Well before everybody was preaching Austin's virtues, I saw hammers firsthand swinging throughout downtown and close-in Austin and I began running numbers to see what kind of return could be had by combining low interest rates, high demand, and a market being driven by diverse levers at both the local and state level.Some of the questions I researched were:What areas of town and price points were most effected by the downturn?

:) Only I am definitely putting my man to work with the hammer and controlling the contractors!

Investors that had to sell due to credit/leverage issues got hammered. 

The riverfront neighborhoods in the Yacht Club, for example, were hammered.

But, the people who called said they were hammered with letters and postcards.

Lets face it you are not going to swing a hammer.

I'm working on my third rehab and looking to step away from swinging the hammer to work on growing my fix and flip business.

PHX got hammered when new construction stopped in 07 08 09 and then subs all moved for work  if you recall I remember 4 plex that linda Gercheck sold for 350k in 04 selling for 80 to 100k in 2010 and basically were vacant.. so the cycle go full circle .. now it sounds like market is more balanced construction while hampered is still going  etc etc.. 

We were drawn to this program because as an engineer with little interest or time to swing a hammer.

Also on a separate but partially related note, I wouldn’t want to be buying new construction now anyway, I know a licensed contractor in Gatlinburg, and I’m being told that the crews they have working are very poor quality crews, they are literally taking anybody who can use a hammer and saw, and most of them are lasting a few weeks and quitting on the job.