Austin Opportunity City

[Kat Pinson]

Rates going up have really scared people it's been so interesting to see how the market can change so quickly. What are you doing to adapt of ways you are viewing the market? From my perspective Austin is truly Opportunity City as they mentioned with enTREpreneurs. Jobs and people keep coming here. Any thoughts or different perspectives? Am I missing anything? 

[Scott Trench]

I think Austin is so hot that it is hard to imagine anything else but continued growth. I think that the pendulum always swings though. Without getting into right or wrong, I think that some large companies will have trouble moving to Texas from a political standpoint if the supreme court continues with it's current trajectory and Texas is among the first states to pass laws that depart dramatically from mainstream American politics. Some companies may already be having trouble justifying a move to Texas over the recent rulings that allow states to make individual laws for abortion, with Texas' law being particularly difficult for some to swallow. This may limit the continued influx of new businesses and jobs. 

In addition to political factors potentially being something to watch out for that affect the state overall, Texas and Austin specifically see extremely high property taxes. Austin produces a very different level of cash flow per dollar of property value than my hometown of Denver, CO, for example, because of those property taxes. 

Don't get me wrong, I'm still bullish on Texas and Austin specifically, but these are real risk factors to growth and profitability for investors to beware of.