I`m looking to invest in property in Texas maybe, What is a good area, where you can find a decent area that you could find a renter with a job that would pay for the house payment. I was told in Ok or Tx, a mortgage can be made with what a renter could pay. Any info on areas that are fair to good with repos or houses under 100k? btw, not looking for a realtor. lol
Texas investment properties????
Well I thought Texans were all nice. hmmm? Thank God someone told me about their beautiful town on another thread. We are hopeing to find a rental for a few years and then move in it later, live there 2 years and sell and buy a better home to live in for us, if the rental isn`t great. I`d love to buy a Craftsman Bungalow. Oh well atleast I have one dg friend in Texas.
We are a friendly bunch in Texas.
I think the reason for a lack of response is not due to unfriendiness, but perhaps not fully understanding your question.
We moved back from LA,CA in 1987. But I once was a real estate agent, so would never buy any property without the guidence and advice of an agent.
The other problem is that like California, there are many different types of climate, soil, population, etc. When we lived in LA, the local ad was "See the 12 Californias". It is similar here.
Is there a preference? Maybe a vacation of at least a week to allow you to see all areas of our state would be a good first investment. You will be rushed to see the whole place in a week, but if there are some places you don't like, you can eliminate even looking there.
We have the coast where it is humid, but VERY GREEN - Houston, Beaumont, Galveston, Corpus Christi,
The East Texas Piney woods - Lufkin, Nacogdoches,
North Central Texas with rolling hills and farmland, but also Big-D and Ft. Worth, the Hill Country with all the smaller cities, but including the state capital of Austin and SanAntonio,
West Texas with mountains and desert - El Paso and Midland-Odessa,
The Valley (Rio Grande) with our fruit and truck farms and strong Mexican influence - Brownsville, Harlengen, McAllen,
Big Bend area - Alpine, Marfa, Marathon
and the Pan Handle and high plains - Lubbock, Amarillo, Abilene.
Im sure I'm slighting some parts, and many town and cities.
Good luck and welcome to Texas.
Thank you for your descriptive answer, it is what I really wanted to know. I would not do a deal with out a realtor either but it is too early to waste someones time while we still have areas and climates to rule out and our picture so large. When we really are on to something then we would go see and exclude or include an area then we would probably get a realtor while we were in the area and look up as many properties as we could prescreen while there.
Thank you again. I don`t want zone 8b, I know that. I live in it now. I`d like slightly less cold than my winters in the Antelope Valley and slightly less hot than here but the humidity low like here. Canyon Lake looks good so far, need to see more though.
If you really are serious about wanting an area warmer than Zone 8b, here is the plant hardiness map of Texas also showing the counties.
http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/cemap/hardiness.html
If you click on the counties in this next link, you go directly to the counties official website. It might give you some idea about what's there.
http://www.county.org/counties/txcounties.asp
You could also look at the American Horticultural Society's new map. Some of 8b has been moved to Zone 9.
I live in Zone 8b according to the old USDA map, but Zone 9 according to the AHS. Our low in 2001 was 13ºF. It hasn't dropped below 22ºF since. Having spent most of my life in the Bay Area, with the last 6 years here in central Texas, I can safely say that the weather is NOT the same. If you want lower humidity, you have to look for property away from from the coast, but the interior is hotter than the coast. You don't have to go too far inland to get really hot.
I live about 105 miles, as the crow flies, from the nearest coast. Our summer temperatures have varied from zero days over 100ºF to between 40 - 60 consecutive days of temperatures over 100ºF. Humidity is also all over the place from saturated down to 15% humidity, but it's not as humid as Houston. Back in San Jose, with few exceptions, the temperature dropped into the cool range at night. That doesn't happen here in Texas. Here you have summer, then you have winter.
Buy a copy of the Texas Almanac. It's packed with information you might find useful.
