Advice on Investment Property Austin , TX

[Iqbal Brar]

Hi, I am located in the Bay Area and looking into an investment property in Austin or the surrounding areas. I have talked to a few realtors and am getting conflicting information on which areas have the best potential for growth. I understand SFH's go for a significant amount more than the listing price and the appreciation on the property is the smart play not the cash flow. I am looking for a SFH in the price range of $300-400K.

Areas that I have been advised to look into are: Del Valle, Georgetown, Round Rock, Kyle, Buda.

Are these right areas to look into? Which are has the best potential? Are Hornsby Bend & Manor worth looking into?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

[Dan Burstain]

I truly love BP but it does pain me to see so many people give responses to investors that totally discount different ways to invest. Positive cash flow is not the only thing that matters to all investors. Yes, I respect people who only invest that way. If it works for you then cookie cutter it and keep doing it and be happy. But don't profess that it is the only logical way to invest or those who invest in negative cash flow places are wrong. Many people invest in Austin and will continue to invest in Austin and make a ton of more money than many who only focus on cash flow. I truly understand that many treat appreciation as icing on the cake and looking at the data over 40 years in many of your cities, that is they way it should be treated. But, if you looked at 40 years of data in Austin and analyze it constantly like I do, and understand the economical makeup of the city and how it is unique, you will see the data does not lie. For 40 years people have been saying Austin prices are high because where they use to be 5 years ago or 10. That is because we don't have the roller coaster ride other cities do. Just a straight line steadily increasing. The most prices have fallen in the history of Austin is 2.9%,1.9% during the housing crisis. Any of you in other cities want to chime in with your numbers? We have a huge government and university job base that keeps us out of those big dips. So please understand there is truly a reason why 84 out of 100 economists picked Austin as the #1 place to invest. No, it wasn't cash flow although you will have positive cash flow in about year 2 or 3 and forward. It wasn't because we were rated the top city to live 4 years in a row. It was not because Elon Musk said Austin will be the biggest boom town the US has seen in 50 years. It is because they understand there are more ways to invest then positive cash flow and they understand the ROI you will see from your investments from Austin will far surpass most other cities. It certainly is not for everyone. But for those who truly analyze the data and returns, I would like to do some comparisons.