Texas Real Estate Questions, Answered

By the state's own measure, yes. Boerne ISD has earned an A rating from the Texas Education Agency for six consecutive years, scoring 92 points in the 2024-2025 ratings with 20 distinction designations. Not every campus rated A — the Boerne Star reported lower grades at four elementaries.

Yes. Under Paragraph 13 of the TREC 20-19 contract, taxes for the current year are prorated through the Closing Date. The title company allocates the year between seller and buyer on the settlement statement, the proration may take a change in exemptions into account, and the parties must adjust it once the actual tax statements are available.

Boerne is the Kendall County seat on I-10, with city utilities and Boerne ISD. Fair Oaks Ranch incorporated in 1988 and spans Bexar, Comal and Kendall counties, so your appraisal district depends on the lot. Bulverde is Comal County, incorporated 1999, Comal ISD, on US 281.

Often yes. Texas has no statewide short-term rental preemption statute, and an HOA declaration is a private contract that can be amended to restrict or prohibit short-term rentals. Tarr v. Timberwood Park (Tex. 2018) held only that a bare residential-purposes-only covenant does not by itself bar short stays.

Yes. A Texas homeowner 65 or older can defer property taxes on their residence homestead by filing Comptroller Form 50-126 with the appraisal district. Deferral stops foreclosure and delinquency penalties while it is in effect, but the taxes keep accruing at 5 percent annual interest under Tax Code 33.06 and eventually come due.

Conventional loans follow the 2026 conforming limit of $832,750 for one unit. FHA uses a nationwide floor of $541,287 and a ceiling of $1,249,125, set by county. VA loans have no loan limit for a veteran with full entitlement, and the funding fee is waived for service-connected disability compensation. Ask a lender to price all three.

No. Texas does not require a real estate attorney to buy a house. The title company handles escrow, title search and closing documents, and license holders use TREC promulgated forms. An attorney is the right call for title defects, probate or estate sales, deed drafting, deed restriction questions, and any custom contract language.

If the property is in a FEMA Special Flood Hazard Area and you are using a federally backed loan, the lender will require flood insurance. Outside that zone it is optional but not unnecessary — a map line is not a risk assessment. Boerne is in Kendall County; get a flood quote during the option period.

Flood risk in Boerne is address-specific, not city-wide. Whether a particular property floods is determined by its FEMA flood zone, the seller's disclosure under Texas Property Code 5.008, and an insurance quote. A property outside the mapped Special Flood Hazard Area can still flood; the map is not a risk assessment.

Boerne draws from three sources — Canyon Lake surface water purchased through the Guadalupe-Blanco River Authority, Boerne City Lake, and local wells in the Trinity Group aquifers. Supply is actively managed, not unlimited: the Cow Creek Groundwater Conservation District sets drought stages and pumping rules countywide. Check ccgcd.org for the current stage.

Yes. Texas has no state individual income tax. It funds local government mostly through property tax, and sales tax runs 6.25% state plus local add-ons to a maximum 8.25%, which is what Boerne charges. Texas property is reappraised at market value annually, subject to a 10% homestead cap.

A Texas rental gets no residence homestead exemption and no 10 percent homestead appraisal cap. It is instead covered by the separate 20 percent circuit breaker on non-homestead property under Tax Code Section 23.231, which applies to tax years 2024 through 2026 and expires December 31, 2026 unless the Legislature renews it.

File with the Kendall Appraisal District at kendallad.org, not Bexar CAD. Boerne is in Kendall County. You must have owned and occupied the home as your principal residence on January 1, and the application is due before May 1. There is no fee to file directly with the district.

File a written notice of protest with your appraisal district by May 15, or 30 days after the district mails your notice of appraised value, whichever is later. Comptroller Form 50-132 works. The appraisal review board must give at least 15 days notice of the hearing, which you may attend in person, by phone, by video or by affidavit.

