Call Now Get started

Howe, Texas

Custom home builder in Howe

Howe is small, sits on the US-75 corridor between Sherman and Van Alstyne, and is where families move for the school district. It is also where the lots Randy has available are zoned, which makes it the one town on this list where he can hand you the land and the house in the same conversation.

Call 903.821.2482 Start your build
A custom home built by O'Brien Custom Homes near Howe, Texas
Population
~3,600
On the corridor
US-75
Lots available
Addison Rowan Ct
To Sherman
about 15 minutes

Wednesdays

Howe inspects on Wednesdays, and that runs the whole schedule.

Howe is small enough to run a single inspection day. The request has to be in by three in the afternoon on Tuesday to be inspected on Wednesday. Miss that window and the next slot is the following Wednesday, so a missed phone call costs a week rather than a day.

That one fact changes how a house gets sequenced here. Work has to be genuinely ready before Tuesday afternoon, not merely finished sometime that week, and a trade running a day late pushes everything behind it a full seven days.

The permit itself expires 180 days from issue unless construction has started and passed an inspection. The city can grant a short extension on a written request, but the clock is real and it does not care why.

Before the certificate of occupancy the city looks for house numbers at least four inches tall and visible from the road, meter boxes at grade with the nuts visible, cleanouts at grade and clear of concrete, and the grass and sidewalk in order. None of it is hard. All of it delays a closing if it is left to the last week.

The ground

Small town, corridor access

Howe gives you the US-75 access that makes Van Alstyne attractive without the pace of growth that comes with it. For families who want the school district and a quieter street, that trade is the entire appeal.

Most building here is on individual lots rather than in large subdivisions, which suits the way Randy works. Outside the city limits you are on county permitting and an aerobic septic system, same as the rest of the county.

  • Randy has lots available in the Howe school district
  • US-75 access without Van Alstyne’s rate of change
  • Individual lots rather than tract subdivisions
The Wester House, a custom home in Sherman, Texas

Nearest finished house

The Wester House

Sherman, Texas · 3 bed · 2.5 bath · 2,000 sq ft

Dark board-and-batten, cedar posts, 8-foot interior doors and custom casings throughout.

See the full gallery

Howe questions

What people building here ask.

When are inspections done in Howe?
Wednesdays. The request has to be in by 3pm on Tuesday, and missing that cutoff means waiting until the following Wednesday.
How long is a Howe building permit good for?
180 days from the date it is issued, unless construction has begun and passed an inspection. A written request can buy a short extension.
What holds up a certificate of occupancy here?
Usually small things. House numbers under four inches or not visible from the road, meter boxes below grade, cleanouts buried in concrete, long grass, a sidewalk left dirty.
Does the one inspection day make a build slower?
Only if it is ignored. Planned around, it is simply a rhythm. Randy schedules trades against Tuesday afternoon rather than against the end of the week.

From his clients

Randy walked the slab with me before the pour and explained every line on it. I’d never had a builder do that.

Mike C.O’Brien homeowner
Watch the interviews

Nearby, and worth reading

Randy O’Brien Randy has lots in the Howe school districtAsk what is still available on Addison Rowan Ct 903.821.2482