Real Estate Investing in Killeen, TX?

[Gabriel Moreno]

Hello everyone,

I’m 22 and going to be living in Round Rock, TX after graduation from university in May 2020. I wanted to get into RE and am educating myself until then so I can get a running head start.

This question has been asked a couple of years ago, but I figured it could be outdated and someone else might find it useful as well.

Is the RE market in Killeen a good thing to get into? Is the market growing? The cost of entry in Austin is too much and I wanted to get started there and possibly transition to Austin a couple of years down the road.

Does crime associated with the area cause a concern for anyone when dealing with tenants? What are some tactics you all use when screening? Are there any areas I should stay away from?

Finally, I’ve seen people speak about the potential deployment associated with Fort Hood. How does one go about preparing for a situation that minimizes the damage.

[Pete Harper]

Congratulations on getting started early.
I own Rental property Killeen. IMO Killeen is an unusual market with Ft Hood being the economic driver. That being said none of our current tenants are military. I have not owned property long enough to have gone through a major change in deployment at Ft Hood. Perhaps others have. 
You definitely need to pay attention to neighborhoods in Killeen. Even a few streets over can make a big difference. When doing property searches I try to look at Trulia crime maps. Later verify on the ground. As a general rule North Killeen is pretty rough. I read an article earlier this year about the north side becoming a “food desert”; stores are closing down and moving out of the area. We drove by a Carl’s Jr. that had gone out of business. Things are pretty bad if you can’t keep a burger joint in business. The better areas are to the South and East. Harker Heights is better. Our property is right next to Harker Heights. Compared to other parts of Texas rents are low in Killeen. There is a lot of inventory. Older properties in rough areas might look attractive but they are hard to keep rented.