Buying a home in Schertz and Cibolo

The area at a glance

Schertz and Cibolo are next-door cities along I-35 and FM 3009. Most homes in both are in Guadalupe County and Schertz-Cibolo-Universal City ISD (SCUC ISD). Schertz also reaches into Bexar and Comal counties, so the county line can change your tax bill on homes only a few miles apart.

Being this close to Randolph, both cities draw a lot of military families, along with buyers who want a newer neighborhood within reach of San Antonio.

2026 tax rates

For a home inside city limits on the Guadalupe County side in SCUC ISD, these are the 2026 rates before exemptions:

SCUC ISD's rate includes the 12-cent increase voters approved on November 3, 2026, per the district's unofficial results. Without it, the rate would have been $1.0769. Homes on the Bexar or Comal side of Schertz, in another school district, or in a utility district (MUD) have different rates.

For comparison, a home inside San Antonio city limits runs about 2.30% to 2.51%. See my Bexar County guide for those rates.

A worked example

Take a $300,000 home in Schertz, in SCUC ISD, appraised at its price:

• Without a homestead exemption: about $6,227 a year.
• With the state's $140,000 school exemption: about $4,552 a year, or roughly $379 a month.

In Cibolo, the same home comes to about $4,617 a year, or $385 a month. These figures only count the state school exemption. Any extra county or city homestead exemption lowers them a little more, and the Guadalupe Appraisal District can tell you exactly which ones apply to an address.

My affordability calculator includes taxes when it estimates your price range.

Exemptions that lower your bill

• General homestead for your primary home: $140,000 off for school taxes, statewide.
• Age 65 or older or disabled: an extra $60,000 off for school taxes, and your school taxes are frozen at the level of the year you qualify.
• Disabled veterans can get a partial exemption, or a full exemption at a 100% rating. My VA guide explains how.

You apply once with the appraisal district for the county the home is in. It's free, and you don't need to pay anyone to file it for you.

Which loans fit here

• VA loans: a natural fit near Randolph. $0 down for eligible buyers, and no monthly mortgage insurance. See my VA guide.
• FHA loans: the 2026 limit for a single-family home in Guadalupe County is $557,750, the same as Bexar County. See my FHA guide.
• Conventional loans: as little as 3% down, with a 2026 limit of $832,750. See my conventional guide.
• First-time buyers: TSAHC's statewide down payment help, which I offer, works here too. See my first-time buyer guide.
• USDA loans: not available inside Schertz or Cibolo. Some homes farther out in the county may qualify. My USDA guide shows how to check an address.

What this means for your payment

At about 2.1%, taxes here are lower than inside San Antonio but still a big part of the monthly cost. I build them into every pre-approval so your price range is real, and I'll look up the exact taxing units for any home you're serious about.

Looking at more than one town? My areas page compares rates across the places I work most.