Question 1

What kind of stabilized commercial property actually exists to finance in McAllen?

Accepted Answer

Retail, healthcare, and education-adjacent assets are the anchors, not office towers. McAllen retail sales totaled a reported $17.5 billion in 2023, and La Plaza Mall, the largest mall south of San Antonio, generates about $400 million a year in sales with a large share of visitors historically crossing from Mexico. On the healthcare and education side, DHR Health in Edinburg employs more than 6,000, healthcare employers in the Edinburg area account for over 12,000 jobs, and UTRGV opened fall 2025 with a record 35,812 students, its sixth straight year of enrollment growth. Those retail figures are dated and reported second-hand, so treat them as directional context, not a current rent roll, when you bring us a specific asset.

Question 2

My McAllen-area asset isn't stabilized yet. Is there still a path to permanent debt?

Accepted Answer

Yes: we bridge it now and refinance into permanent debt once it stabilizes. That path fits the Valley's own timeline for lease-up. The Anzalduas International Bridge in Mission is completing an $88 million commercial cargo expansion, six lanes to open the crossing to trucks in both directions, but the federal cargo inspection facility has run about two years behind schedule and, as of the last report we have, was not expected to open before spring 2026. That date has moved before, so confirm the crossing's current status before you underwrite a lease-up timeline against it. An industrial or logistics asset positioned around that opening is a straightforward case for bridge financing now and a permanent take-out once tenants and cash flow are in place.

Question 3

How does the Hidalgo County tax stack affect permanent-debt underwriting on a McAllen commercial property?

Accepted Answer

Budget more than the sale price suggests, since Texas commercial property gets no homestead-style relief at all. Adopted TY2025 rates put the county at 0.5750 and Hidalgo County Drainage District #1 at 0.1123 (a flood-control levy that applies essentially county-wide), with city rates running from 0.449989 in McAllen (its FY 2024-25 rate) up to 0.7676 in Pharr per $100, and school district rates from about 0.93 to 1.16 per $100, before the South Texas College rate is added. That runs a combined stack of roughly 2.1 to 2.5% of value, which we underwrite directly into your net operating income and debt service coverage on any permanent placement, whether it's going through agency, insurance, or wholesale channels.

Question 4

Do I need windstorm coverage on a McAllen commercial asset before we place permanent debt?

Accepted Answer

You'll still carry wind coverage, but not a TWIA policy, and that's a real underwriting difference from a Valley property closer to the coast. The Texas Windstorm Insurance Association's 14-county coastal catastrophe area covers Cameron and Willacy counties, not Hidalgo, so a McAllen, Edinburg, or Mission asset buys standard-market wind coverage rather than a TWIA policy. Flood is the peril that matters here instead: storms on June 24-25, 2019 dropped 12 to 18 inches of rain on the Valley and triggered a federal disaster declaration (DR-4454) covering Hidalgo County. Pull the FEMA flood zone on the specific parcel and price flood coverage as its own line before we finalize permanent terms.

Question 5

Does refinancing a McAllen property into permanent debt trigger a Texas transfer tax?

Accepted Answer

No. Texas has no real estate transfer tax anywhere in the state, McAllen included, because the Texas Constitution bars one. A refinance out of a bridge loan and into permanent debt doesn't create a transfer-tax bill the way it might in a state that taxes deed transfers or mortgage recordings. Title and closing costs still apply under Texas's promulgated title-premium schedule; talk to your title company about the specific numbers on your file.

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