Question 1

How much do property taxes eat into a McAllen-area rental deal?

Accepted Answer

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.

Question 2

Can I run a short-term rental in McAllen?

Accepted Answer

McAllen has a short-term rental ordinance, 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 are not able to confirm from current sources whether McAllen still requires owner-occupancy for a short-term rental permit, so don't assume either answer until you've read the current ordinance text. 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.

Question 3

Is McAllen a buyer's market right now?

Accepted Answer

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.

Question 4

What's different about underwriting a deal in the Rio Grande Valley?

Accepted Answer

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.

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