Fix and Flip in Houston

Assume a thin one. ATTOM's Q1 2026 home flipping report put Houston's typical gross profit margin at 7.2%, the fifth-smallest among large U.S. metros, with Austin at 2.0%, Dallas at 4.3% and San Antonio at 5.1% below it. The national figure that quarter was a 25.4% typical gross ROI on about 64,348 flips. Gross margin is before financing, carry, taxes and selling costs, so a Houston deal that pencils on a 2021 spread does not pencil now. Underwrite the ARV off closed comps, not asking prices, and treat the rehab budget as a hard number. Run your own version on the fix and flip calculator before you tie up the contract.

Budget a real marketing period, not a weekend. As of mid-2026 the Houston metro was running roughly 5 months of inventory with days on market around 50, up slightly from a year earlier, and a Q2 2026 median price of $345,200, down 1.2% year over year. That is a balanced-to-buyer-leaning resale market. Our fix and flip term is 6 months of interest-only payments, so the exit assumption you write on day one is the one that decides whether the last 60 days cost you the profit. Price to the market you will actually list into, and carry the taxes, insurance and interest for the full listing window in your model.

It removes the zoning map, not the constraints. Houston is the largest U.S. city without conventional zoning, and voters turned it down in 1948, 1962 and 1993. What controls your scope instead is the recorded deed restrictions on the property, which the City will help enforce, plus Chapter 42 of the Code of Ordinances, which sets platting, minimum lot size, building lines, parking and density. Minimum lot size has been cut to as low as 1,400 square feet for townhouse-style development in the urban core and 3,500 square feet across most of the broader urban area, but neighbors can lock a block down through Special Minimum Lot Size and Special Minimum Building Line designations, and those prevail over the citywide minimums. The title commitment and the recorded restrictions are the documents that decide your exit. Pull them before you close, and have your attorney read them.

Yes, and this is the highest-cost surprise on a Houston flip file. The City's Chapter 19 floodplain ordinance, effective September 2018, requires new construction and substantial improvements in the 500-year floodplain to sit 2 feet above the 500-year base flood elevation, and it extended the zero-net-fill requirement to the 500-year floodplain as well. "Substantial improvement" includes expanding an existing footprint by 33% or more. So the bump-out that turns a 3 bedroom into a 4 bedroom can convert a paint-and-cabinets scope into an elevation and compensating-storage project, and both the budget and the timeline move with it. Get the floodplain determination before you set the scope. If the property is in the 500-year floodplain, either keep the footprint under the trigger or price the elevation work into the deal from the start.

No. It mostly means they were not required to buy it. Only about 1 in 7 Harris County households carries an NFIP policy at all, across roughly 262,391 active policies averaging $931 a year. Meanwhile the proposed MAAPnext maps would more than double the number of Harris County properties in the 100-year floodplain, from about 158,500 to about 330,000, though the maps still face months of review. Under Risk Rating 2.0, FEMA prices each property on more than 30 property-specific factors rather than mainly on its mapped zone, so the map change drives the mandatory-purchase trigger for federally backed mortgages while the rating engine drives the premium. For a flip, that lands on your buyer: a house being remapped into the 100-year floodplain hands your retail purchaser a new insurance line, and that shows up in what they can pay. Check the current and proposed map status during diligence.

Texas is non-judicial, so the calendar is short and predictable. Under Texas Property Code section 51.002 the notice of sale goes out at least 21 days before the sale, and sales run on the first Tuesday of the month at the county courthouse between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m., moving to the first Wednesday when the first Tuesday falls on January 1 or July 4. That fast cycle keeps distressed inventory moving through Harris County, and it means you need certainty of funds on a known date rather than a maybe. We issue a term sheet the same day and typically fund within 48 hours of clear title, so most flips close in 5-7 days once title and insurance come together. Bring us the deal before the sale date, not after. Start an application or talk to us about the auction calendar you are working.

About 10% of the purchase, plus closing costs. We fund up to 90% of the purchase price and up to 100% of the rehab budget, capped to ARV. On a $300,000 Houston purchase that is up to $270,000 from us and $30,000 from you (300,000 x 90% = 270,000), with the rehab drawn against the schedule instead of paid up front. Houston gross flip margins were thin at 7.2% in the first quarter of 2026, so carry a real contingency and a full six months of taxes, insurance and interest on top of the down payment. Subject to underwriting.

Usually not. We do run credit, but on an asset-based loan like this one it carries far less weight than it would at a bank, and there is no minimum score on our fix and flip program. Weaker credit is normally handled with lower leverage rather than a decline, so the deal gets smaller instead of dying. There is no hard credit pull to start a conversation. What decides a Houston file is the ARV and a rehab scope that holds. Subject to underwriting.

$100,000. The program runs $100,000 to $5M, so a low-priced Houston purchase can fall under the floor on price alone. Two things to know. The loan amount includes the rehab budget we fund, not just the purchase, so a small buy with a heavy scope often clears it, and the whole structure is still capped to ARV. Send the purchase price and the scope and we will tell you straight whether it sizes. Subject to underwriting.

Yes. First-time flippers are welcome. Experience helps, but it is not the gate. The same up to 90% of purchase and up to 100% of rehab structure is on the table, and the 6-month interest-only term is the one an experienced borrower gets too. What we want on a first deal is a scope that does not drift and an exit you can defend on closed comps. Houston flip margins were thin at 7.2% gross in the first quarter of 2026, so a first deal is a bad place to lean on optimism. Subject to underwriting.