What cap rate can you actually get in Temple, TX?
About 2.1%. That is the median cap rate on 402 active Temple houses (not new construction) at asking price, with 8% management and the 2026 tax rate. A 6% cap on the $1,695 median 3-bed rent needs an all-in price near $134,000 ($90/sf); Temple resales closed at a $255,000 median ($147/sf), and only about 7% of 3-bed resales closed at or under that line. A real 6% shows up in three places: small multifamily bought on verified rent rolls, government-owned or long-sitting older houses at $100,000–$150,000, and Killeen. Each has a catch: Killeen 3-bed rents fell 9.7% in a year, the cheap tier tends to bring more turnover and repairs, and Temple’s 2026 tax rate went up.
What is the cap rate on a Temple, TX rental house in 2026?
About 2%. A typical Temple rental house underwrites to a 2.1% cap at asking price once you pay 8% management and property tax at the full 2026 rate on the purchase price (median of 402 active listings on September 24, 2026). The rent is fine; the price is the problem: a 6% cap on the $1,695 median 3-bed lease needs about $134,000 all-in, and only 34 of 509 Temple 3-bed resales in the past year closed that low. Verdict: in Temple, 6% is a number you negotiate or find in small multifamily, older long-sitting houses and Killeen, not a market rate.
Key facts for Temple and Bell County rentals:- Median cap at asking price: 2.11% for Temple houses (90th percentile 3.65%); 3.27% for Temple buildings with two or more units.
- Most a cash buyer at 8% management can pay for a 6% cap on a median 3-bed lease: Temple $134,312 · Belton $149,784 · Killeen $120,433 · Harker Heights $142,627.
- Temple’s 2026 combined tax rate in Temple ISD is 2.4244%, up from 2.3877% in 2025; rentals get no homestead exemption.
- Executed 3-bed house leases: Temple $1,695 (up 2.9% year over year); Killeen $1,500, with Killeen 3-bed rents down 9.7%.
- Above $200,000, none of 315 active Temple houses that are not new construction was within 10% of a 6% price at asking.
- No published Temple cap rate exists; these figures come from CTXMLS listings, 2,341 executed Bell County leases and Bell County parcel tax records.
How is a cap rate calculated on a Temple rental?
Cap rate is net operating income divided by what you paid. Two choices move the answer more than anything else, so they are up front: property tax is reset to your purchase price at the full 2026 rate (no homestead, no seller exemptions), and the cap is quoted on total basis, meaning price plus the roughly 1% a cash buyer spends to close. Management is 8% of rent, and the 5% capital reserve sits below NOI so you can see it.
| Line | At $255,000 | At $134,312 |
|---|---|---|
| Gross rent (12 × $1,695) | $20,340 | $20,340 |
| Vacancy 8% + credit loss 1% | −$1,831 | −$1,831 |
| Property tax (price × 2.4244%) | −$6,182 | −$3,256 |
| Insurance (estimate; quote required) | −$3,076 | −$3,076 |
| Management 8% | −$1,497 | −$1,497 |
| Routine maintenance 5% | −$1,017 | −$1,017 |
| Leasing + make-ready | −$1,024 | −$1,024 |
| Owner utilities between tenants | −$500 | −$500 |
| Net operating income (NOI) | $5,213 | $8,139 |
| Total basis (price + 1% closing) | $257,550 | $135,655 |
| Cap rate on total basis | 2.02% | 6.00% |
| After the 5% capital reserve | 1.63% | 5.25% |
$1,695 × 12 ÷ $255,000 is a 7.98% gross yield, and that number gets passed around as a cap rate. After vacancy, the 2.42% tax, insurance, management and upkeep, the same house is a 2.02% cap on total basis. The price had to fall 47% for it to reach 6%.
How much can you pay for a Temple rental and still get a 5%, 6% or 7% cap?
