Real Estate investment in Austin TX?

Real Estate investment in Austin TX?

Member since 2022 · 3 posts · 5 votes

I am looking for investment property in Austin TX which can be rented out for long term period. Please share any pointers or area suggestions.

Thanks in advance!

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Dan BurstainBusiness Member
Real Estate Agent · Austin, TX · Member since 2014 · 361 posts · 331 votes
4y

Price point will dictate area suggestions but Leander, Georgetown, Hutto, Round Rock, East Austin, Kyle, and others all have their reasons for a great investment spot.  The jobs/companies are not going to one part of town.  They are in every sector.  Apple in the Northwest, Dell and Amazon in the North, Samsung in the Northeast, Tesla in the Southeast, Google and Oracle in Central along with University of Texas and Government. Micron, AMD, and one or two others are talking about expanding more into the surrounding area with tens of billions of dollars.  The future remains very bright.

Dan Burstain, Investment Realtor51 Review
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  • Dan BurstainBusiness Member
    Real Estate Agent · Austin, TX · Member since 2014 · 361 posts · 331 votes
    4y

    Price point will dictate area suggestions but Leander, Georgetown, Hutto, Round Rock, East Austin, Kyle, and others all have their reasons for a great investment spot.  The jobs/companies are not going to one part of town.  They are in every sector.  Apple in the Northwest, Dell and Amazon in the North, Samsung in the Northeast, Tesla in the Southeast, Google and Oracle in Central along with University of Texas and Government. Micron, AMD, and one or two others are talking about expanding more into the surrounding area with tens of billions of dollars.  The future remains very bright.

    Dan Burstain, Investment Realtor51 Review
  • Jordan MoorheadBusiness Member
    Real Estate Agent · Austin, TX · Member since 2015 · 5k+ posts · 3k+ votes
    4y

    @Laukik Hoshing what are you goals? It's hard to know where to point you without knowing what your goals are for having a long term rental in Austin.

  • Austin, TX · Member since 2013 · 153 posts · 104 votes
    4y

    Austin is a tough market to buy long term rentals in right now. The economy is great but housing prices and property taxes are high. 

    An average starter home right now is about $350k. Once taxes catch up you're looking at around $7,700 - $8,000 a year in property taxes depending on your location. That eats up most if not all of the profit in most deals. 

    I would love to be wrong tough. What am I missing?

  • Realtor · Dallas - Fort Worth Metroplex, TX · Member since 2016 · 1k+ posts · 925 votes
    4y

    @Laukik Hoshing @Bryan Noth is my go to for Austin, a true professional who understands the Austin market and where to find you opportunities.

  • Realtor · Austin, TX · Member since 2016 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes
    4y

    Thank you @Lucia Rushton!

    @Laukik Hoshing I would echo several other comments here in asking, what are your purchasing criteria for a property in Austin?  Location, jobs, price point, etc.  That may help get you responses that apply to your situation more directly.  

    As for areas @Dan Burstain said it, almost every direction has some merit.  The rent : purchase price ratio on LTRs does tend to be lower, especially in hot areas.  However, rent growth in the last 2 years has kept the ratio on close enough to pencil out in many situations.  

  • Realtor · Austin, TX · Member since 2016 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes
    4y

    @Nathan W. the ratios are tight in Austin currently, but this tends to be true in growing markets because rents have a lag time compared to sales prices.  Homes prices can go up monthly (sometimes daily it seems) but rents cannot change until lease renewal.  And while Austin did see home values last year appreciate more than 20% it also saw rents increase by more than 10%.  

  • Austin, TX · Member since 2013 · 153 posts · 104 votes
    4y

    I just raised the rent on one of my rentals 22%. It still wouldn't make any sense to buy that house today though. The numbers just don't work. 

    If you're buying for appreciation, paying cash, and don't care about cash on cash returns then Austin is your market. I would love to see some real world numbers from someone investing at today's prices to see what kind of returns they are seeing. Maybe i'm just not being creative enough. 

