Hello everyone,
I am new and have been doing a lot of forum reading, especially about the 50/50% rule. The thing is that would never work in Austin Tx where I live because taxes are so high, rents are low and sales prices are high. Is being a landlord the “wrong” area of investment for Austin, or is there something I’m missing?
Hello b_erin
Austin is like a California bubble in the heart of Texas. That makes rentals very difficult. You may want to drive about 80 miles to the southwest. San Antonio may be more fertile ground. I know rental work there.
What I would do is find someone in Austin that is a landlord and it works for him. Make sure he is actually rich from his rental properties and not some rich lawyer that just has a bunch of houses and is paying for his mansion from his practice. Then I would do EXACTLY what he is doing.
The problem is Austin is that you can’t find a house to buy that is cheap enough to rent. What you need to do is find a steal deal to buy. Steal deals are created by the 3 D’s. (Death, Disease, Divorce) Find a person with one of these and there is a chance that his house will be for sale at a real steal deal.
Hi b_erin,
I am unsure how the Texas market is currently, but the Arizona market will give you about an 11% return while you hold the rental or about a 49% return if you flip-as long as it is in the right area
Leslie
Just remember that the fundamentals in real estate investing don’t change. If higher property taxes have made it more difficult for the business to work in Austin, you may need to focus on buying property at a deeper discount. Remember, when the road gets tougher we all need to dig deeper and get better.
What he said!!