Texas

Why physicians are looking at San Antonio

San Antonio's demand base reads like a stability checklist: Fort Sam Houston, Brooke Army Medical Center, and major civilian hospital systems — military and medicine layered in one metro. Before you buy, run the differential on the deal the way you'd work a case: rule out the killers first. Employer concentration? Multiple independent anchors. Regulatory hostility? Landlord-favorable. Taxes? The 1.81% property tax is the finding that needs managing, not ignoring. When the workup comes back this clean everywhere else, that one abnormal value is a budgeting problem, not a contraindication.

The numbers, interpreted

Homes near $248,000 renting at $1,450/mo produce a 14.3× GRM and a ~3.9% cap rate — the lowest entry price among Texas's four core metros and nearly Houston-level yield. Read together: high rent capture per dollar, institutional demand, accessible basis. Houston edges it on raw yield at a 13.8× GRM, and Fort Worth offers DFW exposure at 14.9× and $295,000. San Antonio's distinct advantage is capital efficiency — the cheapest door among the big four, with military-medical demand that doesn't track the oil-and-gas or corporate cycles its siblings ride.

Costs and rules to underwrite

No state income tax keeps rental income whole at the state level; property taxes at 1.81% — roughly $4,490/yr on a $248,000 home — take a real bite and belong at the top of the pro-forma. Landlord-tenant law is favorable, with efficient processes. Underwrite military-tenant turnover: PCS orders end tenancies on the Army's schedule, not yours, so model shorter average stays near the installations. The flip side: housing-allowance-backed rents are among the most reliable income streams a landlord can collect, which cushions the turnover math.

Building your local team in San Antonio

The local team will make or break this investment — and in San Antonio, the right team also understands how military housing allowances and hospital-system hiring actually move the rental market. Assemble a property manager experienced with military and healthcare tenants, an investor-focused realtor who knows which neighborhoods capture base and medical-center demand, and DSCR or investment-property financing arranged early. At $248,000 a door, turnkey providers are a practical option too. Dr Home Investor shortcuts all of it by introducing vetted local team members — including a Realtor match with boots on the ground in San Antonio — instead of the blind Google search that wastes a working physician's time.

Bottom line

San Antonio is the capital-efficient Texas metro: a 14.3× GRM and ~3.9% cap rate at the lowest big-metro entry in the state, carried by military and medical anchors that ignore the business cycle. Budget the 1.81% taxes honestly and the position is durable. Explore other Texas markets for the alternatives. If you plan to finance this door without W-2 underwriting hassles, see how DSCR loans for physicians qualify the property on its own rent.