! And thank you for your time!

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Stone Saathoff

Investor · San Antonio, TX · Member since 2019 · 576 posts · 307 votes

S Presa to the riverwalk, Beacon hill, LA Heights, San Pedro place, olmos park, certainly have houses with a similar level of character without so much risk of having your stove dragged out 4 times... lol

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Ben Bruckman
Rental Property Investor · Dayton, OH · Member since 2018 · 8 posts · 1 vote
6y
@Lana Nielson, I don't know how old of homes you are looking for. When I was stationed there we lived in the North West side of town by Alamo Ranch, which was a nice area and good schools, but the homes were pretty new (built in the 2000s). I did have friends that lived near the San Antonio Medical Center, which was a pretty nice area and those homes seemed to be built in the 60s. Hopefully you'll get some better input from some people that are currently in the area, but I hope this helps.
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Joseph CacciapagliaBusiness Member
Lender · San Antonio, TX · Member since 2020 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes
6y
Which base will you be stationed at, what price point are you looking at, and are schools an important consideration for you? There are a lot of cool little neighborhoods with older homes, but knowing the answers to those three questions will be helpful to provide a useful answer.
[email protected]979-218-2286
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Lana Nielson
OP
New to Real Estate · San Antonio · Member since 2019 · 7 posts · 2 votes
6y
@Joseph Cacciapaglia Hi, Joseph! Thanks for taking the time to respond. My husband will be stationed at Randolph, AFB. We don’t have kids so schools only factor into resell value for us. As for price, we would like to be all in for under $200,000.
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Lana Nielson
OP
New to Real Estate · San Antonio · Member since 2019 · 7 posts · 2 votes
6y
@Ben Bruckman Thanks for your response, Ben! We have heard Alamo Heights is a great area.
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Joseph CacciapagliaBusiness Member
Lender · San Antonio, TX · Member since 2020 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes
6y
The Live Oak area would be a good place to start looking. It's very close to Randolf, and has a decent number of older homes that are well within your price range. If you want to be a little closer to downtown, East Terrell Hills/Heights also has a lot of older properties in your price range, and should still be a reasonable commute. I'm sure there are plenty more spots, but those are a couple that come to mind. Both of those areas should be decent rentals, if you plan to hold the property long term when you move again. Your budget goes a long way in most of the older neighborhoods in San Antonio. You're real difficulty may be too many options to choose from.
[email protected]979-218-2286
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Lana Nielson
OP
New to Real Estate · San Antonio · Member since 2019 · 7 posts · 2 votes
6y
@Joseph Cacciapaglia This is really helpful! Thank you!
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Joseph CacciapagliaBusiness Member
Lender · San Antonio, TX · Member since 2020 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes
6y
Originally posted by @Lana Nielson:
@Joseph Cacciapaglia This is really helpful! Thank you!

You are very welcome. Glad I could help. Feel free to reach out with any questions.
[email protected]979-218-2286
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Stone Saathoff
Investor · San Antonio, TX · Member since 2019 · 576 posts · 307 votes
6y
Depends how far you want to go into repairs and how much you'd like to spend. The extremely popular areas for rehabs right now are close to downtown, Dignowity, Denver Heights, some parts of Highland Park. If you wanted to use all cash you could afford a project in denver heights for under 200K without a doubt.
What I would recommend is look for deals everywhere when you get here, then start looking into each neighborhood when you have properties there to look at. When I started with no knowledge of real estate in San Antonio I would always look into the neighborhood and area a lot when a deal would come out there, then I can tell if that's a good buy now, and if not, now I know the area.
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Collin Corrington
Investor · San Antonio, TX · Member since 2016 · 242 posts · 126 votes
6y
I'd even suggest Seguin or New Braunfels for older homes with a lot of character. Both are about 30-40 minutes from Randolf. You're more likely to find a deal in Seguin at this time though. Or perhaps even Marion. Cute town there too.
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Lana Nielson
OP
New to Real Estate · San Antonio · Member since 2019 · 7 posts · 2 votes
6y
@Collin Corrinton We’ve heard great things about New Braunfels and I will definitely check out the other two. Thanks so much, Collin!
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Lana Nielson
OP
New to Real Estate · San Antonio · Member since 2019 · 7 posts · 2 votes
6y
@Stone Saathoff Hi, Stone! We love the age and style of many of the homes in Denver Heights but the crime rate there in comparison to other areas makes us nervous. Any thoughts on that?
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Stone Saathoff
Investor · San Antonio, TX · Member since 2019 · 576 posts · 307 votes
6y
@Lana Nielson
Yes I do have some thoughts on that actually.
I talked to an agent who listed a rehab there a month or two ago, and he told me something really unbelieveable...
They staged the house, put in appliances and listed it, and they had their stove stolen not once... not twice... not three times
FOUR TIMES, somebody broke in and dragged the stove out. Left deep grooves in the hard wood floors.
These neighborhoods on the east side have been high crime areas for a long time, and might be better left to the professionals until the crime is driven out farther down MLK. But those are definitely the hottest areas to do flips right now, which is what you asked originally. Maybe not ideal for your first flip but once you've built up some experience the crime rate may be down, or you may be better prepared to deal with issues like that. I've heard of some rehabbers paying one or two members of their contracting crew to spend the night at the house.
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Lana Nielson
OP
New to Real Estate · San Antonio · Member since 2019 · 7 posts · 2 votes
6y
@Stone Saathoff Yikes!! Thanks for that honest answer. We’ll avoid looking there for now. But those cute homes really are full of so much character! Maybe one day in the future. :)
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Stone Saathoff
Investor · San Antonio, TX · Member since 2019 · 576 posts · 307 votes
6y
S Presa to the riverwalk, Beacon hill, LA Heights, San Pedro place, olmos park, certainly have houses with a similar level of character without so much risk of having your stove dragged out 4 times... lol
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