Is Texas a nightmare to be a landlord?

[Eric W.]

I live in the DFW area and have been considering a rental property. But from the outside looking in as someone who isn’t a landlord, TX seems like an absolute nightmare to own a rental property: 

1.) crazy weather (tornados, gorilla hail, high winds, ice, extreme prolonged heat) hard on roof and AC 

2.) high property taxes (lose the ability to homestead exemption) 

3.) already had extreme price appreciation for many years

for those of you who own rentals in tx is it rough? Am I wrong to think this? I understand it’s a popular place with a good economy, but I get caught up on the stuff I listed above. Wouldn’t it be much less stress to own in a lower property tax state with less intense weather? 

[Guy Gimenez]

Fear will ensure you never own a rental anywhere. I've owned rentals in Texas for the last 20 years, all of which I self managed. Taxes are high...but the tenant pays them. That's how rentals work. If you know how to find "off market" investments, appreciation is just icing on the cake...it's not the cake itself. If you're depending on projections of appreciation to make your purchase a good deal, you're a speculator, not an investor. Each area of the U.S. has it's own climate challenges...Texas is no different. Buy a rental in Colorado and see what challenges the weather provides you there. I lived there too so I know. Texas is certainly more landlord friendly that many states and that is more important to me than the weather. Learning how to overcome hurdles will help you tremendously as an investor. It's not what you see, it's what you don't see that is important.