Unfortunately, the low-income segment is being pushed out of Austin.  

Absentee Owners have been popular for a long time, and are apparently still somewhat effective (people are still mailing to them) but with all those offers, it's hard to stand out.There are some owner-occupied segments with people who share motivating factors for selling their home.Seniors with Long-time Ownership: often ready to downsize or transition to assistance.Homeowners with Low Financial Stability Scores (FSS): Struggling financially and likely ready to cash in on their asset.By  mixing in these newer owner occupied segments with your lists, you should find inventory without all the competition.Both these categories have additional advantages in that they probably don’t haven’t been updated and may have deferred maintenance.

It's hard to stand out.There are some new owner-occupied segments with people who share motivating factors for selling their home.Seniors with Long-time Ownership: often ready to downsize or transition to assistance.Homeowners with Low Financial Stability Scores (FSS): Struggling financially and likely ready to cash in on their asset.Both these categories have additional advantages in that they probably don’t haven’t been updated and may have deferred maintenance.

The market has definitely heated up across all segments. 

That process at least has more certainty right now than the Short Term Rental license process.Also, the local NPR did a great segment on this property a while back:  https://www.wwno.org/post/nola-life-stories-dancing-night-away-dew-drop-inn 

He was very articulate and spoke volumes of details in a clear concise manner in a short 30-45 minute segment. 

He provided so many golden nuggets as he shared six essential steps in his process: 1) segmentation, 2) delegation, 3) documentation, 4) replication, 5) expectation, and 6) prioritization.

In both cases, the "bad guys" are actually a fairly small segment of the market, and they aren't the ones generally most willing to pay the highest price... market value is determined by who IS willing to pay the highest price.

Commercial VS residential to different market segments, each with their on nuances. 

Your older units will probably serve a different segment of the renter market vs new construction.