Temple, Texas · Investor Desk · Updated June 2026
Duplexes & Multifamily for Sale in Temple, TX
Temple is the newest small-multifamily stock in Bell County — median year built 2019, versus 2002 in Killeen. There are 50 active duplex and multifamily listings right now, $65K to $462K, median list $345K. A $350K duplex at two 3-bed units renting at the $1,550 Temple median grosses roughly 10.6% before expenses — a point or two under Killeen, but on far newer construction, so less capex drag and a cleaner owner-occupant exit. Tenant demand is anchored by Baylor Scott & White’s 8,800+ employees and a steady travel-nurse pipeline. The trade-off, stated plainly, is yield for durability.
Source: Central Texas MLS, Temple multifamily/duplex sales, trailing ~8 years through June 2026 (405 listings tracked, 355 closed, 15 closed in 2026 YTD). Small annual samples — treat single-year figures as directional. Gross yield is before taxes, insurance, vacancy, management, and maintenance. Figures change — verify before writing an offer.
Is a Temple, TX duplex a good investment?
Temple is the durability play in Bell County small multifamily, not the highest-yield one. You pay for the newest stock — median year built 2019 — and a tenant base anchored to Baylor Scott & White’s 8,800-plus employees and a steady travel-nurse pipeline. A $350,000 duplex with two 3-bed units at the $1,550 Temple median rent grosses about 10.6% before expenses; Killeen grosses a point or two higher but on older homes with more deferred maintenance. Temple’s longer 101-day days-on-market and 97.9% sold-to-list ratio mean real negotiating room. The honest catch: gross yield is not your return — subtract Bell County tax near 2.18%, insurance, vacancy, management, and maintenance to get the net cap rate.
- Newest stock: median year built 2019 — lowest capex/maintenance drag of the three Central Texas cities.
- Demand anchor: Baylor Scott & White (8,800+ employees) plus travel nurses — long-term and mid-term tenant pools.
- Pricing: 50 active listings, $65K–$462K, median list $345K; 2026 closes at $349,990 / $145.50 per sqft.
- Negotiating room: 101-day median DOM at 97.9% sold-to-list — more give than Killeen’s ~44 days.
- The trap: ~10.6% is the gross, before expenses; the net cap rate is materially lower.
- Verify the ISD: new-build Temple duplexes are frequently in Belton ISD — confirm the exact address.
The price math · trailing ~8 years
What does a Temple duplex actually cost, and what’s it done?
Temple multifamily roughly tripled off the 2018 base, peaked in 2024, and has eased since. Here’s the median close price by year — small samples in the early and latest years, so read the trend, not any single bar.
The all-time median close across 355 tracked sales is $305,900 at $131 per square foot. The 2026 cohort — 15 sales — is running hotter on a per-foot basis at $145.50, which is the newer-construction mix pulling the number up: you are buying better-built product than the eight-year average implies. The dip from the 2024 peak is the market normalizing, not collapsing, and it’s part of why there’s negotiating room today.
Don’t anchor on the $349,990 median close — anchor on the $145.50 per square foot. Temple’s newer duplexes carry a higher per-foot number than older Killeen stock precisely because they’re newer and bigger, which is exactly what you want for an owner-occupant resale exit. A lower headline price on an older, smaller unit elsewhere can be the worse buy once you price in the turn costs and a weaker exit.
Signature tool · run your own number
Gross-yield & cash-flow calculator for a Temple duplex
This is the first thing I run on any duplex. Enter a purchase price, rent per unit, and number of units. It returns gross yield, the gross rent multiplier (GRM), and an honest net-cap estimate after a Bell County expense load. Defaults are pre-filled to a Temple base case — a $350K duplex, two units at the $1,550 3-bed median.
Temple duplex underwriting — base case
Net-cap estimate applies a blended ~40% operating-expense load (Bell County property tax ~2.18% of value, landlord insurance, vacancy, management, and maintenance) to gross rent — a rule-of-thumb starting point, not an underwriting model. It does not include financing/debt service. Your actual numbers depend on the specific property; that’s the conversation, not the calculator.
The core trade-off
Why is Temple’s yield lower than Killeen’s — and when is that the right buy?
Temple grosses a point or two under Killeen. That’s not a flaw to fix; it’s a trade you make on purpose. Here’s the honest framing of who should pay up for the newer Temple stock and who shouldn’t.
