It's one of the fastest growing areas in Houston but still has a small town feel, for now.The conventional wisdom is that Harvey will create a spike in prices.

The general rule of thumb that I provide is that you want the median household income level to be above 38 K in the Midwest and above 40K in the rest of the u.s. numbers below this, cause tremendous churn, which will spike your repairs and maintenance cost and kill your profits.

You might also want to keep an eye out for certain cities that have planned large improvements such as new schools and stadiums as they will spike up the tax rate in a higher percentage than typical.

(Interestingly, there has been a small spike in valuations of flips on the outer limits of the neighborhood. 

Where the argument breaks down for most real estate investors is the "spike" appreciation that they are accustomed to reading about in Guru blogs and seeing on the coasts ALONG with the scale of investments available.  

Have you seen a massive price spike after a major event (like Florence and likely Michael, or Matthew a couple years ago?)

In that time, I've also built up over $200k in equity, so selling and realizing the gain and rolling into another investment is also an option.Again, the market has spiked a lot more in recent years.

.- If costs are high, send out a letter saying you noticed a spike and that you will be scheduling an inspection to look for issues with the property, like leaks. 

It’s not a no-brainer anymore but tbh none of the places I bought were spike-the-football, dance in the end-zone moments when I signed the papers.

That being said, I would see if you can get a handle on where exactly the spike in use came from and investigate all those leads.