You might try the Houston area for foreclosures in Texas. My wife is a REO Broker for banks and one of them tried to get her to move to Houston a few years ago. She sold a foreclosed home to our neighbor who said he sold his home in California for around $300,000.00 that was less than 2000' without central heat and air on an average sized lot and bought one down the road from us with 4 acres, over 3500' and a guest house both with garages and central heat and air and a storm shelter too. Around here I think The Colony usually has alot of foreclosures where you could get somthing for less than $100,000.00. You might also try Lewisville, Little Elm, Frisco and Plano. Best of luck,
Mike
You could also try one of her web-sites www.fantasticforeclosures.com I think there are links to other sites like realtor.com
thank you so much. I don`t know what i said but I was hoping to find something with a little less highs than where I live now. Summer here is good with short periods a month or two with real heat waves, but the heat with humididty i do not take well, plus I am allergic to fleas real bad so flea areas are tough for me too. I will really look at all the stuff and maybe even put the links in my garden journal. I`m overwhelmed. I saw cheap stuff in Waco but it looked a bit Ghetto from the home prices and pictures? Is it? I really need to take some time to see this stuff but thank you sssssooooooo much. I will check out the zones because day and night temps, humidity and heat, snow, demographics of employment in the area and crime rates etc. all factor in. I don`t mind living outside a big town as long as stuff is 15 minutes away but I don`t want to live in a town full of tweakers and crack houses just to get a good price on a house either. Yall know what I`m talking about? Thanks so much. I like Texans
Check out the TX Hill Country, SW of Austin. The areas near San Marcos, Wimberley, Dripping Springs, Boerne, New Braunfels, etc. are beautiful, still reasonably priced (except that Wimberley itself is getting artsy and expensive), and are gradually becoming part of a "corridor" between Austin and San Antonio.
People in this area (especially Austin/San Marcos) lean toward the very liberal side, unlike most of Texas, and the gardening is great if your plants can tolerate largely limestone soils. Many retirement communities are springing up in central TX -- good for people, maybe not so great for the environment, but environmental regulation is becoming very tight due to the uniqueness of the region and many localized species.
Summers are very hot but not too humid, occasional freeze in winter (seems to have diminished with global warming) so the region pretty much matches Zone 9.
What's a "tweaker"? : )
Hi ~ Hellnzn ~
Fleas are tough in deep east and so is the humidity. The fleas we live with by treating home/pets etc. In 2000, we enjoyed an incredibly hot, dry summer. I spent the better part of it in Houston with DH in the medical center. I was amazed when I would run home at how much hotter home was than Houston. I think their proximity to the coast keeps them humid but cooler. Here, we are in the deep woods and it is also humid. I hope others in Tx will weigh in on humidity and fleas so you can evalutate from there.
I would also hope you visit an area before you buy sight unseen. Talk to folks there and tour the neighborhoods. I would also recommend trusting your rental to a broker/realtor to oversee the renting. That can be a major (costly) headache by itself! Good luck and best wishes... pod
That is some real good advice from podster. There is a realtor named Bill Sabino I think out of Dallas that does rental representation. I do not care for him personally but that is another story. He does stay on top of the renters as far as keeping the property maintained and everything legal. I was trying to name places with foreclosures where there are jobs for renters yet still decent to live for under/around $100,000.00. I live in North Texas about 50 minutes south of Oklahoma. I think pretty much all of Texas is hot and humid, especially the further south you go. We had record highs last year with alot of days above 100. We are having record lows in the low to mid thirties right now with snow yesterday. Oklahoma should be somewhat cooler and cheaper too. My mom lives in Waco and that is not a place that I would want to live. We do not have much of a flee problem here, but we looked a house a few years back that backed up to some woods and eventually Lake Lewisville and just walking through the woods we had a few ticks. Take care, Mike
Mike elaborate on waco in as much as to not totally offend or dmail me please. I heard Oklahoma was cheap too. I also would consider parts of Oregon but I do not want a lot of snow and ice and he does not want brown vegetation like here. This is a tough mix. I hope people talk about flees too. I had a patient who moved to someplace in the mountains where it sounded perfect, I should have wrote it down but didn`t do it. Sounded less hot and not too humid and they did not get a lot of snow or atleast not snow that made your life revolve around it. You guys are great. San Antonio looks so pretty and I saw it on HGTV, "What you can get for the money", but the humidity and high temps no bueno. I like the spanich flare on some of the historic houses and prices good too at the time.
I don`t know how liberal Austin and San Marcos are and I am probably a moderate at best but being a Christian I can not be too liberal, but I don`t get hugely indignant about other`s oppinions or choices as I am not the Judge.
Mike ~ Snow ~ we had an afternoon of it on Apr 7th... we rarely see snow in the dead of winter. Amazing! Climate is what we expect but weather is what we get!