This is the most an all-cash buyer paying 8% management can pay and still hold each cap on total basis, using the median executed lease for each city and bedroom count, before any repair budget. Next to it is what those houses actually closed at over the last 12 months. Switch the cap target and bedroom count; the numbers under each row are the whole story.
| City · beds | Leases | Median rent | 2026 tax | 5% price | 6% price | 7% price | Median resale | Resales at or under 6% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Temple · 2 bedthin | 24 | $1,195 | 2.4244% | $100,720 | $88,730 | $79,291 | $137,500 | 13 of 63 (20.6%) |
| Temple · 3 bed | 202 | $1,695 | 2.4244% | $152,461 | $134,312 | $120,024 | $235,000 | 34 of 509 (6.7%) |
| Temple · 4 bed | 116 | $2,048 | 2.4244% | $185,076 | $163,045 | $145,700 | $298,500 | 13 of 304 (4.3%) |
| Belton · 3 bed | 60 | $1,800 | 2.0524% | $171,084 | $149,784 | $133,201 | $280,000 | 7 of 200 (3.5%) |
| Belton · 4 bed | 59 | $2,150 | 2.0524% | $205,344 | $179,779 | $159,875 | $400,000 | 4 of 165 (2.4%) |
| Killeen · 2 bed | 57 | $900 | 2.0594% | $69,424 | $60,788 | $54,063 | $114,450 | 5 of 38 (13.2%) |
| Killeen · 3 bed | 511 | $1,500 | 2.0594% | $137,542 | $120,433 | $107,109 | $195,000 | 51 of 653 (7.8%) |
| Killeen · 4 bed | 326 | $1,750 | 2.0594% | $156,554 | $137,080 | $121,914 | $237,851 | 14 of 481 (2.9%) |
| Harker Heights · 3 bed | 50 | $1,750 | 1.8593% | $163,476 | $142,627 | $126,495 | $263,000 | 7 of 119 (5.9%) |
| Harker Heights · 4 bed | 69 | $2,000 | 1.8593% | $187,638 | $163,707 | $145,190 | $327,750 | 2 of 144 (1.4%) |
| Nolanville · 3 bedthin | 20 | $1,775 | 1.9325% | $171,863 | $150,145 | $133,300 | $236,750 | 3 of 18 (16.7%) |
| Nolanville · 4 bedthin | 16 | $2,018 | 1.9325% | $195,049 | $170,401 | $151,283 | $344,000 | 0 of 31 (0.0%) |
| Salado · 3 bedest. tax | 11 | $2,500 | 2.3660% | $231,328 | $203,599 | $181,806 | $444,500 | 0 of 60 (0.0%) |
| Salado · 4 bedest. tax | 11 | $2,900 | 2.3660% | $278,568 | $245,177 | $218,934 | $540,000 | 3 of 45 (6.7%) |
On the Temple 3-bed, the 6% price is $134,312 at 8% management. Manage it yourself and it rises to $151,956; pay 10% and it falls to $129,901. You are buying the management fee either way, so decide before you set your offer.
What cap rate do Temple rental listings underwrite to at asking price?
I ran every active Temple house that is not new construction through the model in chapter 1 on September 24, 2026: 402 listings between $60,000 and $900,000, each with its own lease-comp rent, size, age and school-district tax rate. The median is 2.11% and the 90th percentile is 3.65%. Eight clear 6% at asking price and four more are within 10% of it. The median listing would need a 46% price cut to reach 6%. For scale: 76% of Temple resales in the last year closed below their original list price, and the median cut among them was 6.3%.
| Asking price | Listings | Median cap | At 6%+ | Within 10% |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Under $100,000 | 7 | 6.47% | 6 | 6 |
| $100,000–$149,999 | 27 | 3.89% | 1 | 3 |
| $150,000–$199,999 | 53 | 2.94% | 1 | 3 |
| $200,000 and up | 315 | 1.96% | 0 | 0 |
The lease comp assumes a finished, rentable house. Six of the eight Temple listings at 6% or better are priced under $100,000, and six of the eight carry listing-remark flags for heavy rehab, an as-is sale, non-residential use or a wholesale contract. Among the twelve at or near 6% are a former church building outside the city, an 800 sf house marketed as residential or office, a listing of two lots with no utilities on, and a wholesale contract where title needs verifying. Going through each listing’s remarks, my count of Temple houses that could reach 6% with cosmetic work and a modest discount is closer to five than to eight.
What do Temple rental houses actually lease for?
Asking rents are marketing. These are closed CTXMLS leases from May 1, 2025 to September 23, 2026, with houses and apartment-style units kept apart because units rent for less.
| Type | Leases | Median | Middle half |
|---|---|---|---|
| Temple house, 2 bed | 23 | $1,195 | $988–$1,350 |
| Temple house, 3 bed | 202 | $1,695 | $1,550–$1,800 |
| Temple house, 4 bed | 116 | $2,048 | $1,869–$2,295 |
| Temple unit, 2 bed | 28 | $950 | $895–$1,104 |
| Temple unit, 3 bed | 101 | $1,395 | $1,300–$1,400 |
| Belton house, 3 bed | 60 | $1,800 | $1,650–$1,962 |
| Killeen house, 3 bed | 508 | $1,500 | $1,300–$1,675 |
| Harker Heights house, 3 bed | 50 | $1,750 | $1,611–$1,899 |
$1,700 → $1,750, May–Sep 2025 vs 2026 (57 vs 73 leases). 71 rentals on the market; 39 days to lease in 2026 vs 37 in 2025.
