Camp Bullis Awareness Zone

By rerockstar • June 11th, 2010

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Buying or selling a home near Camp Bullis?

If you live in San Antonio, you probably know the location of all the military bases in town by now. It’s part of life here in the city. The military presence plays a huge part in our continued economic and population growth, but with it comes the difficulties of encroaching residential space near Camp Bullis (map). Active since 1917, Camp Bullis is a military training facility and with it’s massive size in the north-central/western area of San Antonio, few don’t notice it (especially when they’re doing live fire exercises – it looks like a massive lightning storm on the horizon from my balcony).

The Camp Bullis Joint Land Use Studies (JLUS) was designed to help the City of San Antonio, the U.S. military, and area residents discuss the problems and issues associated with having residential housing close to a military installation. A lot has been considered in these studies and I recommend you read up on them if you live in the area.

Voluntary Disclosure of Camp Bullis Awareness Zone

In real estate, we always talk about “disclosure, disclosure, disclosure” and with an active military base in your backyard, things are no different. Although not required as a disclosure (and not likely to be as the San Antonio Board of Realtors® has fought against it), the City of San Antonio has released a voluntary disclosure for use by those selling homes in the area of Camp Bullis (aka the Awareness Zone). The Camp Bullis Awareness Zone Voluntary Real Estate Disclosure Statement (pdf file) is a brief document that explains some of what a potential buyer can expect from living close to Camp Bullis.

Should you use the Camp Bullis disclosure?

While not required by law, I would encourage owners wanting to sell their homes in the area to include the Camp Bullis Awareness Zone Voluntary Real Estate Disclosure Statement along with their Seller’s Disclosure. Will it discourage some potential buyers? Possibly. In cases like this, it is always best to disclose your knowledge fully though, as a buyer could buy your house and feel that they were mislead about living near Camp Bullis and what that means to them as homeowners. When people feel they’re mislead, it usually ends up in the legal system and no one wants that.

If you’re wondering if you are in the Camp Bullis Awareness Zone, you can use the City of San Antonio’s interactive map (disclaimer: I can’t get the map to work on my computer for some reason, but I have seen it used by others). Other resources are available at SABOR’s Joint Land Use Studies section of their website.

photo courtesy of U.S. Army Environmental Command (photo by Neal Snyder)