San Antonio Real Estate http://www.satxproperty.com/welcome 2008-07-05T15:41:59+01:00 http://www.satxproperty.com/welcome http://www.satxproperty.com/welcome/images/M_images/joomla_rss.png text/html 2008-06-01T02:00:00+01:00 http://www.satxproperty.com/welcome http://www.satxproperty.com/welcome/the-news/latest-news/welcome-to-san-antonio/ Roman Alfaro and Randy Watson of Mission Realty welcomes you to San Antonio, Texas! We would like to show you why San Antonio is a great place to buy a home and settle down. Unpretentious neighbors, beautiful weather and a low cost of living combine to make San Antonio real estate a great choice. Whether you are looking for a home to raise a family, a nice ranch or a storefront for your business, you’ll find something that is perfect for you in this growing South Texas city of nearly 1.5 million. Pure Texan and Mexican culture don’t just co-exist in Alamo City; they blend together to give the city and the region a unique flavor. Spanish-influenced architecture meets the clean lines of modern design in downtown, and historic period homes stand next to the latest custom homes in the residential neighborhoods. Working horse and cattle ranches surround the San Antonio countryside. Regardless of the style or the price range, a San Antonio home search will turn up winning homes that fit any taste or budget. · Founded in 1718 by Father Antonio Olivares · Named for Saint Anthony of Padua Twenty million tourists visit San Antonio every year, taking in the sights at the Alamo Mission, the Majestic Theater, Sea World and many other historic and cultural attractions. In addition to the sightseers, business and professional organizations from around the country schedule hundreds of conferences and seminars in downtown San Antonio. This year-round influx of visitors contributes a significant portion to the city’s economy. San Antonio Home Search Tip From your friends, Texas Realtors® Roman Alfaro Randy Watson The average cost of a home in San Antonio is about $147,000. Depending on the neighborhood and style of your home, sale price may be as low as $95,000... text/html 2008-04-15T10:44:39+01:00 http://www.satxproperty.com/welcome http://www.satxproperty.com/welcome/the-news/latest-news/san-antonio-strong-in-the-dollar-crisis/ It’s no secret that the U.S. economy has taken a giant hit over the past year, and although many people are feeling the crunch in a variety of ways, there are actually some benefits for many industries and cities—San Antonio being one of them.  While nationwide the numbers for certain economic indicators, such as job creation, are collapsing, San Antonio has actually managed to add a large number of jobs over the past year, and the year has started off well for the city’s business climate also. 6,000 jobs were created in the city in February alone, and last year San Antonio added just under 20,000 jobs to its market.  In fact, Texas seems almost impervious to much of what is going on in the rest of the country.  Unemployment is at a 30 year low at 4.1% (http://www.tracer2.com/) , and the state added over a quarter of a million jobs in 2006. San Antonio has been positioning itself as a travel and vacation destination over the past few years, and this effort seems to be paying off.  Many of the new jobs are in the leisure and hospitality industry, one of the first that is usually hit by economic downturns—a good sign for the local economy.  The city has seen the Final Four, NBA playoffs, in addition to the regular events and festivals, such as Fiesta, and construction is underway for the new Marriott resort and golf center (the-news/latest-news/cibolo-canyons-the-pga-village/), which will only add to the legitimacy of San Antonio as a world-class tourist destination. Over at Fort Sam Houston and Brooke Army Medical Center (http://fshtx.army.mil/sites/local/) a $2.3 billion dollar construction boon is beginning due to BRAC. It is estimated that the project will create an additional 10,000 to 12,000 new jobs both military and civilian. This will also bring an additional... text/html 2008-02-17T18:37:35+01:00 http://www.satxproperty.com/welcome http://www.satxproperty.com/welcome/the-news/latest-news/milrip-and-front-line-defenders-program/ FRONT-Line Defenders Program Mission Realty rebates 25% of real estate commission received back to eligible Veterans and members of the FRONT-Line Defenders Program that buy a qualifying home exclusively through Roman Alfaro and Randy Watson of Mission Realty. In addition to the substantial rebate on commission; both programs have teamed up with a variety of community minded San Antonio Real Estate professionals to offer lower rates, preferred pricing and discounts on such services as mortgage loans, home inspections, and home hazard insurance. The FRONT-Line Program is now available to active and retired Firefighters, Paramedics, Emergency Medical Technicians, Law Enforcement Officers, Corrections Officers, Registered Nurses, and Texas certified schoolteachers. The MILRIP program is open to Active Duty, Reservists