Serving Hays County
We Buy Houses in San Marcos, TX: Sell Fast for a Fair Cash Offer
Need to sell your house fast in San Marcos? We're local Central Texas cash buyers. No fees, no repairs, no showings, and you choose the closing date.
- Written offer within 24 hours
- Any condition, as-is
- No commissions or fees
- Serving Hays County
Get Your San Marcos Cash Offer
No fees. No obligation. We respond within 24 hours and never share your info.
San Marcos Is a Landlord Town. We’re the Exit.
No city we buy in has a higher share of rental property than San Marcos. Texas State University keeps tens of thousands of students needing housing. For decades, local and out-of-town investors have supplied it. Their holdings run from purpose-built rental boxes near campus to converted family homes off Sessom Drive and in the older neighborhoods between downtown and the river. It works until it doesn't. The August turnover scramble. The fourth set of tenants in five years. The make-ready that costs a semester of rent. The 2 a.m. calls. Every August we hear from landlords who just finished their last turnover and mean it this time.
We buy houses in San Marcos in whatever state the school year left them, student rentals very much included. Occupied with a lease that runs through May. Vacant with patched walls and worn carpet. Or somewhere in between. Leases transfer to us under Texas landlord-tenant law, which the Texas State Law Library's landlord-tenant guide sums up well. So you don't wait for May to sell. Security deposits transfer at closing per the lease terms. Tenants keep their housing. You keep the equity without one more turnover.
The Other Houses We Buy in San Marcos: Family Homes, Estates, and the River Neighborhoods
San Marcos isn't only student housing, and neither are we:
- Older family neighborhoods near downtown and the river: original homes with decades of put-off maintenance. Some sit in areas with flood history, like Blanco Gardens, where the 2015 floods still shape buyer nerves and insurance costs. We buy flood-affected properties with eyes open and price honestly.
- Estates and inherited homes: longtime San Marcos families, houses full of belongings, heirs spread across Texas and beyond. Probate-friendly, cleanout on us.
- Homes near the outlet corridor and I-35: relocations and life-event sales where speed matters more than squeezing the last dollar.
- Small multifamily: duplexes, triplexes, and fourplexes near campus, occupied or not.
Hays County Taxes, Deposits, and Closing Details Landlords Ask About
San Marcos values come from the Hays Central Appraisal District. Investment property carries no homestead cap. So landlords here have felt every point of appreciation in their tax bills. The Texas Comptroller explains how assessment works if you want the mechanics. At closing, the title company prorates the current year's taxes and clears any overdue balance from proceeds. It also handles the transfer of tenant security deposits with the leases. Selling one rental to buy another? Ask your CPA about a 1031 exchange, a tax rule that lets you put off capital gains when you swap one investment property for another. The IRS explains it in its like-kind exchange guidance. Our ability to close on a fixed date makes the exchange deadlines easier to hit, and we've closed specifically to serve them.
San Marcos anchors the south end of Hays County. Head up I-35 and the same appraisal district covers the Plum Creek and Steeplechase side of Kyle and Buda's Garlic Creek subdivisions, where we buy on identical terms. Landlords with property in more than one of those cities can sell them as a single package.
The Math on a San Marcos Rental Sale
Say a three-bedroom rental near campus would sell for $340,000 renovated. It needs $45,000 after years of student wear: flooring, paint, two bathrooms, HVAC. Our written offer prices out in the low $240,000s after costs and margin. Now compare the listing path for an occupied rental. You can wait for the lease to end and eat a vacant summer of taxes, insurance, and mortgage. Or you can sell occupied on the MLS to the only buyers who want tenants: other investors. They'll bid close to our number anyway, and still take five to six percent out in commission. That's why so many San Marcos landlords skip the middle step. We'll show you both columns with your actual numbers and let you decide.
What Drives a San Marcos Number
Rental-heavy markets price differently. Here's what we weigh:
- Distance to Texas State. Walkability to campus supports rental demand, and rental demand supports investor pricing. Investors are often the relevant resale market here, more than owner-occupants.
- Bedroom count over square footage. A four-bedroom rents for meaningfully more than a three-bedroom of the same size near campus. That flows into value.
- Lease status and rent roll. A property with signed leases through the next school year is worth more to the investors who will buy it from us than a vacant one in June.
- Flood history. The 2015 and 2016 Blanco River floods still shape insurance costs and buyer psychology in affected areas. FEMA's Flood Map Service Center holds the official maps. We price flood-affected property honestly rather than avoiding it.
- Condition after student tenancy. Normal, expected, and budgeted. It reduces the offer by the cost of the work, not by a penalty.
Landlord Exit Strategies, Compared
Four ways out of a San Marcos rental, with the honest trade-offs:
- Wait for the lease to end, renovate, and list to owner-occupants. Highest gross price. It costs you a vacant summer of taxes, insurance, and mortgage, plus the renovation. And it lands in the season when San Marcos rental demand is lowest.
- List occupied to other investors. This works. But you pay five to six percent commission to reach a buyer pool that prices it about the way we do. The net frequently lands within a few thousand dollars of our offer.
- Sell to us occupied. No commission, no vacancy, no turnover, closing on your date. Lower gross, comparable net, and far less work.