You terminate a Texas contract by exercising a right the contract gives you and delivering written notice — most commonly during the option period using TREC form 38-8. Terminating the contract and getting the earnest money back are two separate events: escrowed funds cannot be released without mutual agreement or a court order.

The option fee is a negotiated amount the buyer delivers to the escrow agent — the title company, not the seller — within three days after the effective date. It pays for the unrestricted right to terminate. If the sale closes, the fee is credited to the sales price. If the buyer terminates, the seller keeps it.

Boerne is roughly 31 miles northwest of San Antonio on Interstate 10, a 30-to-45-minute drive to downtown depending on traffic. Boerne is the county seat of Kendall County, not part of the City of San Antonio and not in Bexar County, so different ordinances and a different appraisal district apply.

How much you put down depends on the loan program, whether the home will be your homestead or an investment property, and what your lender's overlay requires. Conventional, FHA and VA each set different minimums, and a veteran with full entitlement has no VA loan limit. Only a lender preapproval gives you a real number.

Boerne's fundamentals support long-term value: 20.3 percent Kendall County population growth from 2020 to 2025 driven by domestic migration, six straight A ratings for Boerne ISD, and land and groundwater constraints that limit new supply. Cash flow is the hard part, because Texas property tax rates and Hill Country prices compress yields.

Boerne allows short-term rentals under Ordinance No. 2023-09, so the real question is what caps the return. The binding constraints are a 200-foot block-face separation in residential zones, occupancy of two per bedroom plus two, a ban on events, 13 percent hotel occupancy tax, and a $500,000 liability insurance minimum.

Boerne works well if you want Hill Country land, an A-rated school district, and a 30-to-45-minute I-10 commute to San Antonio. It is the county seat of Kendall County, not a San Antonio suburb. The trade-offs are 20.3 percent county growth since 2020, groundwater limits, and annual market-value reappraisal.

Yes. Kendall County grew 20.3 percent between 2020 and 2025, from an estimated 44,568 residents to 53,289, and most of that came from domestic migration rather than births. The City of Boerne's 2020 census population was 18,084; current city-level numbers are estimates that vary by source.

Hill Country land is not a passive investment. The numbers that decide it are specific to the tract: whether it carries 1-d-1 open-space ag valuation, what a change of use would trigger in rollback taxes for the prior three years, legal access and easements, groundwater availability under Cow Creek GCD rules, and septic feasibility.

No. The option fee is not refundable. If the buyer terminates during the option period, the seller keeps it — that is what the fee bought. If the sale closes, the fee is credited to the sales price, so the buyer effectively gets it back at the closing table. Earnest money is the refundable deposit.

Boerne is in Kendall County, not Travis County: a different appraisal district (Kendall Appraisal District), a different school district (Boerne ISD), and a different water picture. It sits about 31 miles northwest of San Antonio on Interstate 10, a 30 to 45 minute drive downtown depending on traffic.

Texas has no state individual income tax, and it funds local government largely through property tax instead. Texas property is reappraised at market value every year, unlike California under Proposition 13. In Boerne, Boerne ISD's 2025 rate was 1.0109 and the City of Boerne's was 0.4716 per $100 of taxable value.

Inside the city limits you get City of Boerne utilities and ordinances and pay the city's 0.4716 rate. Unincorporated means well and septic, no city rate, and fewer local rules — except in Boerne's ETJ, where the city still regulates platting and some ordinances, such as short-term rentals, still reach you.

Texas gives disabled veterans a fixed dollar exemption off one property's appraised value, scaled to the VA disability rating and starting at $5,000 for a 10-29% rating. A veteran rated 100% disabled, or determined individually unemployable, gets a total exemption on their residence homestead under Tax Code 11.131.

Texas homeowners 65 or older get an additional $60,000 school district homestead exemption on top of the general $140,000, plus a school tax ceiling that freezes school taxes at the amount for the year they qualified. Moving transfers the ceiling as a percentage, not a dollar amount, and only if you file for it.

