Houston market vs Las Vegas market

[Michael Rone]

Hi everyone. My wife and I were looking into the Houston and Las Vegas markets for real estate investing. Trying to get some feedback from investors on what draws you to either Houston or Vegas, what are some positives and negatives about each market that you have come across?

[Chris Coleman]

I cannot speak much about the Las Vegas market.  But I am invested in Houston, and here are a few things to consider:

1. Houston is the 4th largest city in the US and the largest in Texas, with over 2.3 million people residing in the city of Houston and more than 7 million throughout the entire metropolitan region.

2. In the next decade, the Houston region’s population is expected to increase to 8.4 million, with employment reaching 4.0 million and GDP topping $1.0 trillion.

3. Houston led the nation in job growth in 2018 creating 120,000 jobs and is expected to do so again in 2019 with health care, construction and administrative services providing the strongest performances.

4. Houston is home to more than 20 Fortune 500 company headquarters and has the third largest number of Fortune 1000 companies in the world, such as Sysco, Walmart, Waste Management, Memorial Hermann Health System, Kinder Morgan, AT&T, ConocoPhillips, United Airlines, and many more.

5. Houston ranks No. 2 in manufacturing GDP in the U.S. with a skilled workforce of more than 230,000 industrial workers.

As real estate investors, we want to invest where people want to live, work, and grow.  Growing population, growing employment, growing and diverse mix of industry.

Hope it helps.