$1,550 → $1,400 over the same windows (147 vs 161 leases). 295 rentals on the market; 51 days to lease in 2026 vs 43.
A $1,695 house rent is about 30% of the median Temple household’s income ($68,204, Census ACS 2020–2024), and 47.7% of Temple households rent. The cap rate is low because of what houses cost and what the tax line takes, not because tenants can’t pay.
Underwrite flat. Zillow’s rent index has Temple up 0.1% and Killeen down 1.0% year over year (August 2026); Apartment List shows Temple down 0.1% and Killeen down 1.5% (September 2026). Countywide, executed 3-bed house rents fell 8.6%. The full lease table, by city and bedroom, is on the Bell County rent page.
How much are property taxes on a Temple rental in 2026?
Property tax is the largest expense on a Temple rental, and the 2026 rates that bill from October went up inside Temple. These are adopted 2026 rates read on sample parcels in the Bell County tax database on September 24, 2026, not the seller’s bill.
| City · school district | 2026 adopted | 2025 certified |
|---|---|---|
| Temple · Temple ISD | 2.4244% | 2.3877% |
| Temple · Belton ISD | 2.4802% | 2.3999% |
| Temple · Academy ISD | 2.4946% | 2.3994% |
| Belton · Belton ISD (with WCID No. 6) | ≈2.0524% | 2.0311% |
| Killeen · Killeen ISD (with WCID No. 6) | ≈2.0594% | 2.0284% |
| Harker Heights · Killeen ISD (with WCID No. 6) | ≈1.8593% | 1.8570% |
| Nolanville · Killeen ISD (sampled parcel, two water districts) | ≈1.9325% | 1.9011% |
A rental gets no homestead exemption, and the seller’s bill may carry one, or an over-65 ceiling. Underwrite your purchase price times the full rate. The Texas 20% cap on non-homestead appraisal increases expires December 31, 2026, and it takes effect only in the tax year after the first year you own the property on January 1, so a 2026 buyer never reaches it.
On a $255,000 house the rate change adds about $94 a year ($6,089 to $6,182) and moves the Temple 3-bed 6% price by about $585. The real issue is that 2.42% of price is 30% of gross rent at the median. Protests can lower the value, never the rate; the deadline is May 15 or 30 days after your notice. Here is the Bell County protest guide.
What do insurance, management and turnover cost on a Temple rental?
After tax, these lines take about 44% of gross rent on the median house, whatever you pay for it. Each one is a real cost here, and two of them (insurance and management) are the ones investors most often understate.
Per year in the model ($3,076 on chapter 1’s 1,500.5 sf house built after 2000). It is an estimate: get two landlord (DP-3) quotes on the address. Texas homeowners premiums averaged $3,489 in 2025, up from $2,124 in 2021, and hail drives the losses (TDI).
8% is the low end of the one published percentage schedule here (Keyrenter Central Texas: 8–10% plus half a month’s rent to place a tenant). Flat-fee firms publish $99–$150 a month (ProManage, Ziprent) plus renewal fees, and Ziprent adds $1,500 to place a tenant.
Half a month’s rent per two-year tenancy plus $600 of make-ready, on a $1,695 house. Half a month every two years is about 2.1% of annual rent on top of the monthly fee.
Census rental vacancy is 5.3% in Temple and 6.8% in Killeen (ACS 2020–2024); Killeen’s 2024 one-year estimate is 10.2%, with a wide margin of error. 8% sits above Temple’s rate and below Killeen’s latest.
Routine maintenance is inside NOI; the capital reserve for roofs, HVAC and water heaters is shown below it. On older houses, the reserve is where the real number usually lands.
Uncontested, from a 3-day notice to vacate through a Justice Court hearing 10–21 days after filing and a writ 6 days after judgment (Texas State Law Library). That time is part of the credit-loss line.
Same model, your numbers
Put in an asking price and the rent you can prove with executed leases. It uses the same lines as chapter 1 and returns the cap on total basis plus the most you could pay for 5%, 6% and 7% at that rent.
