How do you choose a San Antonio apartment from another city?
Start with numbers you can check, then see the actual unit on a live video walk. Our board covered 111 ground-up communities across Bexar, Comal, Guadalupe, and Kendall counties on Oct 25, 2026. Each card shows base rent, the special, net effective, true monthly, and year two, so you can compare buildings without calling 20 leasing offices from another time zone.
Moving on orders with a report date? We’ll line up video tours around it. Starting a new job? We’ll match buildings to your workplace by drive time. Either way, we make the calls and send your shortlist the same day.
What should you know about the four counties?
Bexar County. San Antonio itself, including Downtown, Far Northwest, and the South Side. CPS Energy serves most addresses, with SAWS for water. School districts include Northside ISD, North East ISD, and others by address.
Comal County. New Braunfels and the I-35 corridor north of the city. New Braunfels Utilities (NBU) provides electric and water at most board addresses there. Comal ISD and New Braunfels ISD serve board buildings, by address.
Guadalupe County. Schertz, Seguin, and the eastern edge of the metro. Utilities vary: CPS Energy, GVEC, or Seguin Electric depending on the address. SH 130, the metro’s only toll road, runs near Seguin.
Kendall County. Boerne and the Hill Country edge, north on I-10. Electric service at some addresses is still being confirmed, and we’ll tell you which provider serves your building before you sign.
How does the area table help?
The area table on our homepage lines up each area by tracked buildings, the lowest studio or one-bedroom after the special, the typical special, school district, and the nearest JBSA base. On Oct 25, 2026, New Braunfels had 20 tracked buildings from $746 after the special, Far Northwest had 16 from $787, and Downtown had 10 from $1,049 with shallower specials of about 3.7 weeks. These are feed values and change daily.
What do market rent numbers mean?
Always check whether a number is effective rent or asking rent. Effective rent in San Antonio was $1,164 (RealPage via Berkadia, Q2 2026, stabilized, down 3.6%). Asking rent was $1,091 (Northmarq, Q1 2026). Class A asking rent was $1,231 and Class B was $1,112 (Northmarq, Q1 2026). New builds in lease-up often sit above these averages on base rent and below them after a deep special, which is why true monthly is the number to compare.
How do utilities and school districts work?
No board address has retail electric choice. On Oct 25, 2026, CPS Energy served 84 board addresses and NBU 19, with GVEC, Seguin Electric, PEC, and Bandera EC serving a few. CPS Energy can ask for a deposit of up to twice a monthly bill. A 12-month utility letter from your last provider removes most deposits, and CPS and NBU waive them for active military ID. We’ll help you set it up before move-in.
School district follows the address, not the area name. We list it for every building with a lookup link. See our guides on setting up utilities and where utilities and school districts change.
What happens from shortlist to the Day 30 check?
- Shortlist, same day. We make the calls and confirm the unit, special, and fee sheet.
- Compare. Year-two and 24-month math, plus our top two picks.
- Tours. Live video walks of the actual units, or four tours in one routed afternoon when you’re in town.
- Apply. We pre-check income, offer letter or orders policy, and documents before any application fee.
- Sign. We read the Texas lease (TAA) and its addenda with you, line by line.
- Move in. We help start CPS Energy, NBU, the co-op, and SAWS or city water.
- Day 7, Day 30, Month 10. Punch list, ledger check, and a Renewal Check.
Before you pay anything, read our guide on how to spot a fake apartment listing.
