First time investor in Austin, looking at the Killeen market

[Wayne Bolen]

Hey guys. My wife and I have been wanting to get into the real estate investment scene for quite some time, and I think we're about ready to get our feet wet. We live in the Austin area, but due to the high prices feel that starting out in Killeen would be more appropriate. We would love to meet with some other local investors to start networking and make sure we're not missing any crucial steps in our first purchase, and perhaps make a connection or two with some real estate agents.

A little background info. We're considering SFR given our low amount of captial to begin with. We've been looking at duplexes as well, but given our price range (up to around 100k) I don't think the potential properties would be a worthwhile investment. Ideally once we have our first or second purchase under our belts, we would then start looking into duplexes or fourplexes.

Any thoughts, insights, input, advice, etc would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

Wayne

[Andrew Allen]

My TLDR advice: Killeen is good for cash flow but you'll see almost no appreciation. I have owned a house there since 2003 and its actually depreciated in price if you take into account inflation. Rent has not gone up in a decade. They've seriously overbuilt Killeen since most GIs want to use the VA loan to buy a house (like me), and become landlords. Who would want to rent an old home when you can buy a newer one for nothing-down and lower monthly payments? Then they PCS after 3 years and leave another rental house. So most of the residents there are tenants, for obvious reasons and most of the actual owners are absentee landlords. That's why its so ghetto in most places. I don't like owning a house there, but don't have any better place to put the money at this time. Be happy to talk more if you'd like.