All Forum Posts by: Brian Adams

1. Killeen is actually the largest town between Austin and Dallas - larger than Waco, Temple, Round Rock, Georgetown, all of them. That said, yes, it is still very much a military town. Fort Hood is America's largest military post by population in the world. It is not going anywhere. The down sizing was announced already and added up to about 3500 Soldiers for Fort Hood, to be complete by 2017. The market has begun to diversify some with a large military retiree population and related hospital and healthcare services/jobs, as well as the new and expanding Texas A&M campus. Any area has risks, but a market downturn in our area won't be because of Fort Hood up and running. 

2. I'm not entirely sure what you are asking. Harker Heights is a more expensive market. The median non-builder/foreclosure home sold in 2nd Quarter of 2016 was $187,000, versus $134,800 for the Fort Hood market as a whole. Only Salado has a pricier market (I don't include Belton/Temple and don't know those markets well). Days on market were 37, shorter than the 43 median for the entire Fort Hood area, so it is definitely a good market to be in. That said, you will still want to be particular about what kind of home you buy with an eye on resale/rental. 4/2/2s is what I would focus on.

http://www.hoodhomesblog.com/market/blog/fort-hood...

3. I have an article I recently wrote on the rental market update and what kind of vacancy landlords are seeing in between tenants. BLUF: about 40 days seems to be the median for those rentals listed on the MLS. It is also very seasonal - in June, rentals are getting filled a month out. In November, good luck.

http://www.hoodhomesblog.com/investing/blog/what-t...

Hopefully the moderators don't block this post - these are just articles I wrote with information and graphics/tables - I'm not selling a product. Linking to this info is easier than copy pasting it all.

Hey @Stephen Bennett and @Account Closed!

I'm also a Killeen agent. I agree with Kevin that Killeen is not a flipper's dream market, but I did do an analysis not too long ago on homes that sold twice on the MLS between 5/23/15 and 5/23/16 - obviously, most were flips. There were 25 total in that timespan. And these were only the ones that were procured on the MLS.

At the same time, I wrote a short article on some of the same properties that I had been tracking. The link is below - it is to an article on my website so not sure if the Moderator aparatchiks will take it down for "self promoting", but it's just an article, moderator!  I'm not selling anything!

http://www.hoodhomesblog.com/investing/blog/who-sa...

I have at least one flip I have under contract myself - my first in the area - and also some rentals including a fourplex that I "house hacked" when I was younger/single. I've talked to Kevin McNeely a lot and hope to follow his example with the buy-and-hold/BRRRR stuff in Killeen - he's a great resource for exactly that kind of stuff.

Welcome @Dillwyn Mathurin!

I'm a Realtor in the Fort Hood market. Tomorrow, Thursday, is actually the local REIA meetup at El Chico's for lunch. It's a small group, but if you have the time, probably worth the drive if looking to get started in our market.

http://www.meetup.com/Real-Estate-Investors-of-Kil...

I try to make as many meetings as I can.

Thanks @Josef T. and @Jeremy Jackson!

I think @Account Closed and I are the only active BP agents I know of in the area - he's a solid guy who also knows his stuff. I'm also retired military, though that's true of most agents in the area - either former military or a military spouse. Also, all local agents will be very familiar with the VA loan and/or Tex Vet - over 50% of loans in our area are VA.

@Michael Quarles Yes - I understand the reasons for the policy broadly, but some judgment and balance on the part of the moderators would go a long way.  Just my two cents. BP still a great resource without peers.

@Michael Quarles

I've had a similar issue.  I have a blog with articles that explain a lot of people's questions about my market and strategies (also free - only promotion is I am a Realtor if you need one or not), but I can't actually link to it except in PMs. I guess that's okay, but kind of defeats the purpose of sharing information with the community. I guess I can guest blog on BP, but 99.9% of BP users don't want to know about my specific market. Glad to see someone with some firepower making our case!

Yeah - SW side of Killeen is doing fairly good right now, even though the SE side has more expensive properties overall. There's the new HEB going in over there, too - just after getting the new Wal Mart and other commercial stuff on Stan Schlueter.  76549 is the first ZIP code I would send investors to if they're doing direct mail or driving for dollars (the stuff between Hwy 190, Clear Creek, Stan Schlueter and Fort Hood St - south of Stan Schlueter is all the new housing with no equity).

I don't work with renters often in our office, but it seems to me that side does well with rentals as well.

I am a Realtor in the area who tries to work with investors when I can.

I might recommend starting checking out the local MeetUp group - it's the only one I know of in the Killeen area. They meet at El Chico's the first and third Thursday of every month around 11:30 - 1 (it's informal, just people getting lunch and talking RE).

For what you're talking about doing - I did something very similar when I was still active duty - I bought a fourplex near Robinett (SW Killeen) and lived in a unit until I was deployed. It's been a great property. Multi-families definitely are often easier to cash flow than single families, though I would be very careful about what area of Killeen I had a multi-family in.

I've written some articles on my website about some of my recommendations for investors in our area using similar strategies. Let me know if I can be of help! Maybe we can link up and talk more.

I'll second the "every zip code" mantra. If spending money on marketing in Killeen, I'd focus on 76549 and 76543.  However the first two deals I found were 76541 (N Killeen) and Nolanville (76559).  Didn't expect to find things there. 

For perspective, I recently compiled a partial list of flips, just those from the MLS, in the Killeen area. I created a more exhaustive list of every flip I could find in the area in the last year (I searched homes that had sold twice in the last 12 months) that I can send anyone if they request it. That is of course just properties flipped that used the MLS as a lead source - most investors I know hold onto their properties in Killeen as rentals. Buy and hold is actually very popular.

I don't know how it compares to other markets, but I think it is an area with just as much opportunity as elsewhere.  The uni-employer nature of the area is always something that should be accounted for, but not one that worries me personally in the slightest.  It's the largest American military post in the world, and that won't be changing in the next generation or two.