In addition being able to do your own searchs and one thing out west here that was very productive for us/me was just going through the big Plat maps ( the actual mylar / paper ones in the day) We could find shadow plats.

If my husband and I were to start over again we would buy higher quality assets and not be focused on immediate cash flow and unit count like we were when we started this after exiting a fairly decent sized small business.

Yea the thing that was confusing was that the listed rentals on Zillow or Redfin had pretty big discrepancies in price while they appeared to me to be of similar quality. 

The Austin metro market is approaching that territory.Here are the full stats for Austin and the greater metro:On the rental front, a recent Redfin report placed Austin atop the list for the largest year-over-year decline in median rents among US metros:Appropriate rental pricing and high-quality marketing are vital to navigating the current leasing market effectively.

Risk of future inflation, and projections of gross domestic product.

I wouldn't use them to complete the job, they've already shown they aren't doing quality work.

I believe up to close to 40% down with a 720 or greater credit score on a conventional loan product could give you the best interest rate. 

They're shady builders with poor quality construction.

A nice but rental quality unit gets 1500-1650 regularly in that area depending on the size and finishes.

Yes, prices are high, but there is good potential for appreciation, and tenants are generally reliable and high quality.