  • Realtor · Austin, TX · Member since 2016 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes
    4y

    @Nathan W. I usually see cash flow positive on SFH LTR in Austin within 3 years of acquisition. The last 2 years I have been able to force that within 12-24 months of acquisition. However, the STR and MTR model are comfortably cash flow positive right out of the gate.

  • Austin, TX · Member since 2013 · 153 posts · 104 votes
    4y

    @Bryan Noth I agree. I've been looking into the STR / MTR model in the Austin area to get both cash flow and appreciation. If my tenants hadn't agreed to the new price hike I was planning on turning that LTR into one.

    Have you done any STR in the area? If so what parts of town? Regulations are tough in Austin itself but there are opprotunities in the subburbs.

  • Realtor · Austin, TX · Member since 2016 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes
    4y

    @Nathan W. 

    I transitioned two traditional long term SFH rentals last year. I have a STR in Cedar Park and a MTR in North Austin. And as long as the minimum stay is at least 30 days it does not fall into the STR category. Both models have performed strongly thus far with low vacancy and higher cash flow to boot

  • Jordan MoorheadBusiness Member
    Real Estate Agent · Austin, TX · Member since 2015 · 5k+ posts · 3k+ votes
    4y

    @Bryan Noth I love my MTR!

  • Member since 2022 · 3 posts · 5 votes
    4y

    Thanks everyone for replying.

    @Jordan Moorhead, @Bryan Noth - Currently I am based out of Seattle,WA and looking for out-of-state real estate investment.

    My short term goal would be to rent out the investment property (preferably Long Term). For initial period I am fine with paying out-of-pocket amount (around $500/month) but it would be great if the property becomes self-feeding (or positive cash flow) in couple of years.

    But eventually I would like the property to appreciate over time. 

  • Realtor · Austin, TX · Member since 2016 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes
    4y

    @Laukik Hoshing that is a very easy metric to hit for the Austin MSA and keeps options open for choosing a location. 

  • Jordan MoorheadBusiness Member
    Real Estate Agent · Austin, TX · Member since 2015 · 5k+ posts · 3k+ votes
    4y

    @Laukik Hoshing you can find one that breaks even at the very least

  • Investor · Austin, TX · Member since 2021 · 9k+ posts · 5k+ votes
    4y

    Expect to negative or break even cash flow for the first few years. Investors are playing the appreciation game. 

  • Member since 2018 · 44 posts · 47 votes
    4y

    Austin is an Appreciation/Depreciation play right now.  Rents are finally ticking up, so unless you get a unicorn deal you can expect to be neg cash flow for a few years, but after a while you will have (probably) gained a lot of appreciation and tax benefit and then rents will have picked up to flip the equation the other way.  

    I have purchased several rentals over the year that have lost $200-400/mo but now 3-4 years later they are double or more in value and cash flowing $200-400/month.  The same will likely be true over the next 5 year period (In Austin specifically, not every market)

  • Investor · San Francisco · Member since 2021 · 30 posts · 6 votes
    4y
    Quote from @Nathan W.:

    Austin is a tough market to buy long term rentals in right now. The economy is great but housing prices and property taxes are high. 

    An average starter home right now is about $350k. Once taxes catch up you're looking at around $7,700 - $8,000 a year in property taxes depending on your location. That eats up most if not all of the profit in most deals. 

    I would love to be wrong tough. What am I missing?


    A tough market, but not impossible. There are deals available, it just takes time, effort and a lot of research. My last 3 deals in the previous 24 months; two on MLS (SFH and Duplex) both cash flowing $200, and $500 a month with ridiculous appreciation. The duplex, I purchased $50k over asking and it still cashflow.

    3rd property, Jan 2022, this is a currently BRRRR. About 1.5 month left in reno. Hard money was used, after cash out RE-FI ~should~ cash flow $200, after I pull 90% of cash out. That was a wholesaler off market.

    IMO, if I got any of these properties at $0 cash flow I would do the deal as the appreciation is amazing and will not stop. Slow down possibly, but not stop. Again IMO. Who knows!! 

    What a place!! 

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