Megan Sells San Antonio 2026 EDITION
A relocation guide for military families

PCSing to San Antonio? Start Here.

The honest guide to picking the right neighborhood for your base, what your money actually buys here, and how to buy a house you haven't stood in yet. Written by a military spouse who has done this move herself.

Free. Instant download. Lackland · Randolph · Fort Sam Houston and BAMC · Camp Bullis
The guide: Moving to San Antonio, TX
The problem

You have orders. You have a window. You have a lot of open tabs.

You have a report date. You have a house-hunting window that's shorter than you'd like, and a city you may have never seen.

So you do what everyone does... you open a dozen tabs and pick a neighborhood from listing photos and a map.

Then you find out the 22-minute commute is a different number at 7:15 on a weekday. Or that the VA funding fee on your second use costs thousands more than the first. (On a $400,000 loan with under 5% down, that's about $8,600 versus about $13,200, using VA.gov rates effective April 7, 2023.) Or that the photos left out whatever sits behind the fence.

It's the biggest purchase most families make, on a timeline they didn't choose, in a city they don't know. It's also completely doable when it's broken into steps. That's what this guide is.

The PCS guide
What's inside

Thirteen pages. Exactly what you get.

  • What your money does here. A side-by-side if you're coming from San Diego, Richmond, or North Carolina, with every number sourced and dated.
  • Where to live, by base. Helotes, Alamo Ranch, Stone Oak and Shavano Park, each with the price band, the commute, the schools by name, and the honest trade-off.
  • The VA loan surprise nobody warns you about. What the funding fee does on a second or third use, and how a modest down payment changes the math.
  • The mistakes I see on almost every PCS. So you can skip them.
  • What to do, and when. A printable checklist from 12 months out to your first week in the house.
  • What buying sight unseen really looks like. My story, and the process that came out of it.

It beats a Google search because it's written for your base, your timeline, and a move you haven't made yet. Not for everybody.

About Megan

I've done this move. I know the pain points firsthand.

I'm Megan. I'm a military spouse. I've done many cross-country moves, and I've bought a house sight unseen in a city I'd never been to.

Before real estate, I spent 15 years in banking, from teller to branch manager to SBA loan processing. So I can read your credit and explain what an underwriter is looking at, in plain words. I'm not a lender, so for the binding number we bring in a VA-experienced Texas lender.

I live in Helotes, and I'm with eXp Realty in San Antonio.

  1. The Real Number. What you can actually buy, before we look at a single house.
  2. The Shortlist. Two or three neighborhoods, picked by base and by how you live.
  3. Video walkthroughs. I walk the street and the house like I'm the one moving in.
Why work with Megan

Two things most agents can't say at once.

I've done the move, and I know the pain points firsthand. Here's how that shows up for you.

The Real Number

Know what you can buy, with my plain-English read of your credit and the VA funding fee picture, before you fall for a house.

The Shortlist

We agree on the map and the criteria first. No aimless Saturdays, no wasted house-hunting trip.

The Sight-Unseen Standard

Every serious home gets a video walk. The street, the backyard at noon, the sound from the front door. I'll say "not this one" when it isn't.

The Friday File

Every Friday, one email: what we did, what's next, what I need from you. You never wonder where things stand.

The local market

Google can show you a map. It can't tell you what the 1604 sounds like at rush hour.

Helotes

Helotes

Near Lackland, and where I live

Average sale price $695,919, about $215 per square foot, roughly 190 active listings (HAR.com, September 2026). Larger lots, Northside ISD. A very doable commute to Lackland, farther from Fort Sam and Randolph.

Alamo Ranch

Alamo Ranch

Near Lackland, the shortest commute

Median sale price $374,950 over six months, entry homes from about $290,000 up to $575,000 (SABOR data via Veteran Real Estate SA, August 2026). About 10 miles to Lackland. Northside ISD. New construction from DR Horton, Lennar, Perry, KB and Meritage.

Stone Oak

Stone Oak

Near Fort Sam and BAMC, longer commute

Most neighborhoods run $375,000 to $650,000 (LivingInSATX, 2026). North East ISD. Mostly resale, and a real commute to Fort Sam.

Shavano Park

Shavano Park

The middle of everything

Median sale price $625,000 to $780,000 (LRG Realty, July 2026). Central between Lackland, Fort Sam and Randolph. North East ISD. Small inventory.

Closer to Fort Sam and BAMC? The guide covers those options too. Markets move, so before you set a budget I'll pull the current numbers.

Megan Shannon
Who's behind this

A military spouse who's bought a house sight unseen. A banker who reads the fine print.

Fifteen years in banking taught me what an underwriter actually looks at. My own PCS taught me what it's like to pick a home from a screen on a deadline. The guide is both of those, written down.

15years in banking
1house bought sight unseen
4bases covered in the guide

Megan Shannon · eXp Realty · Texas License #852365 · Lives in Helotes

Free guide

PCSing to San Antonio? Start Here.

Thirteen honest pages, so you can pick a neighborhood and buy a house you haven't stood in.

Is this a sales pitch?It's the guide. If you ever want help, you know where I am.
Will I get spammed?No. It downloads right away, and you can unsubscribe from anything anytime.
My orders aren't final. Is this for me?That's exactly when it helps most. Read it before you decide anything.