I'm reluctant to touch anything that is heavily leveraged to tourism at this point due to future lockdown, travel bans, etc.

We may lose money in the short term but I guarantee that you’ll look back and be thankful you didn’t sell when tourism returns.

Check the regulations in both areas, as well as tourism numbers and potential income vs. purchase prices of each.

BP posts and the Podcasts helped embrace this attitude that  good deal or bad deal, each can be used to help make the next deal that much easier to do, easier to analyze, and quicker to move on.  

My reasons for buying here in the first place was that it was in the Go-Zone (post Hurricane Katrina) and that there was a lot of optimism in the area for growth (port expansion, refinery, tourism). 

Me on the other hand, I embrace this time to learn as much about Real Estate Investing as possible and you both do a great job in really explaining the inner workings of this industry.Without going into long over drawn life stories I would like to introduce myself, what my goals are and hopefully networking with many other REI BP'ers in the Texas area.

We do have some nice industries like trona, tourism, agriculture, etc, but make no mistake we are an energy driven state.

Tourism is big here as well and is off, but still viable due to regional vacationers.

Don't get me wrong, I embrace the constructive criticism because it helps us grow and improve, however, to call us "scammers" is extremely inappropriate and unprofessional.

In any case, if you embrace their vision, and what they see as necessary for the good of the community, it will be easier.