I’m looking at a 3/2 single family or a condo/townhouse as my first dive into the real estate investment market. I have seen report on economic outlooks in Las Vegas and Austin. Both reports very positive (Austin a notch higher, I think). Not familiar with both rental markets. Any comments, advice, etc?

Property taxes are very high in Texas and Austin especially. It will kill cash flow

Thanks for feedback Ellis. That is news to me. I will in fact look at this bit of info and research it more.

@Alfonso Pitco they're very different markets IMO. Vegas is heavy tourism, Austin has faster growth and a more diverse economy from what I've seen. Property taxes are high but our overall tax burden is really low and values are shooting up along with rents.

For long term growth you can't beat Austin. Our economy is very robust and we continue to perform very well compared to other metros on GDP, jobs, etc.

Being a newly and not familiar with Austin, I am very impressed by economic growth forecast about the city, specially now that Tesla is going to add to the tech and financial companies.

What will be the first place to consider based on current real estate prices, and rental market outlook?

I am thinking of downtown area and/or close proximity to UT  but open to other areas based on projected viability for rental property.

Downtown nor UT area will be easy to cash flow. You should think outside of that area. East austin, south austin southeast, southwest, northwest, north, northeast...heck the entire city outside of downtown. UT is great if you can put down a big amount of money though. 

Vegas may appear to have better cash flow and purchase price, yet you will need reserves to ride the boom and bust of the tourism market. Vegas is starting to diversify, but not to the extent the Austin market has. In Austin, you are essentially buying a growth stock, with lower cash flow yield and better appreciation (historically). You can still find decent cash flow opportunities with patience and clear goals.