Due to the difficulty of finding decent deals in Austin, my wife and I decided to look for a property in Elgin, TX. This was a calculated decision: Elgin is only 30 minutes from Austin, it's got a nice historic downtown, and there is a group that's planning to build the Elgin Agrarian Community, a 24-acre community of 80 green-built homes with a 5-acre CSA farm, jogging trails, a craft brewery, and a spa / events center.

We wanted to find a property near the downtown area, within walking distance to the Elgin Agrarian site. We ended up getting the property right across the street - actually, right across the street from where the craft brewery will be. :)

That's the good news. The bad news is that, despite multiple hints at a groundbreaking, nothing has gone vertical yet. They have cleared the site for the farm and for a few roads. Fingers crossed that the project stays on track.

So for now, this is a path-of-progress play waiting for the progress. But it's certainly got its positives. We're in it for a little less than what it's worth (~$210K), we've got 30-year financing from a local bank, and it cash flows about $100/month. We got really positive feedback on the renovations from all the prospective tenants who toured the property, and our tenants recently told me "we're on cloud nine in this house." The house sits on one-half of a beautiful, flat, 0.50 acre lot, so we can always subdivide and have another 0.25 acre lot to build on or whatever.

Before the renovation, it was a 1,456 sf 2 bedroom, 2 bathroom, with an oversized attached garage, a clunky layout and a super-kludgey "master" bathroom. We didn't add any sf, but we did convert it into a 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom, with a huge master suite and master closet, and a huge open concept living/dining/kitchen area. Before/during/after photos are below.

Another reason for this post is to let the BP community know that I haven't fallen off of the map. :) Got sucked back into the corporate world a couple years ago, and you know how that goes. Striving now to be more active on BP and in our RE investing. Got a deal you'd like to partner on? I'd love to hear about it.

@Amy Janota @Lynn Currie @Jon Klaus

@Robert Grunnah @Robyn R. @Gonz Trevino @Qui Chau @Elizabeth Quintanilla @Dan Burstain @Raj Vajir @Mindy Jensen @Scott Sutherland @Mike Walker @James Sinclair @Lamar Cannon @Esmeralda Lira McGee @Aaron Gordy @Guy Gimenez @Nathan Cron @Jason Grote @Corey Young @Brandon Turner