New & Discouraged - Austin, Texas

[Robert Hidrogo]

Hello BP family, I reached out to a local realtor, a friend of a co-worker, to see if he could help me find some properties to flip. Although I greatly appreciate his honesty, his response below has really discouraged me with being new REI. Can anyone tell me how I could go about breaking into the market in my area?

Hey Bobby

You are on the right track with investing in Austin Real Estate. However, the market you are interested in with foreclosures and distressed properties is tough to break into.

There are not a lot of foreclosures in Austin because the market is rather hot and sellers can sell their homes and make a profit or break even rather than let their home go into foreclosure and destroy their credit for many years.

There are so many buyers and investors looking for distressed properties and you have to be willing to make an almost immediate decision. Unfortunately, there is no time to think about such an investment.

If you find a a foreclosure property and especially a distressed property you are almost guaranteed there will be multiple offers and the offers will be above full price. You are also guaranteed to be up against cash offers.

I just sold a home east of IH35 and north of 51st Street. This home needed work and was a great flip. I had 8 offers, 3 cash offers and the highest offer was $35,000 over the asking price. Needless to say the seller accepted a cash offer from a flipper that was well over full price but was not the highest offer. Seller felt more comfortable with a cash flipper.

All this to say the Austin Real Estate market is really crazy and hot with 130 people moving in daily they have to live somewhere. I do not focus on foreclosures or distressed properties so I am probable not a good fit for what you are looking for.

I so appreciate the opportunity. All the best on your real estate ventures!!

Any help would be greatly appreciated.