Mainly because when buying a primary home you have 5% down, 3.5% down, 3% down, and 0% down options. 

If you keep it as your primary residence for 2 out of 5 years, you can sell and get a capital gains exception of up to $250k.

Your primary insurance policy with $300,000 in liability coverage should be sufficient in 99.999% of all lawsuits.5.

Investment deals are often a little more complicated than deals for a primary residence for reasons exactly like this situation. 

Each time you do this you likely only need 3-5% down if you are buying it as a primary house.  

Use the money to pay down my 6.5% mortgage on primary residence.

My primary is at 3%

In your case, staying in Houston or exploring surrounding areas could be smart moves, but don't overlook other regions where new construction might be booming.Consider a Mix of Strategies:While your primary strategy is buy and hold, it could be worth looking into markets or property types that might give you better cash flow opportunities.

I flipped a property several years ago and ended up dumping my gains into an upgraded primary residence.

My name is Tommy and I'm new to the REI world but I've had the desire to get into it since I bought my first  home - primary residence in 2020 but never had the capital to start.