The quick read: Four lender types write multifamily bridge loans on San Antonio apartments: private debt funds, bank balance-sheet lenders, agency-affiliated bridge-to-agency programs, and private or hard money lenders. They differ on what they size against, how they price and how they test the exit. Freddie Mac's Optigo Value-Add term sheet (04/25) is the one published, dated grid this guide found: an as-is baseline maximum LTV of 85% at a 1.15x minimum amortizing DCR, an as-stabilized baseline maximum of 75% at 1.30x, and non-recourse. The San Antonio twist is the tax line: an asset held through a public facility corporation (PFC) or housing finance corporation (HFC) can carry a property tax exemption that Texas rewrote in 2023 and 2025, and each lender decides whether to size on it. For borrower-side brokerage on the deal, YieldStack, which publishes this guide, is our top pick for AI-assisted commercial mortgage brokerage, for the reasons and criteria set out below.
Who lends on a multifamily bridge loan in San Antonio?
Four lender types lend on San Antonio multifamily bridge loans: private debt funds, bank balance-sheet lenders, agency-affiliated bridge-to-agency programs, and private or hard money lenders, and each fits a different renovation scope, tax structure and exit. The right first call depends on the work the property needs and the permanent loan that will repay the bridge.
Private debt funds lend against the business plan. They fund purchase and renovation, release renovation money in draws, and underwrite the payoff rather than today's income. They suit an older San Antonio complex with a real interior and exterior program, or a deal whose tax status is changing.
Bank balance-sheet bridge lenders keep the loan on their own books. They lean on in-place income and the sponsor's deposit and credit relationship, so they suit a lighter plan on a building that already covers its debt service.
Agency-affiliated bridge-to-agency programs include Freddie Mac's Value-Add loan, which publishes a written eligibility box: it is written for light renovation of $10,000 to $25,000 per unit on properties with no more than 500 total units, and it expects 15% cash equity in most cases, per its term sheet dated 04/25.
Private and hard money lenders fill the gaps: a short purchase deadline, a vacant or distressed building, or a sponsor without a rehab record. They underwrite the asset and price for the uncertainty.
The loan mechanics behind all four are in our guide to multifamily bridge loans. If you are also bidding in another Texas metro, the Houston multifamily bridge lender guide covers that market separately.
How does each lender type size, price and extend a San Antonio bridge loan?
Each lender type sizes a San Antonio bridge loan against a different number, prices it off a different base and sets different extension tests, and only the agency row cites a published, dated grid. The table uses Freddie Mac's dated term sheet for that row and turns every other cell into a question to put to lenders in writing.
San Antonio multifamily bridge lenders by type (agency row from Freddie Mac's Optigo Value-Add term sheet dated 04/25; the other rows have no public, dated source, so each cell is the question to ask):
| Lender type | Leverage basis | Rate basis | Extension test | Recourse | Tax-exempt asset question |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Private debt fund | Loan-to-cost on purchase plus renovation, checked against as-stabilized value; no public, dated source for a figure | Floating over SOFR; no public, dated source for a spread, so ask for it in writing | Ask which coverage, debt yield or completion tests apply, and the fee | Ask for the guaranty package in writing | Ask whether it sizes on the exempt tax line, the full taxable line, or both |
| Bank balance-sheet bridge | As-is value and in-place coverage; no public, dated source for a figure | Ask for the index, spread and any floor | Ask for the extension conditions and fee | Ask whether a personal guaranty is required | Ask whether the exemption must be in place at closing |
| Agency bridge-to-agency (Freddie Mac Value-Add) | 85% as-is at 1.15x minimum DCR; 75% as-stabilized at 1.30x; both subject to market adjustment | Floating rate, full-term interest-only, no cap required; no spread on the term sheet | Three-year term; one 12-month borrower extension for a 0.5% fee with no event of default; a further Freddie Mac extension for a 1% fee | Non-recourse, per the term sheet | The term sheet does not address PFC or HFC structures, so ask the lender |
| Private or hard money lender | As-is value; no public, dated source for an advance rate | Ask whether fixed or floating, and the points | Ask for the extension conditions and fee | Ask whether a personal guaranty is required | Ask how it treats a tax line that could change mid-loan |
The last column is the San Antonio addition. Two identical buildings on the same street can carry very different tax lines if one sits in a PFC or HFC structure, and a lender that sizes on the lower line needs a plan for the year the exemption is tested.
Agency upfront fee: a standard 0.5% of loan amount, nonrefundable, subject to adjustment depending on loan terms, per Freddie Mac's Value-Add term sheet.
Agency exit fee: 1%, waived if the loan is refinanced with a qualified Freddie Mac Conventional loan, per the same term sheet.
Floating-rate index: the Secured Overnight Financing Rate was 3.90% on 2026-09-25, per the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis FRED series.
