Question 1

What property tax number should I use in a Fort Worth DSCR calculation?

Accepted Answer

Budget roughly 2% to 2.5% of value a year in Tarrant County, then confirm it at the parcel. A typical Fort Worth property stacks the city, Fort Worth ISD, Tarrant County, Tarrant County College and the hospital district for a combined rate of about $2.24 per $100 of taxable value, with the city's own piece running about $0.67. Arlington adopted a total rate of $1.0929 per $100 for tax year 2025, which the city described as its lowest in 20 years. Published effective-rate estimates for Tarrant County disagree with each other, from about 1.52% to about 1.77%, and the practical spread across addresses is wider still, so a single county-level number is not something to underwrite to. The metro also spans three counties with three sets of rules: Tarrant, Parker for Weatherford and Johnson for Burleson. Pull the parcel's actual jurisdictions from the Tarrant Appraisal District, then run the real number through the DSCR calculator. Rates move year to year, and Fort Worth was weighing a rate increase for the coming budget, so re-check before you close. Your CPA is the right person for the planning side.

Question 2

Does the bigger Texas homestead exemption help my Fort Worth rental?

Accepted Answer

No. It is an owner-occupant benefit, and it does not touch investment property. Texas Proposition 13 passed on November 4, 2025 and raised the school-district homestead exemption from $100,000 to $140,000, with a combined $200,000 for owners 65 and older or disabled, worth roughly $350 to $500 a year to a typical homeowner. None of that reaches a non-owner-occupied rental, and neither does the 10% homestead appraisal cap. Two things follow. Your rental is taxed on full assessed value, and the seller's current bill is a poor proxy for yours if the seller lived in the house. A pro forma built off an owner-occupied neighbor's tax bill understates carry, often by enough to move the ratio. We underwrite the go-forward bill for the address rather than the historical one. Confirm your own position with your CPA.

Question 3

Can I qualify a Fort Worth rental on short-term rental income?

Accepted Answer

Treat it as a zoning question first, and expect us to size the loan on long-term lease rent. Fort Worth prohibits short-term rentals in residential zoning districts and permits them only in mixed-use, form-based, commercial and industrial districts, with city registration and hotel occupancy tax on top. That restriction was upheld at the district court level in March 2025 in a case brought by a local short-term rental alliance and its plaintiffs, who said they would appeal on Texas constitutional grounds. We have not found a source confirming how that appeal came out, so nobody should be telling you the ban is final either way. Confirm the current status with your attorney before you underwrite nightly revenue on a Fort Worth parcel. Arlington is the settled case: short-term rentals are confined to a defined zone of roughly one mile around the entertainment district, and elsewhere in the city to RM-12, RMF-22, non-residential and mixed-use districts, under ordinances adopted in April 2019 that a Texas appeals court upheld. Arlington also charges a $500 non-refundable annual permit per address, and requires a fire and safety inspection, a local responsible party reachable 24 hours, $1 million in liability coverage, and quarterly remittance of a 9% local hotel occupancy tax. Grapevine has short-term rental litigation of its own, and Keller, Mansfield, Southlake, Burleson and Weatherford write their own rules, so do not carry Fort Worth's or Arlington's across to them. Our posture does not change with the outcome: the long-term lease carries the ratio, and nightly upside stays out of it.

Question 4

Why do you look so hard at insurance and roof age on a Fort Worth rental?

Accepted Answer

Because hail makes insurance a volatile carry line here, and roof age gates both the premium and whether a carrier will write the risk at all. Texas logged 878 major hailstorms in 2024, meaning stones an inch or larger, nearly double the next closest state, and hail losses are the costliest peril in the DFW region. The statewide average annual homeowners premium reached $3,506 in 2025. Where 2026 lands is genuinely unsettled: the published forecasts we can find disagree with each other by roughly a factor of four, so quoting any one of them would be guessing rather than underwriting. That is why we want a bindable quote on the actual property with the actual roof before you close, not after. The same issue shows up at the exit, where a 15-year-old roof with hail history can fail a buyer's or a refinance lender's insurance step even when the rent is fine.

