This title was the headline from a recent article in the Austin American Statesman. It bodes well for us investors in our local real estate market as all of these companies moving or expanding here have high paid employees that to live somewhere. Many of them choose to rent for a few years before buying and that is good news for us holders of residential rentals.

The article stated that within the next five years the area will see 22,000 new tech jobs come to the area (that’s a nice size city). CompTIA, according to the article, put Austin first (3 years in a row) where the tech industry will keep booming. CompTIA was quoted as stating that our relatively low cost of living when compared to other tech hubs is one of the main reasons for the area’s tech growth. Did I mention that it is a rule of thumb that every new job brought to an area creates 3 to 5 more jobs?

Also, the article stated LinkedIn found over the past 12 months that Austin attracted the highest rate of in migration of new workers of the areas that they track, and further stated that the gain was mostly from the San Francisco Bay area, Los Angeles, and New York. These are all very pricy areas when compared to Austin which has housing about a third less than those cities. Since the average salary of these soon to be Texans is reported to be over $90,000 annually, living here is a bargain for those folks.

For investors, don’t just look at Austin, but look at the nearby cities just like the big boys. In fact, I have found that they do my investing research for me. For instance, Applied Materials is looking to expand outside of Austin and is considering Hutto for a research and development facility, and Samsung plans to build a $17 billion semiconductor plant in nearby Taylor.

This news couldn’t be better and timing couldn’t more right to be buying and holding local residential rentals. I suggest looking at cities near Austin to take advantage of lower housing prices that can bring strong rents.

The saying goes: “There’s no time like the right time”. Folks this is the right time!