Hellnzn ~ areas that sound "perfect" usually have no way to make a living and no economy to support a decent rental property. Check into it thoroughly before you leap... pod
Podster it is not in the thirties any more, but it is still cold.
Snow! I am still stunned by it... but we hope spring is up next!
Hellnzn~ don't know what area you are looking at exactly or what line of work you are in but a friend moved to San Angelo and loves it. It is within striking distance of San Antonio and Austin. It is supposed to be a progressive community and a pretty area.
Progressive in growing or political? I`m not sure what area sounds good. I need to go to a Nascar race there and take some time and drive around in the hot seasons, if I like it then check out winter there. We are at the looking stage. We have time. You can get used to most everything but will you love it and feel like it`s home. For me it has to do with the people where I live, if I will make friends or not, then it is home. I am a massage thereapist for rehabilitationon injuries and pre and post surgical patients but am looking to go to school from my own injuries now. Probably in the med field.
Nascar will narrow you down to some areas I think... Dallas maybe?
Nascar is only bout 20 minutes from me except when they are having races. Then it is more like an hour and a half. They sure pack in the traffic. If you go you might want to go to Grapevine Mills Mall. My wife and kids always liked going their when they opened. If ya'll fish, Bass Pro Shops is right there too, which is bout the only way she can get me to the mall. lol
We knew some kids that were Nascar fans. Said the last time they went to the races there, it only took them 6 and 1/2 hours in traffic to get out. I am too country for that!
That is worse than Cal and Vegas tracks. We are going to Phoenix soon so maybe that will be the same, I heard it is bad with one way in and out for all 300,000 people. Mike told me Yall are laughing at me but I can`t find out where, so atleast let me chime in. What about that Anna Nicole announcement today? No surprise here. Sorry do Texan`s gossip?
We ain't laffin' at ya, we're laffin' wit' ya'. What does he know! Do not think anyone here is making fun of you ~ we know better! I've met you in other forums. : )
No surprise here either. Yes, we gossip but oh am I burned out on that lady...
lol you guys.....did I have row with someone pod?
Absolutely not. Just can tell how determined you can be. As Martha says, That is a good thing! : )
Dori? notmartha
Anytime Texans say something bad about someone we always finish it off with "bless his heart", unless it has to do with lawyers. lol
lol Podster you were supposed to say,"Just can tell how determined you can be, bless your heart".
Bless yo' heart ~ sweetie! : )
It`s all good.
Someone might've already mentioned this, but if so I didn't see it. If you decide to buy a house for the purpose of renting it, make sure you check first to see if the city has a "rental house inspection" and registration ordinance in place, or even one in the works. This is a fairly new (last couple years) trend that's quickly spreading in Texas and giving good landlords major migraines.
Long story short, various cities are now requiring that all rental houses be registered with the city and regularly inspected, inside and out, for a looooong list of nit-picky cosmetic stuff along with the more sensible things like working smoke detectors. My city, Garland, has a 61-point checklist (http://www.ci.garland.tx.us/NR/rdonlyres/C232FEC7-6B26-4512-B288-8783D05C08C1/0/inspectionstandardizationdraft3.pdf) that few owner-occupied houses older than five or ten years old could pass.
IMHO it's a thinly-veiled ploy to reduce the numbers of rental properties in the city on the general theory that renters are less desirable citizens than homeowners. Anyway, I'd advise checking on that issue before buying a property to rent.
We moved from the Wa. State to Texas, and we like it here much better.The people are friendly, the home prices are much lower, and still not so much overpriced.
The central TX area, I think, is nice. Still close to Austin, San Antonio, even Dallas or Houston.
We are selling our home in the city, just moved into our country home.The house is not on the market yet, just in case you would be interrested?
We live about 45 miles north of Austin.
Texas is a great state.
Hi, Flyingsranch. We live in Goldthwaite and do most of our grocery and WalMart shopping in Lampasas.
I agree that Central Texas is a great place to live. We have a rental home, and our renter makes the mortgage payments. It's appraised at $98,000, and the renter works in nursing home admininstration. Even in small towns, there are people in fairly well-paid positions who may want or need to rent a home.
Do you both live in Central Texas? These winds are killing me. I understand the rental nittpicking from a owner standpoint but it could be hard if living out of state. thanks