From the category archives:

Investing

Is Rental Property Investing in Austin Still Profitable?

May 30, 2010

As someone who’s bought and sold a bunch of rentals, and helped other investors buy, sell and manage investment property in Austin for a number of years, I’m about to ask a question that might seem counter to my professional mission of being in service to real estate investors. Is rental property investing in Austin [...]

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Austin Real Estate Market Update – Jan 2010 Stats

March 1, 2010

The Austin real estate market started 2010 on an upswing. Average sold price is up 5.39% from a year ago, median sold price is up 2.12%, days on market are down. In fact, every measured metric on the chart below moved in a positive direction except for median list price, which is down slightly, but [...]

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Austin Rental Market Update – Oct 2009

November 22, 2009

The rental market for houses in Austin is still slowly improving, climbing out of the huge dip we took after the tech bust and 9/11. For October 2009, average and median rents are both up about 1%, but homes are taking longer to rent, averaging 42 days on market compared to 38 a year ago [...]

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Investing in Small Commercial vs. Residential Real Estate

November 8, 2009

One of my commercial tenants skipped out on me earlier this year, so I have my office building on Manchaca Rd. for rent again. I knew it could possibly take 6 to 12 months to find a new tenant, and so far, even after dropping the rent from $1,700 to $1,495, I still don’t have [...]

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Austin Real Estate Sale Stats by MLS Area – Sept 2009 YTD

November 1, 2009

Austin’s real estate market is a “market of markets”, and thus the overall news reported about real estate activity in the Austin Metro area may or may not be reflective of conditions in the specific area in which you live, or the home you own, or the home you want to buy. Each quarter I [...]

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Austin Rental Market Update – August 2009

September 25, 2009

The Austin rental market continues to be strong.Average and monthly rents continue to rise. Days on market is low. But, even with recent gains in prices, we are nearing the end of a decade in which rental prices for landlords will have remained virtually flat. Let’s check the historic graph below before we get into [...]

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Austin Subdivision Smackdown – Circle C vs. Avery Ranch

September 20, 2009

Buyers often want to know which areas of Austin are more likely to hold value and/or appreciate over time. Not just investors, but home owners who want build home equity. My standard answer to this question is usually “stay as close in to Austin’s core (downtown) as you can afford, in neighborhoods that are established [...]

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Austin Real Estate Market Update for August 2009 Sales

September 17, 2009

Austin Real Estate values for August 2009 are down about 5% from the same month last year. Average sales prices for the 1,657 houses that sold are down 5.12%. Median sold prices are down 4.80%. The number of houses sold is down 15% from August 2008, which is less of a decrease than we’ve seen [...]

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Austin Real Estate Investing – Then and Now

May 2, 2009

Since the end of WWII, rent prices in the U.S. have run parallel to relative sales prices consistently over time. By this I mean that a $60K home would normally rent for about $600 per month, or 1% of its sales value. The chart below illustrates the gap in sale to rent value ratios that has [...]

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Crossland Team Buyer and Investor Seminar March 4th

February 24, 2009

Sylvia and I will be hosting our first ever Buyer and Investor seminar in Austin on Wednesday March 4th from 6PM till 8PM at our Keller Williams Office. Why do I refer to it as a “Buyer and Investor” seminar? Well, we think even owner-occupant buyers should approach the home evaluation and purchase process with [...]

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