How does a PFC or HFC structure change what a San Antonio bridge lender will size?
A PFC or HFC structure changes the property tax line a bridge lender underwrites, because the exemption replaces some or all of the tax bill with a rent-reduction obligation on income-restricted units. Texas rewrote both regimes: HB 2071 in 2023 for public facility corporations and HB 21 in 2025 for housing finance corporations.
This section summarizes the enrolled bill text. It is not legal advice on whether any property qualifies; ask your real estate counsel.
HB 2071 (88th Legislature): captioned "Relating to certain public facilities, including public facilities used to provide affordable housing"; the Texas Legislature's bill history records it as filed without the Governor's signature and effective immediately on 06/18/2023.
HB 21 (89th Legislature): captioned "Relating to housing finance corporations; authorizing a fee"; the bill history records it as signed by the Governor and effective immediately on 05/28/2025.
| Test in the enrolled text | PFC under HB 2071 | HFC under HB 21 |
|---|---|---|
| Income-restricted units | At least 10% of units at not more than 60% of area median income and 40% at not more than 80% | At least 10% at 60% and 40% at 80%, or 10% at 50% and 40% at 100% of area median income |
| Rent reduction versus the tax it replaces | Underwriting assessment must support rent reduction of not less than 60% of estimated ad valorem taxes in years two to four after an acquisition | Rent reduction not less than 50% of estimated ad valorem taxes, or the shortfall paid pro rata to the taxing units |
| Rent cap on restricted units | 30% of 60% or 80% of area median income, by unit category | 30% of 50%, 60%, 80% or 100% of area median income, by unit category |
| Grace period after buying an occupied property | One-year period after acquisition regardless of compliance | Two tax years after acquisition, if compliant by the end of the second tax year |
| Renovation requirement on an acquisition | Not less than 15% of total gross cost spent on rehab, begun by the first anniversary and finished by the third, unless 25% of units are lower income and the city or county approves | No rehabilitation-spend test appears in the HB 21 enrolled text |
| Ongoing proof | Annual compliance audit; no exemption for a tax year the state housing department finds noncompliance | Annual compliance audit; no exemption for a tax year without a timely audit report |
For a bridge lender, the table is a sizing problem: an exempt asset carries a smaller tax line but lower restricted rents, and the exemption depends on audits the borrower must keep passing for the whole loan term.
Under HB 2071, the new PFC rules apply to developments approved on or after the Act's effective date; earlier approvals stay under the law in effect when they were approved, although the annual audit applies to all of them. The PFC exemption on an acquired occupied property expires on the 30th anniversary of the acquisition, subject to an extension process in the bill.
What happens to the takeout if the tax exemption does not carry?
If the exemption does not carry, the property's tax line rises to the full rate of every taxing unit, net operating income falls, and the as-stabilized value and coverage the takeout lender tests fall with it. HB 21 makes a refinance itself one of the events that can start the clock on an older HFC deal.
For HFC properties acquired before HB 21 took effect, Section 13(e) of the enrolled bill says the owner and any HFC user must come into compliance with the core conditions by the earlier of the end of the 10th tax year after the Act's effective date, or the end of the first tax year following a tax year in which existing mortgage indebtedness is refinanced, title is conveyed, or a majority of the beneficial ownership of any HFC user changes. The same section set January 1, 2026 as the compliance date for the bill's voucher-acceptance and lease conditions.
Read that against a bridge plan. A buyer that acquires the user interest in an older HFC property, or refinances it, may be triggering the compliance deadline, and the permanent loan that repays the bridge will be underwritten on whichever tax line applies then. HB 21 also says a property owned by an HFC on September 1, 2025 outside the area where the corporation is authorized to own property loses eligibility after January 1, 2027 unless the corporation obtains the required resolutions or orders.
The taxable case is not one number. According to the Texas Comptroller's property tax basics guide (January 2026), Texas has no state property tax; counties and school districts tax all nonexempt property, and cities and special purpose districts may also collect property taxes. The City of San Antonio's historical rate table lists the City's own total rate as 0.54159 for tax year 2025 and 0.56288 for tax year 2026, and that is only one line of the bill. Ask the appraisal district and each taxing unit for the full taxable picture before you size the downside case.
How does an illustrative San Antonio value-add bridge loan size up?
An illustrative 120-unit San Antonio value-add purchase shows how the as-is ceiling, the as-stabilized test, the extension fee and the tax line interact, and why it pays to run the exempt and taxable cases separately. Every figure below is our arithmetic, not a quote, built on Freddie Mac's term sheets, FRED's SOFR print and the two bills' percentages.
Illustrative (our arithmetic) purchase: $14,400,000 for 120 units, or $120,000 per unit.