Question 5

What rent growth should I assume on a Fort Worth hold as of mid-2026?

Accepted Answer

Assume none, and read the supply picture as a reason to hold rather than a reason to project. The apartment wave that pressured North Texas rents is receding. About 21,000 units are expected to deliver across North Texas in 2026, down from roughly 30,000 in 2025 and a peak above 44,000 in 2024, and the DFW construction pipeline sits about 43% below its 2023 peak. Demand has been running ahead of deliveries, with about 8,500 units absorbed against about 7,500 delivered in the first quarter of 2026. Class A rents were up 3.2% year over year then, Class B posted its first year-over-year increase since 2023, and Class C was still declining. That is a supply observation, not a rent forecast, and single-family rentals are their own market on top of it. Underwrite the lease the property has today. If the file only clears on a rent increase, it does not clear.

Question 6

Does Fort Worth growth actually support a long hold?

Accepted Answer

On headcount it does, and it is worth being precise about why. Fort Worth added 19,512 residents in the year to July 1, 2025, reaching 1,028,117 people and the top 10 largest US cities, the second-largest numeric gain of any American city that year. It is not the fastest-growing city by percentage, which is a distinction local investors notice: that list belongs to smaller Texas suburbs like Celina and Fulshear. Fort Worth is a volume story, and the job base under the northern half of it is substantial. AllianceTexas counts 590 companies and more than 66,000 employees against $18.3 billion invested through 2025, and far north Fort Worth holds the largest industrial construction pipeline in the country at 7.7 million square feet across 20 projects. What that supports is tenant demand, not a fast resale. Texas as a whole ran 5.3 months of supply and 64 days on market in May 2026 on Texas Real Estate Research Center data, so structure the file to hold through a slow sale window instead of counting on selling into a quick one. Longer fixed terms and prepay structures exist for that reason, subject to underwriting.

Question 7

What is a DSCR loan, and how do I qualify without tax returns?

Accepted Answer

A DSCR (debt service coverage ratio) loan qualifies on the property's rental income instead of your personal income, so there are no W-2s or tax returns required. We compare the rent, from a signed lease or the appraiser's market-rent estimate, against the monthly payment. A DSCR of 1.00 means the rent covers the payment, and we lend with a DSCR as low as 0.75.

Question 8

What rate and terms can I get on a rental loan?

Accepted Answer

Our rental program starts around 5.50% interest-only, with 30-year fixed and 5/7/10-year ARM options, for a single property or a whole portfolio. The lowest pricing goes to strong credit, lower leverage, and a DSCR above 1.20; your quote depends on the file and is subject to underwriting.

Question 9

How much can I borrow, and what is the maximum LTV?

Accepted Answer

We finance up to 80% loan-to-value on a purchase, with rate-and-term and cash-out refinances available, on loan amounts from $100K to $3M. Cash-out leverage is typically a little lower than purchase. The property's cash flow and your credit set your final leverage.

Question 10

What credit score do I need for a DSCR loan?

Accepted Answer

We start at 640, and the best pricing goes to strong credit. Because the loan qualifies on the asset, your score affects your rate and leverage more than whether you are approved.

Question 11

Can I get a DSCR loan on a short-term rental (Airbnb)?

Accepted Answer

Yes, short-term rentals are considered. We can underwrite using market or projected rents, and the property still needs to meet our DSCR. Tell us how the property is operated so we can structure it correctly.

Question 12

Is there a prepayment penalty?

Accepted Answer

Long-term rental loans usually carry a prepayment penalty, commonly a step-down such as 5/4/3/2/1. We offer flexible prepay structures, including buying down to a shorter penalty for a slightly higher rate, and we will lay out the options on your term sheet.

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