STR in San Antonio Area - Houses with HOA

[Alice Chen]

Hello all. for those of you have STR experience in San Antonio area, can you please give some advice here? I looked around and looks like all new and like-new houses have HOA, which concerns me a lot. I have STR in another city and I heard all bad stories about HOA (well from investor's perspective LOL) Thank you in advance!

[Seth Teel]

In 2018 the Texas Supreme Court ruled on the side of Short-Term Rentals and their owners stating that HOA deed restrictions banning STRs did not apply as long as it was a "residential purpose" for the the short-term renters:

“So long as the occupants to whom Tarr rents his single-family residence use the home for a ‘residential purpose,’ no matter how short-lived, neither their on-property use nor Tarr’s off- property use violates the restrictive covenants in the Timberwood deeds,”

For more detail on the case and how it applies to HOAs across the state, here's the link:
Texas Supreme Court sides with short-term renters, likely bolstering state's fight against Austin's ordinance.

Keep in mind Cities still have the right to regulate and tax STRs.