Even in Houston, I would suspect you'd pay $250 SF minimum, especially with a trick build like that on stilts.....What do you think, @Matthew Paul ? 

Quote from @Delton Friedman: Hi Everyone, I have been looking at building a duplex to rent in the Houston area, but I am not sure how to start. 

Greater Houston REIA has a Wholesalers and new Investors focus group and that will be a good place to learn abut it.

houston is probably similar pricing to Columbus Ohio but way worse zoning laws. we take 20% on top as a GC and a guaranteed fee agreement. our contracted new construction projects recently:Single family new build spec home: 1513 square feet with 3 beds 2.5 baths 1 car attached $275000 approx $182 a square foot if calculated using heated square feet which means our cost is $145 a square foot. 3 unit / triplex new construction: 2008 square feet 2 bedrooms 1 bath per unit or total 6 bedrooms 3 bathrooms with 3 off street parking spaces. contracted build cost $395,000. no garage on this and better economies of scale with shared roof, slab, etc. $192 a square foot hard cost with our cost running approximately $157 a square foot. 

Purchase price: $250,000 Cash invested: $52,000 2013 Built in a Class B neighborhood of Houston.

(I lived in Houston for 29 years--last place was the Rice Lofts downtown.  

In Houston, you can either invest locally or explore strong Texas markets like San Antonio (affordable duplexes, strong job market), DFW suburbs (duplex-friendly zoning, growing economy), or Houston suburbs (Spring, Cypress, The Woodlands for good schools and tenant demand).

Multi-family in Houston, San Diego, and Tampa.

probably autin houston jacksonville tampa or any cities with good return

It’s great to see you starting your wholesaling journey here in Houston.