Buy a House in Austin on an H-1B or OPT? 2026 Guide

Can You Buy a House in Austin on an H-1B or OPT? A 2026 Guide

Yes, you can buy a house in Austin on an H-1B, and in some cases on OPT or STEM OPT as well. Nothing in Texas or federal law limits home buying to citizens or green card holders. The hard part is the mortgage, and the rules for visa holders changed in 2025. I’m Sheela Sharon, a REALTOR® with All City Real Estate. I help buyers on work visas across Austin, Cedar Park, Leander, Liberty Hill and Round Rock, and this guide covers what I tell them at the start.

The short version

• Conventional loans are the main route for H-1B buyers. Fannie Mae’s guidelines say loans to non-permanent residents are offered on the same terms as loans to U.S. citizens.
• FHA loans are closed to work-visa holders. Since May 25, 2025, FHA Title II loans are limited to U.S. citizens and permanent residents.
• Plan for a larger down payment than a U.S.-citizen buyer might need, and for a lender who looks closely at your visa timeline.
• OPT and STEM OPT buyers can buy, but it is harder because the work authorization window is shorter and credit history is often thin.
• Budget 2% to 3% of the price for closing costs, on top of the down payment.

Can you legally buy a house in Austin on an H-1B?

Yes. You can buy, own and sell a home in Texas on H-1B, L-1, F-1 OPT or any other status. You can even pay cash. What changes with your status is financing, because lenders have to be comfortable that you will keep earning U.S. income for the life of the loan.

How lenders treat H-1B and OPT buyers

Conventional loans (Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac)

This is the route most H-1B buyers take. Fannie Mae’s Selling Guide says it buys loans made to lawful permanent and non-permanent residents “under the same terms that are available to U.S. citizens.” It also leaves the details to the lender: the lender decides what documents prove your status. In practice, that means lender rules differ, so ask early.

What lenders commonly look for:

• A credit score of around 620 or higher, built on a U.S. credit history
• A Social Security number
• Steady employment, and many lenders like to see about two years of U.S. work history
• A debt-to-income ratio in the mid-40s percent or lower, though some lenders go higher
• A down payment, typically somewhere between 5% and 20%, and sometimes lower with strong credit
• Work authorization that looks likely to continue. Some lenders want a set amount of time left on your visa or EAD, and the number varies

Sources for these ranges: Scotsman Guide and Home Abroad. Treat them as typical ranges, because each lender sets its own overlays.

FHA loans

FHA used to be a popular low-down-payment option for visa holders. That ended with HUD Mortgagee Letter 2025-09, effective May 25, 2025, which limited FHA loans to U.S. citizens and permanent residents. If an older article tells you FHA is available on an H-1B, it is out of date.

Non-QM and foreign national loans

Some private lenders offer loans built around alternative documentation. They can help if your U.S. credit history is short. The trade-off is cost. The same Scotsman Guide report describes down payments of 20% to 30% and rates 1 to 2 percentage points higher than conventional loans. Ask your lender to show both options side by side.

OPT and STEM OPT

Standard post-completion OPT lasts 12 months, and the STEM extension adds 24 months for eligible degrees, according to Texas A&M’s international office. Those short windows are why many lenders hesitate. I’ve seen the most success when a buyer has a job offer or employment letter, a Social Security number, some U.S. credit history and a solid down payment. If you are on OPT and thinking about buying, get a lender conversation started before you start touring homes.

Documents to gather

Start collecting these now: passport, visa and I-94, your EAD if you have one, offer or employment verification letter, recent pay stubs, tax returns, and recent bank statements.

What it costs to buy in Austin: a worked example

Numbers make this real. Here is an example using current data:

• Price: $412,000, the Austin-Round Rock metro median for August 2026 per the Unlock MLS report, down 6.4% from a year earlier.
• Rate: 6.95%, the 30-year fixed average in Freddie Mac’s Sept 17, 2026 survey. [Update to the latest Freddie Mac number on publish day.]

Down payment	Down payment amount	Loan amount	Principal and interest, per month	Estimated cash to close*
5%	$20,600	$391,400	$2,591	$28,840 to $32,960
10%	$41,200	$370,800	$2,455	$49,440 to $53,560
20%	$82,400	$329,600	$2,182	$90,640 to $94,760

*Down payment plus closing costs of 2% to 3% of the price. That range comes from Grewal RE Group’s Austin closing cost guide, and it includes prepaid items such as insurance and tax escrow. With less than 20% down, expect mortgage insurance on a conventional loan.

