Hi There. My first time posting. I recently purchased two beach front properties in Surfside Beach, TX Small beach community. www.surfside.org
Gulf front lots are running just over $100K and Gulf Front houses from $200 to $400. There is established and growing vacation rental market there with peak season 11 weeks in summer ending mid-Aug.
I am slightly negative c-flow, buit have a lot of open weeks/winter months to try to market to get to BE and positive.
I have some reference/experience in the FL gulf coast market (Panhandle/Destin in particular). That has been an incredible market over last couple years, but it scares me now. It has gone so far so fast (one example - a place I looked at less than 3 years ago sold for $92K then is now just over $900K. Another; place that sold for $1.4MM 3 yrs ago is now listed for $3.8M).
So, feeling priced out of that market, I have followed the map along the entire gulf coast from bottom of FL around to bottom of TX looking at and for the relatively ltd supply of sandy gulf beaches and submit to you that Surfside Beach is one of the few if only places you can still get gulf front SFR property on a sandy beach for under $500K, especially within an hour or two drive of a major metro area. This area is relatively unknown as of yet much beyond the HOUS metro market, but locals on the ground there made a number of comments to me when there about all of us ‘out of towners’ showing up of late.
There is only so much gulf, and with baby boomer demographic I expect law of supply and demand is on my side. Surfside is just under an hour from Houston Hobby airport and 45 mins or so south of Galveston.
I am curious to get the groups input/feedback/advice on this investment, particularly some of the Houston contingent that likely have some good ‘local’ perspective vs my perch out here in CA.
A couple of tidbits: If you look at this area there are a couple of negatives to be aware of; There are erosion issues in this area, so some apparent great values are perhaps not values at all, with some houses that have lost beach now encroaching on state property with state threatening eviction/demo. I can supply further info/links to those interested. (There are also areas where the beach is accreting (growing) and for my money, those are the better bet, but for those with more tolerance for high risk than me, there could be some values there 9if state does not prevail or beach starts moving other way).
Also, the gateway between Lake Jackson and Surfside is major industrial including Dow Chem and BASF. You drive right through that to get there. I researched polution etc and found nothing concerning, but still wonder about market perception driving right through that.
For what it is worth, I also really liked the Port Aransas area, but that has really taken off (for ex, GF lot that went for $137K a yrear ago, just listed for $425K…), so word is sort of out there. I got so excited about Surfside, I never made it down to PA, but expect still likely some good values there though too, albeit at a much higher entry point.
Anyway, any feedback positive or negative appreciated is appreciated! Thanks.