I am relocating to BCS this summer and am looking for a house to rent or buy. I've been surprised how expensive homes are in College Station in particular. We are moving from Temple and BCS seems to be much more expensive. I may be a mental midget comparing price per square foot, but most homes in BCS that I have looked at are %115-140 compared to $90-100 for a similar house in Temple-Belton.

For example, the cost for a 4 bedroom, 3000+ sq foot home built in the last 10 years seems to consistently be at or around $400,000. In Temple, we're probably talking below $250,000. My sister just just bought a 2600 sq ft house in Grapevine for $240,000. Another friend bought a similar sized house in Keller for $215,000. How can CS be more pricey than some of the "nice" DFW suburbs?

tamu.

The homebuilder's are all local. No competition from out of town regional or national builder's.

Most of the builders are Aggies and they build QUALITY. You see these guys in the grocery stores and soccer games. They have a reputation.

The junk chain builders use the cheapest contractors and materials. The junk builders build 10 house in the BV and split because nobody will buy their junk.

insulated market...where else are you going to live? not like you can choose an hour commute so you can have a bigger house. and like mentioned, most larger homes are done by small custom builders, not one builder doing the same plan 50 times in a single development.

SEC

Where can I find one of those 10 ****ty houses that were built by crappy builders?

Its the place to be.

That insulated market comment is nails. Plus the CS council has had some pretty strong NO GROWTH types rolling on and off over the last 15 years. When you make it somewhat difficult to develop new tracts on the fringes, that tends to push prices higher.

There are some areas around Rock Prairie & Welsh where the houses are 10-20 years old and have 3000ish sq ft homes in the 90-110/sq ft range. Most of the same long term builders that built these homes have the same floorplans in Pebble Creek and Castelgate for significantly higher $/sq ft farther out in the "upscale subdivisions". Those 10-20 yr homes may or may not have granite in the kitchens/bathrooms though unless someone added it (many have).

What all amenities and location are you looking for? I have found some that are below that $400k mark. ryand@bcrbcs.com if you would like to discuss privately.

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Most of the builders are Aggies and they build QUALITY. You see these guys in the grocery stores and soccer games. They have a reputation.

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This struck me as funny, because I live in one of those houses the OP described in other areas. Our customer support/QC person (who works for the national home builder who built our house) lives in the same MP community that we live in. She told me the exact same reasons for wanting to be sure our home was quality. That she didn't want to have to hide on another aisle when she saw me in HEB or move her kids to a different karate school.

Quality homes aren't exclusive to College Station. This

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No competition from out of town regional or national builders.

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and this

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insulated market...where else are you going to live? not like you can choose an hour commute so you can have a bigger house.

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are the more likely reasons. Also, you don't have 15 high-end master planned communities competing with each other for residents.

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but most homes in BCS that I have looked at are %115-140 compared to $90-100 for a similar house in Temple-Belton

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This mostly due to the fact that Temple sucks ass and no one wants to live there.

NA with the kill shot.