As we are spending a lot of time to talk about stock market, Austin-vs-BayArea, and inflation, I am curious on what everyone is up to in Realestate? Any transaction did you do last 6 months? (Or 12 months?)
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I’m under contract to sell my Seattle area house. I listed on a Thursday, and I was under contract on Tuesday after negotiating with the strongest offer. They had an escalation clause, so I was able to use the highest offer to increase theirs.
I bid on a place in Nashville. Either the agent is lazy or the seller is delusional about price. They haven’t accepted, rejected, or countered. State law requires the seller to sign to acknowledge receipt and make one of those 3 choices. The response was they wouldn’t consider an offer below x. Notice they didn’t say accept but consider. I put the ball in their court to write the counter offer if that really is the number, and it’s been silence.
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Why expand to Houston? Better price/reward v Austin MSA? Now you have your neighborhoods and another city to monitor?
Simple elegance still?
Do you still have others in Seattle area or you are done there?
First one or just growing the portfolio? Why Nashville v other sun belt cities?
I’m done with Seattle. I think having rentals were would be a nightmare. The exterior maintenance is pretty heavy with all the rain. Hiring that done would kill margins and trusting renters to do it would be foolish.
Nashville is between my parents, so I can drive to either one in a day. It also has a hockey scene. I can go to NHL games and play hockey myself there. Not a lot of sun belt cities offer hockey. I also want to live in a vibrant downtown without homeless people. Once you live in a state without income tax, then the idea of going back to one seems crazy. I looked at Vegas, Dallas, Austin, Tampa, and Nashville.
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Good job and Congratulations.
Remote?
Quick pros and Cons from your POV among the above?
Yeah. I’m 100% remote. The dream of SV comp without having to live in SV.
Vegas: I was looking at Summerlin area which is a master planned community. It’s great for people who want a huge, newer house in a really nice suburb. It’s at elevation so 5-10 degrees cooler than the strip. The food scene is great. It’s probably better for retirement age. There’s not really a downtown and stuff on the strip is WAY too spread out and full of tourists.
Dallas: It’s more of a sprawling suburb without a vibrant downtown. I ended up not considering it that much.
Austin: I want to live in the city and Austin is turning into another SF. It does have the strongest tech job market of the cities on the list if I was worried about having to be in person. It’ll probably appreciate the most. For me, downtown becoming SF or Seattle-like and lack of hockey were dealbreakers.
Tampa: Home owners insurance is INSANE ($800-1,200/mo) if you’re anywhere near the water. Would be awesome for anyone that wanted to have a boat. Florida is not cheap anymore though. So many people have moved there, home prices have sky rocketed. It seems due for a correction especially with how home owners insurance has increased.
Nashville: I’d rate is 2nd for jobs after Austin. The amount of growth is crazy. There are construction cranes everywhere, and it’s in the heart of the new EV manufacturing boom. The entertainment and food options are amazing. I visited a ton of neighborhoods and only saw 1 homeless person the whole time I was there. There are areas within walking distance of the NHL arena that I find desirable. I’ll get season tickets. Walking to games is a much more convenient experience. There are big sections of the city that are pretty new, so they are designed much better for convenience of how people live today.
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Excellent 
Two reasons.
a. Plan to use it as a vacation home in the future. Katy and Houston DT has more Asian restaurants.
b. Slightly better price/ reward and early signs (could have misread) that the it might be at an inflection point.
Yes. Only SFHs.
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I heard a lot of good things about Nashville. Haven’t been there yet. Based on what you describe, did you also look at Raleigh / Charlotte area?
Congrats!!
I didn’t look at those 2. State income tax is ~5%.
Thanks!
Long term lurker here, probably since 2018. I bought my first home earlier this year when interest rate was creeping up. I think if I had waited for another week, I would have gotten a better deal since that’s went svb went belly up (oh well, you know what they say about hindsight). I wanted to buy in San Leandro (thank you @caiguycaiguy for some insights about this neighborhood) since my mom lives in the area, but none of my offers got not accepted. Ended up purchasing a SFH home in north Hayward (8 minutes drive from my mom’s). I’m not planning to have kids soon so school ratings were not a factor.
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Welcome!
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I guess I should post mine too. Nothing changes in Primary home front. Enjoying our expanded space after doing addition during pandemic. With kids growing up and both of us working from home regularly, space is much better now.
For Investment, acquired two rentals (in the price range of ~200K) in Charlotte area.
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Does that even move the needle anymore? Like what $3k gross rents and with even appreciation, it seems like small numbers. It it worth it in term of headspace/time?
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I am seeing these as cashflow (to complement my BA investment) and right now having the property manager kept these in check. If it’s too much headache in the future, I would consider consolidating through 1031