Nervous Newbie in San Antonio/Austin

[Abha Sethi]

I am about to invest in my first rental single family home property in San Antonio and getting cold feet!  With the oil slump in Texas and stock market ups and downs, is it a good time to purchase a rental home?  Some I have talked to recommend waiting a few months to see what happens with the economy.  Any thoughts?

[Hattie Dizmond]

@Jim Polasek

You can't post phone numbers directly in the forums.  Have the person PM you for a referral.  It's just to prevent people from self-promoting or placing ads.

@Abha Sethi

I have my doubts about the long-term viability, in terms of sustained growth, of the SA market.  I've written about that in several posts here on BP.  However, SA is not going away, so I would say it depends on the location of the property.  Is it in a location where the demand for rental properties will remain high, generally in a more core area and not part of the urban sprawl SA is experiencing?  More than anything, are you able to get into the property at a price point that it will cash flow, even if you have to drop the rent to keep it occupied?

Personally, I wouldn't wait on the market, if the deal is good enough.  However, I might seriously consider a real estate market where the economy is more diversified.

Just my 2 cents.