Almost $400 a month in taxes before the mortgage
A typical San Antonio home carries close to $400 a month in property taxes, because that's how Texas pays for everything without an income tax. Bexar County turns delinquent accounts over to outside attorneys who add collection fees on top of interest and penalties, and the total grows faster than people expect. This city runs on military and government paychecks, Fort Sam, Lackland, Randolph, and separation without a civilian job lined up can unravel a family's finances in two or three months. Steady work one day, two payments behind the next. No shame in that. It just means you need to know what comes next.
What happens on the courthouse steps
Texas foreclosure skips the courtroom entirely. You get a 20-day notice to catch up, then a 21-day notice of sale, and then the house goes to auction on the first Tuesday of the month at the Bexar County courthouse, sometimes barely two months after the first missed payment. After the sale there's no getting it back. No redemption period exists in Texas, which catches out anyone assuming they'd get a second chance. The auction crowd here bids hard because military rental demand is strong, but as the seller you only get what's left after the lender takes its cut, which is often nothing.
Old houses, old additions, nervous lenders
The East Side, West Side, South Side, Prospect Hill, this housing stock goes back to the 1920s, and it's been added onto for generations. A West Side house may have a room or a back addition that was built without a permit, sometimes well, sometimes not. Lenders hate that. Appraisers flag it, inspectors flag it, and the buyer's loan stalls. Dignowity Hill gets real attention from renovators, but a hundred years of layered work means lead paint and structural surprises are almost guaranteed in there. None of this scares a cash buyer. It scares banks, and banks are who most buyers borrow from.
Same city, very different markets
San Antonio's average price doesn't tell you much about your street. The East Side and West Side trade well below it, mostly to investors and FHA buyers leaning on city assistance. Prospect Hill is starting to see money come back in, but block by block. Dignowity Hill renovations sell near the city number while the unrenovated houses next door sit. Monte Vista draws preservation buyers, who are picky and few. The South Side near Brooks is moving but still lags the north side. Price your house for the wrong market and it sits for months, and Bexar County's auction calendar doesn't pause while it does.
The honest math on both routes
On a typical San Antonio house, the traditional route costs real money: commission, closing costs, fixing or legalizing those old additions, plus carrying the house while it sits on the market. Add it up and you're often $40,000 to $55,000 in the hole before the sale even closes, and that route takes a couple months minimum. A cash sale closes in about ten days, as-is, no permits pulled, no repair list. Sometimes the listing route nets more and you have the time to do it. Sometimes you don't. The only way to actually have that choice is to make it before the first Tuesday makes it for you.