Need advise about duplex / fourplex in San Antonio, TX

[Paras Newbe]

Hello. I started my post from https://www.biggerpockets.com/... about Investing in Austin area in SFH. But my main goal being cash-flow right now, I was suggested that I look in to San Antonio for Multi family housing. Few questions I have about this.

1. Is it right that it is easy to get Multi Family houses in San Antonio, TX? 

2. Economic growth here is nowhere near Austin. How do other investor feel about this? My main goal being the cash-flow, should i be worried about this? Does apartment get rented quickly for long term (1 year+) quickly?

3. Want to hear some more from other investors in this area. Should I be moving forward here? Should I be looking somewhere else? Anything spacial (i.e. Property taxes are pretty high) I should know being in Seattle? 

4. I am in Seattle and I will be doing everything (Buying, Inspection, property management) remotely by getting local company's help. Any suggestions?

Looking for some advise.

Thank you.

[Steven Griffith]

I'll be honest - I think you're dead wrong about San Antonio's economic growth being "nowhere near Austin".  I'm not quite sure where you came up with that, given that San Antonio is more than 50% larger than Austin and has consistently ranked among the top cities in terms of population growth for the past 10 years.  This year alone, San Antonio is the 2nd fastest growing city in the US in terms of population.

Business Facilities puts out an annual report ranking the top metros across the nation in terms of Economic Growth Potential, and San Antonio had been in the top 3 since at least 2016.  This year Austin is number 4 on the list, and Houston is number 6. Texas as a whole is growing!  I'll grant you that Austin is perhaps more well known and talked about, but keep in mind that San Antonio is much, much bigger than Austin and already has several large employers in place, as well as multiple Universities, professional sports teams, medical centers, scientific research facilities, multiple military bases (Randolph AFB, Lackland AFB, Ft Sam, etc) etc. Austin is growing, no doubt, and is getting some big name employers like Apple and Amazon, but SATX has it's own share of large, national employers.  

One other comment I'll make about the housing market in SATX is that home prices seem to be generally lower than Austin, although maybe that is just on the homes I search for. Yes, there are multifamily available in San Antonio, and yes they seem to come up fairly regularly, especially around the military bases. 

You've already mentioned one of the biggest negatives, although it applies to Texas as a whole: Property Taxes. They're really high, and in my analysis' usually kill cash flow on a lot of SFH deal. I think both San Antonio and Austin are great places to invest, if the numbers make sense, due to all the reasons above and because there seems to be great appreciation and demand. Good luck!