Temple is the right buy if…
- You want low deferred-maintenance risk — median-2019 construction means smaller capex reserves and fewer turn surprises than older stock.
- You value a strong owner-occupant exit — newer duplexes resell to owner-occupants and house-hackers, not only to other investors.
- You want tenant demand anchored to Baylor Scott & White and a travel-nurse pipeline, not tied to military PCS cycles.
- You’d rather take a slightly lower, more durable yield than chase the top gross number on a property that’ll cost you on the maintenance line.
Look at Killeen instead if…
- You’re optimizing for raw gross yield and cash-on-cash above all else — Killeen’s older, cheaper stock prices in a higher top-line return.
- You’re comfortable underwriting more capex and turn cost on older homes to capture that extra yield.
- You want the Fort Hood tenant base and the constant PCS-driven rental turnover that comes with it.
- You move fast and don’t need the negotiating room — Killeen multifamily clears in roughly 44 days near full list.
If this is your first duplex or a hands-off hold, Temple is usually the smarter entry — the newer stock forgives mistakes, the BSW demand is durable, and the longer days-on-market hand you negotiating leverage. If you’re a seasoned operator hunting yield and you can absorb older-home capex, Killeen’s higher gross is real and worth a hard look. The point isn’t that one city wins — it’s that you should know which trade you’re making before you write the offer.
The demand engine
How does Baylor Scott & White drive Temple rental demand?
Every defensible rental thesis needs a demand anchor, and Temple’s is a hospital system, not a hope. Baylor Scott & White’s Temple campus employs 8,800-plus people and pulls in a steady stream of travel nurses, residents, and rotating medical staff. That gives you two distinct tenant pools off one employer: permanent staff who rent long-term, and assignment-based medical workers who need furnished housing for 13 weeks and up. The first pool stabilizes occupancy; the second is where the rent upside lives.
This is the quiet reason Temple’s lower gross yield is defensible. You’re not betting on speculative appreciation — you’re buying into a tenant base tethered to an institution that anchors the whole city’s economy. When the demand floor is a major hospital system, vacancy risk on a well-located, well-finished unit is structurally lower than on a property whose demand depends on one volatile driver.
On the newest, best-finished units near the medical campus, a furnished mid-term rental aimed at travel nurses can beat the $1,550 long-term median — sometimes meaningfully — because furnished medical housing commands a premium and the tenant’s stipend covers it. It’s not free money: you eat furnishing cost, more frequent turnover, and active management. But on the right Temple unit, MTR is the lever that turns a middling long-term yield into a strong one. Run both numbers per property — older or further-out units usually pencil better as plain long-term rentals.
The ISD trap
Is that new Temple duplex really in Temple ISD?
This is the single thing the most buyers get wrong on Temple new construction. School-district lines split inside Temple city limits, so a brand-new duplex with a Temple mailing address can sit in Belton ISD, not Temple ISD. Belton ISD is a draw for family tenants, which can genuinely support rent and resale — but only if it’s actually true for that address.
Never assume the district from the city name, and don’t trust the MLS field blindly either. Verify the specific address against the district boundary map before you underwrite any rent or resale premium tied to the school district. Get this wrong and you’ve priced in a premium the property doesn’t earn.
Where the inventory is
Which Temple pockets have the duplex stock?
By tracked closed-sale volume, the deepest duplex and small-multifamily pockets are Waters Crossing, Canyon Ridge, Northwest Hills, Pecan Creek Estates, and County View Addition. Waters Crossing and Canyon Ridge are where much of the newer-construction product concentrates — which is exactly the median-2019 stock that defines Temple’s edge.
Treat these as sourcing starting points, not buy signals. Yield, exact ISD, finish level, and rent comps vary block to block and even unit to unit. The subdivision tells you where to look; the underwriting tells you whether to buy.
Paying for it
How do you finance a duplex in Temple, TX?
Two-to-four-unit properties are residential for financing purposes, which is a real advantage — you get more, cheaper paths than commercial multifamily, where you’d face shorter terms and bigger down payments. For a Temple duplex, three routes cover almost everyone, and which one fits depends on whether you’ll live in it and how you want to qualify.
Conventional 1–4 unit
The standard investor path. Put 20–25% down on a 2–4 unit, qualify on your income and the property’s projected rent. Best rates if your personal financials are strong.
