Smaller Texas Real Estate Markets Doing Well

I am in a small Texas real estate market, the cities of Belton and Temple. While some of the larger markets like Dallas, Houston, Austin and San Antonio are feeling the pain of the sub-prime mortgage market collapsing, here in Belton/Temple, it is still a seller’s market. Just last week, I wrote a lease on a small 3 bedroom, 2 bath doublewide mobile home on my terms. As I am a real estate investor though, I am being faced with difficult buy opportunities. There is only one house listed on HUD’s Bid Select website for Belton, TX. Unbelievable!

Large Real Estate Market Situation

So if you are looking to get into real estate investing, and you are in a larger market, now is the time to start buying. But I don’t recommend trying to flip properties, as these larger markets are just too much in favor of the buyer right now. Look for opportunities to buy and hold. Rent out the properties for a while and sell them later when the market gets better for the seller.

Small Real Estate Market Situation

If you are in a small market where the sub prime market hasn’t affected you much yet, be careful. This is a shaky time for selling, as I really see the next couple of years being great for buying and renting, but there just won’t be a lot of selling going on. The smaller markets will feel the effects of the sub prime collapse, we just haven’t felt them yet. If you are thinking of selling within the next couple of years, I would probably try to sell right now, before its gets bad.

Overall we have seen a shift in the market. People who really had no business buying a few years back are now on the street, trying to rent. So we have seen a sharp decline in the number of qualified buyers, with an increase in the number of renters available. When that happens, it becomes harder to sell properties and easier to buy, so the most profitable plan from a real estate investor’s point of view is going to be buy and hold. Just my humble opinion.