Move to Houston?

Question

Hi BP community!  I am hoping that there are some experienced investors out there who can weigh in on a big decision I am in the process of making.  I currently live in Sydney, Australia, and it is an absolutely beautiful place to live.  However, I have a rather high-stress job with long hours, and I find it difficult to enjoy life as much as I feel I should.  More than ever, I want to pursue my dream of becoming a successful RE investor, but I have found that it will be very difficult to start in Australia for various market and legal reasons.

My hometown of Houston, Texas, on the other hand, seems to be a great place for RE investing with low entry barriers, plus I have a lot of friends and family there to help support my efforts.  What I'm thinking is that I will move back to Houston within the next few months and quickly acquire my first property, hopefully a duplex via house hack.  Thus would begin my RE career, and I would transition to part-time work at my job as quickly as possible to focus on investing.

So there are probably a lot of naive assumptions in the above that you members will surely set me straight on.  I think my big question is this - how does Houston rank as far as a place to begin as an investor?  I'd feel better leaving the beaches of Australia if I knew that I was headed to a fairly auspicious market.

Thank you!Tom

Chuck Webb · Answer

I've lived in Houston all my life and I've never seen appraisals rigged so high (In many areas of town). My homestead rises in 10% increments every year which to me, feels like legal theft. I'd hate to see some of these increases w/o the homestead exemption. Trust me, I'm not the only one complaining. There seems to be a huge divergence between job wage increases and appraisals which is never a good sign. You can still find good equity deals in Houston, but you'll have to move fast with cash. I really feel that we are topping here in Houston. I'm an architect and have my ear to the ground when it comes to construction and permitting. We'll have approximately 16 million sf of commercial rental space hitting the market in July that will be sitting empty. Most of this growth has been a product of federal reserve monetary policy. You can't go wrong with these low rates.

I'm currently looking at Detroit and doing research...yea, I know...but I'm looking at returns far out into the future.

Tom MacDonald · Answer

Guys and Gals thanks for all your perspectives, I can already see that being part of this community is a great thing.

Lindsay Stewart · Answer

Hello Tom

Welcome to BP!  I am also an AU investor currently investing in the US market but we do it from Melbourne. It is quite possible without actually moving there but visits are invaluable.  Feel free to reach out if I can help at all

Federico Gutierrez · Answer

If you have a high stressful job in Australia what make you think it wouldn't be the same in Houston?In Australia you have more paid vacation time, you have sickies and you have more public holidays compared to the USA job market. Your not going to find a better work life balance than AUS, take it from me who is from there and has worked in both countries.

Be careful what you wish for is all I have to say, you might fine it that once you leave you'll want to return

Sure housing market is cheaper in Houston but it doesn't seem like you have much free time on your plate to also be a landlord. Especially when tenants have an entitlement mentality and the fact they live next to you, that leaky toilet that breaks at 2am, they going to come knocking at 2.01am wanting you to fix it

Tamara Elliott-Deering · Answer

I think you can make a living investing in any market if you are clear about your goals and are willing to put in the work. We have had a really strange weather year in Texas and Houston has been hit pretty hard plus they're talking about a more active than normal hurricane season this year. My advice would be to research the market, talk to friends and family in the area, decide what and where you want to invest and set yourself up before you move. This will give you time to wait out whatever mother nature has in store for us and still not stop your forward momentum.

Kevin Wood · Answer

If you have friends and family in Houston you can invest from afar. Listen to my podcast (167) where I go into a bit of detail. I've also set up 4 other investors in the Houston area that are now investing remotely. Like the other posters said start out researching the market and see if it is a good fit for you.

Tom MacDonald · Answer

@Randall Jacobs Good perspective, thanks Randall

Fred Heller · Answer

It's 94 degrees with 53% humidity in Houston. Sydney is looking pretty good right now.

Tom Cooper · Answer

Very few duplexes in the Houston area.  Most of what are here are either in high-end areas Rice/Museum District or less-desirable areas, neither of which is my target.   Is it a great area for investors?  I think the true answer to that is, "It depends!"  It depends on what you are looking for, which is different for every investor.

Move to Houston?

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