Question 1

What is the biggest way a San Marcos flip budget gets blown up?

Accepted Answer

Crossing the city's 50% substantial-improvement threshold on assessed value. San Marcos requires a minimum finished-floor elevation at least two feet above the regulated floodplain, and the regulated buffer runs two feet in elevation above the mapped floodplain itself, wider than the FEMA line most investors check. If rehab costs exceed 50% of the structure's assessed value (computed from county tax records or a recent appraisal), the structure must be raised to that elevation standard, with a licensed surveyor or engineer documenting it on a FEMA Elevation Certificate both during and at the end of construction. On typical Hays County assessed values, that line arrives earlier than most investors expect. Ask the city's Floodplain Administrator whether the lot is in before you write the offer, not after the appraisal comes back.

Question 2

What does permitting a San Marcos rehab actually cost?

Accepted Answer

The permit itself is a small line item; the flood analysis is the one to watch. The city's residential interior remodel fee is $0.42 per square foot, so a 1,500 square foot gut rehab runs about $630 to permit. If the lot sits in or near the regulated floodplain, add a $50 floodplain permit application, and if new hydrologic modeling is required to show no rise, the city's own flood-analysis review fees run $1,260 to $1,575. That analysis fee, not the base permit, is what separates a floodplain-adjacent San Marcos rehab budget from an ordinary one.

Question 3

What property tax should I budget for a San Marcos flip or hold?

Accepted Answer

Plan on about 2.0666 per $100 of assessed value, and there is no homestead exemption or appraisal cap to soften it. The San Marcos investor stack is Hays County 0.3999 (which includes the Special Road line, a rate that reads as a homestead exemption but is paid in full by every non-homestead owner), the City of San Marcos 0.6515, and San Marcos CISD 1.0152, for a total of 2.0666 per $100, about $6,200 a year on a $300,000 basis. Unlike Kyle or Buda, a San Marcos parcel does not carry the Austin Community College rate, since San Marcos CISD sits outside the ACC taxing district. Verify the parcel's own account before closing: a handful of San Marcos properties also carry a public improvement district assessment (Trace, River Bridge Ranch, Whisper or Whisper South) that rides on the same county tax statement but never appears on the appraisal district's rate sheet. Talk to your CPA about how the carry affects your hold period.

Question 4

Does San Marcos carry unusual insurance risk for a rehab hold?

Accepted Answer

Hail, and it swings hard year to year. Hays County's wind and hail paid loss per policy ran $953 in 2023, spiked to $2,603 in 2024, a catastrophic hail year in which the county's wind losses ran $167.8 million, then fell back to $707 in 2025, against a total paid loss per policy of $1,099 across roughly 66,850 policies in 2025. Budget a 2% wind and hail deductible on any policy you carry through a rehab, ask the roof's age and material before you buy, and expect renewal pricing to track last season's hail rather than any national trend.

Question 5

How soft is the resale market for a San Marcos flip right now?

Accepted Answer

Soft, and it is the steepest-falling market on the corridor. Hays County's median list price was $414,450 in July 2026, down 9.9% year over year, the steepest decline of the four corridor counties, with 1,673 active listings, a 67-day median time on market and 26.9% of listings carrying a price cut. Underwrite a marketing period well past 60 days, not a quick flip. No San Marcos or Austin-metro flip rate or gross margin figure has been sourced, so use the Texas statewide number instead: ATTOM put Texas gross ROI at 5.6% in the first quarter of 2026, and that figure is resale price against purchase price only, before rehab, carry and financing. Run your own numbers on the fix and flip calculator before you sign, and make the spread at purchase.

Question 6

How much do I need to bring to a San Marcos flip?

Accepted Answer

Roughly 10% of the purchase, plus closing costs and carry. We fund up to 90% of the purchase price and up to 100% of the rehab budget, capped to ARV, on a 6-month interest-only term. San Marcos's own mid-tier home value was $310,480 as of July 2026, so on a purchase near that basis you would bring roughly $31,000 with us funding the rest, before rehab draws against the budget. Layer in the 2.0666 per $100 tax stack and the floodplain analysis fee above before you finalize the number. Subject to underwriting.

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