The Woodlands, Conroe, Spring TX market

[Jonathan Boustania]

Hello All, 

I am looking to get into real estate investing and was looking in The Woodlands area but would also consider the Conroe and Spring areas too. I'm curious how the market is doing there, is it worth investing in the area and is it a better area to be a long term rental or buy and flip. I currently live out of state (SF Bay area) so don't know the areas well but I have family nearby and they have told me that The Woodlands is constantly growing and a good investment area.

My current idea would be to buy a SFH that I would rent out to family for the first 2-5 years and then either keep as a rental or selling if market continues to go up. Since this is my first investment, I would ideally prefer a newer home (or new construction) to make things easier. Is it a good idea to go with new construction? I like the option to customize and not have to worry about repairs for a while but the downside would be paying top of market prices.

Looking through Zillow (I know not always the best research tool), it looks like properties are selling pretty quickly as I don't see many that stay on there too long and see a good amount of new construction communities which makes me think this area is doing well. 

Any insight into this market would be greatly appreciated. Thanks