Second Mortgage in Abilene

No, if the rental is not your homestead. Article XVI, section 50 of the Texas Constitution permits liens on a homestead only for a closed list of debts, and the home equity rules on that list (consent of each owner and spouse, total homestead debt capped at 80% of value, a 2% fee cap with exclusions, foreclosure only by court order) protect the homestead. A rental you do not live in falls outside them, and a second lien on it is an ordinary deed-of-trust lien. Homestead turns on use and intent, and title companies can treat a borrower's only Texas residential property as homestead by default, so expect occupancy to be checked, not assumed. This is not legal advice; your attorney or title company has the final say. Terms are on the second mortgage program page, and the Texas investment property second mortgage guide goes deeper.

With the clerk of the county the parcel sits in. The city of Abilene straddles Taylor and Jones counties, and Clyde and Baird are in Callahan, so check the parcel's county, not the mailing city. The Taylor County Clerk charges $25 for the first page and $4 for each additional page, so a 6-page deed of trust would be $45 as an illustration ($25 + 5 x $4), and accepts eRecording through authorized vendors it names as Xerox Government Records, Simplifile and Corporate Service Company. The Jones and Callahan clerks publish schedules effective January 1, 2024 at the same $25 and $4; we did not find eRecording on either county page, so do not assume it. Callahan's sheet notes a penalty of the greater of twice the filing fee or $25 when a grantee's mailing address is missing, under Property Code section 11.003. Confirm current fees with the clerk or your title company. County fees are not USAM terms.

On the first Tuesday of the month at the county courthouse, and a first-lien sale can wipe out the second. In Taylor County the clerk says the auction is held in the southeast foyer of the courthouse and the adjacent exterior upper porch at 300 Oak St. in Abilene; the clerk only file-marks the notices and trustees run the sale. Jones and Callahan counties post their own notices, so confirm the sale site on the notice itself. Property Code section 51.002 requires at least 21 days of notice, and the Texas Supreme Court has held that foreclosure of a senior lien extinguishes inferior liens. A second only holds its value while the first stays current, which is why combined loan-to-value counts every lien. See lien position explained.

We could not confirm, so check before you borrow. We found no Abilene short-term rental permit or registration ordinance, but commercial sources conflict, so we cannot say that one exists or that none does, and we found no long-term rental registration or inspection program. What is documented is the stay tax: 15% combined, made up of 6% state, 7% City of Abilene and 2% Abilene-Taylor County Venue District, with the city return filed monthly by the 20th even if no tax is due. Whether platforms remit the city and venue portions for hosts is unconfirmed. Short-term rentals are eligible for our second mortgage; confirm the current rules with the city, including who can hold any registration if the property sits in an LLC.

Texas decides that by purpose. Finance Code chapter 342, the secondary mortgage loan chapter, covers a loan only if, among other conditions, it is extended primarily for personal, family or household use, and the residential mortgage licensing chapters use the same test. We found no Texas regulator guidance on business-purpose seconds specifically, so this describes the statutes and is not a licensing opinion. Talk to your attorney about your own structure.

The full investor tax rate and a rent that survives the build. The city publishes total rates of 2.2664 per $100 in Abilene ISD and 2.4583 in Wylie ISD for city parcels in Taylor County, with no homestead relief; Wylie ISD adds about $426 a year on a $222,000 rental (0.1919 / 100 x 222,000). Zillow's rent index read $1,990 in September 2026, up 29.9% in a year, tied to data center construction, so underwrite to the rent that stays after it. Run the payment side with the second mortgage calculator. Talk to your CPA about your own figures.