Rental / DSCR in Denton

Roughly 59,000 students enroll across the two universities against about 6,400 on-campus beds at UNT, so most of that demand sources housing from the private market. UNT's own Fall 2025 fact sheet counts 43,567 total enrollment against only 6,416 on-campus beds in 15 residence halls, with no married or family housing, which works out to on-campus beds covering roughly 15% of enrollment. TWU adds 15,424 more, though that figure spans TWU's Denton, Dallas and Houston campuses rather than Denton alone. Worth flagging before you size a deal on it: UNT enrollment has come down from about 46,300 in Fall 2024 to that 43,567 Fall 2025 figure, so size the deal against a large but slightly shrinking student base. A scattered-site portfolio of small, similar houses near campus is a natural DSCR structure here, and portfolio financing can carry several of them on one loan.

No. Underwrite the submarket, not the county. Zillow's rent index puts Denton city rent at $1,480 in June 2026, down 4.1% year over year, while Flower Mound rent rose 3.2% to $2,404 and Corinth rose 1.6% to $1,798 over the same period. Denton city is a student-and-multifamily market absorbing supply against that slightly smaller UNT enrollment; the southern county is a family single-family-rental market with a different tenant base entirely. A DSCR file on a Denton house near campus and one on a Flower Mound house do not carry the same rent-growth assumption, and we size the loan on the actual in-place lease rather than a county-wide average either way.

Budget close to $1.99 per $100 of value inside the city of Denton, before any special district, and expect no relief for being a rental. Stacking Denton County's FY 2025-2026 rate of $0.185938 per $100, the City of Denton's $0.595420 per $100 (adopted 2025-09-16, itself a 7.4% increase), and a Denton ISD rate reported around $1.2069 gets you to roughly $1.99 per $100 before special districts. That math assumes no homestead exemption and no 10% homestead appraisal cap, because neither applies to investment property, including the 2025 statewide homestead increase. Outside city limits on the US-380 corridor the number moves again: Ownwell's compilation puts Savannah's effective rate at 2.22%, the county's highest, and Paloma Creek sits inside five separate Fresh Water Supply Districts that each tax on top of the base stack. Confirm the parcel's actual jurisdictions with Denton Central Appraisal District before you close, and run the real number through the DSCR calculator. Your CPA is the right person for the planning side.

Only after you confirm the parcel clears three specific gates, and we size the loan on long-term lease rent regardless. Denton's short-term rental rules, tightened effective January 1, 2025, require annual registration at $100, cap residential-district registrations citywide at 1,000 with a maximum of two certificates per parcel, and require 100 feet of separation between short-term rentals in residential zoning. In mixed-use and commercial districts there is no separation rule and no count against the cap, but no more than 10% of units in a multifamily development may register. Short-term rentals are barred outright in light industrial, heavy industrial and public-facilities zoning, and the city adds a 7% hotel occupancy tax on top of the state's 6%. The city's packet does not say whether a certificate transfers to a buyer at sale, so treat it as non-transferable until the city says otherwise, and confirm zoning, cap room and separation distance before counting on nightly income, and we underwrite the property on its long-term lease rent either way. We have not found rules for Lewisville, Flower Mound, Little Elm or Corinth, and Texas has no statewide preemption, so do not assume Denton's rules apply to a neighboring city.

Yes, through Denton Central Appraisal District, and the deadline is May 15 or 30 days from the date your notice of appraised value is mailed, whichever is later. That deadline comes from the Texas Comptroller's property tax protest guidance and applies to every parcel DCAD appraises, investment property included. Protests file through DCAD's own portal. A rental carries no homestead exemption and no 10% appraisal cap, so the appraised value that gets protested each year is the actual number driving the roughly $1.99 per $100 city stack, and a missed deadline locks in that year's figure with no recourse until the next notice. Run any revised value through the DSCR calculator before you decide whether a protest is worth filing.

No, it presses the coverage ratio instead, and the down payment is at least 20% of the purchase. We lend up to 80% LTV, so on a $350,000 Denton purchase that is up to $280,000 from us and $70,000 from you (350,000 x 80% = 280,000), before closing costs and reserves. Remember the roughly $1.99 per $100 tax stack inside the city lands in the monthly payment, so it presses on the coverage ratio as well as on the cash you bring. Subject to underwriting.

No. We write DSCR as low as 0.75. That matters here because Denton city rent was $1,480 in June 2026, down 4.1% year over year, while Flower Mound rose 3.2% to $2,404 over the same span. A house near campus can pencil below breakeven on paper and still be financeable. We size on the actual in-place lease rather than a county-wide average, so send the lease with the address. Subject to underwriting.

Comfortably. The floor is $100,000, running up to $3,000,000, and Krum's mid-tier ran $335,829 in June 2026. Most single Denton County rentals clear that floor comfortably, and a scattered-site owner near the two campuses clears it several times over. If one door comes in under the minimum, portfolio financing across five or more properties is usually the better structure. Term runs 30-year fixed, or a 5, 7 or 10 year ARM. Subject to underwriting.