If you want to sell an apartment building in Texas without a listing, a marketing period, or a buyer who retrades at the end of due diligence, we can make you a direct cash offer. Direct Commercial Acquisitions is headquartered in Austin and buys multifamily properties of 20 units or more across Dallas–Fort Worth, Houston, Austin, and San Antonio, as-is, with a typical close of 30 to 90 days. The Texas market is in the middle of a supply hangover, which changes what a fair offer looks like and how you should think about timing. Here is our read.
What’s happening in the Texas multifamily market
Texas built more apartments during 2022–2025 than any other state, and owners are still living with the consequences. The Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, in a March 2026 Southwest Economy piece, described a market that has yet to fully stabilize: rents have declined across most Texas metros, concessions of several weeks of free rent are common in the softest submarkets, and new properties are taking longer to lease up. Vacancy peaked in mid-2024 and has improved since, but the Dallas Fed attributes much of that improvement to concessions and flexible lease terms rather than organic rent growth, and it expects the excess inventory to be absorbed gradually through 2026 and into 2027.
The good news for existing owners is on the supply side. Permits have fallen across the major metros, and deliveries are dropping sharply from the 2024–2025 peak. A mid-year 2026 Texas briefing from Hudson Multifamily Group, summarized by Yahoo Finance in August 2026, put 2026 statewide completions at a fraction of the prior year’s total, with Houston heading for its fewest completions since 2013 and San Antonio at its slowest construction pace since 2011. Newmark’s Central Texas report shows units under construction in Austin and San Antonio down more than 60 percent from their early-2023 peak. In plain terms, the wave has crested, and the market is now working through what has already been delivered.
Where that leaves an owner in September 2026: occupancy is stabilizing, rents are flat to slightly down depending on metro, and the next two years are likely to be about lease-up and concession burn-off rather than rent growth. Capital markets have improved faster than fundamentals. The same Hudson briefing noted that agency lending nearly doubled year-over-year in the first quarter and that sales volume rose materially in DFW and Houston, concentrated in 1980s-to-2010s vintage mid-market product. That is exactly the product we buy, and it is why we can make offers on Texas assets that a listing process might struggle to price.
Key metros and what we’re buying there
Dallas–Fort Worth. The largest apartment market in the state and the one with the deepest pool of 1970s–2000s garden product. Per the Hudson mid-year briefing, DFW occupancy improved to the low-93 percent range while rents remained about 2 percent below the prior year, and trailing-year sales volume rose more than 40 percent. We are actively buying 20- to 200-unit garden and mid-rise properties throughout Dallas, Tarrant, Collin, and Denton counties, including assets with heavy concessions or deferred exterior work.
Houston. The Greater Houston Partnership’s August 2026 multifamily update showed occupancy and asking rents slightly below year-earlier levels, with absorption concentrated in Class B properties and a still-active construction pipeline. Houston had the smallest rent decline of the four big Texas metros. We buy across Harris, Fort Bend, and Montgomery counties and are comfortable with older Class B and C properties, including those with flood-history disclosures, roof age, or insurance-cost pressure that has squeezed net operating income.
Austin. Austin led the state in rent concessions during the 2024–2025 supply peak, according to the Dallas Fed, and it is the metro where lease-up timelines stretched the most. Newmark reports occupancy ticking up and strong absorption as new deliveries thin. We are based here and buy throughout Travis, Williamson, and Hays counties, with particular interest in smaller 20- to 80-unit properties in central and east Austin, Round Rock, and Pflugerville that never fit the institutional buyer profile.
San Antonio. Newmark notes San Antonio is already posting modest quarterly rent increases with demand outpacing deliveries and a pipeline down roughly 70 percent from peak. It is one of the more affordable major metros in the country and a steady military and healthcare employment base. We buy in Bexar County and the surrounding suburbs, including New Braunfels and Schertz.
What we buy in Texas
Multifamily of 20 units or more is our primary focus statewide: garden apartments, mid-rise, fourplex portfolios sold as one package, and student or workforce housing. We consider properties with tenants in place, vacancy, deferred maintenance, loan maturities, partnership disagreements, or estate ownership. Learn more about our multifamily acquisition criteria.
We also buy light industrial (flex, warehouse, contractor yards), retail (strip centers, single-tenant, and vacant boxes), and mixed-use buildings anywhere in Texas, with no size or price minimum on those three asset types. If you own more than one property type, we can look at the whole portfolio together.
Closing and process notes in Texas
Texas is a title-company state. Closings are handled by a title company acting as escrow agent, and attorneys are not required at the table, although many sellers of commercial property use one to review the purchase agreement. Title insurance premiums are set by the state, so there is little to negotiate on the policy cost itself; the negotiation is over who pays it, and on commercial deals the seller customarily pays for the owner’s policy while the buyer pays for any lender coverage. Texas has no state or local real estate transfer tax, which keeps closing statements simpler than in many states.
Commercial buyers will usually order a new ALTA/NSPS survey, or update an existing one, along with a Phase I environmental site assessment and a property condition report. On a typical DCA transaction those items run in parallel with title and take three to five weeks, which is the main driver of our 30- to 90-day closing window. Property taxes are prorated at closing based on the prior year’s bill, and the buyer takes over the January 1 lien for the current year. Because Texas appraisal districts reassess annually and multifamily valuations have been contested aggressively in recent years, we will ask about any pending protests or litigation with the county. Confirm every one of these customs with your title company and attorney; they vary by county and by deal.
Our process is the same in every metro: you tell us about the property, we underwrite from your rent roll and trailing financials, we make a written cash offer, and we close on your timeline. See how it works.
Do you buy apartment buildings in Texas that are losing money because of concessions and lease-up problems?
Yes. Many Texas properties are currently carrying free-rent concessions and below-stabilized occupancy after the 2024–2025 supply peak. We underwrite to the actual rent roll and in-place collections, not to a pro forma, and we make offers on properties that are not yet stabilized.
Does DCA buy in smaller Texas markets outside the four major metros?
Yes. Our priority is Dallas–Fort Worth, Houston, Austin, and San Antonio, but we will look at 20-plus-unit properties in markets such as El Paso, Corpus Christi, Lubbock, Waco, Killeen, and the Rio Grande Valley.
How does Texas property tax reassessment affect my sale?
Texas reassesses annually, and a sale can inform the next year’s valuation. Talk to your CPA about the tax consequences of a sale, and let us know if you have a pending protest so we can account for it in underwriting.
Do I need a broker to sell my Texas apartment building to DCA?
No. We buy directly from owners with no listing required. If you already work with a broker, we are happy to work through them; brokers and bird dogs are welcome to submit deals.
Other markets where we buy apartment buildings
We also buy multifamily in Arizona, Tennessee, and North Carolina. If your situation is what is driving the sale, whether a loan maturity, a partnership dispute, or an inherited estate, see the full list of situations we work with.