DSCR loan
Qualifies on the property’s rent covering its debt, not your W-2. The go-to for investors scaling a portfolio or with complex income. Higher rate, far less paperwork.
House-hack (owner-occupant)
Live in one unit, rent the other. Low-down owner-occupant loans cut your cash-in sharply and the other unit’s rent offsets your payment — usually the cheapest way into a first duplex.
The negotiating room
Temple’s 101-day DOM is leverage. On a stale listing, underwrite seller-paid closing costs or a rate buydown into the offer — it can matter more than shaving price.
Underwrite to net
Whatever the loan, run the deal on the net cap rate after the full Bell County expense load — not the headline gross yield. Debt service comes off that.
If you’re an owner-occupant willing to live in one side for a year, the house-hack is the most underused edge in this market. You access low-down-payment owner-occupant financing on a property that also produces rental income from the other unit — the kind of leverage a pure investor can’t touch. On Temple’s newer, owner-occupant-friendly duplexes specifically, it’s often the single cheapest way to own your first cash-flowing property. After a year, you can refinance or move out and keep it as a straight rental.
Taylor’s take
How I’d buy a Temple duplex
“Temple is where I send the investor who wants to sleep at night — newest stock, hospital-anchored demand, and a clean exit. I’d rather give up a point of yield than spend it back on a roof.”
I’m an active investor, not just an agent, so I underwrite these the way I’d underwrite my own. Temple’s pitch is simple and honest: you trade a point or two of gross yield versus Killeen for the newest duplex stock in Bell County, lower maintenance drag, and demand anchored to Baylor Scott & White instead of military rotation. That’s the right trade for a first duplex, a hands-off hold, or anyone who’s been burned by an old roof and a surprise turn.
Where I earn my keep is the parts the listing photos don’t show: verifying the actual ISD on a new-build before you pay a Belton ISD premium, running the LTR-versus-MTR math on units near the medical campus, and using that 101-day days-on-market to write an offer with real concessions baked in. If a deal pencils better in Killeen or Harker Heights, I’ll tell you — and when you’re ready to exit, the rental-sale playbook is already written.
Want the live list and the numbers on a specific property? Text or call me directly → 254-718-4249
Get the real numbers
Want the live Temple duplex list and underwriting on the ones worth it?
Tell me your budget and what you’re after — yield, a house-hack, or a hands-off hold near BSW. I’ll send the current duplex and small-multifamily listings, run gross yield and net cap on the ones that fit, verify the ISD on any new-build, and flag where the negotiating room is. No auto-drip, no fluff — a real read from someone who buys these too.
Prefer to talk? 254-718-4249 · dealswithdasch@gmail.com
Questions investors actually ask
Temple duplex & multifamily — FAQ
What does a duplex cost in Temple, TX?
There are 50 active duplex and small-multifamily listings in Temple right now, $65,000 to $461,645, median list $345,000. Closed 2026 sales ran a median of $349,990, about $145.50 per square foot, on 101 days on market at a 97.9% sold-to-list ratio. That long days-on-market and sub-98% ratio mean real negotiating room — more than Killeen, where deals move in about six weeks. Figures are from Central Texas MLS and change monthly; verify before writing an offer.
What gross yield can I expect on a Temple duplex?
On a $350,000 duplex with two 3-bed units at the $1,550 Temple median, gross rent is about $37,200 a year — a gross yield near 10.6% before any expenses. That’s the top-line, not your return. Subtract Bell County property tax around 2.18%, insurance, vacancy, management, and maintenance and the net cap rate lands materially lower. Temple runs a point or two under Killeen, but on newer stock, so the maintenance drag that eats Killeen’s edge is smaller here.
Why is Temple duplex stock newer than Killeen or Harker Heights?
The median year built on Temple’s tracked multifamily stock is 2019 — newest of the three cities (Killeen 2002, Harker Heights 2006). A lot of Temple inventory is recent new-construction product, much in Waters Crossing, Canyon Ridge, and Pecan Creek Estates. Newer means lower deferred-maintenance risk, smaller capex reserves, and a stronger owner-occupant resale exit. You trade a point or two of gross yield for far less maintenance drag and a cleaner exit.
Are Temple new-construction duplexes in Belton ISD?
