All Forum Posts by: Spencer Knight

Hey Phillip, Welcome to BP!

I'm also in Austin as well, check out investor underground the Facebook group, they have a monthly meetup at abels north. also check out cash flow, its held every first Thursday of the month at the gatsby on 6th street. Those are the two I most often attend, and cash flow is actually meeting tonight, so you should drop by! but don't limit yorself to just those two, there are an abnormally large amount of real estate investor meetups around this city so go to meetup.com and check em all out

@David Sray,

As a wholeseller I see a wide view of the sales around town and also agree that just like Alex is saying, using the MLS is probably the best way to find good deals. If you don't have access get your real estate license and sign up, its not too difficult, and will set you up in the best position possible to find deals. If that's not the route you want to go or if you just don't have the time to find properties on your own, you can get your deals from a wholeseller like me, but even so I would still recommend getting your license and MLS access to verify comps and run your own searches before going in on a project.

From what I've seen areas like Lago Vista aren't the hottest, whereas areas like Georgetown, Pflugerville, and Round Rock are on the rise for <200k Properties. So if you're looking to get into the Travi County market I would stay on the outskirts of the city proper and try to pick up things in the smaller subdivions like Millwood, Andeson Mill, or similar areas.

Stephen, not sure if you've already explored this route, but Austin has a new code revision that is being tested right now called CodeNEXT. Given you're moving to Austin soon it might be able to give you some guidelines on current zoning as well. 

www.austintexas.gov/codenext

Personally I agree with Roland, as someone who has lived through the devastation Katrina caused. 

I used to live on the MS Gulf Coast and our family home was at the epicenter of the entire storm. If a whole seller had bothered with our small town we would have sold our beachfront lot years ago, but with my family attempting to sell on their own, things were much more difficult and it took years to sell.  

I understand the trepidation at first when offering someone a price lower than they could expect prior to such a catastrophe, but I also understand the necessity of funds when insurance companies refuse to pay out the amounts they owe their customers, and most are left in crippling debt attempting to recoup their losses. 

Houston will be a solid market in just a few months, so buy what you can. But if at the end of the day you don't feel comfortable buying there, buy in Austin because you sure as hell wont feel bad getting someones home for a low price here, and the back end on good homes here is unbelievable.

Welcome to BP Chirag!

I'd say that if you're looking for appreciation, Austin is definitely a safe bet! Right now some areas of downtown are seeing annual appreciation as high as 14%, while areas outside the city itself are seeing annual appreciation of almost 3% on average. These rates are among the highest and quickest appreciating in the state and country. 

Yes, Austin is more expensive than other cities in Texas, but if you're willing to spend 200k to hold on a property then you should be able to find a solid rental in Round Rock, Leander, Cedar Park, Taylor, etc that will net you a solid return on rents and appreciation. All the areas just outside the city are growing quickly, and several large corporations are moving their operations here as well. 

For example; 3M is in the process of relocating their offices and 800+ employees to north Austin closer to Pflugerville and Manor by April 2019, which are both major areas for those commuting into Austin already, so by 2019, that area in particular will most likely be appreciating more than the average of the surrounding area. 

Just a small bit of background about the Austin area, let me know if you have any questions about the area and I'll help you figure out your next move!