STEVE BROWN’S REAL ESTATE INVESTORS

Steve Brown takes issue with the annual Emerging Trends in Real Estate report which concludes Texas (except for Austin) is not a good place for real estate investment. Of course it’s a wonderful place for real estate investment, and I know a lot of people who have made a ton of money on it here. But the national “experts,” who compare us to places like LA, NYC, and DC, send people with investment dollars to both coasts and the capital.

Dallas has some serious problems that may contribute to giving out-of-state investors the heebie-jeebies:

1. Crime. Unless we get a grip on it, every negative headline hurts home values. I was getting a manicure, watching the 5 p.m. news, and the guy massaging my hand tells me, “Plano is a terrible place to live.” Crime, shootings, murders–in Plano. Who’d of thunk it?

2. Property Taxes. Newcomers to the state are horrified to learn how high our property taxes are. Employers lure employees here by dangling the good stuff of living in Texas–no state income tax (really?) and rock-bottom prices on large, beautiful homes. The fact that we have one of the highest property taxes in the nation is hidden in the fine print.

3. More acres to develop. This is what Realtors are talking about when they call us a “Wholesale Market”: we never seem to run out of land here. Not bordered by a lake, an ocean, mountains; beautiful sunsets are our natural views. As long as we have the ability to keep pushing development out–provided gas does not become excessively high–the buyer choosing between a $350,000 ranch in North Dallas with proximity also eyes the perfect new construction in Frisco for the same price. Or less.

4. Public Schools. Austin’s are better than ours. It seems to me we’ve been fighting a battle in the public schools ever since my children were five–they’re now 25 and 22. I did it back then; I’d do it again: Send the kids to a school where the focus is on them and learning, not fighting a battle 24/7.