Hi, I'm new here and searching out my first property. I live in Long Beach Ca and am looking in Texas

[Jeb Brilliant]

Hi all, 

I really like the forum, podcast and blog. I've been trying to learn as much as I can all over the web but this place seems to be the best and biggest. 

I'm looking to buy my first home as a rental property and after getting some advice I am looking in Texas, specifically between Dallas and Arlington. I'm not sure I'm in the right place or state but I can't afford to buy around Los Angeles, Ca where I live. 

Looking forward to learning more on here. 

[Hattie Dizmond]

@Jeb Brilliant

Welcome to BP!  You're right that DFW is a growing market.  Read some of the projection, along with the reports on net new jobs created, etc. and you'll get a really good feel for just exactly how amazing that growth is.

With that said, it's an extremely hot market right now. Not CA & FL kind of hot where the prices are inflating without regard for real value. However, the North Texas MLS (NTREIS) covers over 12,000 square miles. Over that entire area, which includes a large % of rural property and the requisite war zone areas, we only have 2.5 months of inventory. My favorite areas - median income areas, median market values $150k - $250k, and highly rated schools - easily have less than 30-days of inventory.

I don't know what areas you of the Metroplex you are planning to target.  You listed Dallas to Arlington, which I'm assuming includes at least the first tier of suburbs in that area as well.  That's still a huge area, and very few agents have the capacity to understand that large and diverse of a space.  The DFW area really necessitates looking at it in terms of sub-markets and micro-markets to make any sense of it.

With that said, if you are focusing on areas such as Desoto/Red Oak/Cedar Hill or South Arlington (south of I-30) or Far North Arlington, your plan to visit prior to purchasing a property will probably be workable, particularly if you are OK with placing the offer using the Section 23 Cancellation Option in the standard TREC contract.  However, if you're looking in the Far North Dallas/Richardson/Plano area, you'll never have the chance to see the properties, before they are already under contract.

The final word of advice I will give is that it's seriously unlikely you're going to find anything in a C neighborhood or above - that will cash flow - on the MLS. It just isn't going to happen. If it does, it will be under contract and off the market before you ever have a chance to do the analysis. Just saying. There is insane investor pressure right now for all the same reasons you've targeted this market.

Good luck!

Hattie