The economics of building a 5-bedroom house with pool on 117 acres, using it 6 weeks a year, and renting it the rest.
Construction cost estimate for a 5-bedroom, 3.5-bath off-grid custom ranch home with pool in Bastrop County. Designed for full self-sufficiency: solar, battery, rainwater, greywater. Built for STR durability and guest appeal.
3,200 sf custom build. 5 BR / 3.5 BA, open plan kitchen and living, covered porch, mud room, 2-car garage. High-performance envelope with spray foam insulation and standing-seam metal roof (optimized for rainwater collection).
Two scenarios: $300/sf and $400/sf
Gunite pool, 15x30, with stone decking, perimeter fencing, and equipment pad. Variable-speed pump for energy efficiency.
The core of the build. Full energy independence, water autonomy, and waste recycling. See detailed breakdown below.
Driveway, grading, tie-in to existing well (backup), electrical run from road (backup grid connection), trenching for greywater lines to garden beds.
Permits, architecture, structural and MEP engineering, survey, septic design, solar interconnect application.
Full furnish, linens, kitchen outfitting, outdoor furniture, hot tub, fire pit, outdoor kitchen.
Designed for full self-sufficiency with grid connection as backup. Every system pays for itself over time through eliminated utility bills, water independence, and premium STR positioning.
15-20 kW ground-mount or roof-mount array. Sized to cover full home load plus pool pump, HVAC, and EV charging. Ground-mount preferred for easier maintenance and optimal angle.
40-60 kWh battery bank (Tesla Powerwall, Enphase, or equivalent). Enough to run the house for 24-48 hours without sun. Critical for STR reliability during outages.
10,000-20,000 gallon poly or steel tanks fed from the metal roof. First-flush diverter, sediment filter, UV purification for potable use. Bastrop County averages 35" of rain/year; a 3,200 sf roof captures ~60,000 gallons annually.
Separate plumbing for sinks, showers, and laundry. Filtered and distributed to drip irrigation for gardens, fruit trees, and landscaping. Texas permits greywater systems under TCEQ rules with no permit needed for subsurface irrigation under 400 gallons/day.
22-24 kW whole-house standby generator with automatic transfer switch. Third layer of redundancy behind solar and battery. Runs on the existing propane infrastructure already on site.
Ground-source heat pump using the property's abundant water table. 300-400% more efficient than conventional HVAC. Dramatically reduces the solar array size needed and eliminates noisy outdoor condenser units. Premium upgrade, but the payback is 5-7 years vs. conventional.
Passive solar orientation (south-facing windows, deep overhangs for summer shade). Stained concrete floors for thermal mass. ERV (energy recovery ventilator) for fresh air without energy loss. Low-flow fixtures throughout. EV charging station powered by solar. Native, drought-tolerant landscaping irrigated by greywater. Kitchen garden and raised beds for guests (STR differentiator). Composting station. Dark-sky compliant exterior lighting.
| Item | Scenario A ($300/sf) | Scenario B ($400/sf) |
|---|---|---|
| Home (3,200 sf) | $960,000 | $1,280,000 |
| Pool + deck | $80,000 | $150,000 |
| Off-grid systems | $120,000 | $180,000 |
| Site work | $50,000 | $85,000 |
| Soft costs | $40,000 | $60,000 |
| Furnishing | $50,000 | $80,000 |
| Total | $1,300,000 | $1,835,000 |
| Per partner (3-way split) | $433,333 | $611,667 |
Market data from AirDNA and AirROI for the Bastrop area. The averages tell one story. The premium tier tells another.
Those are market-wide averages (avg 3.1 BR), dragged down by small cabins and spare rooms.
Premium ranch properties with pools, 5 bedrooms, and acreage command 2 to 3x the market average ADR. Top-quartile performers hit 53%+ occupancy. Unique ranch properties with fishing, a pool, and acreage have strong, differentiated appeal.
Comparable rural STR listings. Note the bedroom counts and amenity sets.
52 weeks per year, minus 6 weeks of personal use, leaves 46 available weeks (322 available nights). Not all available nights book. The model runs three scenarios.
ADR (average daily rate), occupancy rate against available nights, and cleaning fees passed through to guests. Platform fees (Airbnb 3%) netted against gross.
| Conservative | Base Case | Optimistic | |
|---|---|---|---|
| ADR | $450 | $550 | $650 |
| Occupancy (of available) | 40% | 50% | 60% |
| Booked nights | 129 | 161 | 193 |
| Gross booking revenue | $58,050 | $88,550 | $125,450 |
| Cleaning fees (avg 35 stays x $300) | $10,500 | $13,050 | $15,600 |
| Gross Revenue | $68,550 | $101,600 | $141,050 |
| Expense | Annual |
|---|---|
| Property management (20% of gross) | $13,710 to $28,210 |
| Cleaning costs (pass-through, net zero) | $0 |
| Supplies, linens, consumables | $4,000 |
| Insurance (STR rider) | $3,500 |
| Maintenance + repairs | $6,000 |
| Utilities (propane, internet, Starlink; solar covers electric) | $4,200 |
| Platform fees (Airbnb 3%) | $2,057 to $4,232 |
| STR permit / HOT tax (varies) | $2,000 |
| Total OpEx | $38,467 to $55,142 |
Construction loan at 6% interest, 30-year term. Scenario A ($1.3M build) = $7,796/mo debt service. Scenario B ($1.835M build) = $11,003/mo.
| Conservative | Base Case | Optimistic | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gross Revenue | $68,550 | $101,600 | $141,050 |
| Operating Expenses | $38,467 | $45,320 | $55,142 |
| NOI (before debt) | $30,083 | $56,280 | $85,908 |
| Scenario A: $1.3M Build at 6% | |||
| Annual debt service | $93,552 | $93,552 | $93,552 |
| Cash flow after debt | ($63,469) | ($37,272) | ($7,644) |
| DSCR | 0.32x | 0.60x | 0.92x |
| Scenario B: $1.835M Build at 6% | |||
| Annual debt service | $132,036 | $132,036 | $132,036 |
| Cash flow after debt | ($101,953) | ($75,756) | ($46,128) |
| DSCR | 0.23x | 0.43x | 0.65x |
DSCR = Debt Service Coverage Ratio (NOI / Debt Service). A DSCR below 1.0 means STR income alone does not cover the mortgage. The gap represents the out-of-pocket carry cost for partners, offset by equity building, personal use value, and property appreciation.