Using a VA Loan to Buy in Bexar County: The Quirks San Antonio Sellers Know

A VA loan is the best mortgage product most veterans will ever qualify for — zero down, no PMI, competitive rates, and an assumable note. In Bexar County it is also the product San Antonio listing agents scrutinize the hardest, because VA files fall apart in a handful of specific, repeatable places. If you understand those places before you write an offer, your contract looks as clean as cash. If you don't, you lose out to a conventional buyer who offered less.

This is written for active-duty at JBSA-Lackland, Randolph, and Fort Sam Houston, plus retirees settling in the 210/830, who want to know what the other side of the table is actually thinking.

The VA appraisal is the deal, not the price

San Antonio sellers rarely worry about a VA buyer's financing. They worry about the VA appraisal — specifically the Minimum Property Requirements (MPRs) that the VA-assigned appraiser has to certify. MPRs are not the same as a private home inspection. The appraiser is checking habitability, safety, and useful remaining life, and in Bexar County four items get flagged over and over:

• Peeling or chipped paint on any home built before 1978. Whole swaths of SAISD, Harlandale ISD, Edgewood ISD, and the older parts of Alamo Heights ISD (78209) fall here. If there is a flake of paint off a fascia board, it has to be scraped, primed, and repainted before closing. Lead-based paint is the assumed hazard.
• Roof remaining life. The appraiser wants 3+ years of economic life. After a Bexar County hail season, that is not automatic. A roof with curling shingles gets called out.
• HVAC working on the day of appraisal. In July, a house with a dead condenser cannot close VA until it runs. Sellers of vacant homes in Converse or far-west 78245 sometimes shut the system off to save on CPS Energy bills — ask for it to be running before the appraiser arrives.
• Foundation movement. South and far-west San Antonio sit on expansive clay. Visible stair-step cracks in brick veneer or a sloping slab in a 1970s home off Military Drive will trigger a structural engineer's letter, which the seller typically pays for.

Fix-it items are negotiable, but they are the seller's friction. A listing agent who has closed two painful VA files will steer their seller toward a cleaner offer unless yours is priced and packaged to compensate.

The termite report nobody warned you about

Texas is inside the VA's designated termite infestation zone, which means every VA purchase in Bexar County requires a Wood-Destroying Insect report (NPMA-33 form) from a licensed inspector. The buyer cannot pay for it — this is one of the VA's non-allowable fees. That cost falls on the seller or, occasionally, a lender credit.

It is a small dollar figure, but it surprises FSBO sellers who have never sold to a veteran before. Raise it early in the offer conversation. A seller who says "I'm not paying for a termite inspection" often just means "nobody told me I had to."

Seller concessions: the 4% rule is your leverage

VA guidelines allow the seller to contribute up to 4% of the loan amount in concessions, on top of customary closing costs. That 4% can pay the VA funding fee, prepay property taxes and insurance, buy down the rate, or pay off the buyer's consumer debt to requalify. Conventional loans do not allow that.

In a slower San Antonio submarket — think inventory-heavy pockets of Cibolo, Schertz, and the new-build corridors off 1604 West — sellers and national builders will absolutely fund a 2-1 buydown or cover the funding fee to move a house. D.R. Horton, Lennar, and LGI communities around JBSA frequently advertise veteran incentives; ask the on-site agent to put the concession in writing on the TREC 20-17 contract and any builder-specific addendum.

The funding fee, and when you don't pay it

The VA funding fee is a percentage of the loan, not a flat number, and it changes with down payment, first-use vs. subsequent-use, and service category. As of recent cycles, a first-use purchase with zero down runs in the low 2% range; subsequent use runs higher. Check the current table on VA.gov before you build your numbers.

What matters locally: veterans with a VA service-connected disability rating are exempt from the funding fee entirely, and so are surviving spouses receiving DIC. If your rating came through after you got pre-approved, tell your lender — the fee disappears from the Closing Disclosure and your cash-to-close drops by thousands.

Condo approval and the Texas homestead wrinkle

Two quirks trip up buyers who are new to Texas or new to VA:

• The condo has to be on the VA-approved list. Many San Antonio condo projects — particularly older ones near the Medical Center and downtown — are not approved, and getting one approved mid-contract takes weeks the seller will not wait through. Before you tour, search the VA's condo report for the project name.
• Texas homestead law limits cash-out to 80% loan-to-value, even with VA. If you are buying with a VA loan and planning to tap equity later under Texas Constitution Section 50(a)(6), you cannot pull cash out above 80% LTV. This is a state rule layered on top of the VA product.

Competing against cash in the current SA market

Investor cash offers remain common in 78245, 78249, 78218, and the flip-heavy pockets of the near east and west sides. A VA offer can beat cash if it is structured correctly:

• Write a tight option period — 5 to 7 days, not 10.
• Pre-order the appraisal the day the contract is executed. Your lender controls the timing.
• Disclose the VA Amendatory Clause (the "escape clause") up front so the seller is not surprised when it appears at signing. It lets the buyer walk if the appraisal comes in below contract price without forfeiting earnest money — the seller needs to understand that in advance.
• If the listing has been sitting, offer list price and ask for the 4% concession. A seller nets the same as a lower cash offer, and you finance the closing costs.

The assumption angle almost no one uses

Every VA loan is assumable by another qualified borrower — veteran or civilian — subject to lender and VA approval. In a high-rate environment, a San Antonio seller with a 3% VA note has an asset the market undervalues. If you are the buyer, ask whether the seller financed with a VA loan and whether they will entertain an assumption using TREC Form 49-1, the Loan Assumption Addendum. You take over the rate and the remaining balance; you bring cash or a second lien for the equity gap. It is paperwork-heavy and slow — 45 to 90 days through the servicer — but the rate savings can be decisive.

What most people get wrong

• Treating the VA appraisal like a home inspection. It is not. It is a value opinion plus an MPR checklist. You still need a private inspector. Do both.
• Writing "seller to pay all allowable closing costs" without a dollar cap. Cap it at a specific number. Otherwise the listing agent reads it as open-ended and counters harder.
• Assuming the funding fee is the same for everyone. It is not. Reservists, subsequent users, and disabled veterans all have different numbers. Ask your lender for the exact figure on your Loan Estimate.
• Skipping the termite report because the house "looks fine." The NPMA-33 is required for VA in Texas. No exceptions.
• Using a lender who closes two VA loans a year. Use one who closes two a week. San Antonio has plenty — ask at any JBSA housing office or any agent who specializes in military clients.
• Forgetting the Texas homestead exemption deadline. Once you close, file Form 50-114 with BCAD by April 30 of the following tax year. Disabled veterans with a 100% rating get a full property tax exemption on their homestead — that is a separate application, and it is worth thousands a year.

VA loans close in Bexar County every day. The ones that close smoothly share a pattern: a buyer who understood the MPRs, a lender who moved fast, and an agent who sold the seller on the offer before the seller's agent could scare them off it. When you are ready, browse listings at /rentals if you are still deciding whether to buy, or find a military-fluent agent at /agents to structure the offer. More PCS-specific pieces live at /resources.