Texas markets
One state, a lot of different rental markets
Texas is big enough that a rule of thumb from Dallas will mislead you in El Paso. Rents, tax rates, insurance exposure, and local rules differ from metro to metro — and all of them feed the DSCR.
Houston
Houston is big, sprawling, and lightly zoned, which makes it a market where two rentals a mile apart can have completely different numbers.
Houston DSCR loans →Dallas-Fort Worth
DFW is really a dozen markets wearing one name tag: Dallas, Fort Worth, and a ring of fast-growing suburbs spread across several counties.
Dallas-Fort Worth DSCR loans →San Antonio
San Antonio has a deep renter base tied to military installations, health care, and tourism, plus a short-term rental market that the city regulates.
San Antonio DSCR loans →Austin
Austin and its suburbs have seen big swings in prices and rents over the past several years.
Austin DSCR loans →El Paso
Hundreds of miles from the other big Texas metros and on Mountain Time instead of Central, El Paso has its own economy and its own rhythm.
El Paso DSCR loans →Taxes & insurance
Appraisal districts, protests, TWIA windstorm coverage, homestead rules, and LLC vesting.
Texas-specific issues →What is the same everywhere in Texas
A few things hold statewide. Texas has no state personal income tax, so local governments rely heavily on property tax, and that bill sits in the payment lenders use to calculate DSCR. Each county has an appraisal district that sets values every year, and owners can protest. Rentals get no homestead exemption or homestead cap, so their taxable values can move faster than an owner-occupant’s.
Texas’s strict home-equity rules in Article XVI, Section 50(a)(6) of the state constitution protect homesteads; business-purpose loans on non-homestead investment property are handled differently. And Texas title insurance premiums are set by the state rather than negotiated carrier by carrier, which makes closing-cost comparisons a little simpler.
What changes from market to market
- Total tax rate by city, school district, and special districts like MUDs
- Insurance exposure: hail in North Texas, windstorm and flood near the Gulf
- Short-term rental ordinances and permits
- HOA prevalence and leasing restrictions in newer subdivisions
- The relationship between prices and rents, which drives the ratio
Market descriptions are qualitative and for general education. They are not a DSCR loan rate, term, or offer.
Got a Texas rental under contract, or one worth refinancing?
Send us the address, the rent, and what you are trying to do. We will tell you plainly whether it pencils as a DSCR deal and which wholesale lenders are worth a look.