Often, but not always — and it’s the thing most buyers get wrong. District lines split inside Temple city limits, so a new duplex with a Temple address can sit in Belton ISD rather than Temple ISD. Belton ISD draws family tenants, which can support rent and resale. Never assume the ISD from the city name or the listing field; verify the specific address against the district map before you underwrite any premium on it.
Should I rent a Temple duplex long-term or mid-term to travel nurses?
It depends on the unit. Baylor Scott & White employs 8,800-plus people and brings in travel nurses on 13-week-plus assignments. On the newest, well-finished units near the campus, a furnished mid-term rental can beat the $1,550 long-term median — sometimes meaningfully — because furnished medical housing commands a premium. The trade-off is turnover, furnishing cost, and management. Older or further-out units usually pencil better as long-term rentals. Run both numbers per property.
How does Baylor Scott & White drive Temple rental demand?
BSW’s Temple campus is the anchor employer — 8,800-plus employees plus a steady inflow of travel nurses, residents, and rotating staff. That’s two layers of demand: stable long-term renters among permanent staff, and a mid-term furnished market among medical workers on assignment. It’s the engine that makes Temple’s newer, lower-yield duplexes defensible — you’re paying for a tenant base tied to a hospital system, not for speculative appreciation.
Is gross yield the same as my actual return?
No — conflating the two is the fastest way to overpay. Gross yield is annual rent over price, before expenses. A Temple duplex at ~10.6% gross is not a 10.6% return. Subtract Bell County tax near 2.18% of value, landlord insurance, a vacancy allowance, management if you use it, and maintenance, and the net cap rate is meaningfully lower. The newer Temple stock helps on the maintenance line, but you still underwrite every expense. Always run the net number.
How do I finance a duplex in Temple, TX?
Two to four units are residential for financing, so you get more paths than commercial multifamily. Conventional 1–4 unit investor loans are the common route. DSCR loans, which qualify on the property’s rent rather than your income, are popular for scaling a portfolio. And if you’ll live in one unit, an owner-occupant house-hack with a low-down loan lets you put far less down while the other unit’s rent offsets your payment — often the cheapest way into a first Temple duplex.
Is there negotiating room on Temple duplexes?
More than most buyers expect. Temple’s 2026 closed sales ran 101 days on market at a 97.9% sold-to-list ratio — listings sit and sellers concede. Killeen multifamily moves in roughly 44 days near full list. The longer Temple days-on-market is leverage: on a stale listing you can underwrite a below-list offer, ask for seller-paid closing costs or a rate buydown, and still close. The newest, best-located units move faster, but the broad market gives a patient buyer room.
Which Temple subdivisions have the most duplex inventory?
By closed-sale volume tracked in the MLS, the top pockets are Waters Crossing, Canyon Ridge, Northwest Hills, Pecan Creek Estates, and County View Addition. Waters Crossing and Canyon Ridge are where much of the newer-construction product concentrates. These are sourcing starting points, not a guarantee any one is the right buy — yield, exact ISD, finish level, and rent comps vary block to block, which is why each property gets underwritten on its own numbers.
Why does Taylor say Temple is the lower-maintenance play over Killeen?
Because the math trades a point of yield for a lot less risk. Killeen offers higher gross yields, but on older stock (median built 2002) with more deferred maintenance and a Fort Hood-tied tenant base. Temple’s median-2019 stock means lower capex reserves, fewer turn surprises, and a cleaner owner-occupant exit, with demand anchored to Baylor Scott & White. Taylor is an active investor with $27M+ closed across 100+ transactions, ranked #28 of 2,013 Bell County agents — he underwrites Temple as the durability play, Killeen as the yield play.
Taylor Dasch · EG Realty
$27M+ closed · 100+ transactions · #28 of 2,013 Bell County agents. An active Central Texas investor who underwrites duplexes the way he buys his own — gross yield and net cap on every property, ISD verified on new-builds, LTR-vs-MTR run for BSW tenant demand, and a straight answer on whether Temple, Killeen, or Harker Heights is the better fit for your dollar.
Ready to buy a Temple duplex the right way?
One conversation gets you the live list, gross-yield and net-cap numbers on the ones that fit, the ISD verified, and a clear read on whether Temple is your city or Killeen is. From an agent who buys these too.
Taylor Dasch · EG Realty · Temple, TX · Updated June 2026