East texas housing market

[Bryan Price]

Hello everyone! I am hoping to start a thread on the local housing market in our specific area. I am a newbie investor in the Longview/Kilgore (possibly Tyler area) and am hoping to find some trends in the area. I am aware that ALL markets are hot right now, but is ours hotter than the average market? Are rental rates climbing and at what rate? What is the average cost of a 2/1, 2/2, 3/1, 3/2, etc., rental in Kilgore and what about Longview? What do you guys predict for our area? Any comments about the current and future East Texas market would be greatly appreciated. I am also wanting to network with fellow investors in the area!

[Patrick Bartlett]

That is a really hard question to answer. Rents are going to be different from neighborhood to neighborhood and size / condition of the property will also play an important role. As to what is the market going to do... Again a difficult question to answer. I see 2 potentials. 1- The market slows down and levels out without a crash. 2- The bubble pops, I don't think it will look like 07 though. I feel like the banks probably learned a lesson or two. Something to keep in mind is Longview getting the Gap distribution center. It is going to be an 80k sqft facility and I dont remember off the top of my head but they are anticipating something like 1200 new full time jobs over the next 2 years. I think this will defiantly help keep our market strong. If you have any questions feel free to reach out.