Question 1

What do College Station's impact fees add to a construction budget?

Accepted Answer

Budget $5,625 in city water and wastewater impact fees on a standard 5/8-inch or 3/4-inch meter for a 2026 permit, plus a separate roadway impact fee. The water impact fee is $2,325 for permits applied in 2026 (it was $2,150 in 2025), and the residential wastewater impact fee has held at $3,300 since March 2022. A larger meter scales fast: a 2-inch meter runs $24,878 in water impact fees and $17,655 in wastewater from 2026. The city also assesses a roadway impact fee on top of the utility fees; we could not confirm the current dollar schedule from the city directly, so pull it from the city's impact fee page for your specific service area before you finalize the budget rather than estimating it.

Question 2

Once my College Station permit is issued, how long do I have to start?

Accepted Answer

Construction has to begin within 180 days of permit issuance, or the permit can expire. The city does not publish a committed plan-review turnaround time on its own single-family permit page, so build a buffer into your draw schedule rather than assuming a fixed number of review days. That 180-day start clock is the hard deadline we underwrite the construction term against.

Question 3

Do I need to check for a MUD or water district on my College Station lot?

Accepted Answer

Check the Brazos Central Appraisal District record before you finalize the site, not just the city. Brazos CAD's adopted-rates table lists Brazos County MUD 1, MUD 2, Rock Prairie Management District #2, and four Emergency Services Districts operating in the county. MUD and PID exposure here is much thinner than in Houston or Austin, but a parcel inside one of these districts carries an additional levy on top of the county and city tax stack, and we did not have the individual district rates to publish. Confirm the specific district and rate for your parcel with the CAD, and take the tax-planning implications to your CPA.

Question 4

Does inland Brazos County change how I insure a new build during construction?

Accepted Answer

Yes: no TWIA windstorm pool, no coastal surcharge. Brazos County is roughly 100 miles from the coast and is not in the Texas Windstorm Insurance Association's designated catastrophe area, which covers the 14 Tier-1 coastal counties plus part of Harris County. Hail and severe convective storms are the dominant peril inland, not wind, so builder's risk and the permanent policy price and underwrite differently than a Gulf Coast site. A specific Brazos County average premium was not available to publish; get a quote for the site rather than assuming a coastal figure applies.

Question 5

Has College Station's occupancy rule changed what I should build for student rentals?

Accepted Answer

Yes, and it changes what a new build should look like, not just who can lease it. Senate Bill 1567, effective September 1, 2025, stripped College Station of the power to cap unrelated occupants in a dwelling; the city repealed its old "no more than four" ordinance, and only objective space-based standards remain. If you're planning bedroom count and square footage on a spec build near campus, design to the current occupancy standard rather than the old four-person cap, and confirm the exact space requirements in the current city code before you finalize the plan set.

Question 6

Is there enough buyer demand in College Station to support new spec construction right now?

Accepted Answer

Inventory is loosening, so underwrite a longer sale window. Active listings in the College Station-Bryan metro were up 21.4% year over year to 1,539 in July 2026, and median days on market ran 72, up from 68 a year earlier, with a seasonal low around 56 days in spring. At the same time, a wave of purpose-built student housing is under construction, 3,668 beds, more than 11% of existing off-campus inventory, which is direct competition for a spec build that doesn't have a walk-to-campus location or amenities to compete on. Price and time your exit to the current market, not the 2023 peak.

Question 7

With $5,625 of city impact fees in the budget, how much of the build do I fund?

Accepted Answer

About 15% of total cost, and the loan is capped on value as well. We fund up to 85% of cost and up to 70% LTV, to a $5M maximum, and the lower of the two tests controls. On a $900,000 total cost that is up to $765,000 from us and $135,000 from you (900,000 x 85% = 765,000). Put the city's $5,625 in water and wastewater impact fees on a standard residential meter inside that cost basis rather than beside it, along with the roadway fee for your service area. Draws follow the build schedule. Subject to underwriting.

Question 8

Construction has to start within 180 days. Does a light track record still get funded?

Accepted Answer

It helps, but it is not a gate. Experienced builders can access higher leverage, and a lighter track record usually prices to the lower end of the range instead of getting declined. This is an asset-based loan: we run credit, but there is no minimum score, and there are no W-2s or tax returns in the file. What we underwrite hardest is the schedule. Construction has to begin within 180 days of permit issuance, and the term runs 12 to 24 months, so the build and the exit both have to fit inside it. Subject to underwriting.

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