Do duplexes and fourplexes get a better cap rate than houses in Temple?
At asking prices, yes, by about a point. The reason is price per door, not rent per door: a Temple 3-bed unit leases for $1,395 against $1,695 for a 3-bed house, but a door in a small building costs far less than a house.
| Measure | Houses | 2+ units |
|---|---|---|
| Listings screened | 402 | 25 |
| Median cap at ask | 2.11% | 3.27% |
| 90th percentile cap | 3.65% | 5.83% |
| At 6% or within 10% of it | 12 (3%) | 3 (12%) |
| Median price cut needed for 6% | 46% | 33% |
Median asking price per door across 37 active listings (27 duplexes). 35 sold in the last 12 months at $183,195 per door, but 18 of those were new construction, which lifts that figure.
Median asking price per door across 115 active listings (78 duplexes, 15 fourplexes). 140 sold in the last 12 months at $144,500 per door.
Listed rents are the seller’s claim, and buildings marketed as fully leased can still underwrite far below 6% at their own stated rents. The leases, the rent roll and 12 months of deposits decide the cap. Owner-paid utilities are their own line: the model carries $1,500 a unit per year, instead of $600, when a listing says the owner pays water or electric.
More on the local stock: duplexes and multifamily in Temple and the multifamily investing guide.
Is Killeen, Temple or Belton better for cap rate?
Killeen clears the math most often, Temple has the steadier rents, and Belton is the hardest place to hit 6%. Same model, same day, each city on its own 2026 tax rate.
| City | Median resale | $/sf | 3-bed lease | Resales ≥1% rent/price | Median cap at ask | At or near 6% | Months supply | 3-bed rent, 1 yr |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Temple | $255,000 | $147 | $1,695 | 12.6% | 2.11% | 12 of 402 | 6.2 | +2.9% |
| Belton | $330,000 | $175 | $1,800 | 7.7% | 1.97% | 8 of 133 | 5.0 | −11.4% (thin) |
| Killeen | $217,000 | $130 | $1,500 | 14.5% | 2.45% | 22 of 552 | 5.6 | −9.7% |
| Harker Heights | $300,000 | $142 | $1,750 | 8.1% | 2.33% | 2 of 123 | 6.7 | −5.9% (thin) |
Steadier rents, thin at 6%
3-bed rents rose while the county’s fell. 76% of resales closed below original list, by a median 6.3%, so negotiation alone does not reach 6%. The 6% deals are older houses and small buildings, not the typical 3/2.
Buy if you want the steadier rent market and will hunt older stock. Skip if you need 6% on a newer house at market price.More deals, softer rents
94 active houses under $150,000 against 34 in Temple, and the most multifamily inventory in the county. Rents are the risk: 3-bed leases fell 9.7% and take longer to fill.
Buy if you underwrite today’s rent or lower and can carry a slower lease-up. Skip if the deal needs rent to recover.Hardest place to hit 6%
The highest prices of the four and the lowest cap at asking price. Only 7.7% of resales cleared a 1% monthly rent-to-price ratio.
Buy if you are paying for location and newer stock and accept a lower yield. Skip if 6% is the goal.Side-by-side detail: Temple vs Killeen investing and Temple vs Belton for investors.
Where can you actually find a 6% cap rate around Temple?
In three places, each with a reason it exists and a cost that comes with it. Above $200,000, none of Temple’s 315 active houses that are not new construction was within 10% of a 6% price at asking.
01Small multifamily on verified rent rolls
Temple’s 2+ unit listings underwrite to a median 3.27% at asking price, and 3 of 25 are at or near 6%. Start with the rent roll, then the price.
Temple duplexes and multifamily →
02Older houses at $100,000–$150,000
27 active Temple houses in this band: 3 are at or near 6%, 3 are government-owned, and 13 have sat more than 150 days, which is where a 6% negotiation starts.
Temple investor buy boxes →
03Killeen
Houses underwrite to a median 2.45% at asking price versus 2.11% in Temple, with 94 active houses under $150,000. Underwrite today’s rent or lower: 3-bed rents fell 9.7%.
Temple vs Killeen investing →Temple resales under $150,000 have a median build year of 1952. Older roofs, plumbing, wiring and HVAC tend to show up here, and cheaper rentals usually carry more turnover and more collection risk; both can hit the vacancy and repair lines harder than the model’s 8% vacancy, 1% credit loss and 5% maintenance assume. Those allowances are assumptions, not measured loss rates for this tier. Budget from an inspection and a real repair bid, then decide if 6% is still there.
