Ground-Up Construction in Sherman

Sherman, by a wide margin. The city permitted 634 new single-family homes in 2025, against 225 in Van Alstyne, 117 in Denison, 107 in Howe, and single digits to low double digits in the smaller towns. Howe is a special case: those 107 single-family permits came alongside 300 apartment units in the same year, so a spec buyer in Howe is competing with a wave of new rental supply, not just other new houses. Van Alstyne's 225 is the second-largest count in the county behind Sherman. Know which town's pipeline you are building into before you set your sale or lease assumptions.

Roughly $6,051 to $7,601 per single-family home, and it is due before the city will even review your plans. Sherman's own single-family permit checklist states the permit fee and impact fee must be paid prior to the city accepting plans for review, which means this is cash out the door before the review clock even starts, not at issuance. The stack is water and wastewater on a 3/4-inch meter at $5,373.60, plus a roadway impact fee that runs from $677.16 in Service Area 1 up to $2,227.50 in Service Area 2, with Service Areas 3 and 4 in between. Build that outlay into your draw schedule and interest reserve on day one.

About fifteen working days, by the city's own estimate, roughly three calendar weeks. That clock starts only after the permit fee and impact fee above are already paid, so the full path from submission to a permit in hand runs longer than the review window alone. We do not have a published review timeline for Denison, Van Alstyne, Howe, Gunter or Pottsboro, so if you are building outside Sherman, get that number from the jurisdiction in writing before you lock a completion date. We size the 12 to 24 month term and the interest reserve around the schedule you can document.

Yes, and in Grayson County they are multiplying. Nine MUDs sit on the county's 2025 tax rate table, four of them created in 2025 alone, charging anywhere from 0.60 to 1.20 per $100 of assessed value on top of the base county, city and school stack. A Van Alstyne lot inside MUD #1 or #3 carries about 3.18% of assessed value once the district is added in. Five more districts, including Belair and three Cottonwood improvement areas, charge a flat fee instead of a rate, and those dollar amounts are not published on the county's tax rate chart. Pull the specific parcel's Grayson CAD account and check for both a MUD and a PID before you underwrite carry on a new subdivision lot.

We do not know, and we are not going to guess. Sherman publishes its impact fee schedule and we cite the actual numbers above. Denison, Van Alstyne, Howe, Gunter and Pottsboro impact fees were not published anywhere we could verify this session, so we do not carry a figure for them. If you are building in one of those cities, get the fee schedule from that city's development services office in writing, and bring it to underwriting. We will size the loan to what your jurisdiction actually charges, not to a Sherman number applied somewhere it may not fit.

At least 15% of total cost. We fund up to 85% of cost and up to 70% of value, and the lower of the two governs. On a $700,000 all-in Sherman build that is up to $595,000 from us and $105,000 from you (700,000 x 85% = 595,000), with the 70% LTV test still having to clear against the appraised value. Money comes out in draws against the build schedule rather than in a lump at closing, so plan for your equity, and the impact fees due before plan review even starts, to go in at the front. The program runs to $5M. Subject to underwriting.

We fund new construction up to 70% of value and up to 85% of total cost (land plus build), in most states, on loans up to $5M. Experienced builders reach the higher end of leverage. We finance both the lot and the vertical construction within those caps.

Yes. Lot acquisition is funded as part of your loan-to-cost. If you already own the lot, that equity can serve as your down payment, which often lets us fund most or all of the build cost.

Construction funds are released in draws as milestones are completed and verified, not handed over at closing. You submit your budget and scope of work up front, complete a phase, request a draw, and we release that portion after inspection. You pay interest on funds as they are drawn.

Our construction pricing starts around 10%, interest-only, on terms of 12 to 24 months. Market ground-up rates generally run 9% to 12% with 1 to 3 points. Your pricing and leverage depend on your build experience and the strength of the project.

We consider builders at all levels, though a track record helps your leverage and rate. A first-time builder should expect to bring a strong general contractor, a detailed budget, and typically a larger equity contribution. A well-documented project goes a long way.

The lot cost or current value, your construction budget and scope of work, the projected after-built value, and your build experience. With those we can size the loan against both cost and completed value and send you terms.