Info on Monte Vista? (San Antonio, Alamo: buying a home, neighborhoods, buying) - Texas (TX) - City-Data Forum

DCNative24 · 03-08-2010, 01:57 PM

My husband, daughter, and I recently moved to San Antonio from the DC area and plan on buying a home. We've narrowed the neighborhoods that we're interested in down to a few - one of which is Monte Vista. I know there are several threads that have info about the neighborhood, but I thought I might get additional info from the group. Seems like you all are pretty knowledgeable.

We really like the feel of the neighborhood and the homes. It seems like it's very much a "community", which we find appealing.

The biggest downside for us is that the neighborhood is in SAISD. We've looked in Alamo Heights (which I know is a better school district) and the homes we've seen in our price range just don't suit our needs as well. My biggest concern is how the school district could potentially impact resale value if we have to sell in 5 years or so (could happen).

Any opinions or thoughts on this would be really helpful. We're (ok, well I am!) stressing out about it a bit. Thanks in advance for any info.

WilGar · 03-08-2010, 02:08 PM

Most Monte Vista owners are older or pay tuition. I know of none that put their children in the SAISD system.

dvlpr · 03-08-2010, 03:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DCNative24

My husband, daughter, and I recently moved to San Antonio from the DC area and plan on buying a home. We've narrowed the neighborhoods that we're interested in down to a few - one of which is Monte Vista. I know there are several threads that have info about the neighborhood, but I thought I might get additional info from the group. Seems like you all are pretty knowledgeable.

We really like the feel of the neighborhood and the homes. It seems like it's very much a "community", which we find appealing.

The biggest downside for us is that the neighborhood is in SAISD. We've looked in Alamo Heights (which I know is a better school district) and the homes we've seen in our price range just don't suit our needs as well. My biggest concern is how the school district could potentially impact resale value if we have to sell in 5 years or so (could happen).

Any opinions or thoughts on this would be really helpful. We're (ok, well I am!) stressing out about it a bit. Thanks in advance for any info.

Glad to hear you're considering the MV. We love it here, although, like everywhere, it's not perfect.

And as you've identified, schools are the biggest drawback. The public schools that serve MV aren't, generally, very good. Most people I know with young children go the private school route, and a few try and get into AHISD (though there are some families with children in SAISD schools).

I wouldn't worry about it from a resale perspective, though. I mean, the public schools in MV have been crappy for decades. Monte Vista derives its value from the quality of the homes/neighborhood and the proximity to virtually every important cultural and civic amenity in the city. In other words, the sub-par public schools are already 'priced-into' the home values.

Feel free to PM if you'd like any more specific info on the neighborhood, and good luck.

xsa210tx · 03-08-2010, 03:27 PM

If you can afford to buy a home in Monte Vista, I'm sure cost won't be an issue for private school. I live just blocks from the Monte Vista bordered area sepearting it from the non Monte Vista area.

It's very expensive living there I'll tell ya' that.

RGJ · 03-08-2010, 03:42 PM

You might try Alamo Heights ISD as you can live outside their boundaries and pay tuition fees.

DCNative24 · 03-08-2010, 07:11 PM

Thanks everyone for the information. You've made great points and helped ease my mind a bit, especially noting that the schools haven't been great for awhile and that people are really buying there for the homes. And interesting that you can pay tuition to AHISD - we didn't realize that. Dvlpr, thanks for offering to answer additional questions - as our search continues I imagine more will come up. Thanks all!

TexasRedneck · 03-08-2010, 09:47 PM

One thing you need to keep in mind is that that's a Historical area - which means that any improvements must first be reviewed and approved. That means not only extra hurdles, but can also add significant costs to any project. We looked at one about 20 years ago that I would have loved to have had - there were "hidden" areas in that house that no one knew about other than the owner. But looking at updating simple things like the electrical service would've been a nightmare because of the reviews it seemed like every department would want to do, so we passed on it. Part of me wishes we hadn't - but when the budget hit $100k on what should have been about 60k, I knew it was time to move on. Had we had the $$$ to do it, we probably would have, in all honesty.

jwebtx · 03-09-2010, 07:05 AM

AH tuition is not always offered to new students, but if you move soon you should be fine. AT&T leaving opened a lot of slots there. Once in the system, they will allow students to continue. With that said, there are a few private schools in the neighborhood- including the single best and most expensive (keystone). Central Catholic & Providence are also very close.

MV is a great neighborhood. I would also consider Olmos Park (just North) because the homes are similar, they have their own police force, and your exorbitant taxes (same as you would pay in MV) will actually cover your kids tuition in Alamo Heights. Prices per sq/ft are a bit more than MV, but be sure to factor in tuition costs.

All that said, I heart MV.

LittleTPot · 03-09-2010, 11:46 AM

We live just next door to Monte Vista in Alta Vista. (Or "The Poor Man's Monte Vista" as I refer to it!) We're looking into private schools in the area, and there are some great options. Some of the schools that our friends and neighbors send their kids to in the area include St. Anthony, Keystone, The Circle School (in Mahncke Park) and San Antonio Academy. We moved from Chicago last year and really love the area. Good luck with your decision!

DCNative24 · 03-09-2010, 06:54 PM

Thanks again, everyone. I knew I'd get some great information out of this board! I think Monte Vista is now at the top of our list in terms of neighborhoods. Though good to remind me about it being an historic district...hopefully we won't have to do too much fixing (ha ha - though there's always something that needs fixing with a home, right??). We'll see what happens!