best area to invest in austin real estate?

M

monsterpepe

25+ Posts
Where do you all think the best areas are to invest in austin residential real estate?

I’m thinking about buying a 3/2 single family home in the 100-140k range but am not sure where to look… our realtor recommends up north in the RR area but my understanding of the market is that central is always better… thoughts, suggestions?
 
when you say "invest", are you referring to buying a property and renting it out or would this be for your primary residence.

Are you looking for longterm appreciation? need details.
 
i mean buying and renting it out... buy and hold for long term appreciation. i'm not looking to flip or anything like that...
 
If you think you are going to find something in Austin that most people here consider "central" in that price range for that size of a house than you are waay off. Research your school districts, which I would hope your realtor has done for you, and go from there.
 
that is the quandary... i realize central is in a higher price range, but it seems highly unlikely i'd be able to rent such a house at a rate that keeps me in the black... the advice i've heard is go no higher than 1000-1400/month on rent, which implies a 100-140k price range. so, the choice is 1) find an area where that will buy a house that will appreciate, even if that means farther out, or 2) spend more to be closer in. i'm leaning toward the former but am not sure where to look. thoughts?

i lived in barton hills myself until moving out to northern va in january
 
monster,


There are loans that may allow you to cashflow. Your realtor should be able to find rental comps in whichever area you look at.

I am a mortgage broker and do quite a few investment properties. send me a pm and I will give you my e-mail and help in any way I can.


hook'em
 
East Austin, 1/4 mile or close from 35 between 7th and 35th...I think this will win by far.
 
pepe -

If you didn't know Manor Road is in my aforementioned rectangle. I totally agree with Leonard on this being the true up-and-coming, next South Congress/78704 of Austin (which is still fairly hot market as well).
 
the area East of 35 between Manor and 38th, 1/4 mile deep or less is French Place. Unless you intend on buying a dilapidated 2/1 and fixing it up to a 3/2, you won't find any deals in that area. The surge of investment buying has come and gone in French Place. It's an excellent area, however, you will find nothing in your price range that is in any sort of condition to rent.

Just north of this area, east of 35 is Delwood. This is the area just north of 51st, on the other side of Mueller airport. This area has also been picked over from an investment standpoint, but there still is some opportunity. Longterm appreciation is a plus in this area.

The area East of 35 from 11th St north to MLK still has some deals, but they are hard to find. You are also looking at a situation similar to French Place where you can find a rundown place, put some cash into it, then turn around and rent it for some cashflow....but the prices are MUCH lower than French Place so it's more feasible from an investment standpoint. This area is also more risky from a tenant standpoint. Your clientele is not as desirable as what you could get in French Place. I have a duplex off of 12th and lucked out with some great tenants, so it can be done.

As mentioned, you will not find anything in the 100-140K range in central austin (again, unless you are willing to fix it up).

An area that has a balance of relatively low sales price and decent rent is just north of I-35 and 183, west of I-35 (near Braker). Back in that area you can find houses still in decent shape and still garner enough rent to cash flow. Again, these deals aren't staring you in the face, but there are some to be had. Longterm appreciation is not huge here, but you never know.

as ninerhorn said, there are tons of financing options that can give you more cashflow than you think. Definitely look into it.
 
Wait 9 more months, let the foreclosures continue to mount up, especialliy when interest rates rise...all those nice home equities are going to implode and there will be homes ripe for the picking.
 
My Aunt bought a house last May that I'm renting from her with a couple roommates. It's just east of Cameron Road, between 51st Street and 290, which is baisically jsut north of the old Mueller Airport. The neighborhood it is in is called "Windsor Park," and there are some nice, older, established homes there.

It was a 3-1.5, but she remodeled the half bath to a full bath, so it's a 3-2 now. She paid, if I recall correctly, about $115,000 for it. There was some money that had to be put into it, to remodel that bathrooms and do a little bit of electrical work, but it wasn't all that much.

Its a great area as far as being close to everything, and its right near a UT shuttle, so there are students who rent other houses in the neighborhood, as well as families and older folks. And I know from walking my dog around the neighborhood that there are houses for sale currently, although I don't know the asking price, but if they are comparable, even if they need work you can probably stay in your price range.

It's not the "nicest" area of town, but the neighborhood is really nice, and I really enjoy living there, and my aunt is making a good return on her investment so far.
 
hornian...that is in the same vicinity as Delwood that I referenced above

gunner....yeah, bad idea to tell everyone where to go so they can buy before you....however, my take is if you're asking on Hornfans where to buy real estate, you're probably not a serious investor and therefore it's really not that big of a deal
 
I've never heard it called Delwood before. And I live here. AFAIK its called the Windsor Park area.
 
And to think, my Dad's builder refused to pay $200/acre for the unimproved land tract at Riverside & Parker Lane back in 1960. Back in 1970, my new neighbor in Windsor Hills (off east Rundberg) thought she had made a killing by selling her 80 acres of frontage on 183 & Duval for $500/acre.

I remember when Capital Plaza was a farm.
 
hornian....I said Delwood is in the 'vicinity' of where you mentioned.

Windsor Park, Delwood (I & II), Wilshire Wood, Cherry wood etc all all right next to each other
 
ScoPro, my great grandfather passed on buying land at Anderson/Burnet because it was "too far out of town".

I believe he also turned down an opportunity to buy Grove Drug on 6th.

Hindsight is a *****.
 
When I was in high school here ('59-'62), about the only thing at Anderson & Burnet was Green Acres driving range & miniature golf course, and a couple of old barns. NW Hills where Murchison Middle School is now located was just an abandoned quarry & near worthless goat country. Used to go parkin' on the bluff by the roadside - there's an apartment complex there now.

Coulda woulda shoulda.
laugh.gif
 
Delwood II and Wilshire/Cherrywoods are south of the old airport (Delwood II between the old Airport, I35 and Airport BLVD)

These areas are probably too high now to make money by renting them.

North of the old airport, Delwood I/Windsor Park it sounds like you still can get away with...
 
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