For a home inside Boerne city limits in Boerne ISD, the 2025 adopted rates per $100 of taxable value were Boerne ISD 1.0109, City of Boerne 0.4716 and Kendall County 0.377, plus any special district on the parcel. Boerne files with Kendall Appraisal District, not Bexar CAD.

For 2026 the conforming one-unit baseline is $832,750, with a high-cost ceiling of $1,249,125. FHA's nationwide one-unit floor is $541,287 and ceiling $1,249,125. Kendall County sits in the San Antonio-New Braunfels MSA, whose 2026 FHA one-unit limit is reported at $557,750 — confirm it on HUD's lookup. VA has no limit on full entitlement.

There is no single number. Each loan program sets an agency minimum, and then the individual lender adds its own stricter overlay — the overlay is what you actually have to meet. Score also prices the loan and the mortgage insurance, not just approval. Get a real preapproval from a lender who pulls credit and reads your income documents.

The effective date is the date the last party signs the contract and that signature is delivered. It is day zero. Every other deadline in a Texas contract counts from it: the option fee delivery, the option period, the financing deadline, title objections and the closing date. A wrong effective date makes every one of them wrong.

At a Texas closing the title company acts as escrow agent. The parties sign the deed, note and closing disclosure, the buyer wires funds, the lender funds the loan, and the title company records the deed. Signing is not closing — the deal closes when it funds and records. No attorney is required.

A 1031 exchange lets an owner defer capital gain on real property held for productive use in a trade or business or for investment by exchanging it for like-kind real property. You have 45 days to identify replacement property in writing and 180 days to receive it. A personal residence does not qualify.

A MUD is a municipal utility district and a PID is a public improvement district. Both fund water, sewer, roads and amenities in a Texas subdivision, and both add a line to the property tax bill that can change the monthly payment. Each has a TREC notice form that goes to the buyer in the transaction.

A T-47 is a notarized affidavit in which a Texas seller states that nothing has changed on the property since the existing survey. With it, the lender and title company can often accept that survey instead of requiring a new one. A T-47.1 declaration does the same job without notarization; both took effect November 1, 2024.

A Texas cash-out refinance is a home equity loan under Article XVI, Section 50(a)(6) of the Texas Constitution. All loans against the homestead combined cannot exceed 80 percent of fair market value, the loan cannot close until 12 days after the later of application or notice, and fees are capped at 2 percent.

A title commitment is the title company's written promise to issue a title policy on stated terms. It comes in four schedules: A is the deal facts, B is what the policy will not cover, C is what must be fixed before closing, and D discloses who gets paid. Reading it is a task with a deadline.

An ag exemption is not an exemption. It is a special appraisal that values qualifying land on its agricultural productivity instead of market value. Changing the use triggers a rollback: three years of additional tax equal to the difference between what was paid on ag value and what would have been paid on market value.

An ETJ is a city's extraterritorial jurisdiction: unincorporated land just outside the city limits where the city keeps some regulatory authority under Texas Local Government Code chapter 42. Property there is not inside the city and not on the city's property tax roll, but some city rules still reach it. Boerne's short-term rental ordinance does.

An HOA resale certificate is a Texas Property Code chapter 207 document the property owners' association prepares for a pending sale. It states assessments, unpaid amounts, known violations, insurance, pending lawsuits, reserves and transfer restrictions. The association must deliver it within 10 business days of a proper written request, prepared no earlier than 60 days before delivery.

Earnest money is a good-faith deposit the buyer delivers to the title company to be held in escrow. It is refundable if the buyer terminates during the option period or under a contract right such as the financing addendum. It is credited to the buyer at closing and cannot be released without mutual agreement or a court order.

Once a Texas home has a homestead exemption, the appraisal district cannot raise its net appraised value more than 10 percent per year, no matter how much the market moves. The cap does not transfer to a buyer. It resets to market value after a sale, which is why a new owner's tax bill often jumps.

