Is Bryan Tx. worth investing in?

Question

Here are the Macro Economics:

Population growth since 2000: 22%

Median HH income increase since 2000: 18% (on the lower end, however, the college has a huge influence on this)

Medina Home Value increase since 2000: 48%

Crime:  This city has cleaned itself up in a MAJOR way. Unlike any in the country (Crime cut in half since 2000) in fact, LA and New york cities conducted case studies on Bryan Tx. to use as a template for reducing crime.

Job Growth: 1.41%  (this is for the College Station /Bryan MSA)

All in all - very good signs for a healthy city with many reasons to invest capital.

Here is what scares me:  There is an enormous amount of multi-family inventory on the market. Too much. I believe this is due to student housing growth when Texas A&M increases its capacity to 80,000 students.  From a distance, it appears construction has slowed however population increase has not.

Any experts in Bryan willing to provide some insight on the direction Bryan is headed? M

My partners and I are looking to invest some capital into some smaller, stable, Multi-Unit apartments (5-20 units) with short term rental potential.

Interested to hear the feedback.

Pete Harper · Answer

Ramsey, I like your analysis.  This confirms much of what I see on the ground. I have six units in Bryan. The fundamentals all look good. I see brand new single family housing going in to the Northeast of Bryan and South in College station. Additionally new franchise restaurants and stores. There are pockets of rundown properties but overall most properties look good. Compared to surrounding towns Bryan is doing quite well.

IMO student housing is overbuilt. There are many new mega developments that cater to students. These properties have all the amenities. I guess if daddy is paying the rent the kids don’t care. As a result the older properties near campus can’t compete. The new student properties don’t cash flow for the price. My strategy has been to buy C-class properties Just outside the A&M bubble. These properties appeal to the people working on campus. Rents are higher in Bryan compared to the rest of Central Texas save Austin.

Chris Quinn · Answer

@Ramsey Blankenship As a Bryan resident born and raised, I think Bryan is often overlooked and underrated. Purchasing power is typically higher than CS, which I why I concentrate my investing more on Bryan than College Station. 2% rule is basically non-existant, unless you want to buy a trailer. While the 1.2%+ can be found, you're typically going to get in the C and D areas. Our A and B class properties are closer to .8% rent-to-value.

Some landlords are struggling...They also don't make much effort to stand out from the crowd. Their place is dated, their photos/marketing are horrible, etc. I recently switched my 4bed townhome near Blinn in Bryan from long term college kids to short term tenants (AirBnB). This was less in part of the inventory, more because I HATE RENTING TO COLLEGE KIDS! Previously rented for $1600/mo, we are averaging over $3000 doing the short term route, at about 40% occupancy. Aggie football had a lot to do with it, but we also get higher paying weekend guests who come to town for various other reasons.

Pete Harper · Answer

Ramsey,   Our fist purchase was a duplex 2BR/1BA each side. It needed a new roof plus upgrades inside. All-in we are at a 1.3% rule. This property has been 100% occupied. The second unit we recently purchased is a 4-plex, 2BR/1BA. This place needs some foundation work, we used that to knock $24k off the asking price, it is going to cost only $12k to repair. We currently have two units listed to rent after reno. All-in we will be at a 1.2% rule. Bryan is one of the few markets I’ve seen in central Texas that beats 1% rule. I plan to buy more in BCS as good deals come on the market.

Ramsey Blankenship · Answer

@Pete Harper Do your units stay rented or do you struggle with vacancies and/or turnovers? Also, are your units SFH or MF?

Is Bryan Tx. worth investing in?

Most Popular Reply