Owner-Financed Land Near San Antonio for a Manufactured Home: Check This First

Drive out past Loop 1604 toward Somerset, La Vernia or Castroville and you'll see the signs. Acreage for sale. Low down payment. Owner financing.

For a lot of families, that's the way onto land. No bank, a manufactured home on a few acres, and room to grow.

I love that path. But I come from architecture and approvals, and cheap land is often cheap for a reason. Sometimes it's just far out. Sometimes you can't legally live on it.

So before you sign, here's what I'd check.

The contract: Texas protects you, if you know it

Most owner-financed land in Texas is sold one of two ways. A deed with a note and deed of trust, where you own the land from day one. Or a contract for deed (an "executory contract"), where the seller keeps title until you pay it off.

If you'll live on the property, a contract for deed falls under Texas Property Code Chapter 5. And it comes with real rules for the seller.

Before you sign, the seller has to give you:

• A survey from the last year, or a plat of a current survey
• Copies of any covenants, easements or liens
• A signed notice covering water, sewer, electric, septic approval, floodplain, road maintenance and any restriction against building a home

That notice literally opens with this line: "If any of the items below have not been checked, you may not be able to live on the property."

Take it seriously.

After you sign, the seller has to record the contract within 30 days and send you a statement every January showing what you've paid and what's left. You can also convert to a regular deed at any time, with no penalty.

And if you fall behind, you get a 30-day notice to catch up. Once you've paid 40% of the price (or 48 monthly payments), the seller can't just take the land back. They have to go through a foreclosure-style sale.

A deed with a note is usually the cleaner deal for the buyer. Ask for it.

Is the lot even a legal lot?

Here's the thing most people miss. In Texas, dividing a tract into two or more parts to lay out lots needs a county plat. That includes splits done by contract for deed.

There are exceptions. The big one: if every lot is more than 10 acres, no plat is needed. Exactly 10 doesn't count.

So if you're buying 2 acres carved out of a bigger ranch, ask to see the recorded plat. An unplatted split can mean trouble getting permits and utilities later.

Septic decides the minimum lot size

Out here, there's no city sewer. Your home needs a septic system (an OSSF, if you want the acronym), and the state sets the minimum lot size.

On a lot created after the rules took effect, you need at least half an acre with public water, or 1 acre if you're using a private well.

Over the Edwards Aquifer recharge zone, it's stricter: at least 1 acre per home, plans from a professional engineer or sanitarian, and big setbacks from recharge features. Parts of Bexar, Comal and Medina sit on it.

In Bexar County, septic permits come from Bexar County Environmental Services. And here's a detail I liked: the county won't release a power meter for a mobile home until the septic is installed.

So no septic permit, no power.

Water and flood

If you're drilling a well into the Edwards, you have to register it with the Edwards Aquifer Authority. A domestic well under 25,000 gallons a day can be exempt from a permit, but not if it serves a subdivision that needed a plat.

Check the flood map too. Bexar County requires a floodplain development permit for building near the 100-year floodplain, and it may ask for an engineer's study.

The home itself

A HUD-code home has to be installed by a licensed installer, and nobody can live in it before that.

It's personal property by default. If you own the land, you can elect to make it real property on the statement of ownership, filed with the county within 60 days. That can matter for financing and resale.

Good news on wind: Bexar and the surrounding counties are in Wind Zone I, the standard zone. You don't need a coastal-rated home.

Deed restrictions can say no

Bexar County doesn't zone unincorporated land. But deed restrictions still apply, and Texas courts read them broadly to carry out their purpose.

Plenty of rural subdivisions ban manufactured homes or set a maximum home age.

You may have heard about SB 785, the 2025 law that makes zoned Texas cities allow new HUD-code homes by right in at least one residential district. It's a great step. But it applies inside zoned cities, and it doesn't override deed restrictions recorded before January 2, 2025.

So read the restrictions yourself. The seller has to give them to you anyway.

My short list

1. Get every Chapter 5 disclosure, or ask for a deed with a note instead.
2. Confirm the lot is platted, or that every lot is over 10 acres.
3. Check the septic minimum, and whether you're on the recharge zone.
4. Check the well rules and the flood map.
5. Read the deed restrictions for any ban on manufactured homes.

This is general information, not legal advice. A real estate lawyer can review the contract for a lot less than it costs to fix a bad one.

A few acres and a home of your own is a great Texas dream.

Just make sure the land says yes before you do.