Patterns show up faster than emotions do.Rising repair costs haven’t hurt us as much because we engineered the operations to reduce the number of unknowns.

Austin came in behind the San Francisco Bay Area, Seattle, New York City, Washington D.C. and Toronto and ahead of Boston.Austin's ranking was unchanged from 2022.Among the highlights of the new report:- Austin ranks No. 3 for the highest concentration of software engineers, trailing only the Bay Area and Seattle.- Austin also ranks No. 3 for the highest concentration of tech talent within the core tech industry, topped only by the Bay Area and Seattle.- Local tech workers earn an average salary of $104,000, up 18% from five years ago.

They have no idea what the condition of the property is, if it's completely updated or a hoarder situation, if it smells like cats, if it needs $20k or $300k in upgrading to match the comps that the algorithm found, or how the micro-location within the neighborhood affects the value and desirability (which can be a big difference block by block and house by house), if it has foundation damage, etc. 

Just make sure the STR meets material participation rules and get a proper engineering-based cost segregation study to confirm the exact numbers.

If the algorithm leans toward inaccurate or widely repeated information, it can still give a misleading answer.

The firm I work for does this to an extent for our engineering projects, but we also regularly work with other consultants that only do this when the client brings them on board.

We switched to a local lender and thankfully closed the deal, but the buyer had to pay for two appraisals instead of one and also brought in a structural engineer to check it out for peace of mind, and had to pay them for nothing because they just confirmed the cracks were a non-issue.

Pick one path to focus first so you build momentum: either 1) agent-income engine or 2) investor-ops.

Jeff, the safest and most scalable plan usually comes down to one principle: don’t trade long-term control for short-term comfort.When you buy properties in cash, you eliminate debt risk but you also eliminate leverage, which is the main engine that accelerates wealth in real estate.

Sellers in hardship rarely glide smoothly through a 24-month option period.My take:You’re trying to help, and your heart is in the right place, but the underlying debt structure alone makes this a deal I would not touch unless:• The LOC is fully refinanced into a traditional mortgage before you take titleand• You structure it as a clean acquisition with a simple leaseback without an option to repurchaseOtherwise, you’re carrying most of the risk with very little guaranteed return.Sometimes the best service you can provide a seller is helping them list the home, clean up the situation, and move on, not trying to engineer a creative structure just because it’s technically possible.You’re asking all the right questions.