I originally was more keen on Houston but the flooding issues and oil industry dependence are currently worrying me, do you have any thoughts about those? 

There are a lot of good fundamentals: population growth, several stable industries (federal government, universities), one more volatile industry with major possible upsides (oil/gas), and most important for the real estate investor, attractive price rent ratios, especially as compared to larger urban areas.The major thing I've seen that gives me pause is that rents seem like they've been pretty much flat for the past several years, presumably following the oil/gas price crash.

With that being said im hoping to give a little background on myself and maybe get some directions from the professionals.Im currently a Senior Superintendent for an oil field service company. 

Hair drier, iron or steamer,Coffee maker,Some oil and herbs in the kitchen "Good quality" linens can grab you a few good review mentions

When oil dropped from $100 barrel to $50 barrel, $100k oil jobs disappeared, class A occupancy fell from 95% to 80%, while our class B properties actually slightly increased occupancy from 92% to 93%.We are very active in DFW and can share some ideas and experiences with you offline so you are better informed.

I am gearing up to purchase my first rental property and I have a question regarding the best way to setup my business.I am partnering with two college buddies of mine (one lives in Seattle, the other is temporarily living in North Dakota working for a big oil and gas company).

.  --   3780 sq ft 2 story office building (office was previous use)--  Built appx 1900 -- think it's brick, or block with some sort of facade, possibly limestone as that is common in the area -- has a basement as well with partial crawl space -- good soil in the area--  Appears to be structurally sound - no issues - however needs further investigation, the floor joists are likely large old world pine/oak or other hardwoods shipped in so they should be good as long as no previous termite damage/dry rot--   Basement professionally waterproofed 15 years ago - should be no water issues, we've had lots of rain locally (more than we've had in likely 10-15 years) and basement supposedly has not leaked, think it's limestone/concrete -- Building also surrounded by Concrete -- water should not be an issue-- Per agent this week there will be a new roof put on (Flat Roof) at a cost of $17k-- Asking price $60k-- Has been occupied by an accounting firm for I believe 40-50 years - they owned the building and have left as they merged with another local accounting firm and moved to another building-- Dated inside -- lots of paneling, probably dim lighting, HVAC is kind of dated****************************Potential Downsides/Other Pertinent info-- Likely will have low or nearly non existent price appreciation, other than upgrades I'd put in -- I probably wouldnt factor it in any of my figures-- Lots of ranching/agricultural, oil/gas, wind energy activity around - city has the closest major grocery store/Wal Mart to lots of people located in more rural areas within a 1-2hour driving distance -- town is important for that aspect-- Located in a small community - town has appx 12-15k people, however it is a bedroom community located off of a VERY well maintained interstate and it's only 20-30 mins drive from the City I live in that has 500k people --   The city is a good "Clean" town if that makes sense, very nice community gym close by-- Building is on the downtown core - right off of one main arterial and 1 block from the other -- no plans in the future to alter traffic flow etc --- Lots of money has been put in by the city/local govt to maintain the downtown area and make it a very nice walkable area - with lots of little shops, antique places, a couple cafes etc -- A local company in the refining business recently moved the majority of their business there from Wichita and has put a lot of money into this community -- large donations to the college and elsewhere (they make additives and are a nationally known brand -- have been around since the 70's - only way they go down is if we go away from the internal combustion engine - dont see that happening in the time I'd own the building) 

The lady was just out of college and did my wife's hair and demonstrated all of the items of the product and even threw in Moroccan oil for free for 140 all in.She is in college and majoring in business.

I started reading books and learning about 5 months ago, the reason being was because I work in the oil and gas industry and as some of you may know it's not doing so well and I went from making good money to now living basically pay check to pay check saving a few hundred dollars every month.

Sold that, made some money, invested in oil/gas, lost some money... looking to make it back.