The Valley runs on cross-border trade and keeps adding people.
No large US metro has a lower entry basis. USA Mortgage funds investors across the Rio Grande Valley. Colonia history makes title and utility diligence essential. Business-purpose loans only, and every structure is set in underwriting.
The answer comes from us, not a committee somewhere else.
The lowest-priced of the 100 largest US metros
McAllen's mid-tier single-family value is $195,624 as of June 2026 against $375,094 nationally, the lowest of the 100 largest U.S. metros in Zillow's home value index, and it's flat rather than falling, up 0.4% year over year.
Rental yields well above the national average
ATTOM named Hidalgo County one of 28 SFR Growth counties nationally in 2025, with potential 3-bedroom gross rental yields above 10% against a 7.45% national average. Index math on June 2026 rent and value lands at 11.1% gross, before the county's roughly 2.1% to 2.5% property tax stack.
A trade economy still adding people and jobs
The Pharr-Reynosa International Bridge reports more than $41 billion in annual trade and 120,000-plus commercial trucks a month, the number one produce crossing in the nation. Hidalgo County added about 49,000 residents from 2020 to 2025, and nonfarm employment reached 310,400 in June 2026, up 1.5% year over year.
Loan programs in McAllen
Acquisition through exit, all funded or arranged by one lender.
Yes. We fund across the metro. That includes McAllen, Edinburg, Mission, Pharr, Weslaco, San Juan, Harlingen, and Brownsville. We are headquartered in Bee Cave, Texas, and every loan is business-purpose only, on investment property, with terms subject to underwriting. See how we lend across Texas or talk to us.
How much do property taxes eat into a McAllen-area rental deal?
More than most out-of-state investors expect, and there's no homestead relief to soften it. Hidalgo County's TY2025 rate is 0.5750 per $100, plus a county-wide drainage district levy of 0.1123 that hits essentially every parcel. Add a city rate, from 0.4500 in McAllen (the city's own FY 2024-25 rate) up to 0.7676 in Pharr, and a school district rate of roughly 0.93 to 1.16, and a McAllen-city rental in McAllen ISD stacks to about 2.07 per $100 before the South Texas College levy, a true total north of 2.1%. On a median-value rental that's roughly $4,100 to $4,900 a year, about 2.7 to 3.2 months of the metro's median rent. Texas gives investment property no 10% appraisal cap and no homestead exemption, and the protest deadline is May 15 or 30 days after your notice, whichever is later. Talk to your CPA or attorney about your specific parcel. See the DSCR program.
What does McAllen's Chapter 46, Article VII require of a short-term rental?
A permit, an annual business license, and a monthly hotel occupancy tax report, and the rest of the Valley is a city-by-city question. McAllen regulates short-term rentals under Code of Ordinances Chapter 46, Article VII: rentals under 30 days need a permit and annual license, operators must collect hotel occupancy tax and file a monthly report with the city, maintain smoke detectors in every advertised sleeping space, and provide a guest conduct brochure. A revoked permit bars reapplication for that property for 12 months. We could not confirm the current ordinance text on an owner-occupancy requirement, so don't assume pure investor short-term rentals are unrestricted in McAllen until you've read it. Texas has no statewide short-term rental preemption, so Edinburg, Mission, Pharr, Weslaco, Harlingen, and Brownsville can each set their own rules, and we don't have those on file yet. Confirm the current ordinance for your specific address before you underwrite nightly income. See the DSCR program.
By the numbers, yes. Active listings hit 3,401 in July 2026, up 9.7% from a year earlier and up 39% from July 2024. Median days on market stretched to 81 in July 2026 from 77 the year before, and the median list price fell 4.1% year over year to $260,000. None of that is a market in trouble: Hidalgo County added about 49,000 residents from 2020 to 2025, now 921,549 total and the 9th largest county in Texas, and nonfarm employment reached 310,400 in June 2026, up 1.5% year over year. McAllen's own home values are essentially flat, up 0.4% year over year on Zillow's index as of June 2026. Growing inventory and a growing population at the same time is what gives an investor room to negotiate on price without betting against the metro. Apply now. Subject to underwriting.
What's different about underwriting a deal in the Rio Grande Valley?
The colonias diligence layer, and it's a real lender competence here, not a formality. Hidalgo County is one of the most affected counties in Texas for colonias, historically unplatted subdivisions sold without water, sewer, or drainage, and the state built a specific statutory regime around it: Model Subdivision Rules under Water Code section 16.343, border-county platting requirements under Local Government Code chapter 232, and enhanced contract-for-deed protections under Property Code chapter 5, subchapter D. In practice that means confirming a lot sits on a recorded plat rather than a metes-and-bounds slice, running title deep enough to surface any contract-for-deed chain, and confirming actual water and sewer service rather than "available in the area." Flood is the other local peril worth naming: a June 2019 storm dropped 12 to 18 inches of rain on the Valley and destroyed or seriously damaged nearly 1,200 homes, so check the FEMA flood zone on every parcel. One more line worth knowing: the Texas Windstorm Insurance Association's coastal catastrophe area covers Cameron and Willacy counties, so a Harlingen or Brownsville deal carries coastal wind underwriting that a McAllen, Edinburg, or Mission deal does not. We fund our own capital and know this diligence list going in, which is what lets a Valley deal close on schedule instead of stalling on title.
Does a McAllen flip or bridge deal have a credit score minimum?
No. Three of our programs carry no minimum at all.Fix and flip, commercial bridge, and ground-up construction are asset-based: we run credit, but it carries far less weight than it would at a bank, and weaker credit is usually handled with lower leverage rather than a decline. DSCR and bank statement start at 640. Conventional investment starts at 580. Transactional funding has no credit check at all. There is no hard credit pull to start. Subject to underwriting.
McAllen doors price near $195,624. What is 10% to 25% down in real dollars?
Between roughly 10% and 25%, depending on the program. A flip funds up to 90% of the purchase plus up to 100% of the rehab, capped to ARV, so on a $200,000 McAllen purchase that is $180,000 from us and $20,000 from you (200,000 x 90% = 180,000). A DSCR rental goes up to 80% LTV, so the same $200,000 door is $160,000 from us and $40,000 from you (200,000 x 80% = 160,000). Ground-up runs to 85% of cost, commercial bridge to 75% of value. Against a metro mid-tier value of $195,624, the lowest of the 100 largest US metros in Zillow's index, those percentages are small checks in absolute dollars. Subject to underwriting.
Can a low-basis Valley door fall under your $100,000 loan minimum?
Yes, which is why the $100,000 floor matters here more than in most metros. Fix and flip, DSCR, and bank statement loans all start at $100,000. Portfolio loans start at $500,000 across five or more doors, and SBA starts at $350,000 on owner-occupied commercial space. McAllen's mid-tier single-family value was $195,624 in June 2026, the lowest of the 100 largest US metros in Zillow's index, so a leveraged loan on a low-basis Valley door can land under the minimum. Send the purchase price early. Subject to underwriting.
Local rules move. Every tax rate, fee, ordinance and market figure here comes from a primary source and carries the date we read it, and we correct them as the rules change. Where a number is mid-change or we could not verify it, we say so rather than guess. Before you commit a budget, confirm anything that drives it with the city or county, and talk to your attorney or CPA on questions of law or tax.
Published by USA Mortgage Funding, LLC, NMLS #152588. Researched from primary sources by our team, drafted with AI assistance, and every figure checked against its source before publishing. Where an answer rests on a public record, that record is linked under it. Figures read on 2026-08-12.
Funding McAllen deals fast.
Get real terms, usually same day. No obligation, no hard credit pull to start.