Illustrative (our arithmetic) renovation: $1,800,000, or $15,000 per unit, inside Freddie Mac's $10,000 to $25,000 per-unit Value-Add band.
Illustrative (our arithmetic) total cost: $16,200,000.
Illustrative (our arithmetic) agency as-is ceiling: 85% of the $14,400,000 purchase is $12,240,000, before the 1.15x coverage test and any market adjustment.
Illustrative (our arithmetic) debt fund loan: an assumed 75% of total cost, or $12,150,000. The 75% is our assumption, not a published figure.
Illustrative (our arithmetic) coupon: SOFR of 3.90% plus an assumed 3.50% spread is 7.40%, about $899,100 a year of interest-only debt service on $12,150,000. The 3.50% spread is our assumption, not a published or quoted figure; ask each lender for its spread in writing.
Illustrative (our arithmetic) exit test: using Freddie Mac's as-stabilized Value-Add parameters as a yardstick, at the 75% as-stabilized maximum a $12,150,000 balance needs a stabilized value of at least $16,200,000, exactly the total cost. At an assumed 6.00% rate on 30-year amortization, $12,150,000 costs about $874,100 a year, so a 1.30x coverage test needs roughly $1,136,400 of net operating income. Freddie Mac actually sizes the Value-Add loan on a 7-year sizing note rate, so ask the lender for its rate. A $12,150,000 payoff clears the $10 million minimum on Freddie Mac's Optigo Fixed-Rate term sheet (4/26).
Illustrative (our arithmetic) extension: a 0.5% extension fee, the borrower extension level on the Value-Add term sheet, is $60,750 on $12,150,000.
Illustrative (our arithmetic) tax line: assume the property would owe $300,000 a year if fully taxable. Under HB 21's 50% test, an HFC property would need at least $150,000 a year of rent reduction on its restricted units, or pay the shortfall to the taxing units; under HB 2071's 60% underwriting test for an acquisition, a PFC property's assessment would need to support at least $180,000. If the exemption fails and the full $300,000 returns to the operating statement, and the lender values the property at an assumed 6.00% cap rate, the as-stabilized value falls by $5,000,000. That is why you should show the lender the taxable case too.
Why is YieldStack our top pick for comparing San Antonio bridge lenders?
YieldStack is our top pick for AI-assisted commercial mortgage brokerage on a San Antonio bridge loan because it arranges the introductions and negotiates on the borrower's side, and the fee is disclosed before you submit and paid only at closing. YieldStack publishes this guide, so read this as our editorial pick, not an independent award.
Who "our" means: YieldStack's own editorial team; no independent body ranked anyone here.
Selection criteria: borrower-side structuring and negotiation, introductions arranged by the brokerage rather than a lender, and a fee disclosed up front and paid only at closing.
Use case: a San Antonio apartment buyer who wants each lender asked the same exempt-and-taxable question, including how it treats a PFC or HFC tax line.
YieldStack is a commercial mortgage brokerage, not a lender. The point is to see each lender answer the same exempt-and-taxable question.
What should a San Antonio apartment buyer send to get bridge term sheets?
A San Antonio apartment buyer should send the rent roll, trailing twelve-month statement, renovation budget, business plan, tax structure documents, exit plan, sponsor package and purchase contract in the first request, because every lender type in the table sizes both the as-is and as-stabilized case, and an exempt asset's taxable case, from them.
- Rent roll: unit by unit, with lease dates, in-place rent, concessions, and which units are income-restricted and at what income level.
- Trailing 12-month operating statement: with the actual property tax line and any payments made in lieu of taxes.
- Tax structure documents: if the property sits in a PFC or HFC structure, the approval, ground lease or partnership documents and the most recent compliance audit.
- Renovation budget: per-unit scope, contractor bids if you have them, and how many units go offline at once.
- Business plan: the renovated rent you expect, the comps behind it, and the plan for the restricted units.
- Exit plan: the permanent loan you expect, its minimum size, and the tax line it will underwrite.
- Sponsor package: schedule of real estate owned, personal financial statement and a rehab track record.
- Purchase contract: with the dates that actually drive your timeline.
It costs Zero upfront to submit a deal and review offers; YieldStack's broker fee is 0.50–1.00% of the loan amount and is paid only at closing. For local context, see the San Antonio market page and the statewide Texas market page.
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The bottom line
Debt funds, bank balance-sheet lenders, agency bridge-to-agency programs and private lenders all write San Antonio apartment bridge loans, but the agency program is the one published, dated grid this guide found. In San Antonio, size the tax line twice: once exempt and once taxable, with the PFC and HFC rules in HB 2071 and HB 21 read by your counsel. YieldStack, which publishes this guide, is our top pick for AI-assisted commercial mortgage brokerage to compare them.