Is Bryan Tx. worth investing in?

[Ramsey Blankenship]

Here are the Macro Economics:

Population growth since 2000: 22%

Median HH income increase since 2000: 18% (on the lower end, however, the college has a huge influence on this)

Medina Home Value increase since 2000: 48%

Crime:  This city has cleaned itself up in a MAJOR way. Unlike any in the country (Crime cut in half since 2000) in fact, LA and New york cities conducted case studies on Bryan Tx. to use as a template for reducing crime.

Job Growth: 1.41%  (this is for the College Station /Bryan MSA)

All in all - very good signs for a healthy city with many reasons to invest capital.

Here is what scares me:  There is an enormous amount of multi-family inventory on the market. Too much. I believe this is due to student housing growth when Texas A&M increases its capacity to 80,000 students.  From a distance, it appears construction has slowed however population increase has not.  

Any experts in Bryan willing to provide some insight on the direction Bryan is headed? M

My partners and I are looking to invest some capital into some smaller, stable, Multi-Unit apartments (5-20 units) with short term rental potential.

Interested to hear the feedback.

[Pete Harper]

Ramsey, I like your analysis.  This confirms much of what I see on the ground. I have six units in Bryan. The fundamentals all look good. I see brand new single family housing going in to the Northeast of Bryan and South in College station. Additionally new franchise restaurants and stores. There are pockets of rundown properties but overall most properties look good. Compared to surrounding towns Bryan is doing quite well.

IMO student housing is overbuilt. There are many new mega developments that cater to students. These properties have all the amenities. I guess if daddy is paying the rent the kids don’t care. As a result the older properties near campus can’t compete. The new student properties don’t cash flow for the price. My strategy has been to buy C-class properties Just outside the A&M bubble. These properties appeal to the people working on campus. Rents are higher in Bryan compared to the rest of Central Texas save Austin.