The drought has created a major water shortage for farmers (bit part of the counties economy) and there is a moratorium on fracking which is affecting the local oil industry.  

Also, keep an eye out for an oil tank... in my neck of the woods they are one of the biggest issues with old houses and can cost thousands of dollars if they have leaked and the soil needs remediation.

Here these folks still tend to have lower heating costs, but if natural gas were actually cheaper than electricity or oil, a natural gas forced air furnace would likely be cheaper in that situation.HVAC debates aside, the core of my initial message was intended to be improvements to the building envelope in terms of superior insulation and effective air sealing will give you larger long-term payback than your choice of HVAC system.  

Being a college town, Austin has great stability.Denver and Houston both had overbuilding in the early 80's, so when the oil bust hit....

I prefer oil and tech. 

I'm new to wholesaling but certainly not new to snake-oil salesmen.As you said, best of luck and have a marvelous day ;)

It doesn't make much difference, at closing you pay some pre-paids (insurance/escrows) to yourself/the bank and credits to the seller (pre-paid taxes, fuel oil,etc.).

This saves me $60ish an oil change on my own car and makes me a little on the side.We also have stopped using K-cups for coffee.

Typical owner related costs associated with multi families here would be:1) Water and sewer unless there is sub metering2) Oil heat in some circumstances3) Natural gas ( however this is usually sub metered and an expense for the tenant )4) Vacancy ( this is usually very low in the city areas )5) Capital Expenditures6) Common area electricity7) Trash removal8) Property taxes9) General maintenance 10) Insurance11) Lead abatement ( one time cost )12) Property management expenses unless you can do it.Most investors around here shoot for $300.00 a month per unit or more as cash flow.

It's a great time to buy because of the oil downturn making it a soft market!