- Keep it and hire a property manager. This costs eight to ten percent of collected rent, and it doesn't remove big repair costs. It's genuinely worth considering if the property still cash-flows and you're only tired of the management, not the asset.
That last option is one we recommend more often than you'd expect from a buyer. If the numbers still work and the only problem is the 2 a.m. calls, a manager is cheaper than selling.
Selling to Us vs. Listing in San Marcos
| Selling to us | Listing with an agent | |
|---|---|---|
| Commissions & fees | None — we pay standard closing costs | Roughly 5–6% commission plus seller closing costs |
| Repairs & cleaning | None — leave what you don't want | Repairs, staging, and cleaning usually expected |
| Showings | One walkthrough with us | Open houses and repeated showings |
| Time to close | As fast as 7 days — you pick the date | Commonly 60–90 days including time on market |
| Certainty | Cash — no financing fall-through | Buyer loans can be denied at the last minute |
| The number | A firm written offer that doesn't change | Depends on appraisal, inspection, and negotiation |
How It Works in San Marcos
Tell us about the house
Fill out the short form. Address, phone, name — that's it. No documents, no photos required to start.
Get your cash offer
We research the property, ask a few questions, and make a fair, no-obligation cash offer, usually within 24 hours. One quick walkthrough. No open houses.
Close on your schedule
Pick your closing date — as fast as 7 days or months out if you need time. A local Austin title company handles the paperwork and you get your money at closing.
Selling a House in San Marcos: Questions We Hear Most
Can you buy my San Marcos rental while students are mid-lease?
Yes, that's the core of our San Marcos business. The lease runs to us at closing, and deposits transfer per its terms. Students keep their housing through May and beyond. You never coordinate another showing around anyone's class schedule.
What happens with security deposits on a student rental sale?
They transfer to us at closing, documented by the title company. We take on the return duties under Texas law from that point. Don't refund anyone directly at sale time. The documented transfer is what protects you from a deposit dispute next August.
I'm done with August turnovers. Is selling before or after the school year better?
Selling occupied, before turnover, usually wins. You skip the make-ready bill, the vacant-summer carrying costs, and the scramble. A leased property with next year's contracts signed is worth more to us, not less. If you've already got signatures for fall, tell us. It's a plus.
Do you buy houses with flood history near the river?
Yes, knowingly and fairly. The 2015 Blanco flood still shapes insurance and buyer psychology in areas like Blanco Gardens. The honest response is pricing that reflects the real history, rather than pretending or punishing. Check your own designation at FEMA's map portal.
How does a 1031 exchange work with your timeline?
Smoothly, which is the point. Your 45-day identification window and 180-day closing window need a sale date that can't slip, and cash provides it. Give us your qualified intermediary's details and the dates. We write the contract around them. Structure questions go to your CPA first. The IRS rules are unforgiving on timing.
Do you buy duplexes and fourplexes near Texas State?
Yes. Small multifamily near campus is a regular purchase, occupied or between tenants. Bedroom count and walkability drive value more than square footage here, and we price accordingly.
My property took years of student wear. Do I fix any of it?
None of it. Patched walls, tired carpet, doors that met doorknobs. It's all normal renovation scope, priced by line item rather than penalized. Landlords who make-ready before calling us are funding work we'd budgeted anyway.
I live out of state and own one San Marcos rental. How hard is this?
Easy. Your property manager or a lockbox handles the walkthrough. Documents move electronically, a mobile notary comes to you, and funds are wired. Most out-of-state landlord sales never require a trip to Texas.
Do you also buy regular family homes in San Marcos?
Yes. Older neighborhoods near downtown and the river, estate sales from longtime families, and homes near the outlet corridor all sell to us on the same terms: as-is, written math, your date. Rentals are the majority here, not the whole story.
How did you find me? Actually, how did I find you?
You searched, which is the only way anyone finds us. No cold calls to landlords, no letters after every tax-roll scrape, no signs by the campus. When you're ready, we're in the search results. Until then, we're not in your voicemail.
We Also Buy Houses Near San Marcos
Wherever you are in the metro, the process is the same: Austin · Round Rock · Pflugerville · Cedar Park · Georgetown · Leander · Hutto · Kyle · Buda
Situations we help with: Selling Fast · Sell As-Is · Facing Foreclosure · Inherited a House · Tired Landlord · Divorce · Behind on Taxes
Property values in San Marcos are assessed by the Hays Central Appraisal District. We are not affiliated with any government agency; links are provided as official references for sellers.
Sell Your San Marcos House Without Listing It
Tell us about the property and we'll call you back with a no-obligation cash offer, usually within 24 hours.
Three fields. No obligation, and we never share your info.
How we work
You Found Us. We Didn't Chase You.
Our whole sales process is no-pressure by design: you get a written offer with the math attached, it stays open while you think, and there's no obligation at any point. One follow-up call, then we leave you alone.
We also don't do outbound marketing — none of it. No bandit signs stapled to utility poles, no cold calls interrupting your dinner, no stream of letters filling your mailbox asking to buy your house. If you've been getting those, they aren't from us. We put our effort into being easy to find in search results, plus a few Google ads, so we're here at the moment you decide it's time — and invisible until then.