Real estate agent, EG Realty · Temple, TX
Taylor’s take on Temple cap rates
Temple’s rents are fine. Its prices and a 2.42% tax rate are why a normal house here is a 2% cap.
I ran every active listing in Bell County through this model on September 24: 1,912 houses and 189 multifamily buildings. The pattern holds in every city. Rents are steady, but at today’s prices the tax line takes almost a third of the rent, so the cap rate is set almost entirely by what you pay.
Here is what the averages hide. About three in four Temple resales closed below their original list price, and the median cut among them was 6.3%. The 46% cut a typical listing needs to reach 6% is not coming from negotiation. The 6% deals are the listings that were already priced for a problem: a house that has sat for months, a government-owned sale, a small building with a real rent roll. The job is to find those and verify them, not to send lowball offers on everything.
If you are shopping a normal 3/2 at market price, underwrite it as a 2–2.5% cap with no rent growth and decide if that is what you want. If you underwrite to 6%, send me your buy box and I will run this same screen on the next MLS pull. The rest of how I approach buy-and-hold here is on the Temple investing hub.
Have a specific property in mind? Call or text 254-718-4249.
Skip these numbers if…
- You are buying a home to live in. Owner-occupants get a homestead exemption and a very different tax bill; this page models rentals only.
- Your deal only works with rent growth. Executed leases in Bell County were flat to down over the last year.
- You want new construction as a rental. This page does not underwrite it.
- You are planning a short-term rental. A Temple stay under 30 days carries a hotel occupancy tax stack of up to 15%, and Belton, Killeen and Harker Heights each require a permit or registration. See the Bell County short-term and mid-term rental rules.
How were these cap rates calculated, and where does the data come from?
Every number on this page was computed from the files below; nothing is typed from memory. It is a screen for deciding what to walk, not an appraisal and not a promise of what a seller will take.
The model
- NOI = collected rent (8% vacancy, 1% credit loss) minus property tax, insurance, management, 5% routine maintenance, leasing (half a month per two-year tenancy plus $600 make-ready), $500–$600 a year of owner utilities per unit, and $360 a year where an HOA is mandatory.
- Property tax = purchase price × the 2026 adopted combined rate for the city and school district. No exemptions.
- Cap rate on total basis = NOI ÷ (price + 1% cash closing costs). The 5% capital reserve is shown below NOI.
- Insurance = $2.05 per sf per year (built 2000 or later) or $2.35 (before 2000), minimum $1,500 per unit. An estimate until quoted.
- Rent = median executed lease for the city and bedroom count (price ceilings) or lease comps within ±25% of size (listing screen). Houses and units are never blended.
- Resale = not new construction (no builder name, built before 2025, no new-construction remarks). Closings under $20,000 dropped.
Sources and data-as-of dates
- Closed sales: CTXMLS Bell County residential closings, August 21, 2025–September 1, 2026 (4,829 kept; 932 Temple resales). Export observed September 2, 2026
- Active listings: CTXMLS, pulled September 24, 2026 (2,019 active countywide; 1,912 houses and 189 multifamily buildings screened). September 24, 2026
- Leases: CTXMLS closed leases, May 1, 2025–September 23, 2026 (2,341 kept). Pulled September 23, 2026
- Multifamily: CTXMLS multifamily listings and 12-month closings, pulled September 24, 2026 (439 records). September 24, 2026
- Tax rates: 2026 adopted rates from the Bell County property tax database linked by Bell CAD, read on sample parcels; the Bell CAD 2025 rate chart; the City of Temple budget and tax rate page; Killeen’s city rate from the Killeen Daily Herald, September 1, 2026. Read September 24, 2026
- Exemptions, appraisal cap and protests: Texas Comptroller exemptions, valuing property and protests. Accessed September 24, 2026
- Insurance context: Texas Department of Insurance market overview. Management pricing: Keyrenter Central Texas, Ziprent, ProManage. Accessed September 24, 2026
- Rent indexes: Zillow Observed Rent Index (August 2026); Apartment List (September 2026). Census ACS 2020–2024 income, tenure and rental vacancy. Evictions: Texas State Law Library. Accessed September 24, 2026
- Published benchmarks for context: Arbor/Chandan put Q4 2025 multifamily cap rates at 5.7% nationally and 5.5% in the South; CBRE’s H1 2026 survey calls cap rates broadly flat. No published source gives a Temple cap rate.
