Austin Texas or Houston Texas?

Question

Cody L. · Answer

Austin = a better place to live

Houston = a better place to invest.

Oddly, there is an inverse relationship between places to live and places to invest.  San Diego (where I live) is the best place to live IMO.  But a terrible place to invest.

Michael P. · Answer

I personally prefer Austin.  I live in Dallas and we never say hey let's head down to Houston for the weekend, it is always the opposite, let's head to Austin.

Houston economy is tied to Oil so you will have ups and downs more there.

Either one though could be good for buy and hold so I would just investigate a little more.  Is there a reason why you don't hop on the plane and visit Houston and then rent a car and drive to Austin just to check it out for yourself?

Jason Grote · Answer

Different strokes for different folks... Do you like humidity?  Go to Houston.  Do you want to be near the gulf?  Go to Houston.  Do you like driving long distances to look at real estate?  Go to Houston.  Otherwise, go to Austin.  You can make money in real estate in any city.  You can also invest in cities you don't live in.  My opinion is live in a place you love!

Brian Foster · Answer

Critical Mass

Invest in Houston and go enjoy both Austin and Houston. Houston economy dwarfs Austin and it is much more resilient than almost any economy in the country. Houston shed >80,000 jobs in the Oil & Gas sector int he last 2 years and ended each year with net positive job growth. Houston ended 2016 with highest employment rate in the areas history.

Invest in Houston and just drive down 290 to visit and enjoy all that Austin has to offer for a long weekend or a nice vacation.

Christopher Bowie · Answer

I am Houston biased.  Love everything the city has to offer.

Dan Burstain · Answer

I agree with Michael P. Austin has a much better balanced economy with a big government sector as well.  Numbers are strong for both though.  Probably better areas in each city than others so make sure you do some research or have an investor focused Realtor help you find the best investment areas.

Account Closed · Answer

Houston has more than just oil & gas. We have one of the top medical centers in the world, making leaps and bounds in biotech, and we have a huge port with shipping and industry. The Houston economy is outstandingly resilient.

Andrew Luong · Answer

I think the answer for this really depends on your ultimate goal!  I'm a California-based investor in Houston but am interested in Austin as well.

• Austin - Diversified economy with growing tech-sector (I'm also heavily involved in tech).  Con is that some of this has been priced in already and therefore cap rates have been reduced.
• Houston - Also a huge metro with a very strong economy.  Higher cap rates due to higher rent/price ratios but don't foresee as much appreciation potential as Austin here.

Chingju Hu · Answer

My friends are talking about investing in Austin as well (we are from CA), they've been there and think it's a nicer place among TX, young and vibrant place with some companies like Apple or Amazon. But I guess the price has gone up a lot so the ROI is getting smaller now....

Johnny Groves · Answer

My vote is also for Houston, Texas. Too much diversity here and the economy is strong, but like one poster said you will need to drive a lot to look at properties. Everything is far away here.

Austin Texas or Houston Texas?

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