The Amendment to Contract is the TREC form used to change the terms of a contract that is already in effect: price, closing date, repairs, option period. It takes effect only when every party signs and it is delivered. The current version is TREC form 39-11, effective 07/01/2026. It changes a contract. It does not end one.

BRRRR is buy, rehab, rent, refinance, repeat. It works in Texas, with one constitutional catch: if the property is the borrower's homestead, the refinance is a Section 50(a)(6) loan capped at 80 percent loan-to-value with a 12-day waiting period. A rental held as an investment is not the homestead and is not governed by 50(a)(6).

The option period is a negotiated window in the TREC contract during which a Texas buyer can terminate for any reason and get their earnest money back. The buyer pays a separate option fee to the title company within three days of the effective date. The fee is credited at closing and is not refunded on termination.

The Seller's Disclosure Notice is a written notice Texas Property Code section 5.008 requires from a seller of residential property with not more than one dwelling unit. It discloses known condition, defects and flood history. If the seller delivers it after the contract is signed, the buyer may terminate for any reason within seven days after receiving it.

The Texas homestead exemption removes part of your home's value from property taxation. For 2026, school districts must exempt $140,000 of a residence homestead's value, up from $100,000 after voters approved Proposition 13 in November 2025. You must own and occupy the home as your principal residence on January 1.

The Third Party Financing Addendum is the TREC form that makes a Texas contract conditional on the buyer's loan. It identifies the loan type and terms, and it gives the buyer a deadline to terminate if the lender will not approve the buyer. The current version is TREC form 40-11, effective 01/03/2025.

The One to Four Family Residential Contract (Resale) is the TREC promulgated form Texas license holders use to sell existing single-family homes, duplexes, triplexes and four-plexes. The current version is form 20-19, effective July 1, 2026. Condominiums, builder new construction and farm and ranch each use a different form.

The VA funding fee is a one-time fee paid to the VA on most VA-guaranteed home loans, charged as a percentage of the loan amount. Veterans receiving VA compensation for a service-connected disability are exempt, as are several other groups. Exemption is documented with VA Form 26-8937, a current award letter, or a Veteran Service Center Manager letter.

Texas title insurance premium rates are promulgated by the Texas Department of Insurance, so the premium for a given policy amount is identical at every title company in Texas. Shopping title companies is about service, escrow fees and closing experience, not premium price. The current rate schedule took effect March 1, 2026.

A Hill Country property on a septic system and a private well carries due diligence a city-connected house does not. The buyer is responsible for inspecting the on-site sewage facility, testing and evaluating the well, and gathering permits and maintenance records, all inside the option period. TREC form 61-0 covers groundwater and surface water rights.

The biggest surprises are the option period, which lets a Texas buyer terminate for any reason; that no attorney is required and the title company runs closing; that title insurance premiums are set by the state, so they are identical everywhere; and that annual reappraisal replaces a state income tax.

Who pays closing costs in Texas is negotiated in the contract, not fixed by law. Custom in much of Texas is that the seller pays the owner's title policy and the buyer pays lender and loan-related costs, but every line is negotiable. Your lender's Loan Estimate and the title company's fee sheet give the actual numbers.

Who pays for the survey is negotiated in the contract, not set by Texas law. The TREC contract has a paragraph where the parties choose. Custom in much of Texas is that the seller furnishes an existing survey with a T-47 affidavit, and the buyer pays for a new one if the existing survey is not acceptable.

Boerne prices are driven by structural scarcity, not hype. Kendall County grew 20.3 percent from 2020 to 2025 on domestic migration, Boerne ISD has six straight A ratings, Hill Country terrain and groundwater regulation limit how densely land can be developed, and I-10 puts San Antonio jobs 31 miles away.

Your tax bill is appraised value times the combined rate of every taxing unit that covers your property, minus exemptions. It rises when the appraisal rises, when any single entity raises its rate, when an exemption is lost or was never filed, or when the 10 percent homestead cap resets to market value after a sale.