The Investor Math on a $440K Townhome at The Urban

Most student-housing pitches lead with lifestyle photos. Investors flip straight to the back page. Here's the back page, up front.

The headline ratio

Phase 2 at The Urban pre-sells at $440,000 per 4-bed, 4.5-bath townhome. Pre-leasing for Fall 2026 is underway at $4,000 per month, which annualizes to $48,000. That's a gross yield of roughly 10.9% on the pre-sale price, before expenses. In most Texas metros, small-multifamily gross yields have compressed well below that; near-campus student product is one of the few niches where the ratio still looks like this.

Line	Amount
Purchase price (Phase 2 pre-sale)	$440,000
Scheduled rent (pre-lease rate)	$4,000 / mo
Gross annual income	$48,000
Gross yield	≈ 10.9%

The expense lines that matter here

Gross yield is a screening number, not a promise, so subtract like an underwriter. In Brazos County the lines to model are property taxes (Texas has no income tax and correspondingly meaningful property tax rates; pull the current combined rate for the parcel), insurance, HOA dues (which at The Urban carry real services: landscaping, irrigation, common-area maintenance), property management if you're out of market, and a maintenance reserve. New construction bends that last line in your favor: a 2026-built home with spray-foam insulation, an 18-SEER zoned HVAC, and builder warranties is not the same maintenance profile as a 1998 rental with original everything.

Four en-suites change the vacancy equation

A single-family rental is binary: occupied or empty. A 4-suite townhome leased by the bedroom degrades gracefully: one vacant room is a 25% haircut, not 100%. Each suite at The Urban has a private bath and walk-in closet, which is precisely the configuration that leases first in the near-campus market and holds the $1,000-per-bedroom tier. The demand pool behind it, detailed in our enrollment-cap analysis, is pinned at 57,000+ undergraduates with roughly a fifth housed on campus.

Structure determines resilience. Four doors on one deed rents like four small units with one tax bill.

Appreciation is the second engine

Local brokerages report 27 consecutive years of College Station appreciation, averaging about 4.5% annually. Nobody should underwrite a projection off a streak, but the mechanism behind it is durable: a top-five-enrollment public university anchors the tenant pool, and the city's own middle-housing zoning keeps close-in supply disciplined. Buying at pre-sale pricing before an August 2026 completion adds a third, shorter-term mechanism: completed, leased product typically doesn't price like pre-construction product.

Exit optionality

The asset supports three exits: sell to the next investor on the income, sell to an Aggie family running the kiddie-condo play, or hold and refinance. Two distinct buyer pools at resale, investor and parent, is an underrated feature; most rental product only appeals to one.

This article is general information, not investment, tax, or legal advice. Figures reflect developer pre-sale and pre-lease pricing as of August 2026 and third-party market reporting; verify all numbers independently and consult qualified professionals before investing.