San Antonio is one of the steadier small multifamily markets in Texas: a large military and healthcare employment base, no state income tax, and workforce housing demand that holds up through cycles. It is also a market where the property tax bill you inherit is almost never the bill you will pay.
Texas reappraises every year, and Bexar County is no exception. The Bexar Appraisal District (BCAD) sets a new market value on your property every year, and once you close, the sale price (a public record) pulls your assessment toward what you paid. Underwrite the seller's tax line and you are underwriting a number that does not apply to you.
BCAD reassesses annually, and the sale resets it
Texas has no cap on investment-property assessment growth. The 10% homestead cap does not apply to a rented apartment building. BCAD publishes preliminary values in the spring, and the year after you buy, your assessment typically moves toward your purchase price.
The San Antonio tax rate is a stack of about seven taxing units. On a standard in-city parcel in the San Antonio ISD footprint, the combined rate runs roughly 2.44%: San Antonio ISD, the City of San Antonio, Bexar County, Alamo Colleges, the University Health System, the flood control district, and the road-and-bridge levy. Suburban ISDs (North East, Northside, Judson) and independent cities (Balcones Heights, Leon Valley, Converse) shift the number, so confirm the exact jurisdiction before you model.
Practical implication: model year-1 tax at purchase price times the combined rate for the actual taxing jurisdiction, not the seller's current bill. A building bought at $1.4M in an SAISD area should be underwritten near $34,000/year in property tax, even if the seller's last bill was $22,000.
Military and medical drive demand, but concentration is a risk
Joint Base San Antonio (Lackland, Randolph, Fort Sam Houston) and the South Texas Medical Center anchor rental demand, which is a strength. It also means certain submarkets lean heavily on a single employer or BAH (Basic Allowance for Housing) rate. Check how close your target is to a base and whether the tenant base is BAH-driven, because military pay adjustments and base realignments move those rents.
Flash flooding is a real underwriting item
San Antonio sits in one of the most flash-flood-prone regions in the country. Parts of the near-north and near-west sides fall inside FEMA flood zones tied to Salado Creek, Leon Creek, and San Antonio River tributaries. A flood-zone designation means mandatory flood insurance and a direct hit to OpEx. Pull the FEMA zone before you offer.
Permits exist, so verify the renovation claims
Major work (HVAC, electrical panels, roof, additions) requires a permit through San Antonio's Development Services Department. Search the city's permit portal and cross-reference any "fully renovated" claim against what was actually pulled. Cosmetic upgrades (paint, flooring, counters) usually leave no permit trail; system replacements should. See the full guide to checking permit history for the methodology.
The broker pitch, translated
- "Taxes are low": they are the seller's capped-by-nothing but simply lagging number. Next assessment catches up to your price.
- "Strong military demand": verify the BAH exposure and base proximity rather than taking it as a blanket positive.
- "Value-add on the East/South Side": check permits and code violations, and confirm in-place rents against ZIP-level ACS medians before you price in upside.
- "Cap rate is X%": ask for the NOI math. Confirm it includes reserves, real management, and post-sale tax.
The standard checklist still applies
The San Antonio items above sit on top of the general pre-offer due diligence checklist: permit history, code violations, demographics, a debt-service stress test, and FEMA flood zone. The single most important thing to model right in Texas is the annual reassessment. Full tax modeling guide.
Or get the San Antonio research done for you
DealBrief pulls BCAD assessment, the combined tax rate for the exact jurisdiction, sale history, permit records, FEMA flood zone, and the full debt-service scenario grid for any San Antonio multifamily address, with the year-1 tax projected at purchase price. Your first report is free.