Are there any deals left out there?

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@Sandy Pathak Suggest to learn to market directly to distressed sellers. There are always deals, I just closed on one and have another in the funnel. Stop looking at the MLS expecting to find a good deal, that’s where retail buyers and sellers operate.

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It's very very tough time find such deals on MLS since everyone is looking for same criterion. I would take a look at San Antonio in that price point if you are looking at cash flow and slower appreciation. Rents have risen there in good school districts and prices are still reasonable.

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Personally, I am glad when I hear things like its too tough to find deals in the Austin market market. Wanna know why? Less competition. In the last 90 days, there were 156 duplexes, 7 triplexes and 22 fourplexes sold (185). In other words, folks are making it work by putting down a larger chunk of equity or finding creative ways of pulling off the deal or realizing that the rents are below market, etc. There are several ways to raise rents: rent per room, airbnb, upgrading a unit, improving the exterior of the property or do nothing except raise the rent. Sometimes a landlord will not raise the rent to market prior to selling it so there is upside to the buyer upon purchase. That is the duplex-fourplex market. For the sfh rentals side there were much more than 185 sales in that time frame. Many folks like sfh for rentals for a variety of reasons. The process is a bit harder to determine if its a good rental. Its a little tougher as one has to manually run projected rent numbers and really analyze an area to see if a particular sfh works. That requires effort. It's not as easy to determine if the sfh will make for a good rental. There are a number of variables to look at to determine if its a good rental. Those are variables and variables, by definition can change. Those variables include property taxes, insurance, prop mgt fees (not necessary, for sfh). It's not easy. For the folks that say that its too tough to find deals on the mls and they would rather spend months if not years looking for that needle in the hay...well good luck. In that course of time they have lost out on thousands if not tens of thousands in equity. One thing is a certainty though: Austin metro is a very good market to be in. Count your blessings.

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@Henry Lazerow - Thanks for the advice. I have looked into Multifamily as well. Cash on cash return doesn't make sense in Austin mkt. Some multifamilies are going for way above ask and don't even cover basic expense with the rents.

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@Sandy Pathak if you have not already gotten an education it will be much harder to be successful. I suggest Bill Bronchick’s course on finding motivated sellers. https://www.legalwiz.com/store/marketing-to-find-motivated-sellers/

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I'm only looking at off market deals from wholesalers and struggling to find ones that make sense for rentals in the past year or so. This thread is somewhat outdated but maybe worth checking out https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/759/topics/880886-what-is-your-ideal-buy-and-hold-deal-in-austin-texas?Are you here in Austin or investing remotely? Buying these wholesale could be tough to do remotely though since you typically need to check out the property really quickly and buy it as is with no inspection. If you are trying to do this remotely I would recommending connecting with others who are doing that successfully.

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@Sandy Pathak I am a fellow investor from Stamford recently moving to Austin. i recenntly brought my first property there. Let us connect.

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Austin is an extremely competitive market.If you are only looking for pretty houses, you are competing with both investors and owner-occupants. It makes it harder to find a deal. The ugliest houses usually make for the best deals because you are only competing with other investors.

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@Aaron Gordy - Thank you both for great advice. I agree with your point that if a person want to find a deal they will find creative ways to find and make it work in their favor. I am looking for that niche myself. Account Closed - Yes I read that article not very encouraging.

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@Sandy Pathak right now the MLS listings are hectic. Redfin came out with a report last month that showed more than 1,500 homes on market sold for more than 100k over the asking price. So investing on the MLS is a challenge. If you want to use the MLS I would go out of central Austin and look for houses in growing areas such Bastrop, Lockhart, Killeen, etc.