It was fine during the pandemic but not at this stage for me.  

After literally years of looking (since 2022) I bought my first property a few months ago, so I feel extremely qualified to give advice (many people earned lots of equity during the pandemic appreciation-boom if they bought before 2022, but out-of-state investors getting started AFTER the 2022 interest rate hikes are few and far between). 

Has the pandemic driven more interest in the city?

This wasn’t a failure (if it is a failure) because of purchasing at the top; the economy crashed; pandemic closing everything down; or a massive failure of the financial system.  

I have been off work for about a month due to covid 19 pandemic.

However, pricing in Austin is still substantially above pre-pandemic levels.

Be very careful when it comes to vacation homes you need to be very experienced to be able to calculate the exact net cash flow. there is so many expenses that you might not understand, in other words you need to do your homework before touching any vacation rentals especially with the pandemic .

My job was stopped for almost four months during the pandemic.

Before the pandemic, Magnolia alone (not including Baylor University or any other Waco attractions) was drawing in 10,000 tourists a week to Waco and a total of 1 million tourists a year.

Unfortunately, the pandemic pulled the rug right out from under us as we were in the middle of the application process with Visio.