Invest with
someone who has.
Residential or commercial, your first rental or your tenth deal. Les bought, renovated and resold homes in Austin for years and helped lead a commercial real estate business. We bring that experience to every number we run with you.
Pick your lane.
Or both.
Residential investors
Flips, buy-and-hold rentals, small multifamily, rent comps and 1031 timing. Austin numbers, not national averages.
See residential →
Commercial investors
Retail, office, industrial, land and NNN leases. Cap rates, due diligence and the TXR commercial forms.
See commercial →
Ready to exit
Done being a landlord? Sell vacant, sell with tenants or simplify over time, with your CPA in the loop.
See exit options →The rules here
are different.
Texas is a great place to invest. It also has a few traps that national advice never mentions. A trusted advisor who knows them is worth more here than almost anywhere.
Comps are not public
Texas does not require sale prices to be made public, so county records won't tell you what a property actually sold for. Real comps come from the MLS and from people who have been inside the deals. Online estimates are guessing more than they let on.
Property taxes do the heavy lifting
Texas has no state income tax, so property taxes carry a lot of weight. A rental doesn't get the seller's homestead exemption or cap, so your tax bill can look very different from the one on the listing. We estimate it before you offer.
MUDs and PIDs
Many newer neighborhoods around Austin sit inside a Municipal Utility District or a Public Improvement District, which add a tax or assessment on top of the city, county and school bills. Texas requires written notices for both (Water Code 49.452 and Property Code 5.014). We read them with you, because they change the math.
Austin rewrote the rules
The HOME amendments allow up to three units on lots zoned SF-1, SF-2 and SF-3 (effective February 5, 2024) and smaller lots down to 1,800 square feet (effective August 16, 2024). That opened new options for infill and small multifamily, and new questions about what a lot is really worth.
Know the floodplain
Austin uses updated Atlas 14 rainfall data to regulate floodplains, and until new maps are adopted for an area, the city treats today's FEMA 500-year floodplain as its 100-year floodplain. That can affect what you can build, renovate or insure. We check the city's floodplain map before you're under contract.
Short-term rental limits
Austin requires a license for every short-term rental. Since October 2025, a single-family site can have up to two licensed short-term rental units, with more only at least 1,000 feet apart, and since July 1, 2026, listing platforms must show the license number. Many HOAs restrict leasing or ban short-term rentals outright.
The market moves.
We watch it monthly.
Austin inventory has swung a long way in just a few years. Supply, days on market and the gap between list and sold price change what a good offer looks like, so we check them before every recommendation.
Market-wide figures for the City of Austin, refreshed automatically from Unlock MLS, the Austin Board of REALTORS® monthly housing report, with Realtor.com data as backup. Not a valuation of any property.
Office, industrial,
retail and multifamily.
Commercial runs on different numbers than homes. Here's where Austin's four main property types stood last quarter.
Office and industrial: Newmark, 3Q 2026. Retail: Partners Real Estate, Q3 2026. Multifamily: Cushman & Wakefield, Q3 2026. Rents per square foot, year-over-year change, concessions, new supply and cap rates, with links to every report, are on the commercial investors page.
I've been the investor sitting at the kitchen table with a spreadsheet and a contractor's bid. From 2011 to 2018 I ran my own company buying, renovating and reselling homes in Austin, and from 2013 to 2018 I also helped lead a commercial real estate business here.
So I'll tell you the truth about a deal, including when the answer is to walk away. I'd rather you pass on the wrong property than own it.
Les McDaniel | Eterne Real Estate Group, eXp Realty in Central Texas
Clear numbers.
No hype.
Your goals
Cash flow, appreciation, a 1031 deadline or a simpler life. We start there.
The real numbers
Taxes, insurance, HOA or MUD costs, repairs and rent comps from the MLS.
The Texas check
Zoning, floodplain, HOA and short-term rental rules before you are under contract.
Close and keep going
Your CPA, lender and qualified intermediary in the loop, all the way to closing.
Do you give tax or legal advice?+
No. We work alongside your CPA, attorney and qualified intermediary, and we help you ask them the right questions.
Can you help me buy and sell in the same 1031 exchange?+
Yes. The deadlines are tight, so we plan the sale and the search together and keep your qualified intermediary in the loop from day one.
Do you work outside Austin?+
Central Texas is home base. For commercial and investment property farther out, we can help or connect you through eXp.
Do I need a lot of money to start?+
Not always. Some people start with a duplex or a home with room to add a unit. We'll talk through what fits your budget and your lender's rules.