Question 1

What do property taxes actually run on a San Antonio investment property?

Accepted Answer

Budget 2.22% to 2.54% of value inside the city of San Antonio, depending on the school district. The Bexar Tax Assessor's 2025 official rates put the non-school stack at 1.285274 per $100 of value: county 0.276331, road and flood 0.023668, city 0.541590, hospital 0.276235, Alamo Colleges 0.149150, river authority 0.018300. Add the ISD and the combined total runs from 2.22% in East Central to 2.54% in Harlandale, with North East ISD at 2.267474 and Northside at 2.290174. Those are the unmitigated rates an investor pays, because no homestead exemption applies to a rental. The rate is address-specific, so pull the real one before you underwrite, and have your CPA confirm how it lands on your return.

Question 2

Do I get a cheaper tax bill by buying in the suburbs instead of Bexar County?

Accepted Answer

Often yes on the base rate, and a single special district can erase the whole saving. Comptroller city plus ISD rates for tax year 2025 come to 1.7517 per $100 in New Braunfels, 1.8645 in Boerne, 1.9191 in Schertz, 1.9267 in Seguin and 1.9299 in Cibolo, all under the city-of-San Antonio stack. Those sums exclude overlays, and the overlays are not small: Meyer Ranch MUD levies 0.95, Comal WID #1A 0.79, Guadalupe MUD #6 and #10 0.80, Park Place MUD 1.20, Kendall WCID #3A 1.10. A house inside one of those districts can carry a higher combined rate than the same house inside Loop 410. Check the parcel's overlays before you treat the suburb as the cheaper carry.

Question 3

Why does the tax bill jump the year after I buy?

Accepted Answer

Because the Texas 10% appraisal cap is homestead-only. Tax Code section 23.23 limits the annual increase in appraised value to 10% for a homestead. Non-homestead investment property gets neither that cap nor the exemption, so if the seller lived in the house, the bill you see during diligence can reflect years of capped value while your go-forward bill resets toward market. Underwrite the escrow at the reassessed number. On a conventional file that escrow feeds straight into your qualifying ratios, so getting it wrong at the start is what kills the loan two weeks in. The 2025 relief bills went the same way: SB 4 raised the school homestead exemption from $100,000 to $140,000, homestead only, with no investor benefit. If you want to contest a value, the protest deadline under Tax Code section 41.44 is May 15, or 30 days after your notice of appraised value if that is later, and Bexar Appraisal District confirmed May 15 for the 2026 cycle.

Question 4

Does the 20% cap on non-homestead property help my rental?

Accepted Answer

Only through this year, as the law stands. Tax Code section 23.231, the circuit breaker added by SB 2 in 2023, caps the annual increase in appraised value at 20% on non-homestead property at or below a threshold Bexar CAD puts at $5.32 million for 2026. You have to have owned the property for a full calendar year to get it, and it is stripped when the property sells, so it does nothing for you in year one. The part to plan around: section 23.231 expires December 31, 2026 unless the Legislature extends it. If you are modeling a hold into 2027, do not assume the cap survives. Talk to your CPA about your specific situation.

Question 5

How much should I budget for insurance on a San Antonio rental?

Accepted Answer

Bexar County is one of the cheaper big-metro insurance markets in Texas, which is not the same as cheap. Texas Department of Insurance county data puts the 2025 Bexar average homeowners premium with wind at $2,806, up from $1,510 in 2019, though the increases are decelerating: 18.6% in 2024 and 8.8% in 2025. That $2,806 sits roughly 20% below the $3,506 statewide average and well under Dallas at $4,363, Harris at $4,144 and Tarrant at $3,939. Nearby counties run close: Comal $2,803, Guadalupe $2,659, Kendall $3,721. Two structural points worth knowing. Hail has been the top Texas homeowners loss peril every year from 2016 through 2025 except 2021. And the San Antonio metro is not in TWIA territory, so wind and hail coverage comes from the standard market, with no WPI-8 and no TWIA assessment exposure. Get a bound quote during diligence, because the insurance escrow is part of your qualifying payment.

Question 6

Conventional or DSCR for a San Antonio rental right now?

Accepted Answer

With rents flat to falling, a documented file is often the loan that survives the ratio test. Every rent measure we could source shows San Antonio flat or down as of mid-2026. Average apartment rent was $1,264 in data updated August 1, 2026, down 2.65% year over year, and the metro carries the highest apartment vacancy of any major U.S. multifamily market at 15.7%, with 72% of properties offering a concession. Heavily discounted new apartments compete directly with Class B and C houses. On the single-family side, average residential rent in the SABOR MLS area was $1,864 in June 2026. Put a rent number that is not growing against a combined tax rate above 2.2% and you can see why coverage is tight here, which is exactly what a DSCR loan is measured on. If your returns support the file, conventional financing qualifies on you instead of on the rent, and it is usually the lower long-term cost. If they do not, DSCR still gets the deal done. Send us the address and both sets of numbers and we will run them side by side.

Question 7

What is a conventional investment property loan?

Accepted Answer

It is standard, competitively priced financing for a non-owner-occupied investment property, the long-term loan you take when your file fits the conventional box. It usually carries a lower rate than a bridge or DSCR loan, in exchange for full documentation.

Question 8

How is it different from a DSCR loan?

Accepted Answer

A conventional loan qualifies on your documented personal income and credit, while a DSCR loan qualifies on the property's rent. Conventional pricing is often lower if you can document your income and you are within the limit on financed properties; DSCR is easier to scale and skips the income docs. We compare both and put you in the one that fits.

Question 9

How much do I need to put down?

Accepted Answer

Plan on roughly 20% to 25% down on an investment-property purchase, with the best pricing at lower leverage and higher credit. Cash-out refinances are typically capped a bit lower than purchases.

Question 10

What credit score do I need?

Accepted Answer

Conventional investment financing generally wants a credit score around 580 or higher, and your rate improves meaningfully as your score and reserves go up. We will tell you up front where your file lands.

Question 11

What can I use it for?

Accepted Answer

Purchases, rate-and-term refinances, and cash-out refinances on non-owner-occupied 1-4 unit investment property. If you will live in the property, that is owner-occupied financing, which we refer to a trusted partner rather than originate here.

Question 12

What documents are required?

Accepted Answer

Because it is fully documented, expect to provide income verification, tax returns, bank statements, and the standard conventional paperwork. If that documentation is a hurdle, our DSCR and bank-statement programs are the no-tax-return alternatives.

Conventional Investment in San Antonio

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Conventional Investment in San Antonio: local questions

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