Why I moved to San Antonio

The Decision to Move

After moving to Silicon Valley from Boston 30 years prior, on February 22, 2021, my wife and I decided to sell our house and leave the once-great state of California. Originally, our plan was to leave in 2025 when both sons were through high school. We’d had it with all of the nonsense (crime, tax, living costs, intolerance-masked-as-wokeness, etc.,) but the covid restrictions and the poor experiences our sons had with the schools put us over the top. We signed with a listing agent and began the process.

We spent the next 90 days or so doing some remodeling. The goal was to maximize the price and minimize the time on market. We listed the house on May 6th and accepted an offer, well over listing price, on May 10. While the remodeling was underway, we took a family trip to San Antonio on April 5th to scout out the area and narrow down neighborhoods we’d seriously consider. More on the San Antonio decision later…

Our California house closed on June 11th and as part of the selling agreement we kept occupancy until July 12. On June 9th my wife and I took another trip to San Antonio and made an offer on a house, which was accepted on June 12th in Boerne, TX. Boerne is in Hill Country about 30 minutes north of San Antonio. We closed and moved into our new Boerne home on July 16th, 72 days after listing our old house and 145 days from making the decision to move.

The moment we (accidently) drove through downtown Boerne we fell in love with it. As we finished seeing the very last house we were going to see for the trip, the home we ultimately bought popped up as “just listed.” We were about 40 – 50 miles away. We immediately jumped in our car and drove over. There were already people inside viewing it and several other groups in line to go in. We made an offer they couldn’t refuse and they accepted it the next day.

Why Texas? Why San Antonio? Why Hill Country?

If not for the schools, taxes, high cost of living, lack of freedoms and politics, we would ideally have relocated to California’s central coast near Paso Robles. Ideally we wanted to be in a place that was warm and on the ocean, and was near a relatively large city. This narrowed our choices to North and South Carolina, Florida and Texas. We also considered Tennessee. 

Texas

But after living with earthquakes, wildfires, mudslides, etc., the better half ruled out hurricane-prone areas. This essentially eliminated all but Tennessee and Texas. There was some appeal for Tennessee, but we felt the cultural adjustment (shock?) might be too much. We therefore began our search in Texas in earnest.

We now had to narrow our search even further. Ten years ago Austin would have definitely been in contention. However, its politics are now so similar to the San Francisco Bay area, that it’s become San Francisco’s sister city. We didn’t want to relocate to the same place… 

Dallas was ruled out because its terrain is somewhat featureless. Houston was ruled out for its crime and humidity. We considered Corpus Christi, but it is too subject to natural disasters. San Antonio, with easy access to the coast, but far enough away to avoid hurricanes, is where we focused our search efforts.

San Antonio

San Antonio is the second largest city in Texas behind Houston. It is the seventh largest city in the US, larger than San Jose, CA, which comes in as tenth largest in the US. Founded in the early 1700’s, San Antonio has a lot of history and culture. And while its population is large, it’s more like a big town, or series of towns, than a huge impersonal city, while still having a vibrant downtown and excellent universities.

Hill Country

In California we lived in the Santa Cruz Mountains about halfway between San Jose in Silicon Valley and Santa Cruz on the coast. So we were akin to terrain, trees and privacy.

We therefore chose to focus our search in the Texas Hill Country just north of San Antonio. It has easy access to a large city, friendly downtowns, terrain, milder temperatures and less humidity. There was plenty to choose from as you can see from the map below. Circled in red is where we focused our search. Anywhere just north of San Antonio between Boerne and San Marcos would have worked.

Many now are abandoning Austin and moving westward towards San Antonio to escape the rising crime, rising homelessness, rising costs and silly politics. New Braunfels, between Austin and San Antonio is one of the hottest real estate markets in the country. And with easy access to two international airports, one can get virtually anywhere in the world. We spent a lot of time looking there.

Acclimation

Before meeting each other, both my wife and I had made significant changes in relocation in terms of distance and culture. As such, we anticipated a period where this wouldn’t feel like home for a while. No kidding, really, there was zero adjustment. We felt at home immediately.

I can’t say that this will be true for everyone, but for us there was no adjustment period. And as a bonus, each morning we are welcomed to the new day with spectacular sunrises, as you can see above. Texans aren’t “smiley face” nice, but genuinely warm and friendly. We often begin conversations with them by apologizing for moving from California and promising that we didn’t bring California with us.

Culture and Bias

I don’t know why, but Texas gets a bad rap for bias and prejudice. And while I’m sure it exists here like everywhere else, I have yet to see even a hint of it. I’ve seen mixed couples of every ethnic/color (stereo) type and nobody bats an eye. Male/male, female/female: same thing. What I’ve noticed about Texans is that they are very tolerant of almost everything with the notable exception of one – they do not like and do not accept others imposing their opinions or values on them. It is quite refreshing.

Essentially, everyone is welcome here.

I Bought the Company

Ever see one of those ads where the CEO says, “I liked it so much I bought the company?” Well, I did, sort of. I like living here so much that I walked away from my 30+ years in hi-tech and got my real estate license. I genuinely want others to find the contentment I and my family have found here.

If you want to learn more about the thought processes that got us here, or things to consider in making the move, please reach out. I’d be happy to share my experiences and help you anyway I can. Just reach out to me.

Bill@ReloToTX.com