Property tax is the line that surprises people

Texas has no state income tax, but property taxes are high, and they vary a lot by town. Here is what the 2025 combined rates (city, county, school district and special districts) look like on a $412,000 home, using Grewal RE Group’s rate table, with a 10% down payment:

Town	2025 combined rate	Estimated tax per month	Principal, interest and tax per month
Austin	1.97%	$676	$3,131
Round Rock	2.05%	$704	$3,159
Cedar Park	2.28%	$783	$3,238
Leander	2.62%	$900	$3,355

These are rough numbers. They leave out homeowners insurance, mortgage insurance and any HOA dues, and the tax figure is before the homestead exemption. Newer communities can also carry a MUD tax of roughly 0.30% to 0.80% on top of the base rate. I’ll pull the exact numbers for any home you are considering, and your lender’s Loan Estimate is what counts.

The homestead exemption

If you live in the home as your primary residence, you can apply for a homestead exemption. Texas voters approved Proposition 13 in November 2025, raising the school-tax exemption from $100,000 to $140,000, effective for the tax year beginning January 1, 2025. Your county appraisal district can tell you what documents it needs. I cover this in more detail in my homestead exemption post.

Use my mortgage calculator to try your own numbers. [Check that this page still works before linking.]

New construction or resale?

Builders advertise rate buydowns and incentives, which can look attractive if you are stretching for the down payment. For work-visa buyers, I usually urge more caution. New construction is often priced above comparable resale homes, and if you sell within a few years you compete against the builder’s own inventory and incentives. I walk through the risks and the questions to ask the builder in Buying New Construction in Austin? What Work Visa Buyers Should Know.

What if your job or visa changes after you buy?

This is the question I hear most from buyers on visas, and it is worth thinking about before you sign, not after.

• Your mortgage stays in place. A change in status does not cancel the loan. You still owe the payments.
• You may have time to sort out your status. The H-1B grace period after a job ends can be up to 60 days or until your authorized stay ends, whichever is shorter, during which you can find a new employer, change status or leave the country, per Temple University’s international office summary. Talk to an immigration attorney about your specific case.
• You can keep it, rent it or sell it. Most primary-residence loans expect you to live in the home for at least the first year, so check your loan documents before renting it out early.
• Buying and selling both cost money. A home usually works best when you expect to stay several years, or when you could carry it as a rental if plans change.
• Selling from abroad has its own tax rules. If you leave the U.S. and later sell, talk to a CPA about withholding rules for foreign sellers.

Which Austin-area towns should you compare?

For most of my buyers the shortlist comes down to commute, budget and the type of home they want. A few starting points, with local pages to explore:

• Cedar Park: established communities and a mix of newer and resale homes
• Round Rock: a lower combined tax rate than Cedar Park or Leander, per the table above
• Leander: more new-construction communities, and often MUD taxes to check
• Liberty Hill: further out, with newer builds and larger lots. Ask me for current tax rates for specific neighborhoods.

Before you fall for a home, drive the commute at rush hour and check school district boundaries and ratings from public sources.

Your step-by-step plan

1. Check your timeline. Talk to your immigration attorney about how long you can expect to stay authorized to work.
2. Get your Social Security number and start building credit if you have not already.
3. Talk to a lender early. Ask about conventional loans, down payment options and how they treat your visa.
4. Set your budget using the full monthly cost, including property tax, insurance and any HOA or MUD costs.
5. Gather your documents using the checklist above.
6. Tour with an agent who knows visa-holder buying. Ask for new-construction and resale options.
7. Make an offer and use the option period for inspections.
8. Close and apply for your homestead exemption.

Frequently asked questions

Ready to talk it through?

If you are on an H-1B or OPT and thinking about buying in Austin, Cedar Park, Leander, Liberty Hill or Round Rock, I’m happy to walk through your options. Book a free 20-minute buyer consult.

This article is general information, not legal, tax, lending or immigration advice. Loan requirements, rates, taxes and visa rules change, so confirm details with a lender, a CPA and an immigration attorney before you decide. Figures were current as of September 2026.

Sheela Sharon, REALTOR®, All City Real Estate.

Sources: Fannie Mae Selling Guide B2-2-02 · NCSHA on HUD ML 2025-09 · Scotsman Guide · Home Abroad · Freddie Mac rates, Sept 17, 2026 · Unlock MLS August 2026 via CultureMap · Grewal RE Group: property tax rates · Grewal RE Group: closing costs · Ballotpedia: Texas Prop 13 (2025) · Texas A&M STEM OPT · Temple ISSS on the 60-day grace period