and Retired military personnel. Mission Realty respects and knows that these hard-working people protect the lives, children, and property of San Antonio, and is using these programs to say “thank you!” What we have done is teamed up with like-minded responsible leaders in the real estate professions community to offer huge discounts and even rebates of fees for a variety of real estate services associated with home buying. Military Relocation Incentives Program (MILRIP) For the Uniformed Services of the United States, don’t feel left out, we offer identical benefits to you through the MILRIP program. We make 2 promises to both program participants, to help you and your family buy a home: 1. To save you money with reduced fees of services needed to buy a home. 2. That you will realize as you go step by step in buying a home we will be with you along the way to make the process as easy as possible, to answer questions and provide assistance in any way we can. Offered exclusively by Mission Realty through Real Estate Agents Roman Alfaro and Randy Watson. (Contact Roman or Randy... text/html 2008-02-12T09:39:07+01:00 http://www.satxproperty.com/welcome http://www.satxproperty.com/welcome/the-news/latest-news/att-to-sponsor-cibolo-canyon-golf-courses/ San Antonio's newest golf courses have signed a deal with one of America’s oldest and most respected companies. The courses located at the new JW Marriott San Antonio Hill Country Resort and Spa, will join only a handful of other courses who have sold the naming rights to a corporation, as the new names of the courses will be the AT T Canyons Course, and the AT T Oaks Course. AT T has left its imprint on the golf scene before, as they have lent their name to quite a few PGA tournaments in the past. In San Antonio, the telecom giant sponsors the AT T Championship during the year. In the past, it has sponsored the National in D.C., the Masters in Augusta, and the Pro-Am at Pebble Beach. San Antonio being the headquarters for AT T, it is only natural that the company is also the sponsor for the Spurs AT T Center and for the San Francisco Giants AT T Park. AT T is in discussions on what services they will bring to the table, and to the course, and just what their sponsorship will mean. Some ideas that are being discussed include wireless scorekeeping equipment, videotaping equipment for recording lessons, and phone and internet services. San Antonio's relationship with AT T goes back to 1993 when Southwestern Bell Corp. moved their headquarters to San Antonio, in what was a huge boost to the city. Two years later the company changed its name to SBC Communications, Inc. In 2005, SBC bought AT T, and soon renamed itself after the more well-known acronym. The JW Marriott resort in Bexar County is expected to open in 2010, after having been delayed for around eight years due to... text/html 2007-12-19T19:22:25+01:00 http://www.satxproperty.com/welcome http://www.satxproperty.com/welcome/satxblog/humanities/san-antonio-texas-wonderful-opportunity-for-overseas-investors/ Buying a piece of America isn't just the American dream, now it is what smart Europeans are doing, too. Strong Euro against the weak US dollar makes investing in the United States by overseas investors a quite smart and potentially profitable choice.   One of the quickest ways that an investor can increase his or her wealth involves owning real estate. This is particularly the case when it comes to European investors, especially if they are looking to invest in U.S. real estate. There are numerous advantages to choosing the United States over other countries for investing purposes. One main reason is because the U.S. dollar is weak compared to the Euro. This allows the European investor to leverage the purchase of real estate at prices that are tens of thousands less than what an American could make the same purchase for.   However, not all real estate in the United States is prime for investment purposes. For example, areas in California, Florida and parts of the Northeast United States have somewhat considerably inflated real estate prices. These properties might be too expensive for an ordinary European investor. This is why it is better that Europeans ought to be considering alternatives that are more reasonably priced, though even then they should be careful. Inexpensive options for real estate are not effective if they are in areas that are not capable of increasing in value over time. Instead, the real estate will just remain on the market for much longer, as the investor will have to struggle to find a person who is willing to buy.   