I guess those are options that you guys will have to weigh but my two cents would be buy in Tacoma,  see the rents rise, maybe a little appreciation and later you can buy that vacation home that you've always wanted.

Happy to flush through a lot of these preliminary considerations if you'd like to chat!

Define your requirements, taking into consideration the realities of the market (Austin is heavily weighted toward the appreciation play at this time).

Just playing devils advocate but would you use a stock broker who in the last 3 years of a rising market has delivered a 0% return to their clients?

Here's the basics:480k price, 25% down60k annual rents 6k annual taxes3k insurance3k utilitiesGood location, low vacancy rate (assuming 6%)Here's my big question - how do you think about the likelihood of rising interest rates?  

So, lots of considerations here: Is the price accurate given the location, age, condition?

So, no guarantee that rising expenses translate into rising rents.I assume when you say $800 a month you're paying cash.  

Building code dictates a minimum rise over run (how much height can be gained versus the depth of the step).

Hopefully that won't happen, but it was a consideration when I bought it, so I have planned for a long hold if necessary. 

It's basically like a refinance, only you don't make any payments, the balance simply rises by interest accruing.