All Forum Posts by: Ryan Kelly

@Breeya Johnson the entire market currently is in a cooling cycle with price declines and inflated expenses like property taxes and insurance. Long term, the Austin market will do just fine with strong population and job growth. For near term investors, be prepared for sizable down payments to reach a cash flow neutral stance no matter how far out you look in the suburbs. Secondary markets like Temple, Belton, Killeen, and College Station offer better options for cash flow currently.

@Celso Rodriguez BRRRR works great in markets where you can buy homes around $200,000 or lower. The higher you go in price, the ratios get too hard to make it work without leaving as much money in the deal as you would a standard down payment.

@Breeya Johnson Austin has gone through numerous changes the past five years, both good and challenging. It remains the fastest growing metro in the US and also a top market for job growth. As a negative, it also has the largest gap between the cost to buy versus the cost to rent, making cash flow extremely difficult without committing more equity up front. I’m happy to share more data if interested.

@Jithendra Gandikota send me a DM and I can share some of our inspector recommendations.

@Kent Ford location, location, location, then everything else.

@Adriana Siu real estate is a long term hold, not a trade in my opinion. Your big advantage in the early years is tax depreciation and mortgage pay down. Higher cash flow comes in later years as rents in tge market go up and you benefit from your low interest rate. There are a lot of costs to sell and I would argue you’re in a good position to hold for the long haul. The rent declines in the market are temporary until the new supply gets absorbed and demand picks back up.

@Austin Styer along with @Wale Lawal's comments, I would focus on flipping a home that will end up in the median price range for a neighborhood, and not creating the Trophy home for a community. We're seeing lots of pain in the flip world with homes trying to sell at top prices for a neighborhood. They are hard to comp and harder for buyers to afford. Just make them nice and median-priced to find the sweet spot in the current market. Just my observations.

@Kent Ford Austin got hit by a combination of factors, but only because it was also the highest appreciating market nationally during 2020-2022. Austin nearly doubled in median home value in 24 months. As you stated, that leads to higher property taxes and higher homeowners insurance as well, and when combined with higher property values and a 150% climb in interest rates, it compounds affordability issues. There are some positive signs on the horizon. The home values have given back approximately 50% of their COVID highs from where we started in Jan 2020. On top of that, demand isn't really the problem, it's simply new supply having to get absorbed. Austin is still in the top 3 markets for apartment absorption rate, it's just that we added 60,000 new units in 2 years, so it will take a few years to get the supply and demand balance in check. It's not a cheap market anymore, but still has some strong business and population growth tailwinds.

@Neil Narayan Hays county is prime for growth and far behind the development Williamson county has had. I’m excited to see what the next decade will bring.

@Kent Ford Texas is not a market but a massive state nearly the size of Western Europe. There are dozens of metro area which all have different dynamics at play. Which market IN Texas will dictate your answer.