Question 1

What does a new-house permit cost in Longview?

Accepted Answer

$0.30 per square foot under roof, with a $100 minimum, for single-family and two-family construction. A 2,000 square foot house comes to $600 ($0.30 x 2,000), an illustration and not a quote. Residential mechanical, electrical, plumbing, gas and irrigation permits are $80 each, and a residential Certificate of Occupancy is $30. Multi-family is different: the city permits it as commercial, on a valuation-based schedule that starts at a $210 minimum up to $31,000 of value, plus plan review at one-third of the building permit fee. Work without a required permit pays double the fee, with a $100 minimum.

Question 2

Which codes govern a Longview build that starts now?

Accepted Answer

The stack adopted effective July 1, 2026. That is the 2021 International Building, Plumbing, Mechanical, Fuel Gas, Property Maintenance and Swimming Pool and Spa Codes, the 2015 International Energy Conservation Code, and the 2026 National Electrical Code. The adoption is a few months old, so a builder pricing from a 2024 spec book may be pricing the wrong code. Ask your engineer and your trades which code their numbers assume before you lock a construction budget.

Question 3

Does Longview publish permit turnaround or impact fees?

Accepted Answer

Not that we could find, and we will not guess. Neither Development Services nor Building Inspection publishes a plan review or permit turnaround time; the city runs a Permit Portal and an automated inspection request line. No impact fee line appears in the 2025-2026 fee schedule and we located no impact fee ordinance, but absence from those documents is not proof that none applies to a specific lot. Ask the city for the full fee and timing picture on your parcel before you set the draw schedule.

Question 4

Does the school district a lot sits in matter to a spec builder?

Accepted Answer

Yes, it changes the buyer's tax bill, which is an exit-price variable. Inside the city of Longview, with the same county and city rates, Spring Hill ISD runs 1.254799 per $100 against Pine Tree ISD at 1.105200, a gap of $374 a year on a $250,000 basis (0.149599 x 2,500). Longview ISD sits between them, at a 1.996131 total stack against 1.971431 in Pine Tree and 2.121030 in Spring Hill. Buyers compare monthly carry, so price the district into the exit.

Question 5

Do mineral rights and drilling affect a Longview lot?

Accepted Answer

They can, so read the title commitment first. Longview permits oil and gas drilling operations inside the city and prices it: a $1,000 application, a $100 retained processing fee, $750 to transfer drilling operations, and a $20 annual well fee. East Texas is oilfield country, and severed mineral estates are a real closing item in the region. Read the Schedule B mineral exception before you close; Texas promulgates a Minerals and Surface Damage Endorsement (Form T-19.2) for residential property of one acre or less and for commercial property, at $50 on an owner's policy, available on request where the policy excepts minerals and the underwriter's standards are met. We did not find the city's drilling setback distances, so get them from the city before you rely on a lot.

Question 6

Does a Gregg County lot carry a MUD or special district charge?

Accepted Answer

We found none in the county's 2025 rate file, but check the parcel. Gregg County's 2025 rates list only three emergency services districts (0.100000, 0.078090 and 0.080260 per $100) beyond the county, cities, school districts and Kilgore College, and the Comptroller's Gregg rows show the same. That is an absence in two datasets, not proof, so pull the specific parcel's tax statement from Gregg CAD or the Harrison County appraisal district before you underwrite the lot.

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