Buying out of state, buy and hold in Fort Worth

[Jacob Tomko]

Hi All, I'm going in with two other individuals for buy and hold properties and we have whittled down the possible areas to Western Washington & San Antonio but are still interested in Forth Worth, TX. We all currently live in LA and are looking for properties in the 150-200k range.

We have San Antonio as a slight edge over Fort Worth because it's not as highly in demand giving us a higher chance of snagging good deals in a city that still has a very positive outlook on future growth. 

As someone who knows very little about Texas in general, how are the areas just outside Fort Worth? Are they worth looking into for our price range? What areas would we want to avoid in Fort Worth? And most importantly, do you have anything to add to the debate of choosing San Antonio over Fort Worth?

Lastly, are there any rules to be aware of when investing in Texas from out of state? I've heard Texas can be its own type of beast. 

Thanks for reading and I appreciate any help that you can spare. 

Best,

Jacob

[Hattie Dizmond]

@Jacob Tomko

The one cautionary note I have about the SA market is...

Although it is experiencing growth, what you will notice is that the growth is mostly outward, pushing into the surrounding area.  You are not seeing a lot of revitalization of central San Antonio.  Contrast that with Dallas/Ft Worth.  Both of those cities are experiencing major revitalization of older, core areas, and we aren't even talking about areas that had become war zones.  The Preston Hollow/Sparkman/Hockaday/Jesuit areas of Dallas are a prime example.  Those have always been prestigious areas.  People are now doing scrape off and rebuild work by the bushel there.  The 7th/Camp Bowie area in Ft Worth, along with the TCU area are experiencing very similar action.  Add to that the down and out areas that are having major revitalization...Bishop Arts, Trinity Groves, more development in Historic East Dallas, etc.  Urban sprawl just doesn't equate to true, sustainable growth to me.  Plus, the economies of Dallas/Ft Worth and all the major employers moving into the area just make this area about as bullet proof as you can get. 

The final thing you will note is the real estate market itself. DFW has near record lows for inventory and have for the better part of the last 3-years. Not so about SA. And, check HUD foreclosure listings. SA is a much, much smaller area than DFW, but it has exponentially more HUD listings, and many of those listings make it to the investor phase. You are hard pressed to find any in half way decent areas of DFW that make it past the exclusive period.

I love all things Texas, but there's really no comparison between SA and DFW.