Moving to North Texas from Washington was the best decision my family has made. I will say that first and plainly, because I do not want the rest of this to talk anyone out of it. But no one warned us about a few things, and if you are relocating here for a job at the Texas Instruments plant, I would rather you hear them from someone who made the same out-of-state move than learn them the hard way after you have signed.
So here is the real version: what is actually happening in Sherman, what a home costs, where people are buying, the surprises that caught us coming from out of state, and one thing about prices that will catch you off guard too. I am a REALTOR®, not a relocation counselor or a financial advisor, so treat this as a fellow transplant’s map, and we will pin down your specifics together.
Is Texas Instruments really bringing that many jobs to Sherman?
Yes, and it has already started. TI is building a semiconductor campus on the edge of Sherman planned for up to four fabs, named SM1 through SM4. The first one, SM1, began production in December 2025, about three and a half years after breaking ground. The shell for the second fab, SM2, is already standing, with cleanroom and tooling work scheduled through 2026.
At full build-out the Sherman site is expected to support roughly 3,000 direct TI jobs, and that is before you count the neighboring silicon-wafer manufacturer, the suppliers, and the construction and service jobs a project this size pulls in. For a county that spent most of its history as a quiet courthouse town, that is a genuine change in trajectory, and it is the engine behind almost every housing question I get here now.
What does a house near the Texas Instruments Sherman plant cost in 2026?
Less than you are probably bracing for. This was our first surprise, and a good one. Coming from Washington, where a modest house costs what a genuinely nice one costs here, watching our money stretch this far took some getting used to. As of mid-2026, the median home price in Sherman sits roughly between $285,000 and $305,000, depending on whether you are looking at resale or new construction. New-construction medians run near $305,000, and there are plenty of brand-new homes starting in the high $200,000s.
To put that in perspective, the same money that buys a starter home an hour south in Collin County buys a considerably larger, newer home here. That gap is the whole reason Sherman is on relocating buyers’ lists, and it is why I tell people not to assume they have to squeeze into the metroplex to be near the work.
Are Sherman home prices going up or down right now?
Here is the part that surprises almost everyone: even with a multi-billion-dollar chip campus coming online, Sherman home prices have cooled a little. For the three months ending May 2026, prices were down roughly 8 percent year over year, with inventory up modestly and the market more balanced than it was a couple of years ago.
That is not a contradiction, and it is not a warning to stay away. It is a reminder that a big employer moving in does not mean prices rise in a straight line, especially while mortgage rates and new-construction supply do their own thing. For a buyer, a balanced market is often the better one to buy in: more choices, more room to negotiate, and builder incentives that were not on the table during the frenzy. The long-term demand story is real. You just do not have to panic-buy to be part of it.
What about property taxes? The surprise that cuts the other way
Here is the surprise that goes in the other direction, and the one I most wish someone had walked us through before we moved. Like Washington, Texas has no state income tax, so a lot of transplants assume the overall tax picture is similar. It is not. Texas leans harder on property taxes to make up for it, and a North Texas rate somewhere in the range of 1.5 to 2 percent of a home’s value is common, depending on the exact taxing district. On a $300,000 home that is a real monthly number, and it belongs in your budget from the first day, not as a spring surprise in your escrow statement.
Two things soften it, and I make sure my clients use both. The homestead exemption lowers the taxable value of your primary residence once it is your home, and if the county’s assessed value comes in too high, you can protest it. Property taxes are the single line item out-of-state buyers underestimate most, so I put the real number in front of you before you fall for a payment that only counted principal and interest. My property-tax protest guide covers the protest side, and I confirm the current rate for any specific address rather than guessing from an average.
Which Sherman neighborhoods are relocating buyers choosing?
It splits by what you want. Buyers who want brand-new are looking hardest at master-planned communities like Heritage Ranch and newer developments such as Westmoor, where national builders including D.R. Horton, Highland Homes, Lennar, and CastleRock are active. You get current floor plans, a warranty, and, right now, real incentives.
Buyers who want mature trees, bigger lots, and character gravitate to the established neighborhoods around the historic square and Austin College. Sherman ISD serves the city, and Austin College and Grayson College are both here; I confirm the school zoning for any specific address rather than trusting a listing’s word for it. Which side of that trade is right for you comes down to budget, commute, and whether you would rather have new or settled, and that is a conversation worth having before you fall for the first open house.
New construction or resale, and how do I not overpay?
This is where an agent who is on your side earns their place. Builder incentives near the plant can be substantial in a balanced market, but the builder’s sales contract is written to protect the builder, not you, and the on-site rep works for them. I represent you through that, read the contract, and make sure the incentives are real value and not just a number on a flyer.
On the resale side, I run the actual comparables so you know whether a home is priced for the market that exists today, not the one from two years ago. Either way, the goal is the same: you buy the right home for your situation at a price the numbers support, with your eyes open.
How I help people relocating for the jobs
I know the out-of-state relocation whiplash firsthand, because we lived it coming from Washington: the compressed timeline, the six-figure decision about a town you have not set foot in yet. My job is to shorten that learning curve, which neighborhoods are already pricing in the boom and which have not, what your money actually buys here versus back home, and where the quiet trade-offs hide. One last surprise, the one you will feel by your first July: the summers here are no joke, but half of Grayson County seems to spend them on Lake Texoma, minutes to the north, so at least the heat comes with a lake attached. I would rather you buy the right place once, with all of it on the table, than the convenient place twice.
If a move to Sherman is on your horizon, start with my full Sherman guide, see how I work with people moving to North Texas from out of state, or take a look at nearby Denison if you are weighing the twin-town options. If you are set on new construction, my guide to the best new subdivisions in Grayson County ranks the communities and builders across Sherman, Denison and Van Alstyne. When you are ready, tell me your timeline and your job site and I will build you a short list that actually fits. And because taxes are the line item people forget, my property-tax protest guide covers the other half of what a home here really costs.
I am a REALTOR®, not a financial, tax, or relocation advisor, and I do not speak for Texas Instruments. Job, investment, and construction figures are drawn from public reporting and TI announcements current as of July 2026 and can change; confirm the latest directly with the company. Home prices and market conditions are a mid-2026 snapshot of a moving market. Verify current figures and any specific property before you rely on them. Current as of July 2026.