Twenty years ago the Colorado front range was an excellent place to invest. Unlike most parts of the east and west coasts along with Chicago and other inland metro areas, you could lease a residential property for more than a thirty-year mortgage payment when putting less than 10% down.
While we made a lot of money investing in Colorado real estate, those days are largely gone. Rent no longer covers a mortgage on new purchases unless you are willing to put more than 20% down and even then it’s not garaunteed. In other words, your money sits in the property for years waiting for return maybe in appreciation after you sell (just like California).
As we 1031 exchange out of our Colorado investments (for a number of reasons), we have found south Texas to be the best rental/investment market in the country. For example, in Jim Hogg county you can still buy a fixer-upper for less than $65,000 and rent it for $700-$800 per month. Higher property taxes will take some of the benefit these low cap rates provide but it is still the best investment market in the country.
Regardless of how you feel about politics, lower crime along border cities will also make McClellan, Laredo and the larger suburbs of these cities safer whether it’s expanding the wall or just increased law enforcement presence along the border due to federal and state officials increasing spending. I also love Detroit real estate but unlike Texas the national government isn’t investing billions to lower the crime rate there the way they are in Texas. In other words, Detroit will still be “emerging” in 10 years while south Texas may be booming again.
Regardless, Hebbronville is one little town where real estate is dirt cheap yet people willing to spend 40-50% of their pay to rent. We bought an enormous and historic home for ourselves there and are looking to buy three more this year to rent. Crime is low and people are wonderful. The architecture is also beautiful in this historic town which begs the question why people still retire in Mexico? You can have all the history, charm, food and culture of old Mexico along with the laws and protection of the USA.
http://www.tomstexascountycourthouses.com/?page_id=3657I am not trying to sell anything just letting people know where we believe the best deals are today for long term (not fix and flip) real estate investing.