So, what would be a very good solution for overseas investors? Investors who want to be successful need to find an area within the United States that is both reasonably priced and has a moderate cost of... text/html 2007-12-13T22:43:11+01:00 http://www.satxproperty.com/welcome http://www.satxproperty.com/welcome/satxblog/humanities/art-gallery-opens-in-stephenville-texas/ Well-known artist, minister, and spiritual advisor, Craig Beman, has just opened his brand-new gallery in Stephenville, TX. Stephenville, TX (Press Release) December 13, 2007 -- Well-known artist, minister, and spiritual advisor, Craig Beman, has just opened his brand-new gallery just off the Court House Square in Stephenville, TX, the county seat of Erath County, the Cowboy Capital of Texas and home of Tarleton State University. Craig Beman Artwork, Fine Arts Gallery (http://www.craigbemanartwork.com/)  is a haven for not only his own artwork, but for that of other like-minded artists as well. Beman derives his inspiration from his spirituality and his faith, and explores the themes of motivation, nature, history, and peace. In addition to being an artist, and now a gallery owner, Beman, along with his wife, run Healing Promises Ministries (http://www.healingpromises.com/),  an association which helps ministers and preachers fulfill their missions and callings through a meetings, exchanges, seminars, and retreats. In fact, Beman uses his earnings from the sale of his art to help finance Healing Promises. Beman and his wife, Peggy, have been ministering together since 1999, and he has been producing artwork almost as long. San Antonio Real Estate text/html 2007-10-15T14:09:14+01:00 http://www.satxproperty.com/welcome http://www.satxproperty.com/welcome/the-news/latest-news/tamu-ranks-traffic/ Texas A M Ranks U.S. Traffic San Antonio Traffic Report (Atleast it is not LA) Texas A M University recently released a study of the traffic trends, mobility measurements, and traffic congestion in major U.S. urban areas, and while some of the usual suspects head the chart, San Antonio remains in the middle of the pack.  Not surprisingly, in almost every category, two California cities, Los Angeles and San Francisco were atop the list.  Likewise, Texas two largest cities, Dallas and Houston suffer from high levels of congestion, delays, and wasted fuel.  The study ranks cities according to size, with those containing over 3 million people falling in the group called Very Large Urban Areas.  Between 1 and 3 million, are called Large Urban Areas, and the rest are referred to as Remaining Areas.  text/html 2007-08-19T09:50:18+01:00 http://www.satxproperty.com/welcome http://www.satxproperty.com/welcome/the-news/latest-news/rackspace-to-create-5000-san-antonio-jobs/ More High-Tech Jobs Coming to San Antonio San Antonio’s high tech sector (satxblog/events-and-tourism/microsoft-invests-in-san-antonio/) is rapidly growing.  So much so, that the demand for qualified employees is outstripping the supply.  It’s no secret that many high-tech companies are moving into the city, but some, such as Rackspace (http://www.rackspace.com/index.php), who have plans for growth, are having a hard time competing with other companies for their workers.  This is certainly a good sign for area graduates or soon-to-be-graduates with computer science degrees, and for others as well.  text/html 2007-07-12T22:11:51+01:00 http://www.satxproperty.com/welcome http://www.satxproperty.com/welcome/the-news/latest-news/leon-springs-texas/ Leon Springs, Texas Since its days as a stagecoach stop, Leon Springs has been a place for travelers to rest, have a great meal, and some entertainment, but these days, people are coming here and staying for good!  The town may have grown a bit since the old days, but it still possesses the rugged frontier charm and laid back lifestyle that drew people here in the first place. text/html 2007-07-11T18:19:25+01:00 http://www.satxproperty.com/welcome http://www.satxproperty.com/welcome/the-news/latest-news/cibolo-canyons-the-pga-village/ Cibolo Canyons: A Troubled Project Finally Gets Underway San Antonio and the Texas Hill Country is a top destination for a variety of sporting activities, and a huge project is underway to assure that the area remains that way in the future. This enormous development project underway in Cibolo Canyons (http://www.cibolocanyons.com/Overview.html) includes two PGA quality golf courses, a planned housing community, and a giant JW Marriott resort, spa, and convention center. Although construction on the project has recently gotten underway, not everyone is thrilled with the plans. The road has been a long and difficult one for developers, and the project has been eight years in getting off the ground. But as long as it took to begin building, the plan, agreed upon with the city, is to have construction finished in eighteen months. Construction of the golf course and resort began recently, but some environmentally-minded members of the community are less than thrilled with the project, since plans call for part of the two golf courses to be built over the Edwards Aquifer recharge zone (http://www.edwardsaquifer.net/intro.html), and would use water from the aquifer - San Antonio’s major source of clean water, and one of the largest aquifers in the world. Environmental groups also complain that the pesticides being used will pollute the water supply, and that San Antonio is selling out its natural resources for a playground for the wealthy.