San Antonio

 Four months ago, we told you that San Antonio real estate is hot. We're not going back on that statement; in fact, we're doubling down and saying that San Antonio real estate is fully ablaze. Looking for hard evidence? You've come to the right place.

For many of us, life can be pretty predictable—even occasionally boring, depending on your viewpoint. We get up, go to work, come home, eat dinner, and get ready for the next day. And we tend to do it without thinking about how we're blessed with the freedom to do such ordinary things.

Building homes in the Texas Hill Country or San Antonio area presents a couple of challenges. In many cases, you can only dig down about three inches before hitting solid rock, which causes material and mechanical difficulties. Moreover, you have to sometimes contend with the sloped Texas hills themselves. McMillin Homes is addressing this problem by building homes at the Cliffs of Cibolo with walk-out basements.

One of the biggest considerations for many homebuyers—whether it's the first or fifth time around—is the quality and ratings of the schools in the neighborhoods they're considering. That's no different in our area; San Antonio residents and transplants tend to put school quality toward the top of their list in considering a community.

It can be challenging, however, to quickly find the information you need to compare San Antonio schools within a given neighborhood. Depending on where you draw the boundaries, the greater San Antonio region boasts between 15-20 school districts and hundreds of campuses. How do you begin looking? The following three places are a good way to start:

If there's one thing that's likely to shape how the Texas Hill Country and San Antonio areas grow and change in the next few decades, it's water—or access to it, at least. Water has, for all intents and purposes, supplanted oil as the South Texas version of liquid gold, and we're already seeing the effects of over-development and excessive use on local water tables and the Edwards Aquifer.

One month ago, I made the prediction that lingering Spring comfort would soon give way to hot summer South Texas temperatures; today, I'm sad to report that my powers of prognostication were correct. We're already stretching into the mid-90s here in San Antonio, and hopes for one, last cold snap are quickly fading.

There's no denying that San Antonio is a unique place; in fact, the entire Texas Hill Country, from Austin to Pleasanton (let's not argue about the boundaries), is almost a world unto itself. That means it's often an inspiring place to live and work, and that's particularly true if you're in a business that is influenced by local culture.

In the case of McMillin Homes, one of our goals is to capture the best of our area's natural beauty and culture for use inside and outside our homes and communities. That's no small task, given the variety we have in South Texas, but it's a challenge we're willing to tackle for our homeowners.