Discover new continent?
Some landlording info to help @manch decide,
Texas in general is very landlord friendly, though cities can have their own, stricter ordinances. Texas doesnât specifically let tenants withhold rent for failure to provide essential services. You can evict someone for nonpayment of rent after three days. Texas doesnât set a limit on security deposits.
Texas doesnât require a minimum time frame before you increase the rent. For major lease violations, you can terminate the lease then and there and give them three days to vacate. Knowing you wonât spend months trying to evict a non-paying tenant is a good reason to consider the Austin real estate market or another Texas housing market over more liberal cities.
Prices gone up so much, is increasingly like appreciation play 
. Most neighborhoods can only get 4-5% cap rate which is low compare to historical 8-10% cap rate. By the time, I am there, is low 5%, now is about low 4%.
Canât be all rosy in Austin.He had stated his position long ago. After buying 1 rental in black hawke, he noted Daly City houses allowing in-law unit are more lucrative. Until DC has tight rent control or he would be transferred to Austin, he probably wonât venture anymore in Austin.
@hanera got it right above.
I started trying out Austin to be hybrid play - more cashflow than Bay Area and more appreciation than Mid-west. And it fits well in that bucket. In last few years I owned, it appreciated about 5% / yr with 5.5% CAP rate. However, I also learned that repair costs can also kill your small cashflow, I have replaced part of the fence multiple time (wind and storms are strong there), property tax has also increased, and replaced the carpet (bigger house cost more). Since you are doing it through your PM, you canât find cheap contractor like you could in BayArea. But my main reason I paused on Austin is because I found doing ADU in Daly City produced better cash flow than Austin and much better appreciation. Just came back from appraisal for refinance today, and my Daly City property has appreciated 15% / yr with 6% CAP (and you can do your own PM - my CAP rate includes PM cost although I do myself for now). I know 15% wonât continue that much, but my CAP rate is still better than Austin, so I donât have much reason to continue to invest in Austin for now. If I were to consider SFH outside of Bay Area, I would definitely do Austin. But for me, next play is MFH.
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One of the side is facing greenbelt? One rental has the fence fixed twice because of the storm. One side of the rental is facing greenbelt⌠realtor told me that Austinites love greenbelt but forgot to tell me that it is easily damaged by storm. Only this house, rest doesnât have fence issue.
It is better to have tiles for the whole house except for bedrooms, Austinites like carpet in bedrooms. Austinites like to walk around the house with shoes (boots!). Oddly, almost every house has a mud room or mud area, they donât take out shoes there.
The best flooring choice now is vinyl plank flooring. Cheaper than tile. Waterproof unlike laminate and bulletproof unlike carpet. Costs half of tile and twice that of carpet. But will last 20 years and pieces can very replaced.
Looks like wood or tile⌠whatever you like.
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In short, neither of these materials is environmentally friendly in the way that natural wood, linoleum, or bamboo is, but laminate owns a slight advantage over vinyl, thanks to its 90 percent-plus wood content.
Vinyl flooring purchased at big-box home improvement centers can range from about $.40 per square foot for thin sheet vinyl, to $3.00 or so per square foot for luxury vinyl planks. Laminate flooring ranges from about $1.00 per square foot for 7 mm-thick planks, to about $3.00 per square foot for 12 mm-thick planks.
Are you trying to compare the most expensive vinyl to the cheapest laminate? Those are the prices you highlighted. Thatâs not really an even comparison plus thereâs the durability aspect. Low end laminate isnât going to last long at all.
For rental, better to use laminate or low end tile.
For Primary, good quality engineered wood or wood-like tile.
Labor is key. Just bought vinyl planks for $2.
Labor $2.50. Base $1. Demo and prep $1. Total installation
$6.50/SF. Cheap laminate is $1. $5.50/SF installed. In Tahoe everyone has pets. Vinyl is worth the extra $1/SF.
Tile is $8-20/sf installed. Tile depends on the subfloor, tile type and labor rates.
On my little 500sf job it was double the vinyl plank rate. I am talking to multi family guys and commercial (like restaurants.) Vinyl plank, made in China is the way of the future. Looks and feels like woodâŚhas texture.
On my job they floated the whole concrete floor with a leveling concrete. Webcrete 95
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I would paint the wall gray to counter the dark brown floor.
The walls are white. Swiss coffee semi gloss like all my apartments. The lights make it look pinkish. Went with the resawn rustic dark brown floors so dirt and scratches wonât show. Tile grout gets dirty. Not a problem with vinyl
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The biggest advantage of vinyl plank flooring is the fact that it is 100% water resistant. This makes it the ideal flooring solution for spaces such as basements, kitchens, bathrooms, restaurants and cafes. It is a great option for those with pets that worry about accidents.
Vinyl plank is an alternative to tile (not so much for laminate) since it is most suitable for wet area.
As a landlord, vinyl and especially planks is the only way to go. Pet stains and any spill are easily cleaned up with vinyl. It is impossible to control bad tenant behavior. Vinyl helps protect your investment. Even with tile, pets can stain the grout. Planks can be replaced and look and feel like wood. Much easier on your feet and knees than tile. Carpet is the cheapest floor and may be preferable in bedrooms.
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All the new luxury apartments in Seattle are vinyl plank.
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Where to buy vinyl plank? Can the pergo installer install the vinyl plank? How different is the installation skill set?
Also is there any toxin in vinyl plank? Pergo flooring can contain some toxic stuff
Home Depot has plank vinyl. Vinyl is everywhere. If it was toxic we would all be dead. Pretty much the same installation techniques as laminate. My installer has a cool chop machine. No sawing needed