Limits: no property was inspected; insurance and HOA dues are estimates; rents are market medians, not condition-adjusted; MLS square footage and school-district fields are occasionally wrong and should be checked against Bell CAD before an offer. These numbers change with each monthly MLS pull, the October 2026 tax bills and real insurance quotes. Reviewed September 24, 2026 by Taylor Dasch, EG Realty.
Temple cap rate FAQ
What is a good cap rate for a rental house in Temple, TX?
A good cap rate here is one you buy, not one the market hands you. At asking prices on September 24, 2026, a typical Temple rental house underwrites to about 2.1% with 8% management and 2026 property taxes. To reach 5% on a 3-bed renting at the $1,695 median, the all-in price has to be near $152,000; for 6%, near $134,000.
How much can I pay for a Temple rental house and still get a 6% cap?
About $134,300 all-in for a 3-bed at the $1,695 median lease, or roughly $90 a square foot. The same math gives about $88,700 for a 2-bed renting at $1,195 and $163,000 for a 4-bed renting at $2,048. Those prices assume cash, 8% management, the 2026 Temple ISD tax rate of 2.4244% and no repair budget.
Why are cap rates so low in Temple, TX?
Property tax. At the 2026 Temple ISD combined rate of 2.4244%, the tax on a $255,000 house is $6,182 a year, 30% of the $20,340 gross rent, before insurance, management and vacancy. Rents are steady; the price and the tax line are what push a typical house to about 2%.
Is Killeen or Temple better for cap rate?
Killeen clears the math more often. Its houses underwrite to a median 2.45% at asking price versus 2.11% in Temple, and 7.8% of Killeen 3-bed resales closed at or under Killeen's 6% price versus 6.7% in Temple. The catch is rent direction: executed Killeen 3-bed leases fell 9.7% year over year while Temple's rose 2.9%.
Do duplexes and fourplexes get better cap rates than houses in Temple?
At asking prices, somewhat. Temple's 25 active 2-plus-unit listings that are not new construction underwrite to a median 3.27% versus 2.11% for houses, and 3 of the 25 are at or within 10% of a 6% price. Units rent for less than houses, so the advantage is price per door, and the rent roll decides whether a building really clears 6%.
How much are property taxes on a rental property in Temple, TX in 2026?
For bills mailed from October 2026, a Temple parcel in Temple ISD pays a combined 2.4244% of value, up from 2.3877% in 2025. Temple parcels in Belton ISD pay 2.4802% and in Academy ISD 2.4946%. A rental gets no homestead exemption, so underwrite the purchase price times the full rate, not the seller's bill.
Does the 20% appraisal cap protect a rental I buy in Temple in 2026?
No. The Texas 20% limit on appraisal increases for non-homestead property expires December 31, 2026, and it takes effect only in the tax year after the first year you own the property on January 1. A buyer closing in 2026 would not reach it before it ends, so underwrite taxes on full market value every year.
What does property management cost in Temple and Killeen?
The one percentage schedule published locally is 8% to 10% of monthly rent plus a leasing fee of half a month's rent per new tenant. Flat-fee managers publish $99 to $150 a month plus renewal fees, and at least one adds a $1,500 placement fee. Half a month's rent every two years adds about 2.1% of annual rent, which this page's model carries.
Should I underwrite rent growth for a Bell County rental?
No. Executed 3-bed house leases rose 2.9% in Temple but fell 9.7% in Killeen and 8.6% countywide from May–September 2025 to May–September 2026. Zillow's rent index shows Temple up 0.1% and Killeen down 1.0% for August 2026. Underwrite today's rent and treat any increase as upside.
Where does a 6% cap rate actually show up around Temple?
Three places: small multifamily bought on verified rent rolls, older government-owned or long-sitting houses priced between $100,000 and $150,000, and Killeen. Above $200,000, none of Temple's 315 active houses that are not new construction was within 10% of a 6% price at asking on September 24, 2026.
The Bell County Cap Rate Report
Once a month, I re-run this page on the fresh MLS pull and send you the numbers. No hype, no listings pitched as deals. It is built for people who already underwrite to a number.
- The 5%, 6% and 7% price lines by city and bedroom count, on that month’s executed leases.
- How many resales closed at or under each line.
- What the active listings underwrite to at asking price, and how many are at or near 6%.
- The executed-rent trend by city, and any tax or insurance change that moves the math.
Written by Taylor Dasch, EG Realty, from CTXMLS and Bell County records.